I love this time of year! I love the weather getting colder and I especially love making delicious, filling and healthy soups. We often have soup as a meal and both my kids like dipping chunks of bread or scones into their bowls. Soup is a great and filling way of getting lots of goodness into your kids without them actually realising what is in it. Even The Boy likes soup and his favourite is his Mummy’s Chicken Soup who’s recipe I am afraid I won’t be sharing with any of you lovely people as it’s a well guarded secret! But I hope you enjoy these delicious soup recipes.
Baked Potato soup:
2 baking / jacket potatoes (about 1/2 kg)
40g plain flour
750ml milk
50g grated cheddar cheese (the stronger the better)
A small handful of chopped spring onions / scallions
125g sour cream
Pierce the potatoes a few times with a fork then cook either in the oven at 200 degrees C for about an hour or in the microwave until soft. Once cooked scoop out the flesh and mash. Put the flour in a saucepan on a medium heat then gradually add the milk and stir it with a whisk or fork until mixed well with no lumps. Cook over a medium heat, stirring constantly, until it is thick. Then add the mashed potatoes, the cheese and some black pepper and keep stirring until the cheese has melted. Stir in the sour cream and the onions and cook on a low heat for about 8-10 minutes until the soup is hot but not boiling. You can add some toppings if you like such as more cheese, some more onions, some croutons or some crumbled bacon.
This soup just sums up winter for me and is really delicious. I made it for Halloween but it was so popular I have since made it a few more times and it’s just as yummy.
This soup is a soup version of one of my kids’ favourite dishes – cod mixed in with mashed potato and cheese. It can be pureed for little babies and you can add in some baby pasta to make it even more filling.
Carrot and sweet potato soup:
I hate wasting food so I found some sweet potatoes and carrots in my kitchen that really needed using up so I made up this recipe and the result was really delicious.
1 medium onion
1/2 tbsp ground cinnamon
6 small sweet potatoes
4 medium carrots
half a vegetable or chicken stock cube, low salt cube or baby stock cube
2 tbsp honey
Chop the onion finely then fry in some olive oil until translucent. Add in the cinnamon and fry for a couple more minutes until it is very fragrant. Peel and chop the sweet potatoes and carrots into cubes and add them to the pan. Fry it all for a few more minutes then add the stock cube and enough boiling water to cover it all. Then add some seasoning if you wish. Bring it all to the boil then simmer until all the vegetables are soft. With a hand blender blitz it up until it is smooth then add in the honey (leave out for under 1’s) and season again if you wish before serving.
