Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Hump Day

The temperature this morning is 14 degrees and I am reminded how much I dislike Winter!  As with everything in my life, I try to find the positives in things.  So my number one positive has always been I love boots!  So when it gets cold I get to wear them!!  Yep its true when I can think of anything else, that is the one thing I can be happy about...its boot time!

Truth is, there is a few things that make winter acceptable beyond being fashionable in my boot collection.  Another thing I like about Winter...well really the Fall to Spring season is SOUP.  I find it an amazing way to get my vegetables as well as fullness when I need a little extra somethin-somethin!
For those that have been to the Biggest Loser Resort you know we had soup with every lunch, which was so comforting!  Especially after a chilly hike!!  I try and have soup ready to go in my refrigerator, which keeps me from reaching for the wrong thing when I'm hungry.  So many soups require no dairy at all, which keeps the fats away.  I fell in love with a squash soup recipe in the fall and I continue to use it for all types of squash, including butternut squash!  I don't really like butternut squash soup recipes but absolutely love using this squash recipe for all my squash soups.

Here is a recipe I found and use often:
Squash Soup (use with all squashes)
2-3 squashes (creamier soup with 3)
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 carrots, chopped
1 apple, cored and chopped
1 shallot, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. dried ginger
1/4 tsp. dried sage
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper (adds nice amount of heat)
1/8 tsp. ground allspice
4 cups vegetable stock (organic is preferable)

Directions

The first thing I noted, it is much easier to get the squash out of its skin if you roast it in the oven.  In a 400 degree oven place seeded halved squash on foil lined cookie sheet. Roasting time is around 40-50 minutes, check with fork for tenderness. When cooled you can easily scoop out the insides and throw out its outer skin.
In a soup pot, heat olive oil over medium-high heat until hot. Add carrots, apple, shallot and onions and saute until tender, about 6-8 minutes. Once tender, add salt, ginger, sage, cayenne, allspice, squash and vegetable stock. Stir well and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes.
Remove pot from heat and puree mixture.  Calorie in a cup are about 75.  Of course I always have at least a 2 cup serving!  YUMMY
Another variation of this soup is to add beans such as pinto beans adding protein to the equation!  In fact, next batch of my soup will have beans in it.  Note to all I am NOT a bean person at all, do not like the texture, but it will be puree'd in it and I won't even notice!!

Lastly, although winter does make it hard to go outside, it definitely makes for indoor exercise to be cooler.  And Fall and Spring are the best time for outdoor hikes!  So these are the things that keep me accepting of cold weather.  
So me and my popsicle toes will get warm with some comforting soup and indoor cardio today.  

Hmm...I think its time for some soup!

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