Butternut Squash Soup

My first Butternut Squash Soup!

This was my own creation

I couldn't find a recipe online that I liked all of, so I used what I had available and just put it together myself =) First time I didn't follow a recipe or someone's guidelines!

 You'll need:

Two medium/large butternut squashes

One large pan & one skillet

Milk

Honey

Sweet yellow onion

Fresh Thyme

Butter

Sea Salt & Pepper

Olive Oil

Fresh Garlic

Either water or Vegetable broth. (I used some frozen veggie stock cubes)

Most of the recipes I found instructed you to peel the butternut squash and to dice it & boil the squash. I simply cut mine in half, spooned out the seeds, and baked them. 

Place them open side down on a cookie sheet & fill the tray with about half an inch of water.

Bake them for 45 mins to an hour at 350.

 While your squash are cooling, heat some olive oil on medium high heat.

Add your chopped onion and chopped garlic

I added some fresh thyme sprigs as well

Heat until onions are soft

 By now, your squash should be cool enough to handle

Spoon the flesh of the squash into the pan, use a potato masher to really mush up the squash.

I then added a couple of cups, approx, of milk 

About a cup and a half of veggie stock

1/4 cup, approx, of honey

Sea salt & pepper to your preference

I'll be honest, when I'm cooking, I tend to just pour this stuff right into the pan and don't always measure -thus all of the " about"s and " approx"s lol ;-)

It seems to work out pretty good for me so far, I'm sure once in a while I'll wish I had measured, but it hasn't happened yet ;-)

When I'm following a recipe I find online or get from a friend, I follow those measurements though.

I used my Braun hand held immersion blender to really make sure this was smooth, with no real chunks. I brought it to a boil on medium heat.

I then removed from heat but put the lid on left it to simmer like this for about an hour, not opening the lid so as to not let any of the heat out.

This was my first time just throwing something together myself and I think it really came out well! 

The one bummer is, I had intended on cooking one white sweet potato & adding that in and I forgot. So I will have to add that next time and see how it comes out :)

Overall though, I felt this was a success in my kitchen :)

Rainbow Chard Salad!

First time having Rainbow Chard!

Chard is actually a member of the beet family

Fresh tasty salad, makes a great side dish!

 What you'll need:

Olive Oil

White Wine Vinegar

A couple of mixing bowls

Italian seasoning (basically a mix of Thyme, Marjoram, Basil, Oregano, etc)

Canned or frozen corn

Salt & Pepper (I prefer Sea Salt)

Fresh Garlic-chopped

Either Red or Sweet yellow onion-chopped (I use sweet onion in everything I cook because I prefer it's flavor over red and because red onion or white onion can sometimes be too spicy for me)

Rainbow Chard (It is so pretty!!!)

 First, remove the leafy greens from the stems. 

Then you'll cut the stems into about 1/2" pieces

Coarsely chop the leaves & set them aside for now.

Place the stems in boiling water and let them cook about two mins

 Add your corn. Because I used frozen corn, I let this cook about two mins before I added the leaves.

 If you use canned corn, you can just add the corn and leaves at the same time. Let this cook 2-3 mins or until the stems are tender.

 Drain your mix and set aside for a few minutes

 Heat up some olive oil on medium heat & add your chopped onion and chopped garlic.

Add a splash of white wine vinegar & your seasonings.

You can also just use an Italian dressing instead of the olive oil/seasonings/vinegar.

Cook this until the onions begin to get tender. (about 2-4 mins)

Add your leaf/corn mix & cook this for two to three minutes, stirring frequently.

Remove from pan and let cool for a few minutes before enjoying!

I just ate it by itself, but this would be very good next to a roasted chicken breast

or some grilled fish :)

Jessy's Juice #19!

~Juicing with my power juicer express deluxe~

Increased vitamin C digestion lessens menstrual cramps

Peach, cilantro, parsley, Italian parsley, Sweet potato, cucumber, ginger root, broccoli, spinach, tomato, carrot

This made nearly 43 ozs of fresh, wholesome, juice!! I will admit, though, that this was not a very tasty concoction lol.. It had a very very green taste to it and the sweet potato did not add well to this combination.
With this juice, though, I had a goal-VITAMIN C!!!! I have read online that increased vitamin C intake during the week of your menstrual cycle can help relieve the cramping.
Up until last year I really didn't have to deal with cramping but when I had to stop taking oral contraceptives and get a copper IUD instead, it is accompanied by much worse cramping.
Every month, I have one or two days (I am lucky, I know there are people who have it far far worse!) of pretty heavy cramping. Last month I made a juice and for once I wish I had taken my boyfriend, Matt's advice & written it down. It had a lot of spinach and broccoli and it had two peaches and a bit of ginger root but I don't really remember what else. I may actually have a picture though come to think of it...
Anyhow, that was so delicious and I had read online that spinach is a natural muscle relaxant and that increased vitamin C will reduce the cramping. I drank that juice the first day I could feel the cramping start & I was fine that day & the following day!
This month, I waited to see whether I would have severs cramps or not (I wasn't sure if it was merely my body beginning to adjust to the IUD and therefore that month was just not as bad as the ones before had been) And sure enough, I was starting to have pretty bad cramps yesterday, so I made this juice with as much leafy green stuff as possible to get lots of Vitamin C & it worked, no cramping the rest of the day yesterday!
 But I need to figure out what the juice I made last month was because that tasted a bit like a peach smoothie with a hint of green taste, not enough to overpower the yumminess of the peach. It was very very tasty. This mix, not so much lol.. It was one of the only ones I've had to really force myself to drink.

Peach: boron, antioxidants, vitamin C & beta carotene
Cilantro: Thiamin, zinc, fiber, Vitamin A, C, E, K, B6, riboflavin, niacin, calcium, iron, magnesium, folate, pantothenic acid, potassium, phosphorus, copper & manganese
Parsley: antioxidants, folic acid, iron, Vitamin A & C
Sweet Potato: Fiber, Vitamin B6 & A, potassium, manganese
Tomato: Beta Carotene & Vitamin C
Blackberries: Vitamin E, C, K, folate, magnesium, potassium, copper, fiber & manganese
Ginger root: Vitamin C, manganese, magnesium, copper, potassium & a natural anti inflammatory
Celery: Riboflavin, Vitamin B6, K, C, A, pantothenic acid, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, manganese, folate
Carrots: Beta carotene, Vitamin A &C, pectin, flourine, potassium
Cucumber: Vitamin A, C, K, pantothenic acid, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, manganese
Broccoli: Beta carotene, Vitamin C, calcium, iron, folic acid & chromium
Kale: Antioxidants, calcium, iron, Vitamin A& C
Spinach: Antioxidants, potassium, iron, calcium & Vitamin C

Butternut Squash Lasagna

I love cooking!

First time cooking Butternut Sqash!

This is such a yummy dish!! 

 You will need:

9x13 baking dish & a cookie sheet

1 Large butternut squash

1tbsp of honey

16 oz of cottage cheese

1tbsp of basil

1tbsp of oregano

cloves of fresh garlic (2-6 depending on preference )

10oz frozen chopped spinach

12-16 sheets of lasagna

16oz mozzarella, shredded

Salt & Pepper

 Cut your squash in half & spoon out the seeds.

 Lay the two halves open side down on a cookie sheet & fill sheet with half an inch of water

(I still hear a live version of John Prine in the back of my head singing Happy Enchilada every time I see the term 'half an inch of water' lol)

And bake this at 350 for 45 mins- 1 hour

 Cook your frozen spinach & drain it.

 You can use 1 tbsp of dry oregano, I used my amazing handy little chopper and chopped about 3tbspns fresh oregano instead :)

 Mix the 1tbsp of honey, your cloves of garlic-chopped, your basil & oregano 

(I used the organic gourmet basil blend that comes in a tube in the veggie aisle of your fav grocery store) in a large mixing bowl.

 Add the flesh of your squash and use an immersion blender to make a nice paste. If it is a bit thick, add some of the water from the cookie sheet you baked the squash with.

 In a separate bowl, mix the 16 oz of cottage cheese with your chopped spinach

 

 Spread 1/3 of the squash into the bottom of your pan, covering the bottom.

 Add one layer of lasagna noodles. 

I used the no boil ones. The recipe I found had actually called for whole wheat noodles & I would really like to try it with those some time, but I couldn't find them when I went to the store this trip. Maybe next time =)

 Spread 1/2 of your cottage cheese/spinach mix on top of the noodles.

 Eventually your layers will go as follows (from top)

1/3 squash paste

noodles

1/2 cheese mix

noodles

(I added a layer of mozzarella here that the recipe didn't call for)

1/3 squash paste

noodles

1/2 cheese mix

noodles

1/3 squash paste

 You then cover the top with mozzarella. The recipe called for a cup & a half.

 Bake at 350 for 40-45 mins. Mine was a bit over browned-which is more than okay with me, as I LOVE that 'almost' burnt cheese taste!! But if you don't, I would pull it out of the oven at about 40mins.

This really was one of my favorite recipes I've cooked yet!! I absolutely love the butternut squash! I've only ever had butternut squash soup & have never cooked the squash at home until now. I really think that even most people who aren't big veggie fans would probably like this if you make it the way I did because it is so cheesy :) Me loves melted cheese!!

This squash I bought from a local farmer, I am very curious to see if I notice a big difference in taste if I ever have to buy one from the grocery store.

Juice #18

Monday-Lunch time juice

~Juicing with my power juicer express deluxe~

Strawberries, blackberries, carrots, cucumber, kiwi, lemon, beet, cilantro, kale, celery, spinach, parsley, broccoli & ginger root ;-D

 Strawberries: Folate, potassium, fiber, Vitamin C, manganese

Blackberries: Vitamin E, C, K, folate, magnesium, potassium, copper, fiber & manganese

Carrots: Beta carotene, vitamin A, C, pectin, flourine, potassium

Cucumber: Vitamin A, C, K, pantothenic acid, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, manganese

Kiwi: Fiber, Vitamin E, C, K, potassium, & copper

Lemon: Thiamin, riboflavin, pantothenic acid, iron, magnesium, fiber, Vitamin C &B6, calcium, potassium & copper

Beet: Folic acid, iron, calcium & potassium

Cilantro: Thiamin, zinc, fiber, Vitamin A, C, E, K, B6, riboflavin, niacin, calcium, iron, magnesium, folate, pantothenic acid, potassium, phosphorus, copper &manganese

Kale: antioxidants, calcium, iron, Vitamin C & A

Celery: Riboflavin, Vitamin B6, K, C, A, pantothenic acid, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, manganese, folate

Spinach: antioxidants, potassium, iron, calcium & Vitamin C

Parsley: antioxidants, folic acid, iron, Vitamin A &C

Broccoli: beta carotene, vitamin C, calcium, iron, folic acid & chromium

Ginger Root: vitamin C, manganese, magnesium, copper &potassium & is a natural anti inflammatory.

This made approximately 38oz of delicious juice!! The lemon wasn't the strongest flavor, followed by the beet & then the blackberries, followed closely by the greens. Definitely have to have an appreciation for 'raw' food to really enjoy this particular concoction ;-)

Stuffed Jalapenos

~Bacon - wrapped, stuffed with cream cheese & cheddar~

These are so yumm!!!!

Great appetizer or snack for get togethers or parties!

 Just need cheddar cheese, cream cheese, whatever bacon you prefer & some jalapenos ;-D

 Because I am a MAJOR wimp when it comes to spice, I always completely de-seed them and completely de-rib them (all of the white 'ribbing' inside the pepper)

I STRONGLY suggest you wear gloves the entire time you are handling the inside of these peppers! 

I had made cream cheese stuffed jalapenos before that didn't involve cutting them open, just cut the tops off & used a knife to hollow them out. 

When handling the inside of the pepper, the capcaisen gets on your skin & will BURN your hands for hours afterwards (at least if you are as sensitive as I lol) Was not any fun waiting for that to pass >.<

 I mixed just over one container of cream cheese (Had about 1/4 of a container from last time)

And a couple handfuls of cheddar-maybe two cups? of shredded medium cheddar cheese.

Filled each one, wrapped in 1/2 strip of bacon each & baked at 350 for 30 mins, then put on broil for 5mins but pulled em out after 3, they were just starting to burn.

Putting them on the broil for a few mins at the end really gave them a very nice crispy finish, I would suggest 25 mins at 325 followed by 3 mins under the broiler. 

I had bumped the temp up because I had more peppers than I usually do.

These came out absolutely delicious!! I like them better than just the regular cream cheese stuffed ones I usually make! The cheese filling to pepper ration is more even with this recipe, if that makes sense?

Stuffed Patty Pan Squash/Zucchini

I have discovered, I love cooking!!!

Stuffed zucchini & patty pan squash

Stuffed with quinoa (pronounced 'keen-wa'), shredded Parmesan cheese, spinach, onions, garlic & the flesh from both zucchini & the patty pan

 Here is what you'll need: dry quinoa (pronounced 'keen-wa', this was the first time I've ever cooked with it!)

Patty pan/zucchini (can use either or, I chose to use both

1 cup of broth (I used veggie stock that I had made, the recipe I was following called for beef broth)

 Sea salt & pepper

Sweet yellow onion (I used half a large onion), chopped

About 3 oz of spinach with the stems removed (you can also use a package of frozen spinach, thawed)

Olive oil

Shredded Parmesan cheese, about a cup

Some fresh garlic (amount may vary upon preference, I used about 4 cloves), minced

 Grease a 13x9 baking pan

 Bring the stock/broth to a boil

 Mix in the dry quinoa

 Reduce to low & cook until all liquid absorbed

 Slice a small layer off the bottom of each squash so they will sit flat in the casserole dish

 Slice a thicker strip off the top of each to act as lids

 Spoon out the flesh of each squash. I didn't have room for three zucchini so I cut it down to two

Mix the scooped out flesh of the squash with your minced garlic & diced onion

Heat up some olive oil & cook these until the onions are starting to soften

 Add your spinach & cook 3-5 mins (if using fresh spinach, cook until just starts to wilt)

I waited until this step to preheat the oven, as you do have about half an hour of prep before here. It will get to temp in time.

 Remove from heat and mix in your quinoa & shredded Parmesan cheese

 Mix well (I used my Braun hand held immersion blender to create a nice mix and really mash up the squash well) You may add Sea salt & pepper here to taste, if you like.

Fill each squash & replace lids, drizzle with olive oil

 Cover with foil & bake at 350 for 30 mins, then remove foil & bake an additional 7-10 mins

These came out so delicious!! I did see another recipe that called for portabella mushrooms and I think if you incorporate those into this recipe, it would be even better! The recipe I followed also called for 1/2 lb of ground beef, browned & only use half of the flesh of the squash in the filling. Brown it while the quinoa is cooking and mix it in at the same time as you mix in the Parmesan & quinoa.

These would make a great side dish or just eat a couple as your full meal =)