Cookie exchanges are amazing. You get to hang out with your friends for the night, you come home with dozens of different kinds of cookies, and you get to gobble up your body weight in butter and sugar. But while they are tons of sugary fun, they usually don't result in the healthiest of nights (or subsequent days). But the latest trend when it comes food exchanges has turned this idea on its head. The trend is (drumroll please)...  soup exchanges! Soups are the perfect for those cold, winter days, they usually contain loads of veggies and are a much healthier alternative to their cookie friends. How do they work? 

• First, create a guest list of people. Each person has to make a serving of soup each so don't invite everyone you know!
• Make a criteria for soup size (small to medium-sized mason jars work) and ask people to RSVP so that everyone isn't bringing the same dish. Label the dishes and you can also provide recipes if people have dietary restrictions.
• Ask each soup creator to bring an extra jar so that everyone can have a sample of each soup at the party. Serve up some platters of veggies, bread and crackers to go with them and you're good to go.

For a plethora of soup recipe ideas check out our site! Photography courtesy of Ryan Szulc/TC Media