Saturday 10 November 2012

Some Yummy Soup


Tomato and Vegetable Soup

It’s the season where it’s so cold out that all you want to do when you get home from work is fall into a nice cosy couch or your lovely warm bed. I find when winter comes in my energy levels plummet to very low levels. It’s hard for me to do much of anything. But the one thing I love to do in winter is make soup. I love to experiment and rarely use a recipe. Maybe it’s me being lazy in my cooking or maybe it’s just I love to see how it turns out. It hasn’t turned out bad too often maybe only one or two times which is lucky I guess.

The one soup I tend to go back to is veg soup and I like to put passata into it as it’s so good for you and no fat what so ever. I’ve been trying to watch my weight that’s why I’ve been staying away from blogging and baking but  I gave myself a little giving out to and said this doesn’t have to be full of sinned stuff its can have some yummy healthy things as well.

So anyway I love to make this soup as in slimming world its sin free and you can eat as much of it as you like. As I said early on I don’t use a recipe so when you’re making this feel free to add whatever veg you might like or whatever spices as well it can rarely go wrong on you.

I make a big pot and either freeze in little lunch boxes or put in my fridge for lunch each day. This soup lasts about a week in the fridge but if you think you may not use it all in one week I would advise freezing so that it doesn’t go off and you don’t have to throw it away.


Ingredients
4 Big Carrots
2 Parsnips
4 Sticks of Celery (more if you like)
One Large Onion
4 Medium Potatoes
3 or 4 Cloves of Garlic
½ Teaspoon of Chilli
1 Teaspoon of Basil
1 Teaspoon of Oregano
(Add more herbs if you like it all depends on what you like taste wise)
400g Passata
1 tablespoon of Tomato Puree
Stock (whatever stock takes your fancy bar fish)
I use Knorr Stick pots

Peel and prepare your veg and get yourself a big pot. Fry your onions and garlic and chilli in a little low fat spray. Once this is done very lightly, then add your veg and potatoes. While this is being done boil a kettle full of water. When this has boiled add the full kettle of water into you pot of veg. Boil your veg in this water until they have softened up.

Once your veg is softened add your stock I use the veg stock pots but sometimes it’s nice to use a beef one and its tastes great it really just depends on your taste. I use one pot but its depends on how much soup your making and how you want your soup to taste. I add the flavour through herbs and pepper.



When you add your stock pot, let it simmer for 10 minutes. Then add your tomato puree and passata and herbs salt and pepper. I like to add a lot of pepper and only a little salt. Let this simmer for another 20 minutes and its ready to eat or freeze. It really is as easy as all that.

My boyfriend is not a great lover of lumps in his soup so I compromise and puree it, only leaving a few little lumps here and there. But it really depends on what your family like and how you like to eat it. 

Let me know what you would add in your veg soup!

Enjoy Eleanor


Wednesday 7 November 2012

Once By Anna Carey.

Title: Once (Eve #2)
Author: Anna Carey
Published: July 2012


Goodreads:

In the second book of this thrilling dystopian adventure, Eve will come face to face with the king who has been ruthlessly hunting her and learn the shocking truth about who she really is.

Having managed to evade the soldiers hunting her, Eve finally reached Califia, a haven for women determined to live outside the oppressive rule of the King of New America. However, Eve's freedom came at a price: she was forced to leave Caleb, the boy she loves, wounded and alone at the city gates. When Eve learns that Califia may not be as safe as it seems she sets out once again in the hopes of being with Caleb only to fall into a trap that sends her to the City of Sand and directly into the hands of the King.

Once at the stronghold of the King, Eve will uncover the real reason he was so intent on her capture, and the unbelievable role he intends her to fill. When she is finally reunited with Caleb inside the city walls, Eve will risk everything to be with him.
 
 
My Thoughts:
Warning: there might be some spoilers in this review.


When I finished Eve (The first book in this series) I was flabbergasted and when I was reading Once I just couldn’t put it down. I wanted to follow Eve on her journey and see where she would end up. This book ended in such a cliff hanger that I don’t know how I’m going to wait to read Raise The finale to the series.

 
The exact moment we left Eve in the first novel opens up Once. She’s lost and pretty much alone, her friends far off and possibly dead. Eve can only imagine the state of Caleb’s leg and Arden’s whereabouts. Finally at Califia, Eve questions everything she once strived for. Her life is turned upside down when she slams into fate and finds what it really means to feel alone amongst people. Journeying from all she thought she wanted, Eve experiences pain on the highest emotional level.

 
Eve deals with everything is so well and never gives up searching for her friends and Caleb. And when faith hands Caleb to her and you think everything will work out for them, Anna Carey drops another bomb shell. This book ended in such a way that I’m so excited for Raise the last book in the series to come out.