Cream (cauliflower) of Mushroom Soup

So I made a cream of mushroom soup following the pizza. It turned out to be super easy and delicious! I pretty much winged the recipe - found a few online and combined them or rolled with what I had to make my own recipe. I literally threw everything into one pot and use a frying pan just for a few ingredients and a blender. (Unless you like chunky soup?)

1. Cut off the florets (I didn't worry too much about leaving in too much stemmy bits or anything)

2. Add a good amount of vegetable stock and milk (keep it dairy free if you want a vegan recipe).
Add in as much as you want - I probably did 750ml stock and 400ml milk or so.

3. Simmer away until the cauliflower is tender. I just left it there for about 15 minutes...

4. Meanwhile the cauliflower cooks, chop up yo' mushrooms.

5. Chop up yo onions. Every soups gotta have onion. Unless its a specific onion-less soup.

6. Fry off those onions with some minced garlic and a touch of oil. Add the mushrooms when the onions are brown.

7. Cook off the mushrooms until you think it's done. Remember to season with pepper and salt!
It took me about 10 minutes and I reduced it down until there wasn't much juices left as well.

8. Blend the cauliflower in a blender until smooth and pour it back into the pot. Season with some salt.
Slight warning: like most thick soups, once it is smooth it will spit at you and burn you. Don't be offended, it's normal.
9. Add rice or grains to the soup if you want to make it heartier - remember to add more liquid to cook them off.

10. Add the mushroom mixture and simmer away for another 15 minutes or so to infuse all the flavours together.
Add some more stock/milk if  the soup is looking too thick.
And feel free to add any garnishes (I added some scallions right at the end before I turned the stove off.)

Andddddddddd.... voilà! 

It's delicious. It's healthy. It got a mother's seal of approval. GO MAKE IT!

Recent Food Favourites

Ever since working during the Christmas period, I never got back into the habit of eating healthy. Now that work has died down, I've only got one job and I'm focusing more on studying and being the average uni student I've been able to take the time to eat proper food and be on the hunt for healthy ideas.

 In love with PB2: This is only my second jar. I believe there will be many more to follow. It's perfect to mix into smoothies, recipes, mix with fancy milk or just water to have as regular peanut butter, THE OPTIONS ARE LIMITLESS

Agave Nectar: If you're like me and you don't like the taste of honey, this is a good option. It's cheaper than real maple syrup (the real stuff is exy!) healthier than golden syrup and other flavoured syrups.

Lentils: So many options with this, you can get plain lentils and add your own spices and sauces to create your own flavour, or bet a lazy pig and get a prepacked one like me! hahaha! I like to add some extra spices I have and a tin of crushed tomatoes to give it some extra zing :)

Muesli: I find that muesli fuels me for longer than regular cereal (even the healthy natural kind) whether it be corn flakes, rice flakes etc. I think the oats, dried fruit and higher doses of fibre in muesli keeps my energy going for longer.

Dark chocolate: Always a fave. Recently found this baby at a health food store, it's basically a healthier vegan version of Crunchie chocolate by Nestle. Of course the dark chocolate is delicious but I love the crispy quinoa puffs in it as well.

Enjoying colour coordinating my flatlays!

I made a banana bread this week which was a total hit - if its mother approved, it means it's good. Unlike regular banana breads which I find quite tough, stale-ish and really dense, this one was super fluffy, light and soft. I used a recipe I found online but tweaked it a bit to get the recipe below:

Wet Ingredients:

1/2 cup oil (I used a mix of rice bran and olive oil)
3/4 cup brown sugar (I used muscavado sugar)
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 large overripe bananas

Dry Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup - 1 3/4 cup self raising flour (original recipe called for 1 1/2 cup but I added a pinch more because it seemed too runny)
1/2 tsp salt

Method:

1. Mash up the bananas with a fork or whatever tickles your fancy.
2. In a bowl, mix the oil, sugar, eggs and vanilla together. Mix REALLY well. Werk it.
3. Add that banana mush to the bowl.
4. Sift in the flour and salt into the bowl (save on those dishes amirite?)
5. Bake at 170 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes, then turn it down to 155 degrees after 30-40 min. (Use your own judgement on how brown it is, it shouldn't be too brown at this point, but fully risen.)