Butternut Squash Soup

We’re still trying to make it through our Fall squash. I think next time we will buy a bunch of small squashes instead of 2 giant monster squashes. I wanted soup and we didn’t have very many veggies, so I busted out the butternut. My method was to saute onions, chopped celery, and garlic. I chopped and peeled some of the squash, then threw that it. I added water, then a spoonful of chicken base (it’s like really concentrated stock, a paste almost). I put in a bay leaf, salt, pepper and a little tomato juice then left it for a while. After the squash was soft I pureed it and added cumin, chili powder, chopped kale and some Isreali couscous. I let it simmer a little longer for everything to cook down.

We ate it with corn muffins. It will filling and delicious, but there were enough flavours in it for the squash to not be overpowering (a problem I often have with squash soup).

Food Rich

I read this article and I thought it had a lot of truth in it. How often do we feel like there is nothing to eat, despite having a fridge and kitchen full of food?
We’ve been trying to eat what we have in our pantry before we move and then par back to just what we really need, and will use. I’m going to try to do this with our freezer too.
I think too often people buy something just for one recipe and then the ingredient sits there. I find myself coming up with recipes just to use up what we have. I think it would be better to only buy foods that we love so that we have more enjoyable meals.
I think it’s important that trying to live simply extends to our food as well. This doesn’t have to mean eating less good food. To me it means eating healthy, fresh foods prepared simply. I think simple meals are often more enjoyable that complex ones.

Lazy Friday Dinner

Sometimes, on Friday night, or really any other long, busy day, it’s perfectly okay to just grab a bunch of food out of your fridge, throw it only a plate and call it antipasto. I was calling it toddler food, but I think this name makes it more acceptable. Heres’s our example:

We each took half the bowls and chose something to fill them. I chose kiwi, avocado and clementines. Kurt chose pickled carrots, sharp cheddar, and dill pickled. We also had a venison steak on the side (a gift from a hunter in the family…we do eat meat sometimes). This kind of meal is especially great if you’re moving soon and don’t want to move all of the preserves you got for Christmas from people, also if you want to clean out your fridge.