Squashy lentil and bacon soup

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A couple of weeks back I hosted a small dinner party, for six people. A good time was had by all. The guests were very complimentary of my cooking and especially of this soup - which is great as autumn is heading our way, so I thought I would share. I found the recipe a long time ago and printed it off for my recipe binder. I'm pretty sure it came from Dinner At Home - some nice recipes there if anyone would like to visit.


Squashy lentil and bacon soup

1 butternut squash (peel and chopped into 1 inch-ish chunks)
3 slices bacon roughly chopped
2 leeks washed & chopped
2 medium carrots washed & chopped
Butter
1.5 litres of stock
A dash of milk (about a quarter of a pint)
A couple of good tablespoons of dried red lentils
Salt and Pepper to season


Method

1. Roughly chopped all you vegetables and bacon.
2. Fry the bacon in the butter (or a little oil, and add the butter to the pot just for taste later) on a low to medium heat. When the bacon is cooloured - not crisp - add the pieces of butternut squash, celery, leeks, and carrot and sweat off for 5 - 10 mins on a low heat. Keep things moving so that the vegetables soften rather than colour.
3. Add the stock - gauge the amount depending on how thick you would like your soup. Stir and let simmer for at least half an hour. Add your lentils and simmer for at least another half hour. If you leave the lid off the soup will become more concentrated.
4. After an hour I normally add some milk - about a quarter pint and just let simmer on a low heat for another 15 minutes.
5. Add salt & pepper to taste.
6. Once cooked, let cool for 10 minutes and then whizz with a hand blender.

I usually serve this with a swirl of cream and some parsley, but that is up to you!

This freezes fabulously and is great for a lunch with some fresh crusty bread.

Back to reality....

(image source: dailymail.co.uk)


After some time of happy excess, I stepped onto the scales this morning.

It was not good. For someone of my age and height.... well... the numbers are terrible. BMI of 29.6 terrible, if I listen to what the NHS website has to say. I've never seriously had to diet before, I've always been lucky enough that my weight has been self-sustaining, requiring the odd tweak. I knew things had changed but... well, it's a bit of a shock.

Does anyone have any tips on how to deal with this, motivation-wise? I know the science of it, I know the 'excercise more, eat less...' but its the motivation that causes problems! You would think just knowing that I am overweight would provide the motivation, but somehow it doesn't.

I don't want to join Weight Watchers or any such group like that - I find them expensive and I am loathe to pay for someone else to tell me how much I weigh! Does anyone have any better ideas?

On being a wife

I've been a wife for almost 2 weeks now. Someones comments this morning made me wonder - does it feel any different to being partnered with someone but unmarried?

The odd thing is, somehow it does feel different. The problem is, I don't know how to explain the difference.

For the past week, I have really just wanted to be at home. Unfortunately for one reason or another we have been called out practically every day, but I am looking forward to a quiet weekend (well... apart from cooking for my parents and some friends on Saturday evening...)

I find myself taking even more pleasure than usual in my household tasks. There are a lot of things I would like to do around our little home, but we don't have the money for them. All that means is a little creative thinking, of course - and some patience. I feel more contented and find that I am worrying less about the little things outside of my home - work, my voluntary commitments. Not that I give them any less of my effort or time, simply that they are not the focus of my life, merely a small part of it. My heart tells me my focus is at home, as a wife, and I am happy with that.

July 25th, 2009

I will be back to blogging soon.... right now, I'm enjoying marital bliss :)

Yoghurt, Cheap Bolognese and One Cucumber

Yup, the above is what I am writing about today... just not all together because that might taste a little odd. I promise, normal posting will resume but probably not until after the wedding!

Yoghurt! My kitchen nemesis! Oh, how long have I struggled to make yoghurt... I just can't do it. It doesn't matter how long I leave it for, whether 2 hours or 24, it ALWAYS turns out lumpy, watery, separated and rather vile looking. If I strain it for 24 hours in a cloth though, it does make passable soft cheese. Any tips anyone? What am I doing wrong? Why am I constantly, infuriatingly outwitted by yoghurt?

Next, bolognese! I just wanted to let anyone who might be reading know that they have a nice offer on at M&S... a packet of pasta, a sauce, and 2 ciabatta breads for £3. I know what your thinking - not all that cheap, not very thrifty, still M & S prices, you could make it cheaper. That's what I thought! Until I realised.... unlike a lot of stores, their own brand bolognese sauce already has meat in it! Making it fairly cheap for a bolognese of M & S quality...

And.... cucumber! I have a cucumber that I grew all by myself, it my kitchen window. It's currently doubling in size every day... I don't have a picture of it as it is now, but here it is as a baby!

Have a good weekend, all!

Weddings as a template for marriage

I believe that a wedding shouldn’t just be about having a fun and memorable day. It should include those things of course – but a wedding should also be representative of the couple, and their marriage. This indicates to me that no two weddings will be the same, as no two couples will be the same. There is no ‘right’ way to do a wedding.

An acquaintance of mine is getting married not long before I am. This particular couple have taken out a £15,000 loan to see them through their wedding. I smiled politely upon hearing this, murmuring ‘oh yes, expensive things are weddings, hmm…’ but I have to say my heart skipped a beat.

Our wedding is on track to come in around the £2,000 mark. That includes everything from the dress to the church and the reception venue and food. The only thing it doesn’t include is a honeymoon.

We thought about getting a loan, to start with, and having a big wedding at a beautiful renovated barn in the Cotswolds. I even went to see it and started investigating caterers. One day though, we were talking together and that ‘weddings should be representative of the marriage the couple intend to have’ thing cropped up. Was that really the kind of marriage we wanted? The example we wanted to show to friends and family? More importantly, was that really the kind of people we are?

Starting out our married life with a huge debt that would take years to pay off? I was always bought up to only spend what I earn – even our mortgage makes me a little uncomfortable to be honest! J is the same – he was not brought up in a country which has quite the culture of ‘excess’ we have here in Britain. The more we thought about it, the more we realised that we wanted a marriage rather than a wedding.

We aren’t having a honeymoon, because we can’t afford one. Simple as that and I am not ashamed of it – we’re young, maybe in a couple of years we can afford to go somewhere nice. Our savings are going on paying for the wedding up front, so we have zero debts (other than that pesky mortgage….) to take into our married life. Closer to the time, we’ll look at the bank balances and see if perhaps we can afford a weekend by the sea or some such, just to unwind. But if we can’t? I won’t mind. After all, I want my marriage to be ‘at home’, not a week in Tenerife.

Does anyone out there have wedding stories to share? Oh - and cheap honeymoon tips please ;)

A lovely article

I just came across this lovely article on war time economy in one of the online newspapers, and I thought perhaps some readers might be interested.

If you scroll down to the bottom and click on the links, it can take you to some actual old articles.

Happy reading!