I started this post weeks ago, and it took me so long to finish it that I totally had to re write it. That is just how things roll with me at the moment. Intentions get caught out by the daily slog and battles. Do you ever just wish there were 3 or 4 more hours in the day (that you actually have energy for) to get all the fun things done. We don’t nearly have enough time for painting and play and baking and quality time together in each day. That is why I love meal prep and batch cooking so much. I get all our weekly meals planned and prepped so the little time there is after creche and work each day, can be spent somewhat together and unhindered by chores.

Today I am sharing a recipe for a stew that I hadn’t made in ages. But with the rapid onset of wintery weather, I have made this twice in the last few weeks.

I find it hard to figure out what to cook sometimes, as I am only cooking in reality for myself as my little picky eater won’t eat food that is packed with flavour (as he say’s it is spicy) or all mixed together. But As I have been doing over the last few years, I am consistantly offering him these foods to try normalise it for him and one day eventually he will surprise me and eat it.

This stew is loaded with vegetables. I make a base using very finely chopped onions and peppers and then add chunks of sweet potato and usually at least two types of beans, if not more. The liquid base is usually one tub of my batch soup from the freezer, but you can use a 400g tin of shop bought tomato soup to make life a lot easier on yourself.

Perfect for winter this stew is healthy and packed full of nutrients and tastes amazing. I really hope you like it as much as I do.

SWEET POTATO & BEAN STEW

This stew is enough for 2-3 adult portions served with rice. Perfect for a small family.

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 small onion
• 1 red pepper
• 1 green pepper
• 1 medium sweet potato,
• 1 x 200 g tin of kidney beans
• 1 x 200 g tin of chick peas
• 1 x 400g tin of tomato soup, or home made alternative (alternative is 1 stock cube and 1 x 400 g tin of chopped tomatoes)
• 1 cup boiling water
• 1 tsp of mixed dried herbs
• salt, pepper
• to garnish: 1/2 an avocado chopped and 1 spring onion sliced

THE HOW

Finely chop the onion and peppers in a processor. The idea of this is to give depth to the sauce without the chunks. I do it mainly so I can add more vegetables to my son’s food and he doesn’t even know. Now if only he would eat it!

Heat the oil in a large saucepan or dutch oven pot. Add the onion and peppers and gently cook. Meanwhile dice the sweet potato into 1 cm cubes. Add to the pot and stir.

Next drain and rinse the beans and add to the pot. Add the tomato soup, herbs and seasoning and then top with enough water just to barely cover the vegetables. Bring to the boil and then turn down the heat and simmer for about 45 minutes. This gives enough time for the onion and peppers to become one with the sauce and the sweet potatoes and beans to be nice and tender.

I like to serve it with a mix of brown and wild rice and top with sliced spring onion and diced avocado.