In a world in lockdown, key dates and celebrations don’t seem the same. Nevertheless…
HAPPY EASTER.
Some of you might have seen how we’re keeping ourselves busy in my household. My other half, Judge Jules, streamed a couple of live DJ sets from our lounge last Saturday night, attracting an incredible 250,000 viewers.
I have also been busy, getting dressed-up to put the bins out. An idea started by Amanda Holden – you basically get as glammed up as possible, posing for a picture next to your wheelie bin on collection day.
It’s all a bit of fun whilst we whittle away the hours during isolation. I have had some brilliant pictures sent through, to be published in next week’s blog.
What isn’t fun though is how fat some of us are getting whilst ‘staying in and keeping safe’. Especially with this weekend consisting mostly of chocolate.
With snippets of news starting to emerge regarding a possible end in sight, now seemed like the time to ‘up the ante’. Yes, it’s an hour run each day, plus a diet of celery soup, produced by my friend and Guest Book Editor Chanelle Clark.
She lives in Italy, so is an absolute expert regarding all things Coronavirus, lockdown, keeping busy and eating healthily. Here is her Celery soup recipe, guaranteed to keep your immunity strong and your belly flat.
Over to Chanelle…
Simple Celery Soup
The only thing of a domestic nature that I remotely enjoy is cooking. On the bright side, of late there has been much more time to do it.
My diet is vegetarian (32 years & counting) and often plant based/vegan. Not entirely though, as I just can’t resist Italian pizzas! A delicious perk of living in Italy.
The recipe below can be tweaked to make it plant-based, if you so wish. It is quick and extremely simple, allowing even beginners to cook up a storm.
Celery hosts so many health benefits. It is super high in antioxidants, lowers cholesterol and is even a “negative calorie” food, thus boosting metabolism and aiding weight loss. What’s not to love?
This recipe that follows is super low fat, healthy & appetising.
It takes about 15 mins prep, 20 mins to cook & serves 4. So without any further ado…
Ingredients
2 tablespoons Olive Oil
1 Onion – finally chopped
3 fat Garlic Cloves pressed
6/8 sticks of Celery & the heart also if you like
3/4 cups of Veg Stock
½ cup of Natural Yogurt, Sour Cream or Vegan Yogurt
Salt/Pepper/Cayenne Paper to taste
2 cups of sliced Potatoes (optional – I prefer without, my husband with)
One handful of Spinach (optional but I prefer with, for both the colour and the nutritional benefits)
To Cook
1) Prep all ingredients
2) Heat Oil in a large pot, add Onions, cook on a medium heat until golden, approx. 5 minutes. Then add Garlic and stir for 1- 2 minutes.
3) Add Celery, Potatoes (if you wish), Seasoning and then enough Veg Broth to just cover the veggies.
4) Cover and bring to the boil.
5) Then turn heat down and simmer for 10 minutes ONLY if you have added Potatoes otherwise skip this stage.
6) Use a blender until fully blended. Add a handful of shredded Spinach at this point if you desire and again blend.
I garnish with a drizzle of Chilli Oil and some fresh Chillies (I add spice to everything to boost my immune system and metabolism) or you could use the Celery Leaves and a drizzle of Yogurt; entirely your choice.
Voila, your yummy, flavourful soup is ready to be enjoyed. Buon appetito!
In this issue we check out Men’s Summer Fashion – for that late summer holiday, bored Instagram models designing ‘Quarankinis’ and the ultimate Summer Shoe – for that moment we can step out in the summer sunshine.
