Sharabelle bakes

Reduced food and Ugly Vegetables I was lucky growing up both my dad and granddad grew there own vegetables.  So I learnt early on that ugly funny shaped veggies tasted just as good as the perfect ones. In supermarkets the only different between pretty and ugly vegetables is the price.  Ugly veggies are cheaper, so why pay more?   Another tip is to buy your vegetables loose, instead of pre-packed it's a lot cheaper and you only buy what you need.   Why buy a large bag of Carrots when you know there is no way you will be able to use them all before they turn soft!!!! The reduced section is the same, some items are discontinued stock which has nothing wrong with them.  Packages that have burst and been wrapped in cling film, or tins that have a few bashes from being knocked about.  The ugly veg and reduced section is the supermarkets way of reducing waste and still making some money back from a product .  So why not take advantage off ...

Sunny roast carrot soup The sun might be shining but its freezing cold outside.  On days like these I always crave a warm bowl of soup to heat myself up.  Today's soup of the day was creamy roast carrot,  proving you don't need to add dairy to create a smooth creamy texture.  I never plan what I'm going to cook when I go shopping,  I like to check out what veg looks the best.  Morrison's had a great deal on pre-packed carrots this week, only 50p for 1 kg.  After my success last week of adding roasted mixed veg to my tomato soup, I decided to do the same with the carrots. Roasting root vegetables just intensifies the flavour, making the finished soup even tastier.   I left the skin on the carrots and chopped them into roughly even sized pieces.  Then Tossed them in a little oil with salt and pepper, before roasting in the oven for 30 Min's. I tipped them into a cooking pot and added enough vegetable stock to cover the...

Iv recently re-discovered a vegetarian blog, that I really love.  Bizarrely it was while looking for sites on the 5:2 fast diet for my mum.    Tinned Tomatoes  , what better than a blog named after one of my favourite cooking ingredients.  Tinned tomatoes are something that's always on my shopping list,   It's such a versatile ingredient.  So far this week, Iv used it as a base for a tomato and roast veg soup and a smoked paprika bean stew .  Found this one on the honest cooking blog, its a great base recipe.  The only variations I made was to add sliced mushrooms and 1 tbsp of Tomato sauce, to make it more of a meal than a side dish.  Ate mine with some homemade tortilla chips, to scoop up the beans.  I got my inspiration for the soup from the Barefoot Contessa herself, Ina Garten.  I'd never though of using left over roast vegetables to make a soup.  Or in my case I roasted some veg that was on...