Butternut Squash Soup

Making this was my first time to try anything with butternut squash. It always sounded interesting, so I decided to make it into a soup. Turns out that I loved this recipe. It's awesome, nutritious, tasty, and easy to make. I apologize that my pics are not the best at all, as it looks like baby food. However, trust me when I say it is a must try! If you want, you can also change up the recipe with a few twists provided below. (From http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/1975 )

Butternut Squash Soup

I apologize for the terrible image quality! I should have had some garnish with it, but this was the first time making it and I had nothing fancy to make it look pretty

 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 
1 carrot, diced 
1 celery stalk, diced 
1 onion, diced 
4 cups cubed butternut squash, fresh or frozen 
1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme 
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth 
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt 
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper (I would rather use 1/4 tsp next time, since 1/2 makes it much spicier).


Heat oil in a large soup pot. Add carrot, celery and onion. Cook until vegetables have begun to soften and onion turns translucent, 3 to 4 minutes. 

Stir in butternut squash, thyme, chicken broth, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until squash is fork-tender, about 30 minutes. 

Use an immersion blender to purée soup. Alternatively, let the soup cool slightly and carefully purée in batches in a traditional blender (this is what I did and it turned out well.)

once again, the image quality is terrible! But take my word that it is a must try!

 3 twists:

Apple, Gorgonzola and Almond Butternut Soup
Stir 1 cup unsweetened applesauce into puréed soup. Garnish each serving with crumbled Gorgonzola cheese, toasted almonds, a few slices of thinly sliced apple and a small sprig of fresh thyme.

Thai-style Butternut Soup
Stir a tablespoon of red curry paste and 2 teaspoons chopped fresh ginger into carrot, celery and onion mixture. Add 1/2 cup coconut milk with broth. Purée soup and garnish each serving with toasted coconut flakes and chopped fresh cilantro.

Southwestern-style Butternut Soup
Add a tablespoon chopped chipotles in adobo sauce to carrot, celery and onion mixture. Garnish soup with crumbled queso fresco, toasted pumpkin seeds and chopped fresh cilantro.

Nutritional Info: 

Per Serving:140 calories (50 from fat), 6g total fat, 1g saturated fat, 0mg cholesterol, 280mg sodium, 20g carbohydrate (5g dietary fiber, 4g sugar), 6g protein

Easy Homemade Whole Wheat Bread

I saw this bread recipe that looked so yummy on http://beingcindykitchen.blogspot.com/search/label/bread It ended up not being hard to make. Trust me when I say that because bread can be hard to make. What's also nice is it can be done all at once, or the dough can be stored for baking later. This is a must-make. Your kitchen and home will smell fantastic, and you will have some delicious homemade bread.

Easy Honey-Whole Wheat Bread

 3 cups lukewarm water

1 1/2 T yeast

1 generous T salt

1/4 cup oil

1/4 cup honey

  5 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 cup white flour* (see note at bottom)

Cornstarch

Warm water

Oatmeal, seeds, any desired toppings (I used oatmeal and wheat germ)

In a large bowl or stand mixer bowl, combine water, yeast, and salt. Add oil and honey and mix a little bit. Add in flour (holding back the last 1/4 cup to make sure your dough is not too dry) and mix ingredients together. Dough should NOT form a ball, and should still be fairly sticky, but you want it to be oozy, not runny! If needed, add more flour. Transfer into a 5-quart plastic container (or a metal bowl lined with wax paper/freezer paper/plastic wrap). Obviously, if you have a mixing bowl that is at least 5 quarts and plastic, you can do this all in one bowl! Cover with something that is not airtight (but DON'T use a towel, or the dough will stick to it... trust me!) and let rise for 2 hours on a draft-free countertop.

 At the end of the 2 hours, you can shape a loaf or store in the fridge. When you are ready to shape a loaf: Grease loaf pan. Sprinkle flour liberally on top of dough, and get plenty of flour on your hands. Remove a section of dough about the size of a canteloupe. Work into a loose ball (dough will not hold shape very well; that's okay). Set in bread pan. Turn oven to 375 degrees. While oven is heating, let dough rest for about 40 minutes if it has been refrigerated (if it hasn't been it doesn't really need any resting time at all). 

Just before baking, combine about 1 t. water with 1/2 t. cornstarch. Brush over top of loaf. Sprinkle with desired toppings--oatmeal, seeds, nuts, whatever you feel like (I used oatmeal and wheat germ.) With serrated knife, slash loaf three times diagonally across the top. Place on top rack in oven and bake 40-50 minutes, until the top of the loaf is a deep brown and sounds hollow when tapped. Let cool on a rack. This makes 2 loaves--when I made it, I froze one for later and enjoyed the other with my roommates. This makes great thick sandwich bread (but it can get crumbly), or, as my favorite, good ol' toast with freezer jam. :)

Sweet Potato Fries

I attempted making sweet potato fries for the first time last weekend, and they are now one of my favorite foods. They are salty and tasty filled with nutrients, as well as easy to make!!

Sweet Potato Fries

Sorry about picture quality. I also lost my digital camera so there are going to be more Instagram pics from now on.

(For a couple of servings. You can double or triple this if you'd like.)

1large Sweet potato or 2 medium
1 Tbsp Olive oil
1/8 tsp garlic salt
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/4 C Water

Preheat oven to 450. Wash and peel potato(s). Cut up in wedges or strips, but keep in mind they take longer to cook if in wedges (as shown above.) Place on a sheet of aluminum foil on a cookie sheet. Roll the sweet potatoes around in olive oil, salt, and pepper. Gently roll up the sides of the aluminum foil, creating a shallow bowl shape, then gently fill it up with the water. Bake for 20 minutes and enjoy!