Winter Spicy Soup

Now that the days and nights are getting colder. My husband has got a bit bored of sandwiches for lunch. So I though, a good spicy soup would make a good lunch, along with my lovely buns! So here it is, easy slow cooked warm winter soup. I've not made it overly spicy, just warming. So feel free to add some chillis! 

Ingredients:

1 large red onion

2x spring onions

2x green peppers

Half a yellow pepper

Half a red pepper

1 large butternut squash

1 can of coconut milk

1 tin of tomatoes

3 teaspoons of korma paste


How to make:

Chop into large chunks and throw it all in the slow cooker on low over night. 

Then in the morning blend! Soup, perfect to freeze down, perfect for lunch with my lovely buns! 

You can add a little chili powder or chilles to give it more of a kick. Add pepper or sea salt as you like.

If cooking in the day a good 6-8 hours will do. 

Here is how I batch freeze:

Take a soup bowl and pop in a freezer bag, then ladle in the soup. Tie it up and leave it to cool before popping in the freezer.

Perfect to take into work for lunch, cheap, yummy and easy! (You can take them out the night before to defrost and then just re-heat at work or depending on what you have at work, defrost them there. 

  

No 'Cheese' Sauce

You will need the following to make a yummy dairy free 'cheese' sauce:

1 butternut squash

1 can of coconut milk

1 teaspoon of mustard

Chop up the butternut, and boil till soft. 

When it's soft, drain and add the coconut milk and mustard. 

Bend together. (I used a hand blender.)

Your no 'cheese' sauce is complete and ready to use. Our children love this with macaroni, we call it 'no cheese & mac.' Click here for the link. So easy to make, good for you and cheap too. Make sauce as above and cook up some pasta, mix together and serve! You can also use it to make cauliflower cheese. Yummy!

This sauce is perfect with lots of things, today I've made a lasagna! 

The sauce freezes really well! Perfect to take in your camping cool box, or ready for a quick meal! Yum!

Coconut Curry

Coconut and Butternut Squash curry.

Ingredients:

1x tinned tomatoes 

1x coconut milk

1x butternut squash

2x mid-large red onions

1x yellow pepper

1x green pepper

1x leek

2-3 sticks of celery

Large handful of frozen cauliflower (not needed but I love cauliflower) 

Black pepper, Rosemary, chili powder, curry powder (mid) 

How to make:

Chop up the butternut squash, and pop in cold water. Bring it to the boil till they have started to soften.

Chop up the onions and peppers, into large chunks.

Fry in a little veg oil, till starting to brown.

Add the leeks, also cut quite large.

Add herbs, spices, black pepper and sesame seeds.

I transferred it to a large cooking pot at this point. 

Add tomatoes and coconut milk. Refill one of the tins with water and add, three times. (You may only need two depending on the size of your pot, just make sure the veg is covered.) 

Mix.

You don't want to over cook the butternut, so only boil till starting to soften.

Add butternut to the main mix, stir in carefully. 

  

Once it's started to boil, turn the heat right down and leave. 

I throw in some frozen cauliflower at this point. 

Cook for about an hour and a half. 

It was perfect with this Cous Cous and bulgur wheat.

Yum!

Butternut Squash and Chilli

This was a last minute thrown together meal, it was yummy though.

Ingredients;

1x butternut squash 

Hand full of mushrooms

Half a leek

1x red onion

1x tin tomatoes 

Large splash of white wine

About 200g of soya cream

Hand full of cashew nuts

3 walnuts smashed up

Small hand full of seeds, mostly sunflower and sesame

Thyme, pepper and chilli. 

Boil up the butternut in large chunks till soft. 

Boil up the rice (for the best rice ever, pour in your rice to the pan, then add cold water. Put the top of your thumb on top of the rice and fill with water until the water level is level with the first bend of your thumb. Then cook/boil the rice until holes apear. Take off the heat, put a teatowel over it, you can weigh it down with a plate or lid. Put to one side till your ready.)

Mix all your spices (I used about two teaspoons of mild chilli and I think it needed a little more.) 

Smash up the nuts and mix in the herbs and seeds. (I kept the cashew nuts whole though.) 

Once the mushrooms and onions have started to brown add in the smashed up herbs, nuts and seeds.

Add in the cashew nuts and fry. 

This is about perfect for the rice to be removed from the high heat. 

Set to one side, put a teatowel over the top. 

Add the wine, tomatoes and soya cream (I added 1 tin full of water, after tipping in the tomatoes.) 

Mix in the butternut, bring to a gentle boil. Check your rice, if still really damp give it a little longer but it should be perfect. 

Enjoy. X

Slow Cooked Soup

My slow cooker has been on a lot lately, mostly for making chutneys. Today I had some left over beans which needed using and was thinking about making some butternut curry. Well, I didn't end up making a hot creamy butternut curry but a lovely winter soup!

On of the many wonderful things you can do with a slow cooker is soup. A great way to use up some left over veg, just throw it in and forget about it. 

Today's soup had the following-

Ingredients:

1x large butternut squash

1x red onion

1x celery stick

1x carrot

3x white potatoes 

About three large handfuls of beans.

2x tins tomatoes

2x tin fulls of water

1 cup of white wine

About a cup of porrage oats, the same of red lentils. 1-2 tablespoons of sunflower seeds. Thyme, pepper and chili powder. 

Chop and peel up everything and throw in. (Chop up the potato smaller than the butternut pieces.) 

I cooked on high for about 2-3hrs then on low for about another 4hrs. 

I checked on it and mixed every now and again. Tasted and checked, added in a little more chili powder. It's a great dish to have bubbling away in the day for dinner or to freeze down in portion sizes. 

If popping on in the morning for dinner, set to low for 6-7hrs I think. 

When ready to serve I used a hand blender to blend it down in the slow cooker. Lots left over to freeze. 

It's yummy.