Soup...

I made four types of soup yesterday and froze them for future use. I made Brocoli and Cheese soup, New England Clam Chowder, Hamburger Soup and Mushroom Chowder. Declan and Rowan taste tested each one and gave their approval. Today I intend to make Beef Barley soup, Split Pea soup and possibly a chicken soup of some kind.

In case you didn't know, I'm a soup maniac! I love soup! When it's cold outside, a bun and soup is the perfect meal for me. Since my kids have inherited my love for soups, (and it's a great place to hide those veggies they don't like eating), I keep my freezer well stocked with soups in the winter. Declan's favorite? Brocoli and Cheese soup. A helpful hint for others who have picky children...Declan likes the taste of veggies, he just hates the texture. When I figured out what the problem was, I started running my veggies through the puree cycle on my blender. Declan will eat any veggie I give him as long as he can't see it and can't feel pieces of it in his mouth. As such, creamed soups are awesome for him. I usually keep potatoes in chunks but any other veggie is pureed. Rowan is not a huge meat fan but she'll eat small pieces in soup.

I find most of my soup recipes on allrecipes.com. If you feel like making soup, that's a great site to start looking for recipes. I typically only try recipes that have 5 stars and I always read the comments because often someone has tried a variation that looks good to me. I've only had two soup recipes that I didn't like - one because I found out I'm not a fan of italian sausage and one was just too salty - easily remedied for next time.

So if you want to fill up your freezer with something quick and easy that you can take to work for lunch or have for supper on those nights when you can't figure out what to cook...try soup!!!