Food for poorly people

Ill health to a certain extent is part and parcel of parenthood. My hope is that with a good diet and reasonably good hygiene (as well as not being a morning person, I'm not the best at tidying) that we avoid most of the bugs and germs that small children so generously share. Unfortunately, even this doesn't always stop us catching something and this week was no exception, with the whole family having a winter sickness bug. Unfortunately, it meant that all of the food I had planned to cook and had managed to do the shopping for, didn't get cooked.

Fortunately the meats that I was planning on using were frozen so we can use them another day. It did mean that I had a fridge full of vegetables that needed using up. By the weekend, we were feeling better but still not really enjoying meals, so I wanted to cook something that was simple for lunch but used up some of the vegetables in the fridge. The benefit that I see in this kind of meal is that it is full of good vitamins and minerals, has lots of vegetables for fibre, beans and bacon for some protein and is simple to be digested. Best of all, it's all thrown into one pan and is ready in about 30 minutes (if you're quick at chopping.)

Vegetable, bacon and bean soup (feeds 5 - 6 adults)

1 packet smoked bacon lardons

1 large onion

3 celery sticks

3 or 4 medium carrots

2 leeks

3 heaped tbsp vegetable stock granules

1 tin black eyed beans

Boiling water

Tbsp dried oregano 

1. Place a saucepan over a medium to high heat and add the bacon (you can add a tablespoon of oil but I was trying to avoid too much fat in this meal.) Meanwhile chop the onion roughly. Once the bacon is looking cooked, add the onion to the pan and turn the heat down to medium to start softening the onion.
   
2. Roughly chop all of the remaining vegetables, drain and rinse the beans and get the kettle boiling.
   
3. Once the onion has softened, add the vegetables, stock granules and enough boiling water to cover the vegetables well (you can add more water later if you want.) Stir in the oregano and a generous seasoning of black pepper. Bring to the boil and then turn the heat down and simmer for 20 minutes until all the vegetables have softened.  
   

I made a lot more than we needed today, but I split the leftovers into two portions and have put them into the freezer. I plan on pulling them out for a quick and easy meal but to make it go further, I will add more stock and some small pasta shapes for a filling meal.