ROTW | Winter veg soup | Weight loss!

Hello my lovelies!
Woah Uni deadlines are a little tight this week. I've been working my butt off to get it all done, and as a result, Bo Blab has suffered!

So a massive sorry for the lack of posts, but until I have time to write a lengthily post (probably about the Clothes Show) - Here's a little update about this week!

 

Both me & the Creature have been talking about getting healthy, and after a hard look in the mirror, and seeing the winter weight creeping on I've realised I really need to stop eating left over birthday cake (which is massive, chocolate, and seriously irresistible - Mega will power needed)

So my loves, I thought I would share my recipe for a  yummy waist friendly winter soup!

When I first came to university, I was 12st, size 14 and on the chubby side. I'm only a little 5ft2 so obviously, this wasn't healthy. It was basically a result of quitting my dance classes & copious amounts of alcohol & takeaways over the summer! (admittedly one of the best summers ever!)
But the happiness didn't last. During my first year I studied Costume & the work load was so heavy I never seemed to have any time to go out drinking (like most of my friends) and sometimes no time to even eat!

I was seriously drained, which ultimately lead me to swapping courses & becoming a journalist. But by cutting out alcohol and portion sizes I managed to loose a hell of a lot of weight!

First thing, I bought a £5 hand blender from Tesco, and a big bag of veg & made a vegetable soup. The soup was huge and with a slice of bread filled me up more than any processed s**t in my freezer. I cut out alcohol completely (well almost..) & low and behold, a few weeks later my jeans were getting looser!

So anyways enough yapping about myself, here is the recipe!

Ingredients:

2x medium carrot
2x medium parsnips
1x swede
2x medium potatoes
2x red onion
(you can get a bag with all of the above in Tesco for £1.50!!)
Garlic
Rosemary
salt & pepper
olive oil.
2 pints of veg or chicken stock
- This makes about 6  large portions

Step 1: Prep the veg
First preheat your oven to 180'c that way your oven will be ready to go by the time you've finished chopping.
Peel & roughly chop all the veg, no need to be pretty, you'll be blending them later anyways (try to keep them all at the same sort of size though for even cooking)

Place the chopped veggies, whole garlic cloves in a deep roasting tin (you can buy these from Wilkinsons for pennies!) and sprinkle your rosemary, salt and pepper over the top.
- If you're a student & think fresh herbs are too expensive, think again! I bought a bag with aprox 20 stalks of rosemary for 80p & froze them! They don't go off & defrost in seconds

Lastly in the prep stage, coat the veg with about 2tbsp of olive oil. You can add more if you like, but its just to help the veggies get nice and golden.

Step 2: The roasting

By now your oven should be the right temperature, bang your raw veggies into the oven for 1 1/2 hours, turning every half an hour. Depending on the amounts of veggies, time may differ. But you're a smart cookie, just prod them with a knife if unsure & don't let them burn!!

This recipe is so so easy, no skill involved, just bang in the oven & let it work its magic.
Once cooked they should look golden & yummy & all veg should be soft.

 

Step 3 : Blending

 

Either use a hand bender or a food processor, either will do. But depending on how much you've made you may need to divide into batches (if so, keep a big bowl or pan on hand)

I did mine in two batches, so add the pint of stock to a pan & half the veggies & blend until smooth. This time however I kept a few carrots & parsnips back & chopped them into rough pieces to add a chunky element at the end.

 

Once blended & at the desired consistency (add more stock/or more veg if too thick or thin- trail and error!) ladle yourself a bowl & enjoy!

 

I added a little bit of parsley to mine, but alternatively you could add cream (naughty naughty) or any other herbs you like to the soup for extra flavour.

 

 

& so finally we get to the nitty gritty, the weightloss photos. To be fair, compared to many bloggers who have gone through a weight loss journey, mine is no where near as impressive, but I have lost over 2st, I'm a healthy size 10-12 & feel a lot healthier than I did.

All from cutting out alcohol & eating food I know is good for me!

 

 

Thanks for reading guys

 & I hope you try my recipe!