Yesterday I had to go to the shops, (well, not like I was forced to or anything) because I had ordered some thermal things from M&S that had to be collected in store. We also needed a few bits at home so I went to Waitrose as it is right in the town centre. Randomly I took a photo when I got home of all my purchases. I like seeing what other people buy so here is a treat for you all- plus you get to see how tiny the work surface is in my kitchen:
Although I must have packed some stuff away before I took it. Silly me. Anyway, I got the usual stuff ;bananas, clementines and plums (which were 3 for 2), salad, peppers, courgettes, aubergine, sweet potatoes, tinned tomatoes and tinned beans (although I did look at the dried beans but they didn’t have dried cannelini which are my fave), orange juice, cheese, Pure spread, olive oil, paracetamol, rosemary, black pepper and some montezuma’s chocolate (I have quite a collection but it is on offer!). Anyway, the peanut butter was reduced and I have no idea why as the best before date is months away (which is why I got one smooth and one crunchy). And I got some nice looking rosemary foccacia rolls, and some yummy looking fruit and seed English muffins- straight to the freezer as they went off the same day. I love a bargain! 🙂 I also got Vegetarian Living mag for me and Private Eye for Andy.
I also popped into Julain Graves and saw these yummy looking cocoa dusted almonds. I got Andy some chai tea (shhh) as I am sure our tea supplies are running low. I mean now I can open the tea cupboard without something falling on me, so that must mean we need more, right?
And there are the thermals. I have white vest ones already so I went for black this time and also tried some leggings- 25% off is not to be sniffed at, especially when it is freezing. I got ankle length leggings and they are really drag-along-the-floor-and-trip-me-up length. But I am short. Anyway they are super warm which is what counts.
The other day Mum and Dad had me over for lunch and my Mum made a lovely butternut and carrot soup. I love soups like that but got out of the habit of making them- a few years ago I would have soup for lunch all winter. So I made some myself.
Carrot, Butternut and Sweet Potato Soup:
I had some butternut that I already cubed and roasted with some rosemary, but you could do it with raw stuff.
In a pan soften 3 chopped carrots and 1 peeled and chopped sweet potato. I used about a tsp olive oil. If using raw butternut add it now too. I added mine a little later as it was soft from being roasted.
Then add a litre of hot water and some vegetable stock- I like this vecon stuff. Put the lid on and simmer for a while- maybe 30 mins? I do the fork test (eg poke a carrot with a fork, and if it is soft it is ready).
I added a bit more water here (I originally added only about 750ml I think) but it depends on how thick/ watery you like it really. Add in some rosemary and black pepper. Chilli would be nice too for a spicy soup- maybe I will try that next time
Then blend away until it turns into a lovely thick smooth soup. Of course you can leave some lumps if you like.
I had it with some sunflower ryvita with caramelised onion hummus- a tasty and veggie-packed lunch.
This made 4 good portions so I put the rest in the fridge for the next few days, although I am sure it would freeze fine too.
And as for the rest of the roasted butternut- it went into a chickpea stew. I am pretty sure it had red onion, red and yellow peppers, butternut squash, tomatoes, chickpeas, chilli and spinach. It was lovely anyway, plus it made 3 portions so I have 2 more in the freezer. My favourite kind of meal (and I even labelled them so no more mystery dinners).
So, what soups do you like? I like thick ones, no weird coloured water for me! I like the actual soup to be smooth but I don’t mind things like lentils or beans in there- makes it more filling. Anyway I quite enjoyed making it- pretty simple but it is quite nice to have different flavours and not always make the same one.
Mint tea (I condensed most of my mint teabags into one box- I thought it was all I had (Twinnings and Aldi) but then found a whole box of Whittards ones too. Having one a day will use them up pretty quick).
Plus porridge- Gingerbread porridge plus a spoonful of dark choc dreams and a topping of cinnamon. Tastes like a chocolate coated gingerbread cookie. Yum.
Clementines.
I could not resist a taste of 
Some dark chocolate with some lemongrass and vanilla tea. I went on a little walk and I needed a hot drink when I got back inside!
Bean and veggie bake, topped with cheese, and some sourdough. This is my fave way to eat veggies- all cooked up together- in this is onions, red and green peppers, tomatoes, beans, but we will add courgettes/ aubergine/ spinach depending on what we have in.
When wandering in Waitrose I saw these rice puddings- mango and coconut, so I had one warmed with half of a 
Now don’t worry, I have not gone crazy, and yes I know these are biscuits. The recipe is from 
The topping is the prettiest part. It is meant to be chocolate melted with some butter substitute (as it is a vegan book) but I used Dark chocolate dreams instead, and let me tell you that is the most amazing topping for anything, ever. Ever!
As I was giving some away for friends who came to visit. It was very crumbly to cut, but it was really worth it. Although next time I think I would just buy biscuits for the base.
I made some sugar carrots for the topping- something I have always wanted to do! I had to use my gel colours  (I keep them in the cute owl box) 🙂 I rolled the orange icing into balls, then rolled them into sort of sausage shapes making one end thin and one end fat. For the greens I rolled into very thin rolls, and used 2 for each carrot. I made a little hole in the end of the carrot with my little finger, and poked the greens in there. Then I used a knife to make nobbles on the carrots.
Hooray for my little carrots!
I baked the mixture in two tins, and then made some icing. Now my plan was to use coconut cream (the little tiny tins from Waitrose) to make a coconut icing. When you pour it out, it looks like loads! Anyway, I added in icing sugar and mixed until it was thick, and left it in the fridge to thicken further. I sandwiched the two cakes with some, and had the rest to put on top.
Now, the cakes were cool but I think the kitchen was warm because the icing really melted and kept pouring off the top of the cake. I shall call it a glaze. Andy’s Mum said she much preferred it to normal thick icing because it got in all the nooks and crannies. Anyway, it did taste really coconutty. More practise needed though!
I had some a day later and the icing had hardened more, so maybe that is the key.
From 
Alpro almond milk! I love the Provamel Almond milk but it is hard to find, and I like the unsweetened Ecomil but that is pretty expensive. I am excited that other companies are making almond milk anyway, especially as this is fortified with calcium and vitamins. 🙂 Plus it is cheaper than the Ecomil stuff.
Everything looks so pretty, and the world is so quiet too. You can’t see it as I was not sure how to zoom in, but all the branches of all the trees were covered in a thick icing layer of snow too.
It does not look so huge here, but it was! I did not even reach the neck. Just after this some girls came along and posed for pictures in front of it!
To get to the road, we have to drive along this path, and only a couple of other cars use it. Our actual road never gets gritted either, so that turns into an ice rink very quickly. Luckily it is flat, as a flat ice rink is much preferable to a steep one. The trouble is, a few cars drive (or people walk) and the snow gets compacted, then it freezes overnight. It’s silly because I can see the main roads from our house (and saw them on my walk) and they are fine, but it is getting to them that is hard. I have asked for a grit/ salt box before, because I am sure local residents would use it, but they always say no.
Here you can see the bubbles that appeared, before I covered it in more flour and water.
Then I had to make the dough- 300ml of the starter mix (which was very gloopy so I had to ladle it out), 500g flour (I did half wholemeal and half white), 200ml warm water and a pinch of salt.
It looked a bit messy in the bowl, and it took a lot of kneading, but it did come together to make quite a sticky dough. From things I had read on the internet, the dough would be wetter than a normal bread dough- something I read said to keep it as wet as you could bare.
Then it went back in the same bowl (I don’t like extra washing up, sorry!) which I coated with a little rapeseed oil.
I actually took some photos to see if it had risen or not, because I was having trouble working it out! Anyway, after a good few hours I kneaded it gently and shaped it into the dough shape. I made a makeshift proving basket by lining a pasta bowl with a teatowel, and left it overnight.
Again, I was not sure if it had risen in the morning.
But a look on the camera confirmed it! Or rather, it had spread!
It rose so much in the oven, I was shocked- I honestly think it doubled in height! I did slash the top with a serrated knife, but not deep enough it turns out because it sort of burst out the bottom.
I could not resist slicing it while it was still warm.
And enjoyed an end piece with some hummus for lunch. It has turned out really well for a first go- nice and chewy and it does have a faint sourdough taste. I think as the starter mix gets more mature the flavour will develop too.
And seriously, what do you think it looks like? I am still saying ET!