healthykids


Soup’s On! Healthy Choices Kids Love


by Claire O’Neil “W


hat’s a surefire way to get kids dashing to the dinner table? Simmer


up a batch of hearty soup and then sit back and watch it disappear,” says Ken Haedrich. “Kids love soup,” he main- tains, “because it’s warm and soothing and slurpy.” A former navy Seabee and author of the classic Soup Makes the Meal, Haedrich is a father to four grown children. “Besides being kid- friendly, soup has other advantages,” he continues. “It can be made ahead of time, and you’ll probably end up with leftovers—a bonus for busy families.” Soup is also a great way to get kids interested in vegetables and in cooking. “Starting at around 2 years old, kids want to be in charge of what they eat, just like they want to choose their own clothes,” says Beth Bader, author of The Cleaner Plate Club. So Bader and her daughter Amelie started entertain- ing fresh ways of looking at food. At the grocery store or farmers’ market, for example, they played “I Spy,” as in “I spy something purple that tastes like.... Amelie could pick any vegetable and we’d figure out how to cook it at home—often in soup,” says Bader. Chicken broth-based soups may also boost immunity and help battle the sniffles, according to researchers at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Dr. Stephen Rennard and his colleagues


50 Collier/Lee Counties swfl.naturalawakeningsmag.com


found that properties of chicken soup help soothe sore throats and ease other cold symptoms.


Soups made with vegetable broths likewise offer anti-inflammatory properties and comforting goodness, maintains green living expert Annie B. Bond. Inspired by Haedrich’s book, Bond added her own spin to this soup for her daughter.


Grandma’s Healing Soup “This light, restorative soup is so deli- cious you don’t have to be sick to enjoy it,” says Bond. “Either way, its luscious fragrance helps clear sinuses, and the potatoes soothe the digestive tract. It’s a delightful broth, filled with spinach, parsley, leeks and garlic, that yields min- erals, vitamins and healing antioxidants, with some winter root vegetables for sweetness. A steaming bowlful on a cold winter day is wonderfully comforting.”


Serves 4 to 5 1½ Tbsp olive oil


1 large leek, well washed, white parts only, chopped


1 large carrot, peeled and diced small 1 large potato, diced small 1 parsnip, peeled and diced small 4 cloves garlic, minced 5 cups vegetable stock Sea salt to taste


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