Know any peanut butter lovers?
If so, I have the perfect treat you can gift them on Valentine’s Day… huge chocolate peanut butter hearts!
These treats are so simple to make but definitely have the ‘wow’ factor. They’re giant in size so perfect for sharing with your loved ones ♥
Refreshed March 2026. Originally published 2021.
If you’re a mushroom lover (like me), you’re going to adore this Cream of Mushroom Soup. Thick, creamy, and full of flavour, it’s 100% plant-based, low in fat, and completely free of dairy or plant-based cream. Made with simple pantry ingredients, it’s budget-friendly, easy to prepare, and wonderfully comforting. We often enjoy it as an evening meal, topped with a sprinkling of golden pan-fried chickpeas and a couple of slices of fresh bread or toasted sourdough.
The inspiration for today’s post came from an article in this month’s Vegan Life magazine, entitled The Magic of Mushrooms. Dietician Yvonne O’Halloran highlights the incredible health-promoting benefits of mushrooms – and there are so many!
🍄 While naturally low in calories, mushrooms are packed full of health-boosting vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. They are especially rich in B vitamins, copper and selenium.
🍄 They contain a powerful antioxidant called ergothioneine, which helps reduce inflammation in the body. (International Journal of Molecular Sciences 2017)
🍄 Mushrooms may help protect against Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, hypertension, stroke and cancer. They can also lower cholesterol, support the immune system and have anti-bacterial properties. (International Journal of Microbiology, 2015)
🍄 They help protect the liver, and have anti-diabetic, anti-viral and anti-microbial effects. (International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 2017)
🍄 Mushrooms contain beta glucans, known for their antioxidant, neuroprotective and anti-cancer properties. (International Journal of Microbiology 2015)
🍄 They’re excellent for gut health, as they provide prebiotic fibres like chitin, hemicellulose, mannans, beta-glucans, and xylans – all food for our healthy gut bacteria. (Bioactive Carbohydrates & Dietary Fibre Journal)
It was wonderful to hear just how beneficial mushrooms are for human health, especially since my family loves them! We eat mushrooms almost every day – in curries, chillis, burritos, tacos, pasta, noodle and rice dishes, and on top of toast.
In the Vegan Life article, there was a gorgeous photo of a mushroom soup, and it reminded me just how much I used to love this soup – Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom Soup was one of my childhood favourites. The photo didn’t come with a recipe, but it inspired me to head into the kitchen and experiment with making my own vegan version of that comforting classic.
I set out to make a soup that was thick and creamy, yet low in saturated fat, using simple, budget-friendly ingredients that are easy to find. It took me three attempts to get the texture and flavour just right, but I’m thrilled with the result – and I can’t wait for you to try it too!
While this soup is wonderfully creamy and comforting on its own, we most often enjoy it as an evening meal, topped with a sprinkle of Golden Pan-Fried Chickpeas.
The chickpeas add a lovely contrast in texture, along with an extra boost of nourishment. A bowl of soup provides around 11g of protein, and when you add the chickpea topper and a couple of slices of bread, that rises to roughly 25g – transforming it into a truly satisfying, nourishing meal.
For me, this is pure comfort food: delicious, filling, and packed full of nutrients that support our hearts, minds, and gut health. I hope you love it as much as I do!
N.B. The above values are estimates and for illustration purposes only. The actual nutritional values will vary depending on the specific ingredients used. The % Reference Intake (RI) will also vary depending on your age, gender, height, BMI, level of activity and other personal variables..
If you make this Cream of Mushroom Soup, I’d love to hear your feedback and any suggestions for adaptations! You can drop your comments in the section below, and you can also connect with me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest. Tag your photos with #bitofthegoodstuff on social media – I always love seeing your creations! ❤️
With love,
Sharon xx
Today I’m sharing a delicious miso soup that has quickly become my new favourite ‘working from home’ lunch. It takes just 10 minutes to prepare and is so warming and filling. It also happens to be packed full of nutritional goodness. This is one of those meals that makes me feel really energised… like I’m ‘zinging’ on the inside! It’s been a big hit with the family too. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!
Continue reading “Golden Miso Soup (10 minute recipe!)”
Thinly sliced and pan-fried in olive oil, Brussels sprouts take on a delicious nutty flavour and crisp texture, that is so far removed from the texture and flavour of boiled or steamed sprouts! If you know any Brussels sprout haters, encourage them to give this recipe a try. It might just win them over!
In fact, it was this recipe that I’m sharing today, that converted our son at from a self-proclaimed sprout hater to a sprout lover! Every Christmas prior to this, I would optimistically place a sprout or two on his dinner plate but sadly, there they would languish, untouched, while every other vegetable on his plate was enthusiastically devoured.
Determined to get this boy to enjoy Brussels sprouts, for our Christmas dinner in 2015, I ditched the steamed sprouts and instead sliced and pan-fried them along with some tangy Balsamic red onion and toasted pecans. It was a total game changer! He absolutely loved it and, for the first time ever, his Christmas dinner plate was completely cleared…. sprouts and all!
Five years on, and this Hash remains my family’s favourite way to serve Brussels sprouts. We will most definitely be tucking into it on Christmas Day this year, alongside our Cranberry-Glazed Nut Loaf.
I’m also going to make sure we have leftovers, so we can serve them in a soft granary bread sandwich along with slices of nut roast (or sage & onion stuffing) and a big dollop of cranberry sauce. We call this our ‘Boxing Day Sandwich’ or ‘Sunday Dinner Sandwich’ as it is filled with roast dinner leftovers. It tastes so good!
If you make this Brussels Sprout Hash (or any other recipes on our blog), I’d love to hear your feedback and any suggestions for adaptations! Tag your photos with #bitofthegoodstuff on social media – I always love to see your creations! You can also connect with me on my social media channels here: Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest.
With love,
Sharon xx
Today I’m sharing some delicious home-made vegan truffles that are really easy and quick to prepare. With a fudgy centre speckled with shiny red cranberries and a dark chocolate coating, these truffles are the perfect treat for the festive season. They also happen to be packed full of nutrient-rich ‘feel-good’ ingredients, making them one festive treat that you definitely won’t regret indulging in!
To make these treats, it’s simply a case of whizzing the filling ingredients in a food processor, rolling it into balls and then dipping them in melted chocolate. The hardest part is waiting for the chocolate to set before you can dive in!
These truffles make a lovely, thoughtful gift for sharing with friends, family and work colleagues. I love to buy cute little chocolate boxes that fit six truffles, which I then finish off with some festive ribbon and a home-made label.
I originally shared this recipe in the Bit of the Good Stuff cookbook back in 2016, and it’s received lots of lovely feedback! Since my cookbook is almost out of print, I thought I would share the recipe on the blog so more of our lovely readers can access it.
If you make these Dark Chocolate Cranberry Truffles (or any other recipes on our blog), I’d love to hear your feedback and any suggestions for adaptations! Tag your photos with #bitofthegoodstuff on social media – I always love to see your creations! You can also connect with me on my social media channels here: Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest.
With love,
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Today I’m delighted to be sharing the recipe for one of my favourite childhood treats – Old Fashioned English Bread Pudding. Its name certainly doesn’t do it justice though, as it tastes nothing like bread nor would I describe it as a pudding! Instead, it is more like a sweet, dense fruit cake. It is delicious served with a hot cuppa, and also makes a fantastic energy-boosting snack to stash in your backpacks for hikes and bike rides. I think this year, all of us have been spending a lot more time outdoors and we definitely need some tasty snacks to keep us fuelled and put a spring in our step. This bread pudding definitely fits that bill!
When I first went vegan, I thought that I was going to have to forego this favourite treat of mine, but it turns out that it was really easy to ‘veganise’ my family’s traditional bread pudding recipe. It was simply a case of switching the cow’s milk for plant milk (I use soya), switching the butter for oil, and ditching the egg. I honestly couldn’t tell the difference from the original. I was absolutely over the moon that my beloved bread pudding was back on the menu.
When I was selling my cookbook at local fairs, I would often take some trays of bread pudding to display on our stall, and they would go in a flash. It was a running joke that the bread pudding was our top sales person as people would often buy a slice, then come back to buy the book specifically for that bread pudding recipe!
Since my cookbook is almost out of print, I thought it would be useful to share the recipe here on the blog, so everyone can enjoy a slice or two of this tasty treat.
It is really easy to make and super cheap too! It is traditionally made with stale bread, but as bread never hangs around long enough in my house to go stale, I buy a cheap loaf of wholemeal bread instead. The supermarkets’ own brand medium-sliced bread only costs about 60p and you need less than a whole loaf to make 16 slices of bread pudding, making it an absolute bargain!
If you make this Old Fashioned English Bread Pudding, I’d love to hear your feedback and any suggestions for adaptations! Tag your photos with #bitofthegoodstuff on social media – I always love to see your creations! You can also connect with me on my social media channels here: Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest.
With love,
Sharon xx
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