Today, I'm delighted to be a guest on Cooking Manager. 




I pride myself on my healthy eating habits. I eat loads of fresh seasonal produce, and build almost every meal around vegetables. I’m a good role model for my kids, setting an example of balanced and nutritious eating. I serve a wide range of vegetables and prepare them so many different ways. My kids see me and husband eating healthy at almost every meal.

As luck would have it, I have a houseful of picky eaters. Between the four of them, my children eat only four vegetables: tomatoes, cucumbers, string beans, and baby carrots. (I refuse to count potatoes, olives or pickles as vegetables.) They will not eat mushrooms, spinach, cauliflower or broccoli. They balk at peppers no matter what color. Eggplant is completely off limits, and I won’t even tell you what happened when I tried convincing my son to try Swiss Chard. Suffice it to say that we had quite a cleanup afterwards.

But I’ve discovered that they will eat a really wide range of vegetables if I cook them up in soup! Now that winter is upon us, I make an effort to make one or two pots of soup over the weekend. If I make a double recipe, each pot lasts two or three nights, and most soups taste better when rewarmed. Here’s one of my recent favorites. It’s simple and a real hit with kids and adults alike. The kids love it because it’s so sweet, and, the best part is, the sweetness is 100% natural! A mother’s dream!