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Remember - shopping with our daughters can be a fun parent / child activity! Just keep repeating - shopping is fun, shopping is fun …..

Easy soup recipes - it’s one of my top parenting tips.

If you are a busy parent then you know what I am talking about!

You see soup is a pretty versatile dish. If you are well organized - then you can throw all of the ingredients into a crockpot or slow cooker in the morning and magically, dinner will be ready at the witching hour.

But if you miss that morning window of opportunity - then you can make the soup on the stovetop in the late afternoon and still have a meal on the table.

However, let’s just say that your days are like mine and it’s already evening and the kitchen  is still cold - then you can throw all of the soup ingredients into a pressure cooker for a meal that can be made quickly.

This is one of my own easy soup recipes. It’s something that I threw together - and everything in it can be changed and adjusted. Really it is not much of a recipe at all but rather a “throw everything in a pot and cook” kind of thing.

Easy Vegetable Soup
8 cups water or broth
1 15 oz can petite diced tomatoes
1 15 oz can pinto beans, drained
1 potato, peeled and cubed
1 cup frozen mixed vegetables
1 onion, minced
2 celery ribs, chopped
1/2 teaspoon dried italian seasoning
1 tablespoon margarine or olive oil
1/4 cup uncooked small pasta, or pearl barley
1/2 cup shredded cabbage
any other vegetable you want to add
salt and pepper to taste

Put all of the ingredients into a pot and cook for about an hour or so on the stovetop. Adjust times for slowcooker or pressure cooker. Soup is done when pasta and vegetables are cooked through.

Everything is a matter of taste - and I am not much of a cabbage fan - but I have found that the addition of a small amount of cabbage makes the soup taste much better than when I omit it. Just my preference - judge for yourself.

Speaking of cabbage - all cabbage soup recipes are not created equal. However, I did find a promising one and other easy cooking recipes at this site by Ella. I will have to give it a try sometime soon.

Meal planning and food preparation is a big part of parenting. Anything to make this part of the job easier is welcome.

Bon Appetit!

A kids allergies can make parenting very difficult.

Trust me, I know.

My oldest child has had food allergies all his life. When he was a baby, diagnosing this was a nightmare. He spit up constantly and his skin was always dry and itchy. In desperation I went from breastfeeding to every type of formula on the market. None of them seemed to agree with him.

When we started introducing solids - we had the same issues. Finally when he was eleven months old, we took him off all solids, put him on an amino acid formula, and started the process of introducing foods all over again.

At that time food allergy awareness was not what it is today. And alternative food products were not readily available. Now just about every grocery store has a natural foods section that offers soy, wheat substitutes, and nut free options. We have truly come a long way.

Understanding Kids Allergies to Food
In very basic terms - a food allergy occurs when a person’s body thinks that a harmless food protein is actually a harmful substance. When a person eats something that they are allergic to, their immune system attacks that protein and over produces histamines to fight it off.

This can cause a variety of symptoms from itchiness and hives, to stomach cramps, diarrhea, and nausea, to an anaphylactic reaction, to death - and everything in between. To me, the scariest thing about a food allergy is the unpredictability of the reaction.

Obviously, avoiding the offending food is the best course of action. But sometimes foods aren’t clearly labeled. Other times - cross contamination is an issue. This is when the food that an allergic person is eating doesn’t actually contain the allergen but has come into contact with that substance. For example, a person with a wheat allergy may order a burger with no bun at a restaurant. Out of habit, the chef might prepare the burger on a bun and belatedly realize that the customer ordered no bun. Instead of preparing a whole new burger, he might just remove the bun - after all, he thinks, what is the big deal? The big deal is the allergic reaction that the customer will experience either in the restaurant or later when he returns home after the meal.

Consult a Doctor
If you even suspect that your child has a food allergy -  it is important to consult your pediatrician and an allergist. At the very minimum you may need a prescription for epinephrine - a brand that many people are familiar with is the Epi Pen. This little device can save a life if administered in a timely fashion. And it goes without saying that an allergic child should have this with him at all times. A doctor will also help the family to come up with an emergency medical care plan, so they know exactly what to do in the event of a reaction.

One resource that I continue to turn to for parenting advice regarding kids allergies is the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (at foodallergy.org) They offer a lot of good advice and allergy management tips.

Sometimes it’s tough to find useful parenting tips. Packing school lunches is one are in which I have a lot of experience. So I thought I would share these ideas as part of Works For Me Wednesday (except I’m a day behind and only got to it on Thursday ). For me packing four lunches and three snacks on a daily basis ranks right up there with, say, a root canal. Honestly, if the kids decide to buy lunch it feels like a vacation!

So over the years I have managed to streamline the process a bit and I figured I would pass my advice onto you.

I know, I know - pack it the night before is what most people say. But, truth be told, by the time I get the dinner dishes put away, give the kids baths, and do bedtime books, I am done.
But I do have a little secret up my sleeve and that is a cheat sheet. A little slip of paper that I write up every night that tells me what I will be packing for each child the next day. This way, in the wee hours of the morning - when my eyes are still bleary with sleep, I will not need to think. I will just do. I will follow my plan and put together whatever I had decided upon the night before.

And here is the last of my parenting tips. Packing school lunches is also made easier with little name tags. I will lay each lunch and snack out on the counter and put a little slip of paper with a child’s name next to each one. The kids put their own lunches and snacks into their lunchboxes. This way if I am not in the kitchen when they pack up then they will know which lunch is theirs.

I imagine that this parenting advice is geared towards larger families but smaller clans may benefit as well.