REVIEW: Glorious! SkinnyLicious Soups

Each month, I've been trying out some of the fab soups from Glorious! and sharing some of my favourites with you. This month, with it being January and all, I'm concentrating on the 'SkinnyLicious' range of soups.

These are delicious soups with a little secret; they all contain less than 2% fat and are under 150 calories per portion. For soups packed full of flavour and ingredients, this is amazing! It almost feels like they've got this wrong when you eat the soups as they are so creamy and filling.

I've been eating these soups for my lunches. With a high street sandwich having a calorie count of anything up to 600 calories, to have a bowl of soup for 150 calories is an amazing alternative. Even if you add a bread roll and some butter, it's still much better for you than that limp soggy 'meal deal' sandwich!

I'm sharing my 2 favourites in a bit more detail here...

Vietnamese Supergreen is a light, fragrant soup with peas, spinach and Vietnamese spices but it's still very filling due to the addition of lentils. I usually shy away from anything labelled 'green' and 'skinny' as so much of this tastes like I'm just eating blended grass and I'm not a cow! I needn't have worried though; this soup is far from that. It's delicious and really full of flavour.

Texan Four Bean Chilli is my absolute favourite of the SkinnyLicious soups. It is delicious; not too spicy, but definitely carries the flavour of the ancho chillies well. Again, the beans and basmati rice in it make for a filling meal in a way that won't see your waistline expanding and the added spices and red pepper pack a big flavour punch. I've had a whole tub of this for dinner with some bread on the side, felt completely stuffed and still been well within my calorie allowance for the day. Winner!

The SkinnyLicious range has 7 soups in total. For me, some other highlights are New England Butternut Squash and Cuban Creamed Corn. Give these or some of the other flavours a go; I bet you won't regret it!

If you do try these soups or the rest of the range, drop me a comment below. I'd love to know what you think of them.

Disclaimer: Glorious! sent me some of their soups to try and compensated me for my time in writing this review. As always, I wasn't expected to write a positive review and all views expressed are my own personal opinions.

Readers Cook: Chorizo and Butterbean Stew

I've been asked a few times what the best thing is about being a food blogger and my answer is always the same; knowing that people cook using my recipes and enjoy the results. From time to time, I get images sent to me over on Twitter of one of these dishes and most of the time I scream and run around the house doing a happy dance. Best. Feeling. EVER.

So, when I received a picture of my Chorizo and Butterbean Stew cooked by a Twitter follower I was delighted. Then I received another. And another. I could barely contain my excitement and I think I may have even spilled my coffee. Oops!

For some reason, you just love making this and I'm over the moon with the images you're sending to me. You guys are AWESOME. This is by far the recipe you love to cook and tell me about most often, so to celebrate I'm going to share the photos with ALL of you right now!

I'll admit I can't remember when each of these were sent to me, so they are in no particular order. I've also edited some of them to brighten them up a little bit etc. 

First up, it's the lovely @MattCheetham. He cooked this for his partner @bobbert_ (who is equally lovely, if you were wondering...) Matt's the handsome one in the first shot. I'm pretty impressed by his presentation and the fact he didn't slop the stew all over the bowl; I'm terrible for that. I also love the dedication to a full set of cutlery, even though there's no work for a knife with this dish!

Next up is a foodie I've 'known' on Twitter for quite some time, @DameChlorella. Wendy tweeted these pics and I was so happy to see my face on someone else's laptop in their kitchen. The BEST thing about blogging, summed up in one image! I love the little sprinkling of parsley on the finished stew as well as the chunky texture. Looks amazing.

The last of the stew in its original form is from @MattTheOtter. I think he may have been the first one to tell me he'd made the stew and it looks great! From the looks of it, he served it with farfalle pasta which is a great substitute for bread.

The last image I have is not my Chorizo stew at all, but rather an adaptation of it by @Steve_Reynolds. He's used a different kind of sausage for his stew but I bet it's still delicious. Thanks for sharing, Steve! I'm delighted you felt inspired by my recipe.

So, there you have it. A blog post created entirely from content provided by my wonderful readers.  Feels a little bit lazy really but hey, I did the work on the original recipe! Thank you so much once again to all of you who've made this and any of my other recipes and told me about it. Those of you who haven't told me, I really do love hearing from you so please do keep in touch. I'd also love to hear any suggestions or requests you have for future posts; after all, YOU are the reason my blog exists!

Smoky Paprika and Lime Nuts

Hello readers! I've got a really quick but exceedingly delicious recipe for you today, providing the perfect snack to munch away on at home or to throw into a lunchbox as a lovely savoury snack. Ladies and gents, I give you my Smoky Paprika and Lime Nuts!

These are really lovely. The first thing you'll taste is a hit of salty but acidic lime, followed by a bit of heat from the paprika; the final flavour is that of light smoke and the taste of the nut itself. I really like them as a savoury snack, particularly because I was getting so bored with munching on plain nuts.

You can use any nuts you like for this. I've used a mixed nuts selection from a local supermarket, but you could use just one type (cashews or almonds are particularly delicious) or if you're feeling flush you could use a deluxe nut mix that includes more expensive nuts such as pistachios and macadamias. It's completely up to you!

You may think I've used that little tiny cup as it makes for a pretty prop, but it's more than that! It contains what I would define as 'one portion' of these nuts; 25g or around 15-20 whole nuts. This comes to just under 150 calories, an amount I would usually define as the limit for a healthy snack.

A quick word about the oil... I've used Yare Valley Oak Smoked Rapeseed Oil. It gives these nuts a lovely enhanced smokyness but if you can't get hold of it, you could just use olive or vegetable oil and add an extra dash of smoked paprika to compensate. Of course, you'll get a little more heat then too but hey, you can't have it all ways! 

Finally, before we get to the recipe, I do need to ask you all what you think of the bowl... Cool, eh? Both the bowl and tiny cup are by Emma Bridgewater, my latest crockery obsession. This bowl is probably one of the most sought-after EB pieces right now too despite it being brand new. "Why's that?" I hear you ask; well, it's the spelling mistake of course! This has caused quite a stir amongst EB collectors as it has the potential to become a collector's item since EB are no longer selling them. It's not currently clear whether the unsold bowls will be destroyed or released as seconds, but one of them sold for almost 4 times the initial sale price on eBay yesterday, so I'm guessing this little bowl could become quite valuable! I'm not telling you what the mistake is, I want to see if you can spot it. If you can, leave me a comment below.

Enough of that, let's get down to the recipe...

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Smoky Paprika and Lime Nuts

by Kevin Chambers-Paston January-18-2016

A 10-minute snack that's perfect for nibbling whilst sitting in front of the TV or enjoying drinks with friends. They won't believe you made them yourself!

Ingredients

• 200g mixed nuts
• 0.5tbsp Yare Valley Oak Smoked Rapeseed Oil
• 0.5-1tsp smoked paprika (depending on how spicy you'd like the nuts to be)
• 0.5tsp salt (preferably fine salt to ensure even coverage)
• 0.5tbsp lime juice
• Zest of 1/4 lime

Instructions

1. Place the nuts, oil, paprika and salt into a pan over a medium heat. Roast for around 5 minutes until hot and toasty. 2. Remove from the heat, throw over the lime juice and zest then stir really well and tumble out onto a plate to cool. 3. Once cool, enjoy immediately or store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

Details

Prep time: 5m Cook time: 5m Total time: 10mYield: Just over 200g finished nuts

Note: Nutrition information is indicative only and will vary depending on exactly which ingredients you use.

For more great nutty snacks, check out these links:

• Walnut Brittle from Kavey Eats
• Warm Six-Spiced Party Nuts from The Veg Space

REVIEW: Glorious! Tuscan Chicken and Orzo Soup

The weather here has been pretty chilly these last few days and there's nothing I want more when that happens than chunky slices of bread and a hearty soup.

Glorious! sent me a selection of their meal soups this month to try and choose one to tell you all about. Of all those I tried, this Tuscan variety was my absolute favourite.

The Tuscan Chicken and Orzo Soup has a tomato base jam packed full of chunky vegetables, shredded chicken and orzo pasta. When Glorious! say that this is a meal soup, they really do mean it. There is such a volume of chunky ingredients that it really is a meal in a soup; not just a snack or a light lunch but a real, hearty dinner.

I think this soup was delicious. The tomato base tastes of real tomatoes and doesn't have that artificial tomato taste you find in so many pre-made soups. I love the texture of the soup too and every bite is different due to the variety of vegetables.

Are you watching what you eat this January? If so, this soup is the perfect meal for you! Half a pot is just 120 calories, meaning you could even eat the whole pot for dinner if you like and not have to worry about it. That's my kind of diet food!

I've said it before and I'll say it again; if I buy pre-made soup, Glorious! is ALWAYS the brand I reach for. I've yet to find any other brand which has such great flavours and hearty texture. I'm really looking forward to trying out more of their soups over the next few weeks and I'll be sure to tell you all about the best ones!

Disclaimer: Glorious! sent me some of their soups to try and compensated me for my time in writing this review. As always, I wasn't expected to write a positive review and all views expressed are my own personal opinions.

Elderflower and Green Tea Breeze

How many of you out there are having a 'Dry January'? No, I'm not talking about the state of the local weather, but going through January without any alcohol!

As is customary, December was a very merry affair for me with parties most weekends and some midweek too. With alcohol involved in all of them, I've come into January feeling like I need a break and to reclaim my Sundays hangover-free! So, along with a few friends, I'm giving up alcohol for January up until the 26th to prove that I can do it and also give my liver a chance to recover.

Having lost 4st in weight over the last 2 years, I know that the best way for me to cut out something is not to just hope I have the willpower to do it but to replace it with something else new and exciting instead. With food, I just replaced my takeaways and bad meals with exciting healthy ones. For alcohol, I'm doing exactly the same and the desire to do this has led to my creation of this alcohol-free cocktail. I know it's fashionable to call these 'mocktails' these days but I can't help but think that makes them sound like they're imitating something; a good alcohol-free cocktail should be an excellent drink in its own right and not just one where the alcohol is missing!

The biggest challenge with alcohol-free cocktails is that they all seem to be very sweet. That's fine if you like a lot of sweet drinks but I'm not too keen myself, so I set about using a key component of my favourite drink; tonic water! Without a doubt, the best tonic water I've ever tasted is Fever-Tree's Elderflower Tonic Water so I've combined that with the sweet and slightly bitter flavour of a green tea syrup to make this cocktail. I used Pukka Clean Green tea for my syrup, which has a few additions including a hint of lemon. I really enjoy this as a hot drink and it's lovely in this cold drink too, but you can use whichever green tea you like.

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Elderflower and Green Tea Breeze

by Kevin Chambers-Paston January-03-2016

An alcohol-free cocktail that's sure to have you putting the gin to the back of the cupboard.

Ingredients

For the green tea syrup:
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 3 green tea bags
For the cocktail:
• 50ml green tea syrup
• Elderflower tonic water
To garnish:
• 1 glass crushed ice
• 1 wedge of lime

Instructions

1. Put the water and sugar into a saucepan and simmer until all sugar is dissolved. Add the green tea bags immediately and leave to cool, agitating every now and then. If you poke too much (like I did!) you'll split the tea bags and need to strain when cold, before using. 2. Once the syrup is cold, add the crushed ice into the serving glass then pour over the syrup and top up with elderflower tonic water. 3. Stir well and garnish with a wedge of lime. 4. Enjoy! Any leftover syrup can be stored in a sealed bottle in the fridge for a couple of weeks.

Details

Prep time: 5m Cook time: 0m Total time: 5mYield: One cocktail

Note: Nutrition information is indicative only and will vary depending on exactly which ingredients you use.

Check out more alcohol-free cocktails from my blogging friends:

• Pineapple and Ginger Sparkler from Tinned Tomatoes
• Tropical Fizz Mocktail from The Foodie Couple Blog
• Pineapple and Coconut Smoothie (Just like a Piña Colada!) from Fab Food 4 All

If you make this drink and enjoy it or you want to ask a question, feel free to leave a comment below.

P.S. If you're not doing 'Dry January', I bet this will be delicious with a shot or two of gin! I won't tell if you don't...

Chorizo and Butterbean Stew

Happy new year, one and all!

As you might have seen, I had a little break from blogging for a few weeks but fear not because I AM BAAAAACK. Did you miss me?

This first recipe of 2016 was never supposed to be a recipe for the blog at all. I made this Chorizo and Butterbean stew following Christmas for two reasons really; my palate was growing tired of all the rich foods of the season and needed something a bit brighter to taste and, most importantly, I received a beautiful IOShen knife for Christmas and wanted to cook something that required a lot of chopping so I could put it through its paces. However, when I posted it on Twitter and Instagram the crowd went wild asking for the recipe. You know me, I'm never one to disappoint so here it is!

Those of you who know me personally have probably seen or even tasted this stew yourselves. I've been making it for about 5 years, with very few tweaks. It's super simple, very tasty and so easy to scale up. I even made a massive batch of it for the Southern Polymer Clay Extravaganza 2014 and it went down a storm with everyone there; lots of people took the recipe from my brain and scrawled it onto scraps of paper to take home with them.

I did promise some of the ladies I'd post the recipe on the blog, but it never made it. Until now.

Needless to say, the IOShen knife is absolutely fantastic. I've wanted one for ages so when my parents asked me what I'd like to receive from Father Christmas this year I knew this is what I'd ask for. I went for the Maoui Deba which was designed by Chef Karim Maoui; the design makes it perfect for a huge variety of uses and the triplex blade technology gives you a super-hard blade which stays sharp for a very long time. I can honestly say this is the best knife I've ever used. The look of it is fantastic, it feels awesome in the hand and chops like a dream. Top marks from me!

So, how about the long-awaited recipe? Oh, go on then...

print recipe

Chorizo and Butterbean Stew

by Kevin Chambers-Paston January-03-2016

A lovely hearty stew, with the fabulous flavour of chorizo sausage.

Ingredients

• 1 large onion
• 2 sticks celery
• 2 medium carrots
• 1 ring chorizo sausage
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tin chopped tomatoes
• 1tsp smoked paprika
• 2tbsp tomato purée
• 1 vegetable stock cube
• 1 tin butter beans

Instructions

1. Chop veg into even dice, peel (if necessary) and chop the chorizo and grate the garlic. 2. Fry the veg in a little olive oil until slightly softened, then add the chorizo and garlic and fry a few minutes more. 3. Add the tomatoes, paprika, tomato purée and vegetable stock cube. Fill the tin with boiling water and add that too. 4. Season well with pepper, then simmer for 20mins. 5. Add the beans and continue to simmer for 20-30 mins or until all veg is tender. 6. Enjoy!

Details

Prep time: 10m Cook time: 50m Total time: 1h 0mYield: Two servings for very hungry people!

Note: Nutrition information is indicative only and will vary depending on exactly which ingredients you use.

Disclaimer: The Maoui Deba was given to me as a gift by my parents. I wasn't asked to write about it, but I did because it is amazing!