Cold weather is coming, with that comes SOUP

Sitting in my fridge for the past few days has been half a pumpkin. Decided to get ready for the cold weather (well, we had some last week, not so much this week though typically!). So guess what I made today? Yummy pumpkin soup! I like this recipe because it's really easy, is dairy free, cheap to make with ingredients already in the cupboard, and ultimately it tastes really good! Hubby and the kids all rave about it, so I have never really tried different recipes.

Pumpkin soup 

Half a pumpkin, skinned and chopped into chunks
2 Tablespoons powdered chicken stock
1 onion, diced 
Ground pepper 
Half a tsp curry powder (I tend to add a bit more, we are big curry fans in this house)
1.5 Litres of water  (original recipe calls for 2L, I prefer it with less water to make a thicker soup, but if you are wanting to make the soup stretch further go for 2L).

Simmer all ingredients until tender (about 45 mins) 

Leave to cool, blend until smooth. (if you prefer a more chunky soup, feel free to grab a potato masher and just mash up the lumps or leave it as is, I however think that blending this recipe just makes it that much yummier!)
Add 50g of butter (or dairy free alternative) and heat through.
Season with ground nutmeg.

This soup is suprisingly creamy considering it doesn't actually have any cream in it. It's good for the waistline too, it was a regular lunch for me teamed with some home made bread last winter while I was in the midst of trying to lose weight.



Which brings me to this - my favourite bread recipe. Mostly because it's oh so easy, you don't need to knead it, and it's full of goodness.

Annabel Langbein's Busy People Bread

Makes 2 loaves, halve it for 1! I normally make the 2, slice it up, bag it and freeze. Then just pull out as many slices as I need from the freezer.

No kneading!

2 cups of boiling water
4 tsp honey
2 cups cold water
7 tsps of yeast granules
2 3/4 cups of high grade flour
2 3/4 cups of wholemeal flour
3 tsps salt
2 cups of sunflour seeds
4 Tbsps pumpkin seeds

Preheat oven to 80*c, prepare two loaf tins.
In a large bowl mix the boiling water and honey till disolved. Add the cold water and yeast and put to one side for 10 mins.
Whisk the yeast mixture then add the flours, salt and sunflower seeds and mix with a large spoon untill combined.
Divide the mixture between the loaf tins, and sprinkle on the pumpkin seeds. Run a sharp knife along the top of each loaf, at least 3 or 4 places so it rises evenly without splitting.
Bake at 80*c for 20 mins, and then turn up the oven to 210*c and then bake for a further 30-40 mins. When cooked the loaves will sound hollow when tapped.

I also added LSA and kibbled wheat for shits n giggles. No kneading, makes a rather sloppy sticky mixture. But turns out quite like vogels. Delish!