Adding in Vitamins & Minerals daily to your diet

 Happiness and health are very much hand in hand especially in the long months with less sunlight and less desire to get outside and the desire for lots of stodgy food! As such I often hit a wall in winter feeling run down, tired and I succumb easier to colds and viruses floating around.

 

I know about vitamin D and during the darker months it’s wise to add a little more into your diet but aside from that knowing how much of which vitamin and mineral to take and where to find these naturally left me a little confused. I much prefer to take my vitamins and minerals effortlessly in my diet so I do love this article from Pharmacy Plus who offer an online pharmacy service in the UK which is a much more trustworthy source than some I’ve seen linked too. I’m hoping that this year a good diet and more outside time – we’re trying 10,000 hours outside this year – will mean a much softer and healthier start to the year.

 

I love the idea of incorporating a lot of these into something simple like a vegetable soup to get a huge hit of the vitamins in one swoop…

 

Carrot Soup

 

500 g carrots

3 bell peppers – I used red and yellow

1 big onion

1 garlic clove

4 tbsp. olive oil

1 tbsp brown sugar

600 ml stock

4 eggs

100g Crème Fraiche or Sour cream

Salt and pepper

½ bunch of coriander (about a handful)

 

 

Chop the carrots and peppers – they will be pureed so don’t worry about the size.  Finely chop the onion and garlic (flavour is better when finely chopped). Brown the onions in a pan until soft and clear and then add the vegetables and then gently roast everything while stirring for about five minutes. 

Add the sugar and caramelize it fairly quickly. Pour in the stock and let it boil down on medium heat for about 20 minutes.

Bring half a litre of water to boil and simmer.  Let one egg slide into the water carefully and poach it for three minutes onto the simmering water. Take it out of the water with a skimmer. Repeat the process with all the other eggs ( or cheat and cook them in the microwave!)

Puree the soup finely, then add the crème fraiche. Season the soup with salt and pepper and puree it again. Serve the hot soup with the poached eggs and chopped coriander.

 

The soup will be filled with Vitamin C from the peppers, Vitamin A from the carrots, eggs and Crème Fraiche, Vitamin D from the Egg yolks, and Olive Oil adds to heart-healthy fat. You can easily add in a handful of peas for some Vitamin B and toast some pine nuts to add some Vitamin E. If you whip up a hearty soup every day, you’ll be adding in a bunch of vitamins and minerals with no problem. However, if you do have a deficiency as the article says, in some instances a supplement may be required.