Today we went for a walk. This is a momentous occasion. Between chest infections, colds, flu and the dreadful weather we’ve had over the past month these trips out haven’t been happening.  Wow but getting out in the fresh air with the two boys is good for the soul. I love my home, it’s such a haven from the bad weather; warm and cosy, but it’s no substitute for the pure Vitamin D and glorious breeze coming in off the sea that we benefit from.

Important lifeskills lessons were being neglected and we have to practise walking on the wall on the way home. The 5 year old is now tall enough to be able to push the buggy and see over the top (this is crucial so that you know what direction you’re going in), so he skipped up the wall in super-quick time and then came back to push the buggy. That left my other hand free to film the small boy.

This soup I made yesterday when the weather was wild and the rain was beating against the kitchen window. I really didn’t want to have to go to the supermarket for supplies and cobbled it together from what I had in the kitchen. It is super-fast to make and vegan to boot. I use a stick blender in this recipe, it’s one of my essential pieces of kitchen kit. They are very inexpensive and I use mine instead of a jug blender/food processor as I have neither.

Creamed Corn Noodle Soup (serves 4 for lunch)

Ingredients

• 400ml hot vegetable stock
• 1 teaspoon ginger & garlic paste
• 150g frozen sweetcorn
• 100g fine egg noodles
• 50g frozen peas
• Dried chilli flakes/whole chillis & soy sauce to taste

Method

Put a large pot on a medium heat, fill with hot stock and bring to a slow simmer. Spoon in the ginger and garlic paste (found in a jar in many Asian food stores and grocers). Stir the sweetcorn into the hot stock and stir well until they are defrosted completely.  Remove the pot from the heat and carefully immerse the head of the stick blender.  Pulse until the sweetcorn is mixed into the stock. It will foam on top, don’t worry that will disappear later. I like to leave my corn with some texture.

Return the pot to the heat and break in the egg noodles. Simmer for 5 minutes until the noodles are cooked, then stir in the frozen peas. They will thaw immediately in the hot soup. Serve once the peas are hot through (about 2 minutes) and sprinkle with dried chilli if you’re a heat fiend. Drizzle soy sauce on top to season if you like. Do bear in mind though that if you’ve used a stock cube for the base, then it will be salty already.