This is the easiest, tastiest, "get better soon" or comfort stew that you will ever make As the title suggests, I stole this one from my Dad. These were his tips for me a long time ago: 1. Cut the tomatoes so that any skin you get is bite size or smaller (the rest will dissolve) 2. Cut the meat bite size or smaller, it will be easier to eat (my sister was picky, actually, but whatever works) ALSO, I have made this plenty of times w/o meat at all. We called it "Fried tomatoes" when we were growing up, but it's really a simple, fresh tomato soup.