Soup Day
Ingredients:
6-8 c water (or more, depending on how many vegetables are in your soup)
3-4 vegetable bouillon cubes (or replace water and bouillon with 6-8 c vegetable stock)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 small-medium onion (or half a large one), chopped small
4-6 cloves of garlic, minced
1 c dry lentils
2-4 tbsp nutritional yeast
Bay leaf
Spices of choice (we use thyme, sage, oregano, and rosemary), to taste
Black pepper, to taste
3-4 carrots, peeled (try letting your child peel a carrot, under your supervision, of course)
2-3 stalks of celery
Whatever vegetables you like! Cedar Rose favorites include potatoes, sweet potatoes, beets, parsnips, bell peppers, spinach, and mushrooms, but you can use whatever you have on hand. Just make sure all vegetables are washed and peeled (if applicable).
1 c brown rice spiral pasta (or small pasta variety of your choice)
Instructions:
Boil the water and stir in bouillon to prepare the broth.
In a large soup pot, sauteé the onion in the olive oil over medium-high heat until translucent (about 5 minutes). Add the garlic and sauteé for another minute, stirring occasionally.
Add the lentils and four cups of broth; raise heat to medium-high and bring to a boil. Add bay leaf. Once boiling, reduce heat to low and allow to simmer, uncovered.
Once all the veggies are chopped, add them to the pot along with the rest of the broth (the amount needed will depend on how many vegetables you have as well as your preference for how brothy you like your soup), your favorite spices, nutritional yeast, and black pepper (all to taste). Increases heat to bring to a low boil, then reduce heat and allow to simmer, uncovered, for 20-30 minutes.
Stir occasionally, and after 20 minutes, use your spoon to pull out a vegetable or two. Run them under cold water and taste them, checking for tenderness. Once you’ve sampled a few vegetables that are still slightly firm (but not hard), add the rice pasta.
Continue cooking until the pasta is al dente (check package instructions for cook time).
Turn off heat and allow soup to cool for a minute or two before serving. Alternatively, serve into bowls and allow the bowls to sit for a few minutes before eating.
Vegetable Chopping
Vegetable chopping encourages fine motor development, offers and opportunity for purposeful work, and the process lays a foundation for math and science later in development.
To set your child up for success offer them a chopping board and knife proportioned to the size of their hand. For some children, they will be eager to partake in the treasured job of peeling the vegetables wearing sweaters (I.e. skins). Once the vegetables are peeled, prepare your child for success by cutting long, lean pieces for them to chop (the pieces should be the shape of a classic french fry). We chop our vegetables into tiny mousie nibbles.