SoupaDoupa or Healthy "Tomato" Soup

Me again, eek I'm on a roll trying to share my recipes with you..

This soup is a staple in our house because we all love it and its sooooooo easy to make. I don't even know where it came from, I've been making it for years and it just developed over time.

It's souper easy (sorrynotsorry) and can be bunged in the slow cooker or done in a big ole pan on the stove depending what else you got going on that day.

Today I made it on the stove while I was making breakfast but the last time I made it was when we had a play date so it was easier for me to bung in the slow cooker that morning, let it do its thing, hand blend it in there when cooked and then keep in the the slow cooker to keep warm.

As with most of my cooking I make a big ole batch so I have tons to freeze into individual portions to whip out of the freezer when needed.

This is sooooooo easy and so jam packed with healthful foods it makes me never want to eat a tin of tomato soup ever again. It really is that easy to make there is no excuse and the ingredients are most likely store cupboard staples so its really cheap to make.

The portions and any variants of the ingredients just depend what i can find in the fridge when I'm making it and if there is extra verge that needs to be used up that will end up in there too but what i am sharing with you is generally the basis of SoupaDoupa ( I am so corny I know).

I will share with you what I put in it today which make enough for about 5 -6 big bowls.

Ingredients
2 orange peppers(thats what i used today but often red, yellow too)
8 carrots ( 8 because thats what i had left in the fridge)
6 medium potatoes ( often add sweet potatoes in too but didn't have any today)
1 onion ( often make it without onion if i don't have any)
2 tins of chopped tomatoes
2 stock cubes or homemade stock (whatever you happen to have) veg or chicken, or bouillion, seriously whatever you have
Water (I start with enough to cover the ingredients while it boils)

Method
Chop everything up, put in a pan, pour the water in
Leave it until al the ingredients have softened
Remove from the heat
Blend (with a hand blender or in a blender)
Add more water to desired consistency  (reheat if necessary)

Thats it, no really.

let me know what you think. let me know what variants you make, if you add anything else in.

Thank you for reading

Love Chele Tweet

Stock Pot Beef Goulash

I have been making this for probably about 10 years, it's a warming comfort food winter dish vibe and always makes me feel full and cosy. It's real comfort food. We like to have it with some yummy crusty bread and butter

We try to make all our meals baby friendly as we generally give Gracie and Alfie bits of what we eat. They are not keen on this though as they are not fond of potato and I think the tomatoiness (that's a word right?) of the stew is a bit rich for them. You could give this to your baby either puréed or as is though I would recommend using a low salt stock or making your own.

Again, in the interest of time management and efficiency I always make a large batch of this so that I can freeze some for another nights dinner the following week or so. I probably make

enough for 4 grown men (oops!). I only put in the amount of potatoes I want for that nights dinner so say just enough for Andy and I as I find the potatoes don't freeze well. I will just boil or mash some more potatoes when we come to eat the batch I have frozen.

You could also make this on the hob or in a casserole dish in the oven.

I should mention as I have said before I'm not exactly a stickler for measurements and I have come to know roughly what I can chuck in and what I can't eek.

We are having it tonight and I can't wait!

Let me know if you try it and what you think.

So for a big ole batch you will need roughly:
(half if you just want to make for 2 hungry people and not freeze any)
- diced lean beef 800g
- 1 large red pepper
- an onion (sometimes I do it without onion, in these pics I used onion)
- Potatoes ( I generally work on maybe 4 small potatoes per person)
- tub of mushrooms (we like chestnut)
- 3-4 cloves of crushed garlic
- about 1tbsp of paprika
- 2 tins of chopped tomatoes
- your beef stock with approx a pint of water (best to add the water slowly and top up where need to rather than have it too watery
- cornflour for thickening

1. If I have time I will brown the beef first in a pan. Mostly I just chuck it in the stockpot.
2. Chuck in everything except the potatoes and cornflour
3. Leave in stockpot on high for approx 5 hours (or low for longer if you need to)
4. add the potatoes an hour or so before you intend to eat (so they don't go to mushy)
5. mix the cornflour in usual way with some cold water to form a paste and add until your goulash is at your desired thickness
6. Dunk in some crusty buttered bread and enjoy.....

Oh man I'm hungry now........

Love Chele
xx



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