Soup

Roasted Tomato Soup with croutons and shredded Parmesan cheese

I could eat soup all year but I especially like the cozy meal in the Fall. Warm soups of all kinds are easy to prepare in large batches and freeze for a quick lunch or a busy weeknight dinner. I am particularly fond of roasted tomato soup with croutons and shredded Parmesan cheese sprinkler over the top. My kids love it too and use Goldfish to garnish their bowls. We play fishing games with our spoons in hopes of catching those pesky Goldfish.

Here are a few of our favorite fall soup recipes for some easy weeknight or cooler evening meals.

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Roasted Vegetable Soup

{Herbs de Provence is the magic in this recipe--I roast any vegetables I have according to this recipe, then puree them and add them to vegetable stock to make a wonderful soup.}

Taco Soup with tortilla chips and fresh cilantro

{we add a packet of Ranch dressing mix to ours in addition to what is in this recipe}

purple cast and a dragon mask

Growing up, my mom always greeted lots of unfortunate experiences with the old saying, "when it rains, it pours."  It was definitely pouring here last week with too many serious hiccups in our week.

As we awaited our return flight home, she found a little ride-on car in the children's play area of the airport.  The little car was actually a school bus and she decided she wanted me to take her photograph so that she could pretend she was getting on the bus for school.  Just as she stepped up, her foot slipped and she fell onto the hard commercial carpeted floor of the airport.  Her cry was different with a shrill scream embedded in the sobs that lasted far longer than a normal cry.  It was the end of our trip and I thought she was overly tired.  I didn't think much of the fall and just assumed her dramatic display was due to lack of normal sleep for 5 days.  She held her elbow and wouldn't use that arm the whole way home.  When we got off the plane, I absent-mindedly handed her the booster seat to hold while I gathered our other bags.  When the booster seat fell to the floor with a loud thud and she looked up at me with big tears in her eyes, I knew something was wrong.  I felt terrible that I just dismissed the whole incident.  What was I thinking?  

After a trip to the pediatrician and the orthopedic surgeon, we found out it was fractured and she would need 6 weeks with absolutely no activity to heal.  We cancelled everything and are getting really good at card games, Legos and reading books.

Her big sister wrapped her arm in an ACE bandage for an arm signing party we had at the dinner-table one night.  She said she didn't want her little sis to feel alone so she would need her arm signed too.  

Just as I thought we had everything settled at school and home for our middle girl, the little one came down with a cold.  We attributed it to being at school for the first time and simply catching a little runny nose.  The runny nose quickly turned into a cough and then a terrible wheeze.  When I took her to the pediatrician we found out that she had walking pneumonia and was wheezing.  Thankfully, she is much better and has gotten used to holding the mask in place while the breathing treatment clears up her lungs. 

Whew!  What a week!

This is the one part of fall I dread...sickness!  With little ones, it is so hard to have them sick.

Hopefully we are just getting our illnesses and injuries out of the way early this year!