Hooray for Healthier Cream-of Soups! How do you use them?

The main ingredient of America's first Desperation Dinner was, no doubt, a can of cream of mushroom soup. There are literally hundreds of one-dish wonders that would never exist were it not for this ubiquitous can of grayish goo.

Let's face it. The stuff is unpleasant to behold. But once you put it in a casserole dish, an admirable chemical reaction transpires. As if by magic a comforting dinner appears – for those of us who grew up with casseroles anyway. (If that’s not you, stop reading now.)

But convenience did not come without its price. It was a sad day several years back when fat grams and cholesterol counts forced me to banish my favorite mushroom-soup recipes to the bottom file drawer. Then I heard a friend raving about the reduced-fat, reduced-sodium cream of mushroom soup now on the market. Could it be?

A few cautious tests later, I’m happily back in the cream-of casserole mode whenever the craving strikes. Newer versions of cream-of-celery and chicken work great, too. Okay, now it's time for true confessions. What do YOU like to make with "cream-of" soups?