Soup.

There are some things I'm not too keen on when it comes to autumn/winter- darker mornings and evenings, rain and lack of #sunshine (although lets face it not strictly a winter thing), so really mainly the darkness and lack of Vitamin D to be honest. I find it can affect my #motivation a little, and I go into this kind of hibernation state- well wanting to, but realising that as an adult(ish) human I can't really just grab my food supply and go sleep for a few months- shame!

However I must admit I do love the crisp chill in the air on a frosty morning, the #beautiful #autumnal colours, layering up with all manner of jumpers and scarves, snuggling up inside with a glass of red wine, and the lovely comfort #food of winter- including one of my faves, SOUP! I mean seriously #soup is an absolute legend- so easy to make yourself, contains loads of goodness, and can be made really cheaply too. What's not to love about that?

I make various soups, mainly I just grab what I have left in the fridge and add it all together with some seasoning and hope for the best. Usually I'm quite lucky and it tastes OK. This week I was craving some warming comfort food, and conscious that as I recover from a foot injury I need to feed my #body with some #goodness. And yes, I was also having a minor freak out that as I'm not physically exercising I can't be sat around eating Oreos all day. Though it has been tempting.

I shared a pic of the carrot, onion and red pepper soup I made this week on #instagram, so thought I would pop it down on my blog just in case anyone fancies making it. It's really easy and like most of my favourite recipes it involves little time and effort, so is perfect if you lead a busy life. You can also make a huge batch and refrigerate to eat over a week, or freeze it too. Find the details of what I used below.

Ingredients:

dollop of coconut oil

1 1/2 large white onions roughly chopped

6 large carrots diced (I par boil before adding to soup mixture)

3-4 sweet red peppers (those pointy ones, though you could use normal ones or a mix of both) roughly chopped

1 tin butter beans (drained)

2 vegetable stock cubes (diluted with water)

chilli flakes or powder to taste

salt and pepper to taste

chopped or ground garlic to taste

some pumpkin seeds and #vegan cheese for sprinkling on top

Method:

Add the onion to large pan with melted coconut oil

Add some garlic, salt and pepper and chilli

Boil the diced carrots until softened and add these

Add the chopped peppers

Cook until onions and peppers have softened

Add the butter beans

Add the vegetable stock (bit at a time)

Leave to simmer and infuse together

I normally put a little too much stock in so end up emptying some out at this point

Taste, and add any more seasoning if necessary

Wait until cool and stick into a blender

Blend to the consistency desired (some like a more watery soup, others a little thicker)

And there you have it- how easy is that! That amount of ingredients made me around 6 good portions of soup (and I like mine thick so would make more slightly watered down), and easily cost less than £5 to buy them all. Absolute bargain I say, and such a life saver if I don't want to, or don't have time to cook- just grab out of the fridge or freezer. I'm also a fan of the classic big chunk of bread on the side.

So, go forth and get your soup on people! Send me your pictures and even your own soup #recipes.

Until next time, stay warm and snuggly!

Namaste,

K x