Hot Dog Stew

Instructions

1. Prepare the Hot Dogs and Potatoes Alright, kids love hot dogs. So we\'re going to use 8 of them. We\'re going to cut them in 6 pieces each - have the kids help you with these. They can use a plastic knife - get them involved. You\'re probably going to do this - this is 2 pounds of potatoes. Peel them and cut them in 2-inch pieces.

2. Heat the Hotdogs We\'re going to take the hot dogs and add them to a kettle with 1 tbsp of butter. And on medium heat give them a nice little sauté. To that add 1 clove of garlic, of this was for adults we would add more, maybe some onion, but this is for the kids. We\'re going to cook that about a minute.

3. Stir in the Soup Ingredients We\'re going to add 3 cups of tomato sauce or puree, I\'m using plain tomato puree. Then add 3 cups of water or stock, a teaspoon of salt, pepper to taste, and we\'re also going to add 1 tsp of Italian seasoning which is going to give this a little bit of a pizza sauce aroma which is going to fool the kids. Add a little dash of sugar, 1/2 tsp, and add the potatoes, and bring to a simmer.

4. Prepare Vegetables for the Hot Dog Soup While that\'s simmering, we\'re going to prep our beans. So the potatoes are going to get a 5 minute head start. We\'re going to take 8-oz of green beans and cut them in thirds. Again, the kids can help you with this using a plastic knife. Add the beans and give it a stir, and while that\'s simmering we\'re going to prep our zucchini.

5. Slice the Vegetables Into Fun Shapes Now, kids don\'t like zucchini, but they will in this because we\'re going to do some tricks. The first one, is we are going to make it into an interesting shape. We\'re going to cut it in half and then cut in at 45-degree angles. Each time we cut, just turn it and cut it making triangles. Kids love pointy food. So there you go. We\'re going to take a bell pepper and trim it up. Remove the seeds and cut out the white membrane. This is the bitter part of the pepper and why some kids don\'t like peppers. We\'re going to cut that in the triangle shape also. Kids love the geometric stuff going on. Hey, you can talk geometry while you\'re cooking.

6. Add Veggies to the Soup Stir the zucchini and the peppers into the potato mixture that had about a 10-minute head start. We\'re going to cover that and simmer it for about 15-20 minutes, until everything is tender. The kids will like the vegetables is they are cooked through and tender and sweet. Don\'t make them eat crunchy, bitter vegetables.

7. Make a More Mature Hot Dog Stew The reason this is so good for kids; it reminds them of tomato soup, it reminds them of pizza, kids love potatoes, kids love hot dogs, and hopefully they had fun cutting things up. If you want to make this a little more adult you can add some Italian sausage instead, add a little sprinkle of Italian parsley. I really hope you give this a try. You\'re going to love it. It\'s easy, it\'s fast, and it\'s fun to make. Enjoy.