My shift at work is somewhat awkward as far as meal times are concerned. I leave at a few minutes past 11 each morning to catch a bus that gets me downtown roughly 45 minutes before I’m due to start. Because of this I eat my breakfast – usually two pieces of toast with peanut butter – at 10 am.

The problem is I then don’t get a break until about 2:30 or so, and that’s too long to wait before eating lunch. If I tried that I’d be shaking and having a low blood sugar crisis. On top of that, I only have 15 minutes for my break, not giving me time for more than a quick snack.

(We don’t discuss the fact that I eat “supper” at 4 or 4:30, which means I am then a raging, starving stomach on legs by the time I arrive home at 9:30.)

To avoid the hunger crash due to my lack of a proper lunch time, I take advantage of the fact that I’m so early for my shift by heading to the lunch room and eating before work starts. I’ve brought sandwiches and I’ve brought cheese and crackers, but my absolute favourite is to bring hearty, filling soups with some bread or crackers on the side.

The best soup of all is the one George has made for me a few times. It’s filling, it’s the perfect winter soup because it warms you from the inside out, and it’s absolutely delicious.

Curried Sweet Potato Soup

• 2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
• 2 cups baby carrots
• 1 small chopped onion
• 1/4 tsp curry powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1 tbsp maple syrup
• 3/4 cup half-and-half

Place the sweet potatoes, carrots, onion, curry, salt, pepper, cinnamon, and ginger into a crock pot. Add the broth. Stir carefully to mix well. Cover and cook it on low for 7 to 8 hours.

After that time frame, puree the soup one cup at a time in a blender and return to the crock pot. You can also use an immersion blender but I think the blender works better. Add the maple syrup (the real deal, not the CRAP imitation stuff) and half-and-half. You can add extra salt and pepper now to taste as well. Stir, cover, and cook on high for an additional 15 minutes to heat through.

It is so very good. It’s not ridiculously spicy but when you eat it the curry really warms you up quickly. It’s my favourite lunch to have after a cold or rainy commute to work.

Enjoy!