A Different Style Butternut Squash Soup

Fall is here ALREADY! Boy this year has gone by fast.....No big suprise but i cant wait for this year to be done with and start over fresh! It has not been my year... Anyway Fall is my most fav time of year?!?! Why? The leaves change colours, the weather gets cooler, LOTS of things to do with apples! Apple cider, apple donuts, apple cheese fritters and so on! Not to mention the gorgeous decorations for fall! I love it! Unfortunately i will not be decorating this year... I do have some good news to share i supose! I PASSED my US Citizenship test! Woohoo! I have not had my ceremony yet though i will have pictures when that happens! So it has been pretty busy around here lately though! We had our first family camping trip! I will post about that but lets just say the tent was NOT water proof and we sorta had a few soggy days! 

We have been catching up and spending time with friends and family! Lochlan played soccer this season and Hubby helped coach the team so we have been busy with that also! We planned for a bonfire with friends and family but the rain seems to like to fall on our parade...lol first camping...then the bonfire! BUT we had a great time (inside) either way! I have been busy cooking like crazy YES i have been taking photos! I am ready to take the plunge back into bloggy land! 

Although i have about 30 posts that i have started (up loaded pics to each post and jotted down the ingredients to said recipes!) but i just havent had the get up n go to finish them off and publish them! 

In between all of this stuff i have been doing lots of researching concerning what to and what not to put into mine and my families bodies food wise! I have also decided that this is the FIRST year since arriving in the US that we will NOT be par taking in getting flu shots this year! I am proud to annouce this! I am taking a natural route to staying healthy for what part of the flu season we will be around for! Also i have to admit the only chemical medicine wise that i am currently taking is benadryl and thats only when my psoriasis is driving me crazy! Im using all organic and natural lotions and soaps to help sooth my skin also and i have to admit i am shocked at how well i am doing! I also think trying to be stress free helps too! I have rid my pantry of some of the nasty things i use to use! Like white flour, white sugar, vegetable oil, shortening(YUCK)! and store baught meats! I will get into more of why the overhaul in the next few posts. Doing this has not made our budget change much at all really it can be done and done on an everyday budget!

Now onto this most delish soup! I grew up HATING butternut squash soup... I HATED it.... it was awful in my eyes... but as i got older my taste buds have most definately changed! I must admit foods i absolutely hated growing up have now become foods i enjoy! I guess my taste buds grew up :P lol Anyway you can find a different version of the same style soup here.

What i used!

1 medium sized butternut squash

3 sweet potato squash(click link to see what these beauties look like)

1 teaspoon of ginger powder

2 Tablespoons of garlic powder

2 cups of chicken stock

1 can of coconut milk (i used light coconut milk)

1 Tablespoon of dried cilantro

1 Tablespoon of dried parsley

1 teaspoon of salt

Olive Oil

Preheat the oven to 350

What i did!

First i washed all of my squashes as they were frommy garden and kinda muddy LOL. then i peeled them and sliced them in chunks! Placed them in a large ziplock baggie. Once the bag was full i added enough olive oil to caot these lovely pieces! Then i added the ginger, garlic and salt, tossed it all around then emptyed out the entire contents of the baggie into a large glass baking dish! I placed it in the preheated oven and checked on them every once in a while. When the squash was tender enough to smash it with spoon i knew it was done! (sorry no exact time i was busy doing other things) i smashed the squash with a fork made sure it was nice and smooth. In the pot on the stove i poured in the chicken stock, dried cilantro and parsely, bringin the stock up to bubbling then turning it to a simmer i slowly started adding the coconut milk making sure it wasnt to hot when added as you dont want the coconut milk to curdle. Once the liquids ahd simmered a good 15mins i then added in the smashed squash bringin up the temp slowly once everything was good and hot i turned off the burned and placed the lid on and let it sit a good 10mins. After 10mins i used my hand held blender and wizzed it threw the soup to make it thick and creamy! 

I served this DELISH soup with garlic naan! The boys absolutely LOVED it! How do i know? They didnt have much to say other then mmmmm's and yummmms! And they ate dinner quickly! It was definately a hit!

So i have some pictures of recipes to come! I can not wait to share some of the things i have been up to!

Quick and easy Beef, CousCous and BokChoy 

Super simple left over Potatos, Chicken, Homemade Salsa Melt!

Best ChocChip Cookies EVA!

Nourishing Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

Baked Apple Cheese Muffins

The BEST ever oven fried chicken you will ever have!

(you know its GOOD when you can take a bite out of it cold and its STILL crunchy!)

Mouth watering Pulled Bbq Beef

Homemade Buns!

Dealing with Stuff

Yup that pretty much sums up what i have been up to since my last post... So we found out we were pregnant again....i should be thrilled right?? Well sadly i am not... just after a week of finding out we were pregnant....my worst fear took place...i started spotting and that was it i knew everything i had been fearing was coming to life.. :( We lost our second angel baby last thursday... i placed it in a princess keepsake and we burried it under the rose of sharon bush in the backyard that over looks Lochlans play area... we placed flowers from the garden on it and had a moment of silence...and lots of tears :( No doctors for me this time around as we are with out health care...and seeing i am not a US Citizen i can not get healthy start like my son... so i went threw this miscarriage at home with no idea what to expect other then horror stories i had read online... I dont know what else to say other then... I really dont know what to do half of the time... i have been sick pretty much since a couple of days prior to loosing the baby... and i am still sick... im resting as much as i can BUT when you have nothing to do your mind can be painful... In the last week i have experienced every emotion i could possibly go threw and then some... Tonight i am well a little calmer i guess but still sadden at the thought ive lost another child :( laying in bed last night... or should i say thismorning as it was 3am i realised i would have been almost 25weeks had i not lost sweetpea... painful...so painful to think about that.. I have so many questions i want answered... but the answers wont come until i get back to australia and i find a good doctor down there... YES we are still in the states... And will still be here till probably end of october due to migration paper work and other junk that i dont feel like going into..... Anyway i have a few recipes to share with you all but not in this post... In the next couple of days i will throw them up.... I hope you are all well and enjoying what will soon be the end of summer for most of you all who read this blog.

Sweetpea Jacobs Online Memorial | GoneTooSoon.org

Chili Done My Way!

Ok i know its NOT Chili weather.... BUT once in a while a nice bowl of chili goes along way!

I was digging around in my chest freezer and came across some lovely chunks of stewing beef, ground lamb and ground turkey just enough of each kind not to make a full meal out of them, SO chilli it was! I laid them out the night prior to the long slow simmering, I dug around in my pantry and found 4 different kinds of dried beans (ChicPeas, White Northen, Kidney and Black Eyed Peas) I soaked about 1 cup of each in a deep bowl with water all the way to the top and then i added a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar. I soaked them over night, rinsed them the next morning felt how tender they were and realised i needed them to cook a little longer.

So now for the whole recipe i spose!

Slow Cooked 3 Meat 4 Bean Chili

1 pound of ground lamb

1 pound of ground turkey

1 pound of stewing beef

1 large onion (chopped and diced)

4 fresh red chillies (roughly chopped)

3 Tablespoons of fresh minced garlic

2 cups of homemade chicken stock

sea salt

1 Tablespoon of chipotle powder

ground black pepper

1 Tablespoon of cumin

1 Tablespoon of garlic powder

2 Tablespoons of homemixed Taco seasoning

2 cups of diced tomatoes with their juices still

2 cups of tomato juice

1 cup of chic peas (dryed)

1 cup of white northen beans (dryed)

1 cup of kidney beans (dryed)

1 cup of black eyed peas (dryed)

1 cup of liquid from the beans

and for garnishing

dash of lime juice

sour cream

grated cheese

I know seems like alot doesnt it! But we eat on it for a day or so and then i reinvent it :) and add cream cheese to it and pour it over tortilla chips some grated cheese and nachos it is!

Or mix it with cream cheese and a lil sour cream and turn it into a delish dip!

Soap your dry beans the night before make sure its a big enough bowl for the beans to soak in add a couple spoonfuls of apple cider vinegar to the beans and water.

Before starting your chili check the beans if still not tender enough add the drained beans to a pot cover with water add some seal salt and bring to a boil, check beans occasionally while preparing the chili if tender enough remove from heat and leave them in the water, remember you will need some of this liquid for your chili!

In a large pot heat up a little olive oil, when hot toss in your diced onions, minced garlic and your roughly chopped red chillies.

Saute the mixture for a few mins (if it starts to stick and burn add some of your stock) next you will want to toss your ground turkey and ground lamb into the mix and brown it. Once the ground meat is browned add the chunks of stew beef let it seal on all sides (the chunks of meat change colour) add and coat all the ground meat and chunks of beef with the chipotle, garlic powder, pinch of salt, cumin, taco seasoning and black pepper let simmer for a few minutes then add the rest of your stock, diced tomatoes and juice. Once all added bring the pot of yummies to a slow boil then turn it down to low. You will slow cook the pot for about 1-2 hours stirring occasionally. After about 2 hours your going to want to add your drained beans to the pot, stir them in depending how much your chili has cooked down depends on whether or not you will use the alotted amount of bean liquid. At this stage my chili is good and thick and i need the 1 cup of liquid :) i let this cook on the lowest setting for hours but sometimes my boys cant wait and dig in right away which is fine as it is technically good and cooked! When ready to eat i always serve it up with a spoonful of sourcream some tasty grated cheese and a squeeze of lime juice!

Really this chili ive found the longer it cooks the better the flavours!

Local Summer Veggies and Local Merlot Simmered Beef

Ah yes who doesnt LOVE summer goodies! I have been cooking up a storm lately and my boys couldnt be happier!

The beef i used here is from my local butchers shop and it was lovely and tender!

The veggies are from our local farmers market! Fresh patty pan squash, green beans and red skin new potatoes!

Nothing fancy when it came to these veggies i steamed them in my double boiler pots i checked how tender each lot of veggies were and when almost done i removed them and placed them in a dish where they continued to finish cooking while the other veggies steamed.

The simple sauce i made was just melted homemade butter and a couple of tablespoonfuls of sweet soy sauce mixed toegether right before serving i drizzeled it over the steamed veggies! It was a delish way to get my boys to eat these veggies!

The beef was cooked with home grown onions from my adopted americans mothers garden and before i go on i must add that boy were they hot! The minute i cut the top off the onion my eyes watered straight away! Anyway i used 2 small brown onins sliced them up threw in 4 cloves of home grown garlic i used a tablespoon of homemade butter to saute the onion and garlic in. Once they had cooked down i added the beef chunks and browned them. After that i added half a cup of homemade chicken stock to the pan placed the lid of and let it simmer for about 15mins, after that i added about half a cup of locally made merlot to the meat added a pinch of sea salt about 1 teaspoon of fresh cracked black pepper and 1/2 a teaspoon of celery salt i placed the lid on the pan and let it simmer for about half an hour. This was extremely tasty!

SourDough Muffins! YUM!

Sorry for my MIA i have been busy cooking and trying new recipes and spending time with my boys :)

Ok so this is not a new recipe per say but i never make these babies the same way!

So i have a jar that lives in my fridge and every few days i bring said jar out and let it get to room temp then i feed it :) and that jar sits on my counter top with cheese cloth over it so it can grow! What am i talking about? I am talking about SourDough Starter! So the day i came about this recipe i was looking at my 2 full jars of sourdough starter that i NEEDED to do something with! So i began searching what i could do with this stuff (other then crackers, pancakes and breads) and i came across a recipe for Strawberry SourDough Muffins, i cant not find exactly where i found the recipe but i really was NOT impressed with it..... It required WAY to much sugar, baking soda, eggs and salt!

So after looking threw my other muffin recipes i came up with this extremely easy and totally tasty recipe!

Now i will warn you all these can be VERY addicting! One will NOT be enough!

Pictured here in the post are 5 different varieties of this muffin recipe!

1. Strawberry, Black Berry and Dark Chocolate Chip

2. Strawberry, Mulberry, Blackberry and Black Raspberry

3. Vanilla and Mango

4. Black Raspberry and Dark Chocolate Chip

5. Mango and Strawberry

Play with this recipe i encourage it! I am starting to play with savory flavors! These make great GREAT quick grab breakfasts or lovely afternoon snacks for the kiddies!

Now for the Recipe!

SourDough Strawberry Muffins

1 cup of sourdough starter

2 cups of flour (white/wheat)

1/2 cup of unsweetened applesauce

1/3 cup of sucanat

1 egg

3/4 tsp of baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup of milk

1 + 1/2 Tbsp of Vanilla extract

1 + 1/2 cup of diced strawberries(or any other fruit)

Preheat over at 375 degrees. Mix everything but the diced strawberries in a large mixing bowl until combined. Then fold in the strawberries. Pour into greased muffin tins. Bake 35mins or until toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool in tins for a couple of muffins b4 removing and placing on a wire rack took cool completely! Makes 24 small muffins.

You can add many different fruits as i have already mention to this batter! They are divine! Cream cheese is also lovely smeared on them! Enjoy!