We just wanted to say a big thank you to all of you that either bought our Soup of the Month in December or joined in with our Soup Kitchen Challenge Day on 27th November. All the money raised has been donated to the Salvation Army’s Hostel+ Centres to try and help break the cycle of homelessness by offering homeless and vulnerable people a ‘hand up’ rather than a ‘hand out’.
Once again, a big thank you to all – and here’s to a bigger and better Soup Kitchen Challenge Day in 2010!
And as if this wasn’t enough we have we have just launched our brand new 99-Calorie range, for the calorie conscious among you. The range consists of three delicious new flavours – Carrot & Honey, Hearty Vegetable and Tomato, Red Pepper & Pesto. All three flavours come in ‘perfect-for lunch’ 300g sized cartons, so you can start the New Year by ditching your dull sandwiches for hearty, healthy soup! They’re only available for a limited period of time in Sainsburys Local and Central stores, so get them before they’re gone!
If, like me, you’ve overindulged on mince pies and turkey this Christmas then our new ‘Shape Up with Soup’ recipe for January will be sure to help you on your way to a healthier New Year. Juicy plum tomatoes, black turtle beans, red peppers and smoked paprika make for a delicious soup and you just have to taste it to see that healthy eating certainly doesn’t have to compromise on taste!
To give you that extra helping hand we’ve also teamed up with independent nutritionists to develop a two week Shape Up with Soup eating plan. It’s so quick and easy – just swap your normal meal at lunch or dinner for a 300g serving of one of our soups and a slice of bread and you’ll be well on your way to fulfilling your New Year’s resolutions!
To find out more about our 2 week Shape Up with Soup eating plan (science bit included) just click here.
Those of you who are regular users of our website will notice we have been running a Soup of the Month archive vote, asking you to choose your favourite recipe from down the years. ‘Choc Full of Beans’ is the current leader, a soup we received lots of positive comments from you about whilst it was our Soup of the Month last November. So, we’re giving you what you want and bringing it back it for another month this September! Thank-you to everyone that voted and sent us feedback – remember to keep voting and who knows what could happen! Power to the people!
Our new Soup of the Month is a wonderfully light, smooth and refreshing soup headed up by our summer hero - the rich green pea - combined with crisp iceberg lettuce; mint and tangy sorrel. So, in an attempt to remind ourselves it really is summer, we’re celebrating all things pea!
Many of you will be growing peas this year, either in your gardens or allotments so we thought we would share a few words of wisdom with you about our friend, the humble pea!
Regular picking is essential for a truly fresh pea and peas at the bottom of a plant will normally be ready first, so start there and work up! They taste better when they are picked early [when fully grown they go hard and lose that wonderful sweet taste]. Harvesting them early encourages them to produce more. When the plant has stopped producing a crop, cut off the stems at ground level and allow the roots to rot down. This releases nitrogen into the soil for the next crop to use!
If you’ve had any success growing peas this year, why not let us know or send us some photos… we would love to hear from you!
As supporters of the Bat Conservation Trust over the years, we are delighted that their Count Bat Project has made it through to the semi-finals of the annual Lottery Good Causes Awards. The Count Bat Project was formed to encourage people to get involved in bat conservation in their local area and discover more about the natural world.
We hope that you will join us in backing this great cause by voting for them at www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk awards and click on Best Environment Project, followed by the Count Bat Project. Alternatively you can call 0844 686 1105 (calls cost 5p from a BT landline).
Another NCG twist on a popular recipe, but if you’re thinking we’ve taken a step too far, putting rice into a traditional pasta soup, look again. The spherical grains are in fact Orzo pasta (yes, pasta)!
Our twist involves little chunks of courgettes, peas, basil, parsley and peppery rocket, making this Minestrone a beautiful green soup. A light and summery alternative to the traditional red classic. Click here to find out more!
Due to the current stories surrounding soup and dieting like this BBC news article, we thought we’d take this opportunity to remind you about our ‘Shape up with Soup’ healthy eating plan.
The 2 week-plan is so straight forward - you just have to swap either your lunch or dinner for one of our 12 soups from our list. Click here for more details.
Our newest soup of the month flavour - Hey Pesto, is really quite magical. By this I mean, it tastes delicious AND it’s good for you, scoring all greens on the traffic light system. The mixture of tomatoes with courgettes and green beans, along with the kick from basil pesto (nut free), is a winning combination and perfectly light for this time of year. All you really need is a slice of bread to dunk with and Hey Pesto* you’re sorted!
*Sorry… Please feel free to let me know what you think
OK, hands up - who got their BBQ out at the weekend? Yep, spring is almost here and to help with the transition from cold to well…. almost warm, we’ve launched a brand new Soup of the Month - Yellow Split Pea & Smoked Bacon. Its vibrant colour and fresh ingredients make it the most perfect soup for springtime. We all know a British spring is no guarantee of nice weather, so we’re still offering that warming lift when the clouds come over - as they so often do!
