Kid-Friendly Recipe for Tuscan Soup

Last night, Dillon made dinner for the family.  He was excited but as soon as he saw the recipe for Tuscan soup (like the sausage and potato soup at Olive Garden) his excitement deflated.  It was a pretty simple recipe, but wasn't 'kid friendly.'  I re-wrote the recipe to be easily understood by my hyper-active 12-year-old.  It was a great soup -- and perfect if you're also not really 'kitchen friendly.'

Tuscan Soup

Get all this stuff and put it on the counter:

6 cups of chicken broth
small can of evaporated milk
Salt
Pepper
Hot Italian Sausage (3 links or a pound)
3 big potatoes
Fresh Spinach (really dark green leaves in a bunch in the fridge next to regular lettuce)
One Large Onion

Get all these tools ready before you do anything:

Pan to fry the sausage
Large soup pot
Cutting board
Knife
Potato Peeler
big liquid measuring cup
One stirring spoon
Colander to drain meat with
Pour 6 cups of broth into the big soup pot and turn the fire on high.

Peel the potatoes and cut into bite-size pieces (size of a 6x4 Lego).  Do NOT throw the peels in the garbage disposal!!

Put the potatoes in the broth (BE CAREFUL!!!  DON'T LET THEM SPLASH!!)
When it starts to boil, turn on the timer for 15 minutes.

While the timer is running, take the sausage out of the casings (cut the peel on the outside and take out the stuff on the inside) and crumble it into the frying pan.

On the cutting board, take off the onion skin and throw away.
Cut the onion in half then into small pieces.  Put the onion in with the sausage and turn the burner on high.  When you hear the meat start to sizzle, turn down the flame 1/2 way and continue to cook it and stir it till all the meat has changed color.

If the time goes off, just turn off the heat under the broth and let it stay there till you get to the next step.

Take the meat mixture and pour it into the colander in the sink with hot running water.  The pan will be hot, the meat will be hot so make sure you pour AWAY from you in case it splashes.

Spray the water on the meat so it takes the grease off.  Not too much.  Just a little.  Then let it drain.

When the meat is drained, pour it into the pot with the broth and potatoes.Pretty sure this will be a little messy.  Take a few minutes to clean up any drips or spills.

Get the spinach out and take the leaves off the stems.  Put the leaves in the colander you just used and spray cold water on them. Shake off the extra water and put the leaves in the pot with the meat and potatoes.

Turn the fire back on under the soup and get it boiling.  Boil it for 2 minutes to cook the spinach.

Put in one teaspoon (the small one) full of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper.

Pour in the small can of evaporated milk and turn the fire off.

That's it!  Pour it into bowls and let's eat!