Hi friends.
My apologies for the lack in posts these past couple of weeks. You see, while I usually love spending time in my kitchen and whipping up gourmet (and sometimes, not so gourmet) delights for my husband and I to enjoy, it seems we've cooked up a little something else. Yep, I'm in the family way.
What does that mean? It means for the past couple of weeks, I have not had the stomach (har har) to prepare food. In fact, most days I have a constant nagging nausea that goes away for fleeting moments but has left me drained by the time dinner rolls around. The food prep and cooking has fallen into the capable hands of my husband who is being a great sport about my complaining. In his words, apparently I sound like "Wah, wah, wah! Baby! Wah, wah, wah! Pregnant!" and "Could you please...?". Also in the past couple of weeks, we've started to be more proactive about housework and making our bed. We're starting to feel something more akin to being grown ups rather than playing house. So, yay us!
What does this pregnancy mean for the blog? At the moment, it's going to languish in the ethers of the internet while I rest and focus on not feeling sick. I still intend to use this blog as a way to document recipes and tips on how I cook them, but while I'm not cooking I won't be posting recipes. Fingers crossed the sickness goes away after the first trimester, otherwise it's going to be a longer hiatus than intended.
Thanks for reading, I really appreciate it and you. Hopefully I'll be back before long! Take care of yourselves, and experiment!
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Monday, May 7, 2012
Juicing and detox soup
So I went off the wagon this weekend. Yup, not only did I partake in Kentucky Fried Chicken pieces, but Sunday caught me with a McDonalds breakfast and a burger with chips for lunch. Both delicious, but horribly bad if I am going to get to my goal of 62 kilos in another 2 weeks time. So in the next couple of days, I am detoxing. Mega detoxing! I'm talking homemade juice and vegetable soup! No carbs (well, not a lot anyway) and no sugars (apart from those in fruit and veg). Do you juice? It's fun to come up with one that you like and that makes you feel good. Obviously, the more vegetables you put in as opposed to fruit is better for you, as vegetables have less sugar that fruit. If you want to have a look at juicing as a way of health and ridding your body of toxins, I'd suggest having a look at Raw Juices Can Save Your Life by Dr Sandra Cabot. Also, another good one is The Liver Cleansing Diet, also by Dr Cabot. No, I'm not sponsoring or getting paid (I wish!) but I have them both and have gone through the Liver Cleansing Diet, and I did feel better being on it. Anyways, this is a recipe blog, so I thought I'd share with you a really simple vegetable soup that I made last night. It's tasty and light, perfect for when you're feeling a little under the weather!
Vegetable Soup
Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 brown onions, diced
3 carrots sliced (feel free to use more!)
2 celery stalks, chopped (again, feel free to use more)
1 can whole peeled tomatoes (I use Ardmona, but any brand is fine)
1 tablespoon tomato paste (Ardmona again)
2.5 can fulls of water (what I mean here is this: when you put your tomatoes in the pot, fill the can with water 2.5 times)
Handful of fresh basil
Handful of fresh continental parsley
Directions
Heat up your soup pot. Mine is a 24 cm stock pot I got from Woolworths. When the pot is hot, pour in your olive oil, then add your onions. Lightly cook through until they start to go golden brown. Add your carrots, celery and tomatoes, then add your water using the method I discussed above. Mix that through then add the tomato paste, giving that a good stir. Then, after all that, add your basil and continental parsley by tearing it into chunks.
Let the soup come to a boil then lower the heat to a simmer until your carrots are cooked through properly. They should still be firm, but easy to bite through (I just took a piece out and bit into it.)
And with that you're done! If you're not dieting like I am, a nice crusty loaf would go perfectly with this soup!
You'll note that I didn't add any salt (not that I cook with much salt to begin with). The tomato paste has salt in it, but if you want a little more, then go ahead. You are cooking for you and your family, and cooking should be fun and to what you like to eat! Just don't go too overboard!
I'll see you all next time!
Vegetable Soup
Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 brown onions, diced
3 carrots sliced (feel free to use more!)
2 celery stalks, chopped (again, feel free to use more)
1 can whole peeled tomatoes (I use Ardmona, but any brand is fine)
1 tablespoon tomato paste (Ardmona again)
2.5 can fulls of water (what I mean here is this: when you put your tomatoes in the pot, fill the can with water 2.5 times)
Handful of fresh basil
Handful of fresh continental parsley
Directions
Heat up your soup pot. Mine is a 24 cm stock pot I got from Woolworths. When the pot is hot, pour in your olive oil, then add your onions. Lightly cook through until they start to go golden brown. Add your carrots, celery and tomatoes, then add your water using the method I discussed above. Mix that through then add the tomato paste, giving that a good stir. Then, after all that, add your basil and continental parsley by tearing it into chunks.
Let the soup come to a boil then lower the heat to a simmer until your carrots are cooked through properly. They should still be firm, but easy to bite through (I just took a piece out and bit into it.)
And with that you're done! If you're not dieting like I am, a nice crusty loaf would go perfectly with this soup!
You'll note that I didn't add any salt (not that I cook with much salt to begin with). The tomato paste has salt in it, but if you want a little more, then go ahead. You are cooking for you and your family, and cooking should be fun and to what you like to eat! Just don't go too overboard!
I'll see you all next time!
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