Winter Warmer - Pumpkin Soup

It may not be every ones cup of tea, but the good old faithful pumpkin soup is hard to pass on a cold, rainy day. I've recently been battling a temperature and a sore throat so I thought what better way to nourish my body then with a bowl full of pumpkin and sweet potato. My pumpkin soup recipe is so healthy and filling making it my go to, quick, easy and oh so delicious winter meal.  

INGREDIENTS 

1 1/2 Sweet potato

1/3 large butternut pumpkin 

3 cloves of garlic 

Coconut Oil 

Vegetable stock

Pinch of cinnamon 

Pinch of nutmeg

METHOD

Peel the sweet potato and pumpkin. Cut into small pieces. 

Scatter the sweet potato and pumpkin on a baking tray. 

Peel the garlic cloves and add to the baking tray. 

Drizzle with coconut oil and pop into the oven at about 180C

After approximately 40 minutes the sweet potato and pumpkin should be soft and fragrant.

Once soft, add the pieces to a large pot. Pour in vegetable stock and add cinnamon and nutmeg and place over heat. 

Bring to the boil and cook for approximately 15 minutes.

Once all flavours have combined and heated through, take the pot off heat. 

Leave to cool for a little bit.

Once the mixture has cooled, use a blender or thermomix to blend into a smooth mixture.

Serve with a sprinkle of spring onion, cheese and a dash of sour cream (if you aren't vegan).

Sooo DELICIOUS. 

This is the type of meal that I make up on the spot and don't measure. So if you are after more flavour add extra cinnamon and nutmeg, cook the sweet potato and pumpkin with onion or add more vegetables to the mix. If you want a thinner soup just add more stock or water to the mix and this will add more moisture to the soup. 

CAKE FACE

I caught a taxi the other night and struck up a conversation with the lovely man driving the cab. We spoke for the 20 minutes it took to get me home. He spoke fondly of his wife and family, I spoke of my night and my plans for the weekend. Very casual, idle chit chat, but it was nice to connect with a complete stranger who you knew was a kind, generous soul. As I was hopping out of the taxi he said 'are you from here, Sydney I mean?'. I told him that I wasn't and he said 'I can tell, please don't let this place change you.' I walked the rest of the way home with his statement going round and round in my head.

I have always been one of those people who says good morning to every random stranger that walks past or is happy to strike up a conversation with anyone. Always happy to offer a helping hand or to meet new people. I found the taxi drivers comment distressing because it meant that to him, I was a minority. To him most people were the opposite, cold, distant and not eager to go out of their way to be kind. 

I felt so disheartened by this. Happy that he thought well of me, but disheartened that there were so many individuals out there who were the opposite. I was sad in human kind for the way we have become. That a simple small thing for someone is now viewed as a hassle; to be kind to a stranger is now few and far between. 

So when I went to coffee the other day I was so surprised when the waiter gave me free cake. The man had no hidden agenda it was just a beautiful sunday morning and he felt like being selfless and providing myself and my friend with cake. Immediately my spirits soared and my faith was once again restored in human kind. I know what you are probably thinking 'is this chick on crack, he gave her some cake' but it is about more than the cake. It is about doing a nice gesture that you as an individual gain nothing from. It is about being kind without receiving any benefits from your kindness. Instead of doing something out of selfishness this was an act purely out of compassion. 

To the man at the coffee shop you will never know just what that piece of cake meant. Other than it being absolutely delicious (summer bod you can wait) it showed me that there are still people out there willing to do things for others without benefit for themselves. Thanks Mr cake man.

XOXO

Sydney Tea Festival

Tea enthusiasts, if you missed the annual Sydney Tea festival on the weekend then boy did you miss out. I was in tea heaven. As I walked through the door I smelt cinnamon and nutmeg, fruity aromatics and baked goods. I knew from that moment forward it was going to be a good day. 

Three of my friends and I strolled through Carriageworks taste testing tea to our hearts content. Some were aromatic, delicious and moreish, others were less to be desired. Each various tea adding a story an experience to that of tea tasting. The tea stalls were a mix of various teas from green, peppermint to hibiscus, served by sexy men with beards and man buns. Scattered throughout the stalls were tempting sweet and savoury treats. I consumed salted caramel macaroons, vegan cherry ripe granola, lemon semolina bars and chocolate ganache. Any idealisations of a summer bod were out the window with zero thoughts of regret and it felt good. 

For those of you who aren't lovers of tea hopefully you got dragged along to the festival to just share in the atmosphere. I am not sure my friend was impressed when we rocked up. She saw the sign stating 'Sydney Tea Festival' and goes 'f*ck right when all I wanted was a coffee.' Bless her cotton socks. So after hours of tea tasting we took her for coffee at the end and stuffed our faces with dumplings. Oh what a glorious day 

XOXO

 This my friends is a face of pure content :D 

Homemade Muesli Bars

I have such a sweet tooth and I usually dislike all of these 'healthy' takes on naughty treats. Sweet potato brownies were inedible and chickpea cookies were just all sorts of wrong. So you can understand my hesitation when it came to making a new 'healthy' treat. To my surprise this one was actually delicious. So delicious that they were gone within 24 hours. 

Ingredients:
2 cups rolled oats
1 cup desiccated coconut
1/2 cup wholemeal plain flour
1/4 cup pepitas 
1/4 cup flaked almonds
1 cup dried fruit
1 teaspoon bicarbonate soda
1/4 teaspoon sea salt flakes
1/3 virgin coconut oil
3/4 rice malt syrup or honey
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract


Method:
Preheat oven to 170
Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. For the 1 cup of dried fruit originally the recipe was supposed to have 1/4 each of sultanas, goji berries and dried cranberries. Im not really the biggest fan of those dried fruits so I added half a cup of dates and half a cup of dried apricots (in my opinion this was the better choice) Meanwhile place oil and syrup in a small saucepan; bring to the boil and boil until the oil is melted. Remove mixture from heat and stir in extract
Add the oil mixture to your bowl of dry ingredients and stir. If the mixture seems still use your hands to combine the mixture more thoroughly. Spoon mixture into a prepared pan and press down firmly. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden. Remove from over. Cool on wire rack and then enjoy :D 

Food: Vegetable Chilli Pie

Now I can't take credit for this delicious creation we will have to thank Mr Jamie Oliver for that, but let me say that that this is one delectable pie. Over the last few months I have not been eating meat for some unknown reason so whilst my love for the veggie life continues why not take advantage and start making some flavour packed healthy vegetarian meals. This Vegetable Chilli Pie is seriously my go to meal when I am trying to use left over ingredients on a freezing winter night. Trust me when I say you won't be disappointed. 

Oh, and I should apologise for the photography skills. I was simultaneously dancing and babysitting a little munchkin whilst trying to make dinner. Needless to say more of the cottage pie topping ended up in his mouth than on top of the pie. 

Ingredients 

3 potatoes

1/2 sweet potato

1 tin of beans - whatever is in the cupboard

2 cloves of garlic

1 stick of celery

1/2 tbsp cumin seeds

1 small bunch of fresh coriander 

1 fresh chilli

1 red onion

100g harred roasted peppers (capsicums)

1 tbsp sour cream

cheddar cheese

Pinch of smoked paprika 

Method:

Peel potato and sweet potato and cut into small chunks. Place into a steamer saucepan and steam vegetables until soft.

Now that the potatoes are steamed through and softened. Place in a bowl and add sour cream. Mash the potato and sour cream until smooth. Roughly chop the coriander leaves  (not including the stalks) and fold them through the mash. Set to the side. 

Place a large saucepan on medium heat and add cumin seeds. Toast until fragrant then remove from pan. Place toasted cumin seeds into mortar and pestle. Pound until fine

Pick the coriander leaves and put aside, finely chop the stalks. Peel and finely chop the coriander stalks. Chop the garlic, chilli, onion and celery. 

Place in saucepan with a dash of olive oil and cook. Stir occasionally until softened. 

I did also add some chopped carrots and zucchini just to add some more vegetables so feel free to chuck and leftover veggies you have in the fridge into the mixture.

Add the drained beans and tinned tomatoes to the pan of softened vegetables. Stir occasionally and leave to cook for approximately 20 minutes or until thickened. 

Drain and roughly chop the peppers. Stir them into the vegetable mixture. Now tip the whole vegetable mixture into a large baking dish. 

Top with your mash and spread it out evenly, covering all of the vegetable mixture. Sprinkle a pinch of paprika onto the mash then add grated cheese.

Pop into the oven at 180C and cook pie for 30-40 minutes or until nice and golden onto. 

Soooooo we were so hungry I forgot to take a photo of the cooked pie. So instead here is my favourite little gremlin helping me out in the kitchen 

XOXO