Feelin' All Warm and Squashy Inside! Butternut Squash Soup

Hey everybody!!! It's been a little while, I've been working like a mad woman so I haven't had much time for blogging, but trust me when I say that I have a ton of recipes to post!!!

So Christmas is only 5 and a half days away! And as always I still have shopping and baking and cleaning and on top of that work to do... Anyways like a lot of you I'm usually in a pinch for dinner (or breakfast, lunch and dinner... Just call me Mrs. On Top Of Things) So came about the creation of this really easy and fairly quick soup that will warm up all of your gushy little insides and make your tummy happy :) (Plus you know I loves me some squash)

Spiced Butternut Squash Soup:

• 1 medium sized butternut squash, roasted and pureed (to save time use 1-2 cans of already pureed squash)
• 3c veggie broth
• 1c plain soy milk (or other non dariy milk)
• 2t cinnamon
• 1t cumin
• 1/2t pumpkin pie spice (optional, I do it for good measure)
• 1/2t fresh grated ginger
• 1/4t garlic powder
• 1/4t salt
• 1/4t nutmeg
• 1/4t cayenne (or more if your feeling spicy)

Mix erry'thing together in a pot over medium heat. Bring to a boil (side note: watch so that it doesn't boil-over and create a huge mess of your flat top stove...)  reduce heat and simmer for 20 mintues (longer if you want it thinker, less if you like it thinner).

Tada! you now have yummy soup, your welcome. (anotherside note let it sit for like 10 minutes before you haul off and destroy the inside of your mouth...)

Tomorrow dear children, we'll will continue this squashy lovefest with a little pumpkin baked ziti and possibly scones (we'll see how motivated I get) but I'll leave you off with the only Christmas song I can really stand haha, you know to get you in the holiday spirit and whatnot :)

Italian Recipe Round Up: Bruschetta, Minestrone, and Grilled Veggies

So I think I've discovered that I can never go back to eating dairy or eggs again. I tried eating dairy on Thursday, woke up sick Friday... But felt better yesterday morning. Then yesterday afternoon I made fried rice for my husband and couldn't resist having a bowl myself... bad idea. So here I sit nauseated and all sorts of unpleasantness... But it's not all bad, at least I now I'm fairly positive I've nailed down the source of my mysterious stomach pains. Also while I was feeling better I made a slew of Italian goodies.

Two times the creaminess: Cream of Mushroom & Cream of Wild Rice

It's a long story, a story I'll tell more in my next post. Last Christmas, I made my mom a homemade cook book. She would keep her recipes, which were written on little note cards or spinets of paper, scrambled in an old shoe box in the cupboard. So I took them and rewrote them into a little note book. As I was doing this I realized just how many old recipe called for the convenience of canned goods. And they all started with "cream of....".

It Probably Exsists in Your Cupboard: Red Lentil Dahl

 
It's something I had seen on the menu at our local Indian restaurant but had never ordered before. I'm not sure why because it was sooo amazing! Also chances are if searched your kitchen you most likely have everything on hand to make this super easy colorful little dish.

Soup Week Continues Onward: Miso Soup

Miso tired of being sick... haha...ugh...

Full of nutrients, great for digestion and apparently a boost to your immune system. Not only that but it makes for an awesome breakfast. It's good anytime of the day for that matter

Soup Week Rages On: Thai Chili

Today has been full of hacking, coughing and other unpleasantries... So tonight I took matters into my own hands. Nothing like a little (and by that I mean a lot of) spice to clear your system! I was inspired by a friends facebook picture of an awesome looking bowl of chili and PPK's recipe for Red Lentil Thai Chili

Not surprising I didn't stick to the recipe and made a few of my own changes. Which I will include below, if you want the original recipe (which is adapted from a Clean Eating recipe) click here.

It's Soup Week!

possibly even two weeks... we'll see how long this stupid cold lasts.

Anyways, I couldn't think of a better way to kick things off with a super simple vegetable broth recipe.
I adapted this one from a Cooking Light recipe, in order to accommodate all of the extra vegetables in my fridge begging to be used before they spoiled.

I  hovered over the stove the entire time.
P.S. the steam felt amazing.