It’s no bad thing to celebrate a simple life.

I will honestly admit that I’ve never been the biggest soup person, for whatever reason something about them never really filled me up.

And then came this past Fall and a baby and a trip to Gananoque with one of my closet friends and her daughter. She is a soup champion (my friend, not her baby). “Let’s make a butternut squash soup” she said. In my head I was trying to visualize if we had all of the things one might need to make it. We were staying in an Airbnb and I didn’t think the kitchen was that well equipped. It turned out, we didn’t have half the things we needed but she showed me some tricks in the kitchen to substitute and we ate the most delicious meal that night. It inspired me to become a soup queen and it’s basically saved me this Winter.

I’ve been roasting lots of veggies, pureeing half of them so it feels creamier, adding spices, soaking lentils – all sorts of adventures. So, here I am sharing two new favourites that we’ve been eating and two books that are on my bedside table!

BROCCOLI CHEDDAR SOUP

Best served with local smoked cheese and some kind of delicious beer – like this one by Beau’s but if you’re breastfeeding and want to boost milk supply, or aren’t eating dairy substitute out the cheese for nutritional yeast!

Melt 2 Tbsp Coconut oil in a soup pot and sauté 1 chopped leek until soft. Add 2 garlic cloves and cook until fragrant. Stir in 1 head of broccoli (roughly chopped into florets, about 4 cups). Sauté the mix and then add 3 cups of chicken or veggie stock, 1 bay leaf and 1/4 tsp turmeric. Lower heat and let simmer for 20 minutes. I took out half the soup and pureed it and then returned to the pot to make it feel a bit ‘creamier’. Add about 1/2 cup of the shredded smoked cheddar at the end and served with salt and pepper. So cozy and delicious!

COCONUT FISH SOUP

Heat 2 Tbsp of coconut oil in a large pot and set over medium high heat. Add 1 small diced onion, sautéing until translucent. Add 1 cup chopped carrot, 1 Tbsp freshly grated ginger, 2 minced garlic cloves and sauté for a few more minutes. Add in 1 finely chopped Thai red chili pepper, 1 Tbsp fish sauce, 1 can unsweetened coconut milk and 1 cup of home made or organic vegetable stock. Bring to a boil, then lower to medium heat and add 1.5 lbs chopped wild caught salmon. Continue to cook for 10 minutes, squeeze a lime on top and serve!

Bedtime is one of my most favourite times of the night. I make a cup of tea, get a big mason jar filled with water, grab my phone and head upstairs. I light a candle beside my bed and either sit down to do some breathing or if I’m ready, I’ll do legs up the wall and then crawl into bed and read for a bit. I like to put my phone on ‘Airplane Mode’ when I get upstairs. I only started doing this about 3 months ago but I really really love the way it helps me disconnect – for whatever reason just knowing that I can’t see any message or emails allows me to breathe a little deeper.

I’m usually pretty exhausted by the end of the day but I like to read a few pages of a book to help slow my head down. Right now I’m reading Buddhism for Mothers by Sarah Napthali which I’m really loving. I started it while I was pregnant but I just couldn’t connect with anything in it. Now that Agatha is here, I’m finding that it has lots of little bits that really resonate with me. Today I opened the door to a mysterious package – a book that from the cover looks pretty perfect for me, Wild Mama by Carrie Visintainer. I’d never heard of it but can’t wait to dive into it. Whoever sent it to me, thank you thank you thank you.

PS// This is one of my favourite songs to listen to before bed.