Roasted Pear and Butternut Squash Soup

I think I just came across the best butternut squash soup recipe EVER! :) For once, I did nothing to change the recipe! It was that good. The only thing I left out was the recommendation to sprinkle cheese on top of the soup. For me, cheese plus butternut squash is just screaming NOOOOOO! Also, this recipe served 8 not 6. (See original recipe here!)

Ingredients:

2 ripe pears, peeled, quartered, cored

2 pounds butternut squash (pre-peeled, seeded, and cut into chunks)

2 medium tomatoes cored and quartered

1 large leek halved length-wise and then sliced

2+ cloves garlic, diced (to taste!)

2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 tsp salt

black pepper (to taste)

4 cups lower sodium vegetable broth

1 tbsp sliced scallion greens

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Combine pears, butternut squash, tomatoes, leek, garlic, oil, salt and pepper in a large bowl.

3. Spread evenly onto 2 large rimmed baking sheets.

4. Roast for about 45-50 minutes or until vegetables are soft and tender; be sure to stir occasionally.

5. Puree half the vegetables and 2 cups of broth in a blender until smooth. Pour into a large pot.

6. Repeat with the second bunch.

7. Heat on low heat for about 10 minutes or until the soup is warm and bubbling.

8. Spoon into bowls. Garnish with scallions. Serve and enjoy!

Sliced Pears!

Sliced Tomatoes!

Pre-cubed Butternut Squash!

Sliced Leeks!

Vegetables ready to be roasted!
Somehow, I forgot to take a picture of the final product. Trust me! It was that good! :)

Mediterranean Wanna-be!

Mediterranean food is one of my favorite cuisines! The best part is that it's SO easy to create this meal at home.

Ingredients:

Canned chickpeas

(and/or) Hummus original flavor

Tabouli

Joesph's pita

Sliced tomato(es)

Vegetarian grape leaves

Directions:

-If desired, pre-heat oven to 200 degrees and toast pita for about 5-1o minutes.

-Open containers, dish into individual bowls or saucers.

-Either buy pre-washed and sliced tomatoes or wash and slice your tomato. Better yet, buy cherry tomatoes. Then all that has to be done is a little rinsing (away of the bugs! Just kidding! :))

ENJOY!

(Now if that's not a quick, easy, healthy meal than I have no idea what one is!! :))

One additional tidbit- other than clean hands, don't forget your fork. Although this is mostly finger friendly food, you might appreciate having a fork around! :)

Trader Joe's 100 Calorie Chocolate Bars

I'm not usually a fan of 100 calorie snacks; however, I think Trader Joe's hit the nail on it's head with this one- 100 calorie chocolate bar. It's portion controlled, but more importantly it is visually appealing. Often reduced calorie items are not visually pleasing and the hunger pains set in. That 100 calorie snack too often turns into 200, into 300, into 400, into a meal's worth of calories! Oy ve! Well, give this one a try. Eat slowly. Enjoy the chocolate-y goodness! Be sure to save your next 100 calorie chocolate indulgence for tomorrow! :)

Sweet Potato + Tomato Goodness

With the craving for warm teas and warm meals, I know Autumn is upon us.

The following recipe is an easy dish I recently created. It's not crazy or mind blowing yet tasty, simple, and satisfying. I don't know about you, but sometimes all I want is something comforting and tasty. Don't get me wrong! There are absolutely, positively moments for mouth watering flavor-exploding dishes. Just not today! :) As always, I used what was available in my kitchen to find a way to satisfy that Autumn craving!

Serves 2
Ingredients:
2 sweet potatoes
1 medium onion
1 can tomato
1/2 tbsp butter or oil
1 green pepper

Directions:
1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
2. Wash and clean sweet potatoes
3. Bake for about an hour or until done
4. Heat butter or oil in a frying pan
5. Add sliced onion. Let cook for 15 minutes. Stir often.
6. Chop green pepper into small bite-size pieces. Add to frying pan. Let cook for 15 minutes stirring often.
7. Add canned tomatoes. Simmer until liquid is absorbed or about 20-30 minutes. Stir often.
8. Place mixture in a dish. Place sweet potato on top!
9. Enjoy!

Food Myths BUSTED!!

It's always interesting to me how myths and misconceptions of healthy eating are so strongly embedded in people's opinions, thoughts, and actions. A couple of weeks ago Eating Well Magazine published this great article on The 13 Biggest Nutrition and Food Myths Busted. Take a read; it's great. Of course, continue reading for a few of my comments.

1. Eggs are bad for your heart. One moment we hear don't eat eggs and the next we hear it's okay. How does one decipher all of the information? It can be challenging; I agree. However, look at the big picture. An egg is a great source of protein AND the amount of the saturated fat in the yolk is a lot less that all of that butter on your toast, 4 slices of bacon, and the dash of cream in your coffee combined. As for the cholesterol part of it, saturated and trans fats likely are worse for you than cholesterol per se. So I say go ahead, enjoy those eggs (sans bacon, cream, and butter!)

2. HFCS HFCS HFCS (High Fructose Corn Syrup) OY VE! This is a complicated one. When it comes to extra non-nutritional calories, HFCS is the same as sugar as brown sugar as honey as agave nectar. When it comes to the true sense of natural, well, that's where the issue lies. HFCS is man made and there have been traces of mercury found in items containing HFCS (another bag of worms, yes.) If your looking for food that doesn't contain man made items- then skip the HFCS; however, if your cookies and bread and soda are made with sugar- it's still extra non-nutritional calories. Less sugar in your daily diet is the goal, whether it's from honey, conventional sugar, brown sugar, or HFCS.

3. Carbs make you fat. Fat makes you fat. [Insert your taboo food item that] makes you fat. At the end of the day, we gain weight because we consume too many calories than which we burn. Yes sometimes it is a bit more complicated than that BUT it's a great place to start. Too many of anything can make you gain weight!

So those are some of my favorite myth busters. Read the Eating Well article for more. And happy healthy eating!! :)