Sunday 18 October 2015

Where have I been?

It’s been a while since I’ve posted on my blog, and for a very lovely and wonderful reason. I got engaged!  I’m now a bride-to-be, wife-to-be, Bridezilla, etc! Since my last blog post, my boyfriend popped the question; I wrote a guest list; found a venue; found a wedding dress and booked my hen party!  So it’s no wonder really that I haven’t had much time for writing a food blog.

Mrs Clarke-to-be, slugging champagne because that's really healthy...


Work has taken over a little bit too, meaning that my running and gym visits have been sporadic and it’s been a while since I’ve done a huge cook-off or tried a new recipe.  Definitely though, clean and healthy eating will continue to be on the cards since a certain white dress I bought a few weeks ago is pretty much a perfect fit. Plus, I can’t bear the thought of piling on weight before my wedding and not being able to shift it. The best bet is to stick with my routine and eating habits so that I can maintain this weight rather than gain any or, for that matter, lose any either!

My lactose intolerance also got a bit of control a few weeks ago. I felt ill, bloated, wheezy, had indigestion and what I thought were palpitations. I realised that far from being lactose free, I had had quite a lot of late and immediately cut it out completely.  I gave up my daily Greek yoghurt, replaced butter/ margarine with free-from sunflower spread and made sure I had a supply of lactose free mini milk cartons (these ones) in my handbag.  Within three days of being lactose free, I was cured which was a huge relief!  I’m now making sure I absolutely steer clear of the stuff and that if I say have a pizza, that I remain lactose tee-total for the rest of the week!

Anyway, today was the first day in a while that I had time to cook something and then blog about it.  I made two batches of winter veg soup this morning using the random selection of veg my dad had brought me from his allotment.

Turnip and leek soup or turnip, leek and pea:
This was completely invented from scratch this morning. Whenever my dad brings me a load of random veg from the allotment, I make soup with it. In today’s delivery was a couple of turnips, leeks, an onion and carrots.  I threw the peas into the second batch just because I needed a bit more veg when my supplies were running low!

Ingredients
 Half an onion, diced.
3 leeks
1 turnip, finely sliced
2 carrots
1 and ½ pints of chicken or vegetable stock
Lactose free milk (or extra stock) if needed
Sea salt and black pepper

Method:
1.        Prepare your  veg, pop it into the soup maker with the stock and select the ‘smooth’ setting.  When it’s finished cooking, add sea salt/ pepper to taste. If it’s a little too thick for your liking, add a further splash of milk or extra stock and blend again. Serve or whack in the freezer for this week’s lunches! Alternatively, you can fry your veg in a large pan first, add your stock and simmer until the veg has softened, then blend.
2.       If you want to turn this recipe into a turnip, pea and leek soup, use the ingredients as above but also throw in about 200g of frozen peas.

With those grey skies, golden trees, chilly mornings and bloody Christmas stuff in every shop, it’s definitely soup weather.  I think my next post will be dedicated to another soup recipe and since the only veg I have left now is tomatoes and peppers, it’s time to make up a roasted tomato and pepper soup recipe I think!


See you next week!

Apologies for the lack of recipes- I can show you a picture of my engagement ring instead though!!

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