Monster Soup: An Attitude Adjustment Project

12:30 PM - Oct. 6, 2005 - Add to the Wildness

My girls hate homemade soup.  They are not at all afraid of the consequences of whining about it - which highly offends their father, who has great respect for my homemaking efforts.

In an attempt to adjust the attitudes flying hither and yon, I involved them in the process.  What came out of it was.....  MONSTER SOUP.  The point of the project, though, for those whose problem isn't necessarily soup, is to take a hated thing and make it into an entertaining activity.  We will all have to do things in our lives that are just not fun or enjoyable.  The greatest blessing we can teach to our children at home is to teach them a positive, flexible attitude that looks for the joy in all circumstances.

Ingredients:

broken spaghetti noodles (worms)

frozen peas (frog eyeballs)

small onion (rotten egg)

pot barley

fried bacon, chopped, a few pieces

a few alphabet noodles

5 tomatoes

oregano, dried parsley, celery seed (bits of grass)

bay leaves (tree leaves)

can of chicken broth (chicken breath)

leftovers from roast dinner:

cooked carrots (pieces of tree)

boiled potatoes (dirt chunks)

roast beef (chewed-up cow)

brown gravy (we won't say what this got called)

So it all started as "stone soup".  I asked the girls if they'd rather have that, since they don't like the soup I usually make.  They thought not!  So we went on a noodle hunt.  We set the spaghetti noodles to boil in a bit of water, then added spices and the chicken broth.

The dried parsley is from our garden, so I took it in my hands and rubbed it into the soup.  "See?  It's just like doing a magic illusion."  when I was done, there were no leaves left in my hands.  "You see?  There's so much more to soup than just the taste."

Then we started pulling out frozen vegetables.  At this point, the "stone soup" turned into Monster Soup.  Every time we added something, the soup only got bigger and stronger.  We had to stir it very slowly and carefully, so it wouldn't jump out of the pot and attack us.

Banana, as Miss Piggy's understudy, stood by while I dumped the leftover potatoes and carrots on the counter.  I got the cleaver and yelled "Hiiiiiya!!!"  And the vegetables got a chopping.  Then Banana took over the sound effects while I kept chopping.  "There's so much more to soup than just the taste!"

We got out the mini-processor and puree'd the tomatoes in it.  This is a smaller version of a food processor, great for chopping herbs or grinding nuts.  It's small enough that the girls can use it without it getting away from them, and has a safety so it can't operate without the lid locking.

After that, in went the roast beef to be ground up.  This is where it became chewed-up cow.  The girls took turns stirring things in and using the mini-processor on the meat and the leftover bacon.  Our pepper grinder, who looks like a cheesy waiter in a white jacket, stepped in to help.  The grinder's name is Peppertoes, and he made his expected contribution by shedding pepper out his feet as the girls cranked his head around and around.  "There's so much more to soup than just the taste."

Finally, we had a look at the Monster Soup, and I decided to see if we could do the real miracle of changing some attitudes.  We took out the salt.  Since we don't do magic spells at our house, we decided to try a chemical reaction on the bubbling pot of "nasty" (in the girls' minds).  I asked them if it would react and turn into something Perfectly Wonderful, and they said NO.  I asked if sprinkling salt on them would turn them into Perfectly Wonderful children, and was told it would only turn them into Monsters as well.

Anyway, we gave it a try.  all three of us held the spoon and stirred together, since the soup was quite thick by this time.  Then we got a small bowl and some spoons, and we all sampled it.

Banana thought it was not bad. Squirrelly Girlie still said yuck.  I sighed and counted the ground gained. The world is won one convert at a time.

A good Bible verse to discuss while making Monster Soup is, "You are the salt of the earth" (Matt. 5:13).

As a footnote, Dad came home and wanted burgers and fries, so we made an extra blessing out of the Monster Soup by putting it aside for the soup kitchen.  Squirrelly Girlie was thrilled to be spared.

Too funny!

Welcome to HSB...looking forward to reading more of what you have to say. Happy blogging!
God Bless,

Gena Suarez, Publisher
The Old Schoolhouse Magazine
www.TheHomeschoolMagazine.com

TOSPUBLISHER - 9:00 PM - Oct. 7, 2005

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So Creative

I like how you made soup making playful! Your Squirrelly Girl sounds like my 6yo dd. She has food aversions as well...anything new she avoids it. I made home made chicken noodle yesterday and I will be the only one eating it. Oh well at least we try. :)

Happy Homeschooling,

JoAnn

Edited by Lazycreek on Aug. 25, 2007 at 10:59 PM

readingmama - 9:37 PM - Oct. 7, 2005

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thanks for the encouragement!

JoAnn, I'm always glad to encounter someone else with a strong-willed child... It helps me feel normal... Whatever that is. ;~)

Gena, I must say, I really love this blog community. It is soooo perfect for HS'ing families. Thanks for the welcome, I really like being here!

Cat

Lazycreek - 12:10 PM - Oct. 8, 2005

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