I've been relying lately on my stand-by recipes, no time for trying new baking. But here's my one-and-a-half-year-old's favourite chicken noodle soup. We make our own low-sodium chicken broth on a regular basis, but bought would probably be just fine. When the recipe says "diced" this means small enough for a toddler to angle onto a spoon -- but too small for a toddler to choke on at all. Think about just bigger than 1/4" or just smaller than 1/2" dice.
2 oz. brown rice spaghetti (approx. 1 cup cooked spaghetti)
Bring a pot of water to a boil. Break spaghetti into short lengths and cook for nine minutes, until not quite done.
Meanwhile, in another pot, heat
4 cups chicken stock
1/2 to 3/4 cup (or 1/2 a 398 mL can) plain tomato sauce
1 tsp dried basil
Add
1 large leek, whites and light greens only, diced
1 medium carrot, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
and cook until beginning to get tender.
Add
1/2 cup mushrooms, diced
and cook until all vegetables are just tender.
Stir in
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup cooked chicken, diced, or cooked and drained ground beef (optional)
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
and the drained noodles.
Heat until piping hot and noodles are al dente.
Cool enough to serve to a toddler.
