Star Soup

"Do you hear that? It's the honk-honk horn of the fire station. Is there a fire? No, it's 12 noon. Maybe they honk the horn at twelve so that all the firemen know it's lunchtime in the firehouse. One of them cooks a big pot of soup for lunch. Big enough to share with allll the other firemen. Then he rings the bell and all of the hungry firemen go to the firehouse kitchen where they have a biiiiiig table, and they all sit around sharing their warm delicious soup. Then they feel strong to go fight fires!

Now, would you like to share MY soup? Do you think the firemen are eating star soup today, too? I think so. Yes? Great! Look at all those tiny little stars, so yummy!"

This transcript from my day, brought to you by my sickly, feverish, toddler, who felt too whiney to eat. I'm so glad she tried at least a few big bites of star soup. Stars are magical, everyone knows that.

I was a super picky eater when I was little, but those little stars floating on the spoon in the chicken and stars soup were so fun! We eat neither canned soup, nor chicken, in this house. Here is how we make VEGAN STAR SOUP in under 10 minutes:

For the picky one:
Vegetable stock, pastina, maybe some celery, possibly very tiny pieces of carrot. Probably a little parmesan cheese on top.

For the normal-ish one:
Heat 2-1/2 cups of vegetable stock in a small saucepan. I use 2-1/2 C water with a scant 2 teaspoonfuls of Better Than Bouillon. Add your kid's preferred veggies, chopped up small. Mine likes celery, zucchini, broccoli, mushrooms, and even lentils. Whatever you've got around will do. Bring to a boil for 2-3 minutes and then add the star-shaped pastina. Boil as per the package directions, about 6 minutes, and remove from the heat.