Baby it's cold outside...

When it's bitter cold outside, there's nothing better than warm soup for dinner. My butternut squash soup kicked off the first of many new soups I plan to try this winter. The soup was super tasty, and easy to make. I loved it, and with rave reviews from the husb and my sister, this will for sure enter our soup rotation. I got the recipe from my Mom, of course.

Uber healthy? No. Uber delish? YES! I did not capture the best photos (cooking, enjoying a glass a pinot and socializing) but I still wanted to share this new must-try soup.

On the menu:

butternut squash soup, pomegranate seed salad, roaster chicken and french bread

Butternut Squash Soup

- ended up using about 3/4 stick of butter (TOTAL)

- 1 1/2 cup chopped onion

- 1 cup chopped celery

saute

- 3 diced red potatoes

- butternut squash (thank you Costco for pre-chopping, used the entire container)

- saute

- 3 cans of chicken stock

- let cook for 5 to 10 minutes

- strain veggies, place in blender, put back in soup pan with broth mixture

- add about 1 1/2 cups of half and half

- salt and pepper

celery and onion sauteing in butter

add in chopped red potato and butterbut squash (you could peel the potatoes, but I am lazy)

Add chicken broth, let cook

Pour all ingredients into strainer

(with bowl underneath of course to catch all of the yummy broth)

by now, your kitchen is filled with incredible aromas

Pop the veggies into the blender

Puree

Throw pureed veggies back into the pot with broth, add 1/2 and 1/2 and salt and pepper

Prep the salad ...

Serve the delicious'ness up

AMAZING!

I paired this tasty soup with one of our favorite salads:

- mixed baby greens

- pomegranate seeds

- red onion

- blue cheese

- candied almonds (cook slivered almonds on stove w/ sugar, continuously stirring)

- pomegranate cranberry dressing

After a LONG day of shopping,

freezing outdoor temperatures

and an empty tummy,

this dinner rocked our world.

MMM good

With a passion for food and a major craving for soup, it is my goal to try some new soups... recipes I find and ones that I make up in my head (using all of the leftover items in the fridge from the previous week). This particular soup is one that I made up in my head, and emptied the produce drawer at the same time.

1. I boiled chicken breasts in a tasty "stock" (got that pro lingo from my Mom) with chicken bouillon, celery and onion {boil until thoroughly cooked}
{at this point, your home smells amazing and you are creating delicious chicken that will shred easily and is FULL of flavor {{Bland, no-taste chicken makes me want to PUKE}}

I just get rid of this stock and start all-over for my soup broth, which is for sure unnecessary, but it is the way I prefer to make it so I do not have random little bits of chicken and such... you can just use this broth as it's super flavorful for your soup...

2. I just chopped up what I had in my fridge, but by all means... throw in all the veggies that you desire! I used carrots, red pepper, onion and parsley (and peas from the freezer). I normally like cilantro, but parsley is what I had.
3. I then added water and chicken bouillon (chicken broth, the more chicken-y the better), all my veggies, my chicken, wagon wheel noodles and really random spices...
4. I let the soup just blend together on low for a bit and then it's ready to serve!

It turned out SO tasty and it made a TON!
I froze on large container, took two smaller ones for our lunches and another one for a later dinner. SO convenient for later meals and so delicious every time!

A perfect fall menu

With an intense craving for soup and something new, I thought I would try a Porcupine-inspired dish: potato beer cheese soup. It turned out even better than I expected. I added potatoes to a beer cheese soup recipe I found online, made a few minor adjustments and served this magical treat in a bread bowl. It was DELISH! Mikey and my sister Emily also raved about (Emily told me it was thee best soup she had ever had, and she gets to enjoy my Mom's cooking regularly, so this is a BIG deal).

I am normally so GOOD about taking pics of the entire process, but this time I was NOT... next time!

Click here for the link to the recipe I used.
modifications:
I did not top with popcorn
I sauteed my veggies in butter until they were soft
I added potatoes... I peeled and boiled them, diced them and added them to my veggie mix
I used two cups of 1/2 & 1/2 and 2 cups of 1% milk
I used one bottle of Blue Moon (thee perfect choice)
I added a little extra chicken boullion, making it even more flavorful and some extra hot sauce and cayenne pepper

Served in a bread bowl... a recipe that will now be in regular rotation!


Dessert: Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies... to DIE for!


ENJOY!!!!