Why you should make homemade soup

Wednesday's What Are You Eating - My daughter's extensive list of unusual and changing food allergies has ruled my food life for almost two years. During these years, I've learned a lot about our Nation's food supply. My hope is to share a little bit of what I've learned so that awareness might increase about our food.



Assuming a decent cook has been at the stove, few people would argue that homemade soup doesn't kick canned soups' rear-ends. It's so much fresher tasting, even if you use canned and frozen fruits and vegetables. 


A quick look at the ingredients will tell why homemade is better then canned:
Progresso Light Chicken Noodle Soup:
Chicken Broth, Carrots, Cooked White Chicken Meat, Enriched Noodle (Durum Wheat, Egg, Niacin, Ferrous Sulfate , Thiamin Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Celery. Contains Less Than 2% Of: Water, Chicory Root Extract, Monosodium Glutamate, Salt, Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein (Corn, Soy), Chicken Fat, Egg White, Xanthan Gum, Carrot Puree, Modified Potato Starch, Onion Powder, Sodium Phosphate, Potassium Chloride, Sugar, Maltodextrin, Autolyzed Yeast Extract, Natural Flavor, Garlic Powder, Soy Protein ,Dried Chives, Dried Parsley, Dried Egg Yolk, Spice, Soy Lecithin, Beta Carotene (Color). Contains Wheat, Egg and Soy Ingredients.


Muir Glen Organic Chicken Noodle Soup (BPA free):
Chicken Broth (Water, Chicken Stock, Sea Salt)*, Carrots*, Cooked Chicken Meat*, Egg Noodles (Semolina Wheat, Whole Egg Powder)*, Celery*. Contains Less Than 1% Of: Corn Starch*, Sea Salt, Water, Chicken Flavor (Natural Flavor, Sea Salt)*, Chicken Fat*, Carrot Puree*, Onion Powder*, Soy Protein Concentrate*, Egg White Powder*, Onion*, Black Pepper*, Chives*, Garlic Powder*, Yeast Extract, Cane Juice*, Parsley Flakes*, Turmeric*, Natural Flavor, Tomato Paste*, Rosemary*, Thyme*, Carrot Powder*, Potato Flour*, Canola Oil*. *Organic Contains Wheat, Egg And Soy Ingredients.


I bolded the ingredients that I don't like in my soup. I mean, why would one put Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein or Potato Flour in Chicken Noodle Soup? The ingredient and taste factors make me shun canned soups. Just recently, though, I saw another reason why you should avoid buying canned soups: BPA linings.


Obviously, the jury's still out on the effects of BPA, and I know a chemical engineer who hates to hear us talking about the damages of BPA (he'll give you expert reasons why the BPA story has been blown out-of-proportion). Buuuuuuuut.....now that I have an allergic child, I am super conscious about ANYTHING that we eat that wouldn't be found in my own kitchen.


Here's the article about BPA that got me thinking about canned soup: Change.org (You'll see that this is not exactly about soup!)


Tomorrow, I'll talk about how easy it is to make homemade broth so that you can whip up some soup!