A Soup Hiatus

I am taking a brief pause from my Liam obsession to tell you about a miracle that occurred in our house a few weeks ago; a miracle the blows the miracle of life right out of the water (sorry Liam).

This is the sort of thing that I wished for in the way one wishes for unattainable things. I never expected to see it in my lifetime; however, when I saw a shooting star...or blew out all my candles on my cake... I simply could not help but wish just one more time, holding onto a tiny sliver of hope that maybe- just maybe- the cosmos would turn their kindness toward me for one brief instant and I would witness a miracle of epic proportions.

And then.... It Happened.

Any one of you that knows my husband at all knows that the man somehow sustains himself on carbs, sugar, meat and cheese- lots and lots of cheese. He might be one of the pickiest eaters on the planet- at least in the Top 20...although from the horror stories his mother has told me, he has come a long way from the endless days of chicken nuggets and hot dogs. However, our eating habits are still VASTLY different... which makes cooking meals at home an interesting affair.

In spite of the hard time I give him (and trust me, I give him a very hard time) I generally tend to indulge his limited culinary tastes. He redeems himself somewhat by being very good about trying new things (at least one spoonful) but I also don't want him to starve... so more often than not I stick to recipes that I know he will like- things made of condensed soup, noodles, and, you know... meat. I can occasionally slip in the unassuming vegetable or two if it is in a casserole or disguised with a sauce of some sort, but I don't really push it. However... every once in a great while, I get just a little bit sick of searching for "kid-friendly recipes" when looking for something new for dinner... and this is when Ryan knows he is in trouble.

A while back I found a recipe on soulemama.com that I wanted to try but was not sure that Ryan would find acceptable. It was for broccoli soup that the author's FOUR YEAR OLD DAUGHTER requested for her birthday. Yes... I was worried that my 25-year-old husband would turn his nose up at something that a 4-year-old considers a treat.

That is my life.

It had potatoes and it had cream... but I just knew those would be the only two redeeming qualities about the soup in Ryan's eyes. The lead role was played by a vegetable- a GREEN vegetable... followed closely by two more vegetables, one of which had never before been on our table in any form or fashion.



But... I wanted to try it and after many days of Campbell's Kitchen recipes... I felt like I had earned it. So, I went out...I bought the ingredients... and I told Ryan I was making soup.

I told him it sounded good.
I told him I thought he would like it.
Pretty much.... I lied.

Ryan made shifty eyes at me as I chopped up the veggies and threw them in the pot. As the smell of cooking broccoli filled the air, he sniffed and crinkled his nose, nodding and smiling when I asked, "Doesn't that smell good?" When the soup went into the blender, he lifted an eyebrow....and then, much as one smothers a pill in peanut butter for their beloved pooch, I sprinkled some cheese on top and set the pot in front of him with fear and trembling.....


And then Ryan tasted it.
And then Ryan liked it.
And then Ryan ATE IT.


So as not to ruin this story, I will not tell you that since then Ryan has made no move toward the leftovers (and oh, was there leftovers- turns out the recipe can feed a family of 6). I will just revel in that empty bowl and enjoy my small victory.

There is a God. And He loves me.