Recipe: ABC soup (it's easy as 123!)

I don't know about you, but I don't miss being a kid. It feels like such a hard time. So much learning, so much misunderstanding, so little knowledge, so little freedoms. On the other hand I do have some fond memories and some of them, of course, are related to foods. 

I loved eating alphabet soup! You could find the letters you wanted and spend half the afternoon just slurping away and playing with your food. Somehow it was more encouraged to play with this magical soup because there were letters in it. 

I have been looking for alphabet noodles for YEARS now. It seemed like no places had them. None. Well, one day when I wasn't looking for them I spotted them. In the ethnic section of my regular grocery store right between some salsa and cans of beans. You can also buy them online.

If you can't find the alphabet noodles or just don't care that much (you bore, you!) you can throw in some ditalini pasta instead. I can always find that next to the rest of the noodles at the grocery store. Heck, you could even use some small elbow noodles if you wish.

Don't forget to find your name in the soup! (My daughter is too young for that but she loved seeing "numbers!" as she calls them right now in her soup. She also loved this soup - woohoo! So did mom and dad!) 

Recipe Notes...

*You can add additional fresh vegetables or change out some of the ones I have listed. Use what you have and use what's in season. 

*You can use any small pasta you want if you cannot find the alphabet noodles. 

ABC Soup

8 - 1. 5 cup servings 

1/2 large onion, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

1 carrot, peeled and sliced 

1 small potato, scrubbed and diced

1 zucchini, chopped

1 cup cabbage, shredded

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 - 14oz can diced tomatoes

5 cups vegetable broth

1/2 cup uncooked alphabet noodles

ground black pepper to taste

Add the onions, celery and carrot to a large soup pot. Sprinkle the vegetables with the salt and cook over medium high heat until the onions are translucent. You may need to add a couple tablespoons of water to keep the vegetables from sticking to your pot.

Add all of the remaining ingredients to the pot and turn the heat to high. Bring to a boil. 

Once boiling place the lid on and turn the soup to low. Let simmer for 15-20 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. 

Add salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy with crackers and your favorite memories! 

Nutritional information per serving : Serving size: 1.5 cups soup
2 WWPointsPlus, 92 calories, 0.3g total fat, 0mg cholesterol, 20.2g carbohydrates, 3g fiber, 3.9g sugar, 2.8g protein