am desperatly trying to get an emergency fund together. at the moment i have 12 pounds in my emergency fund so hoping for v v small emergency

By any chance have you checked the temperature in your fridge lately? If it's too warm, even by only a few degrees, it will cause milk to spoil extremely fast. Also, do not keep milk in the door! That's the warmest part of the fridge and the absolute worst place to keep milk, unless you go through....

Hi everyone

Right, i have never made soup before, so have been trying to come up with some nice ideas.
So, my new slow cooker came with some recipes, and these 3 soups were included.
I thought i'd post them here as i have heard a few people talking about soups, and i wrote them out earlier for a different thread where someone was asking about freezing soups.
They are slow cooker, vegetarian soups.

I am just about managing to stay within my budget, which is good. I think i'm going to start meal planning breakfasts and snacks, as it helps

Anyway, here are the soups:

All of these serve 4



Leek and potato soup:
25g butter
250g thinly sliced potatoes
900g thinly slices leeks
15g Plain flour
1pint veg stock
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 pt milk.

Heat the butter in a large pan and fry veg in it for 2-3mins
Stir in the flour and add stock
season to taste
bring to boil, stirring continuously.
place mixture in the slow cooker for 3-4hrs (HIGH) or 8-9hrs (LOW)
Add milk for the last 30mins.


Chunky Veg Chilli:

1courgette, cut into 1cm pieces
1pepper (any colour, i prefer red), chopped roughly
75g chopped onion
75g chopped celery
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1-3 tsp chilli powder (depending on your personal preference)
1tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp ground cumin
2xtins of chopped tomatoes
1 tin sweetcorn
1 tin kidney beans
1 jar of salsa

Add everything to the slow cooker, stir
Cook on HIGH for 4-5 hrs, or LOW for 9-10hrs.

Carrot and Lentil Soup:
2tsp olive oil
2tsp grated ginger
1tsp each of cumin, chilli powder, curry powder and ground coriander
1 and a half red onions, diced finely
2 parsnips, chopped
2 sticks celery
600g carrots, slices
180g red split lentils, washed
50g brown basmati rice
1.3 lires veg stock
2tsp lime juice
4tsp chopped coriander
1 can coconut milk

Heat oil in pan, add ginger, cumin, chilli powder, curry powder and ground coriander, fry on high heat for 3 mins.

Turn down heat and add veggies.

In a seperate pan, boil the lentils for 10mins.

Drain lentils an add to the slow cooker, along with the contents of the other pan, plus the rice.

Stir in the stock.

Cook for 3-4hours (HIGH) or 6-7hours (LOW).

Using a jug/ladle, remove half the soup and set aside.
Add the coconut milk, lime juice and coriander to the slow cooker, and using a hand blender, liquidize the soup.

Then return the un-blended half of the soup, to the slow cooker.

Stir all together, and continue to heat on HIGH for another 20mins.