The Ultimate Biggest Losers - counting the pennies, losing the pounds

cw18 wrote: »

I've been known to eat a homemade thick veg soup for days on end (one batch makes enough for about 2 weeks, but it freezes well). It does take a while to prep the veg though, and I use a blender to whizz it to smooth (recently had to buy a glass jug one after the plastic one I had started to show hairline fractures from blending while it was still warm). It's fillimg because a portion contains about 6g of fibre - which is a third of the recommended daily minimum. (And if I do a lot exercise in a morning, I just add a slice or two of bread - normally the half & half type or wholemeal or a seeded/granary - for dunking and further increasing the fibre count)

Let me know if you'd like the recipe, and I'll copy/paste it from where I keep it into a post on here

lulu_92 wrote: »

That sounds amazing, recipe please! I hate chunky soups so a smooth one will be amazing for me!

• Onions, Raw, Average-247g (I use 2-3 onions)
• Potatoes, Baking, Raw, Average-420g (a couple of good sized potatoes? and I don't peel them as that retains more fibre)
• Cauliflower, Raw, Average-1098g (I use a whole cauli including the thick stalk)
• Cabbage, White, Raw, Average-656g (I normally use a whole small one, or half a large one)
• Squash, Winter, Butternut, Raw, Prepared, Average-652g (normally one very large squash, peeled and seeded. a couple of smaller ones if the store doesn't have any 'giants'. during the halloween seaason you can replace this with pumpkin flesh which works just as well )
• Leeks, Raw, Trimmed, Average-371g (1-2 leeks)
• Peppers, Yellow, Raw, Unprepared, Average-200g (1 pepper)
• Celery, Raw, Trimmed-159g (a few sticks - can be omitted, but it's a godo way to use the stuff up)
• Garlic, Raw, Average-10g (1-3 cloves to taste)
• Stock, Herb Infusion, As Sold, Stock Pot, Knorr-1 Pot/28g (not essential - can add dried herbs instead, but I had these in the house)
• Carrots, Raw, Scrubbed, Average-449g (I normally add 3 large carrots, but it varies per batch depending on the size of the cauli and cabbage I get - the larger they are, the more carrot I add)
• Ground Black Pepper - to taste (I add a bit while cooking, and often put a grating over as I serve)

• prep all the veg, and chop it all up - doesn't need to be in tiny pieces, but the thick stalks from the cabbage and cauli benefit from being smaller
• put into a pan (needs to be a large one - I use a huge stockpot, or my pressure cooker having removed the rubber seal from the lid so it works as a normal pan - you may need to hold back the cabbage to add after it all starts to reduce!) with enough water to come a few inches up (keep an eye on the pan while cooking and add more if you need to. if it still looks too thick when you blend you can add more at that point too)
• bring to the boil, then reduce heat and simmer and leave to cook until all the veg is soft
• leave to cool for a while (or completely if your blender has a plastic jug - expensive lesson learned here!), then blend in lots of small batches - you'll need a container to put all the blended soup into to stir round before portioning up
• I love it served with a grinding of black pepper, and for total luxury a teaspoon or two of creme fraiche