Quick and Easy Veggie Bean and Rice Soup

We eat soup nearly every single day in our family...the kids LOVE it, and actually get excited when I tell them we'll be eating soup!  (I have strange children, I know!)  Soup is the second best way to eat your veggies (aside from raw), because you're actually eating the broth that they are cooked in, so more vitamins, mineral, and enzymes are preserved!  Typically, I make up a HUGE batch of veggie soup, and I'll freeze portions of it, so it's readily available upon demand!  (Trust me, you don't want to be here when the soup runs out...it's pandemonium!)  This is the simplified recipe, utilizing organic, frozen veggies, as well as organic canned beans...no chopping, no soaking...barely any cooking!  I always have these ingredients on hand, in case of emergency!

In a pot, combine:

7 c. water
1 1/2 t. Better Than Bouillon Vegetable Base
1/2 t. garlic powder
4 T. nutritional yeast (you'll have to go to the health food store to get this, but the benefits (besides flavor) are vital to making a nutritious soup!)
1/8 t. sea salt (optional)
Fresh cracked black pepper to taste
1/2-1 c. matchstick carrots (so you don't have to do any chopping!!)
1 zucchini, washed and chopped into smaller pieces (the smaller the pieces, the quicker the cook time!)
1 can organic kidney beans (or whichever bean your family likes best...garbanzo and black beans are amazing...and so are lentils!)

-Cook this long enough to soften the carrots and zucchini...maybe 10-15 minutes (remember that even once you remove it from the heat, the broth with be hot enough to continue cooking the veggies.)

-While the broth is cooking, take 1 pouch of Seeds of Change Organic Whole Grain Brown Basmati Rice, and cook according to package directions (90 seconds!)...this rice is precooked and amazing in texture!  (There is also a  rice and quinoa blend by Seeds of Change that is delicious and can be substituted)

-Remove from heat once veggies have been cooked in the broth, and pour into the container you will be storing the soup in.

-Add:

2-4 c. organic frozen broccoli
1 c. organic frozen petite peas (or regular, whichever you prefer)
Rice

-Stir, and let the frozen veggies thaw...it'll just take a couple of minutes...and the best part about using the frozen veggies (besides no chopping)...is that it cools the soup down enough so that eager mouths don't get burned, AND don't have to wait to eat it!!

-Note:  this soup is nowhere near as salty as canned soups, or typical soup recipes...I do that on purpose, in order to watch sodium intake.  The way my kids eat this (and me too) we'd be way over our sodium limits with just one bowl if it was as salty as traditional soups!!  Now, if you need to add a little more salt to it, to get your kids to eat it...feel free.  Another option is to serve it with some Kashi Fire Roasted Veggie crackers, or the Back to Nature (not sure exactly what they're called...but they're the oval ones with all the grains in them!)  The crackers will add just a little more salt, as well as something fun for the kids to dip into the soup!

-This soup is literally 20 mins from water in the pot, to soup in the bowl!  And it makes enough for a good amount of servings (maybe 7 servings that are a little more than a cup!)  Win win!