Soup for the soul

Tue, 08 Aug 2006 23:22:50 +0100

Terry reminded me this evening not to take everything so seriously. One function the blog serves is to be my online bile-duct and pressure-release valve so I guess if it's getting hot on here it's helping me stay cool. Anyway to change pace...

A week ago I went back on Weight Watchers to try and get my weight back under control. After success a couple of years ago (where I went from 82 to 70 kilos over about 6-7 months) I have reached the heady heights of 86kg recently and I didn't like where it was going.

I really want to do the Shangri-La diet. I have the book and the theory seems to hold enough water that it's worth trying. However in practice I have found it very difficult to do. 400kcal of sugar is a lot when you try to dissolve it in water and putting an hour of nothing either side of that. Well I've found it a challenge.

On the other hand Weight Watchers (by which I mean I count points, I don't go to the meetings) fits me quite well. I've already managed to curb the uptick in my weight and with the exercise I'm getting from the bike think I should be able to bring my weight down to a more reasonable level and trim my body fat in 6 months or less.

However to keep to a reasonably low point count (I am starting at 28 points per day, I usually get down to about 24-25 when I have it going full-tilt) requires staple foods that are very low in points because I do enjoy snacking.

Soup is great for this. It's hearty, it's packed full of vegetables (well veg soup is anyway), and there's practically nothing bad about it from a Weight Watchers perspective. The brocolli & stilton pasta I had for lunch is, I guess, around 10-12 points. A large bowl of soup (with a hunk of bread - essential) about 6 points. You can see why soup works so well.

Tonights soup is a first in that I used two roasted butternut squash. I've never cooked with squashes before so I've no idea how it will turn out but it already smells great.

Tonights recipe:

Cut squashes into chunks
Lightly coat in oil and roast for 60mins (Gas Mark 6)
Put 2 tablespoons of oil in a soup vat
Sautee 3 large onions, as many carrots as you can find, 2 chillis, and a bell pepper
Blanche a load of french beans then chop and add to the vat
Sprinkle with parsley
Add a huge amount of courgette lightly peeled and roughly chopped
Add 4 pints of vegetable stock
Peel skins off roasted squashes and add
Add salt, pepper, and pepper balsemic sauce
Add 500g potatoes
Add any left over vegetables from the fridge
Simmer until it's good and done

Oh and here is the point tracking chart I created in case anyone else wants to have a go. It's my first attempt to use Adobe Illustrator and I don't think it came out too bad. The design is (I think) original although I was influenced by looking at some of the beautiful forms designed by David Seah. Comparing our efforts I don't think David has anything to be worried about ;-)

Curiouser and Curiouser! on cooking

Soup for the soul