Cream of Mushroom Soup (with no need for cream!)

As well as being on a health kick at the moment, I'm trying to be more sensible with my finances. Yawn! But a change from a shop bought sandwich is refreshingly welcome! And everyone knows homemade soup is the best kind of soup. EVER. Here's one inspired by LittlePod's own Dave Buchanen. Last year he made a fantastic sweetcorn chowder for us LittlePodites, and once I'd taken out all the butter and cream, I found it hadn't lost any of it's fantastic flavours. Perfect for lunchboxes, and suprisingly filling, enjoy! x

Mushroom and Sweetcorn Soup

serves 4

1 pack organic mushrooms (your favourite/cheapest variety), roughly chopped

1 can naturally sweet sweetcorn

1 white onion, chopped

1 tsp olive oil

1 garlic clove, crushed

1 litre boiled water

1 chicken stock cube

1/2 vegetable stock cube

1 tsp LittlePod vanilla extract

generous grinding of pepper & salt

1 tsp dried thyme

1/2 tsp nutmeg

Instructions:

In a deep saucepan, lightly fry the onion and garlic in olive oil until beautifully translucent. Next, add the pepper, salt, thyme and nutmeg. I crushed them altogether with a mortar and pestle to unleash the flavours (and my pepper grinder is broken!), then added the mushrooms. It will smell delicious right about now! If it's sticking to the pan, add a dash of water. Once the mushrooms have softened but still have a little bounce to them, add the sweetcorn, water and all. Next, add the water, stock and LittlePod vanilla essence. Leave to bubble away for about 20min, then take off the heat. Blitz with a hand held food processor, and add more seasoning if desired. If you're feeling a little bit more carnivorous, grill some smoked bacon until truly crispy, chop up and add after pureeing. 

Perfect served with a hunk of freshly made bread, but very satisfying all by itself.

I didn't take a picture of it, so here's a little product placement - try Black + Blum's range of lunchboxes! The stylish way to take your lunch to work, no need to be embarrassed by ugly tupperware! Visit them at http://www.black-blum.com/homepage/

Sweet treats

New years are full of resolutions and unrealistic goals - no alcohol, running every day, cabbage soup, detoxes, urgh. But we all know that if we set such resolutions, chances are we'll fall off the wagon and normally with quite a bump. I've started 2012 with a real health boost (and it's paying off, 9lb lost so far!), but still treating my sweet tooth. Here's my ultimate fix - not too sweet, but packed full of flavours. The rock salt is a brilliant addition and I've tried to keep the ingredients as wholesome and organic as possible. No refined sugars here! Enjoy, peapods x

The Ultimate LittlePod Peanut Butter Cookies

(makes about 12)


Ingredients:


125g spelt flour (or a wholewheat flour if you can't get spelt)
1 tsp baking powder
225g peanut butter (my favourite is Whole Earth organic smooth, with no added sugar)
40g cacao nibs (this is fermented cocoa beans, the origin of chocolate! If you can't find them, use the highest content chocolate you can find)
75ml extra virgin olive oil
170g agave syrup (becoming more readily available, as are natural sweeteners like Sweet Freedom, made from fruit sugars and tastes like honey)
1 tsp coarse sea salt
2 tsp LittlePod vanilla extract

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350F degrees.

Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt in one mixing bowl, then in a separate larger bowl, combine the peanut butter, agave, olive oil, and vanilla essence, stirring until completely combined. Pour the flour mixture over the peanut butter mixture and stir until nearly mixed, but still a bit dusty looking. Let sit for five minutes, give one more quick stir, just a stroke or two. Now drop by heaping tablespoonfuls onto parchment-lined baking trays. Press down on each one gently with the back of a fork. I sprinkled a bit more sea salt on a this point, it looks lovely and adds another kick to the cookies. Bake for 10 minutes, until a lovely golden colour. Let cool five minutes and transfer to a cooling rack.

Normally I prefer the taste of cookie dough, and always get a bit disappointed with the final result. Trust me, you won't have that problem with these! And full of healthy bits, no sugar and no butter!

Inspired by the brilliant http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/peanut-butter-cookies-recipe.html