say hello to the elephant

Hello all,

It’s been awhile since i have posted a food blog!

I had a horrible “health” weekend recently…. long story short, and from the mouth of a good friend, I tried to “Take Winter out of the Seasons of the year, and I caused chaos to my body.”

It’s true.

We are ducking over to Vegas for a week of Pool Partying in a few months time, and of course, my “cycle” happens to fall UNFAVOURABLY during that exact week. So…. I thought it would be an easy fix to go back on the Oral Pill, to push my cycle out just 5 days over the next few months, and then go back off it. Seemed like a simple plan. Until I actually started taking the Pill!!!!!!

Then all hell broke lose within my body. Day 3 of the tablets and it started –  Blurring vision, headaches, migraines, nausea, loss of appetite, unbelievable tiredness and random crying.  Awful.

Anyway….. I could go on… and on… about how TOXIC I believe these artificial hormones are for our bodies, and how, regardless of if you think your body is doing ‘ok’ with it….. long term….. I have my doubts. If you really want to be intune with the messages your body is giving you, any sort of medication is going to mask it – hormone therapy included.

So, after not being able to eat for 3 days, (although Matt did make me some vegemite on toast) I was craving a MASSIVE bowl of vegies! And the only way to eat a massive bowl of vegies, is to make a massive pot of Vegie Soup!!

I thought I’d share the process/method/ingredients etc, because I assume most people know how to make a soup, but a friend watched me do it once, and was soooo excited to learn how simple it was! Hahahaha! So, apparently, not everyone knows how to throw together a simple Vegetable soup 🙂

So, here is the basic recipe first.

Ingredients:

* What ever vegies you want(eg Potatoes, Pumpkin, Turnips, Swedes, Onion, Carrots, Zucchini, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Peas, Corn)

* Vegie stock

* Water

Method:

* Chuck all your favourite vegies into a massive stove top pot, with just enough water to cover it.

* Add a stock cube or two.

* Simmer till vegies are tender.

* Blend it up with a hand held ‘bamix thingy’ till your desired consistency.

That’s it!!   Easy Hey!?!

It really is that easy, however, here are some tips I can give you to make it even easier & tastier.

1. You can saute some garlic, ginger, onion and curry powder or herb of your choice in the bottom to the pot you are going to use for your soup. I dont always do this, but sometimes I’m craving a bit of a KICK in my food, so I’ll add it.   Just go with how you feel in the moment 🙂

2. Put all the hard vegies in first.  I used Sweet Potato, Potato and carrot. (sometimes I add, Swedes, &/or Turnips as well)

3. Fill saucepan to cover vegies and a little bit extra. (because you are going to add a heap more vegies 🙂 )

4. Crumble in a vegie stock cube or two…. depending on if your a salt addict or not.

5. Cover and bring to boil, while chopping up pumpkin.

6. Add pumpkin.

7. Chop up and add, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Zucchini and what ever else you want.

8. Leave lid off and simmer until all vegies are mushy, (it wont take long, and you don’t want to “over cook” the broccoli, (I think it tastes too bitter when its burnt – blah!)

9. SECRET INGREDIENT for me is to add a handful of defrosted frozen Mint Peas!!!!  YUMMM!  Gives the soup a little sweetness.

10. When all the Vegies are mushy and cooked, remove from stove top and let sit, uncovered, in the pot, to cool a little.

11. I then use my handy little ‘Bamix Whiz Thingy’ to puree the soup. If you don’t have one, you can tip batches into your blender.

12. You can also add cooked chicken or lamb to your soup when you serve it up for a protein hit.

13. Fresh chopped coriander and Chili Sauce is also nice to add on top.

14. Freeze in individual serving sizes using either plastic cups or bags (to make defrosting and reheating super easy!)

The cups are easy to rip away from the frozen soup, as you need, and are a perfect serving size.

Soups really are, an awesome way, to get a lot of vegetables into you, in one nice, big, warm hit!  With Winter fast approaching, this is definately the season to dive into your soups & swim around!  hehehe!

My other favourite homemade soups are

Pumpkin Soup,

Cauliflower & Bacon Soup, and

Carrot and Peanut Butter Soup! YEP!  Peanut Butter!  It ‘s amazing!

Go have some fun with your vegies, warm up your bodies, and take in a massive vegetable nutrient hit!

Talk soon

Cherlisa xx