I Am no Mug (Batchelors Cup a Soup Golden Vegetable)

Member Name: Emmald

Product:	Batchelors Cup a Soup Golden Vegetable
Date:	15/04/09 (181 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A good and tasty snack

Disadvantages: None

`A hug in a mug` this is a phrase that Batchelor's have adopted to describe their cup a soups.
So what have we got? A cardboard box that bears the Batchelor logo and sitting in the middle of the colourful box is a mug full of steaming hot veggie soup.
Inside of the box there are five sachets, all filled with the instant soup powder.
A pack of five sachets costs around 88p, so at just slightly over 17p a sachet they are not what you could call expensive.

The contents of the sachet make a normal sized mug full of soup, tear the corner off of the sachet and tip the contents into the mug.
Batchelor's have managed to cram quite a few ingredients into the creamy powder, ensuring that we are going to get a tasty mug of soup.
All of the vegetables are dried and plump up as the boiling water covers them, so there are bits of dried swede, carrot, leek, onion and shrivelled up pea floating about in the bottom of the mug.
Batchelor's have added some chopped dried parsley which I am reckoning is there to add some colour.

Cup a soups always seem to make an appearance in our larder as winter starts to set in. The Other Half loves a mug full of hot soup with a slice of crusty bread to dip into it.
These types of soup are quick and very convenient, they will store away in the cupboards for a good length of time and make a handy stand by snack.
Maybe they don't have quite as much taste and the texture isn't quite as thick as a can of Heinz soup but they certainly have a place in the market.

When you have emptied the contents of the sachet into your mug then get your spoon ready to stir as you pour the boiling water onto the top of the soup powder.
As the hot steamy water hits the bottom of the mug the powder suddenly starts to come to life, all of those shrivelled up veggies start to take on a very different look. The shards of dried onion, swede, carrot and leek start to soften in the hot water and the dried peas begin to look like `real` peas.
If you want the soup to be creamy and not contain a million lumps than you need to keep on stirring briskly as the boiling water is poured into the mug.
When you have finished stirring then leave the soup to settle for a moment, as it settles it will thicken a bit more making the soup much richer.

The soup powder dissolves well, leaving no trace of dry powdery taste as you start to drink the mixture. Every now and again you may notice that one or other of the pieces of vegetable seems to be a little bit crunchy, but that's no big deal. Overall the soup is creamy and it contains enough salt without adding anymore.
I have noticed that the ingredients list turmeric and I would think that this contributes to the overall golden colour of the soup.
If you want to dip some bread into the mug it is great, the trouble is that you have to know when to stop!
Cup of soups always make me think of the Royal family Christmas special, I don't know how many of you managed to see it but it was hilarious!
Denise served cup of soup in a bowl to the family to start off their Christmas lunch!!...So brilliantly funny!

A mug of Batchelor's cup of soup contains 83 calories, 3.4g sugar, 2.4g fat, 1.3g saturates and 1.8g of salt.
They are free from artificial colours and flavourings and are fine for vegetarians.
They come in quite a few flavours too including chicken and vegetable, asparagus, chicken and leek, beef and tomato, chicken noodle, cauliflower and broccoli and oxtail.
There are a range of slimmers cup of soups too.

Summary: A tasty winter warmer.