Celeriac, thyme and lemon soup!

Here is a little recipe I love to make especially on cold days like today. I love the fresh taste of this!

Ingredients:

• 1 celeriac (peeled and cubed)
• 1 lemon (juice only)
• Bunch of thyme (lemon thyme works amazingly if you can get it)
• 2 cloves of garlic (peeled and crushed)
• 2 tbsp of rapeseed oil (or any oil of your choice)
• 1500ml of reduced salt vegetable bouillon

How to make:

1. Heat the oil in a pan and add the celeriac and garlic and cook for 5 minutes (do not brown)
2. Add the stock, lemon juice and thyme (about 5-8 sprigs) and simmer for 20-30 minutes until the celeriac is tender
3. Remove the thyme, blend with a stick blender, reheat and enjoy (I like a generous grinding of black pepper)

*For garnish you could add some fried pancetta for a meaty twist

** if you prefer a cream based soup reduce the stock by 500ml, and once blended add 500ml of milk (I use skimmed milk for this)

Goals for 2014

Well for a few days I have been procrastinating about what my goals are to be for 2014, At first I thought maybe I didn't need any, but I think that was me partially avoiding wanting to set some so after some careful thought I have decided to set a handful that I can achieve over the year. I normally wouldn't share such things with others but I feel that if I share them with you it will help me to achieve success.

Over the last year I have lost a significant amount of weight so one of my goals is to make sure that I maintain this (i'll forget all of the naughty chocolate and cheese eating over the festive period and detox on Monday). This weight loss was really important to me and has made me feel so much more confident in myself so it is important that I maintain this.

I desperately want to complete a quilt that I am making. Both me and my Ed have been picking out fabric that we like and now have enough for the quilt and I will be making a quilt for our bed - I have the squares all cut out and now I need to motivate myself to sew it together. I have a reputation for unfinished projects so this is one I want to finish before 2014 is out.

More of a focus is also making gifts myself for people for birthdays and celebrations or sourcing them locally and this is something I am keen to focus on in the coming year. In Cambridge we have a wealth of independent shops and businesses and I want to be sure to support them the best I can in the coming year.

Finally I want to get back into running in the coming year and hopefully complete a 10k. Next week I am wanting to start parkrun, I have been training for this with Misschaelaboo who has been a fantastic coach and here is the link to parkrun on her blog.

What are your ambitions for the year? Whatever they are good luck with achieving them.