Sweet Potato Soup

Sweet Potato Soup

Adapted from Forks Over Knives Cookbook

Great, FILLING, and very flavorful sweet potato soup. This cookbook is fantastic and has many more delicious soup/stew recipes! I highly recommend it.

So, I've been really into soup lately.  I can make a ton on the weekend before a week of work, it fills me up incredibly, and it is so flavorful!  

I really enjoyed this soup, but have to be honest, that I'm not sure how I feel about the orange in it.  I might try to take it out the next time I make it.  So, that's up to you.  Let me know what you think!

Ingredients:

1 tbsp of olive oil

1 yellow onion, diced

2 cloves garlic

1 tablespoon grated ginger

1 tablespoon thyme

1/2 teaspoon of ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced

6 cups of Vegetable Brother (book recommends homemade, but I used an organic container from Whole Foods)

Zest and juice of 1 orange (I might take this out next time)

1 1/2 cups of almond milk unsweetened, plain

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Heat up the olive oil over medium heat in a large saucepan.  Place the onion in the pot and cook it for 10 minutes (or until translucent).

2. Then, add the garlic, ginger, thyme, nutmeg and cinnamon.  Allow that to cook with the onions for 2-3 minutes.

3. Add the sweet potatoes and toss throughout the ingredients in the saucepan. Let cook for 5-6 minutes.

4.  Pour in the vegetable broth and increase heat to high heat until brought to a boil.

5. Lower heat to a simmer for 20-25 minutes (or until sweet potatoes are soft, tender).

6. Puree the soup using an immersion blender or in batches in a blender with a tight-fitting lid, covered with a towel.  

7. Return the soup to the pot and add the almond milk.  Cook an additional 5 minutes, or until heated through, and season with salt and pepper.

Cleanse Day 2

Cleanse Day 2!

So today begins the second day of my cleanse :) Yay! It feels like it's been a week, but it's only been a day so far (wah wah wah....)  I've been feeling pretty good! I have lots of energy, but I did have a headache yesterday and last night I was pretty hungry before going to bed.  But, all in all, I've really been enjoying this so far!

Today I started out with a MUCH better breakfast smoothie.

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of kale
• 1 apple
• 1/2 cup of berries
• 1 tbsp of grated ginger
• 1 1/2 cup of almond milk
• 1/2 lemon (juiced)
• 1 tbsp of chia seeds

Directions:
Put all the ingredients in a blender and liquify! Then enjoy :) 

After enjoying my smoothie, I took the metro and a long walk (well pretty quick walk since I was running late--a lot farther than I thought!) to go to my barre class.  YES, that is how it is spelled.  If you live in DC, I HIGHLY recommend checking out BFitDC.  It is an amazing studio with fantastic teachers of the barre method.  I definitely notice my legs, hips, butt and arms working and it is relaxing and energizing all at the same time.  It's a nice break from running and doing more intense cardio and a great break after work!

Then, I came home and made a DELICIOUS and very filling lunch.  (Wow, I use a lot of CAPS and parentheses...sorry if that's annoying!)  Anyways, check it out below:

Butternut Squash Soup and Chicken Salad with Avocado and Vinaigrette  dressing.

Most of these recipes came from this blog....which was probably adapted from another blog :). So check it out below!

• Butternut Squash Soup
• Almond Baked Chicken (except this one was from another blog)
• Vinaigrette Dressing (Scroll down)

Besides the almond baked chicken, I put these in the salad, as well: 

• 1/2 avocado
• 1 tbsp of sliced almonds
• 1 tbsp of dried cranberries
• 1/4 cucumber
• 1/4 of a red pepper
• organic mesclun lettuce
• organic arugula

Now seriously, this was SUPER filling.  I almost couldn't finish it.  Maybe it was the avocado, or the chicken, or the soup or the combination of the two...but this is a definitely for someone who is hungry after a great work out :) 

Snacks:

• Some more fruit and nut bites
• Some roasted and salted almonds :)

Dinner

For dinner I whipped up some cauliflower, butternut squash, and chickpea coconut curry!  I had some leftover butternut squash from the soup I made a few days ago and didn't want any vegetables to go to waste! 

Check out the recipe:

Cauliflower, butternut squash, and chickpea coconut curry

Ingredients:

• 1 lb of cauliflower
• 0.5 lb of butternut squash (this is how much I had as leftovers, but use as much as you want!)
• 1 15oz can of organic chickpeas
• 1 yellow onion (feel free to use less, I just love onions!)
• 1 13.5 oz can of light coconut milk
• 1-2 tbsp of olive oil
• 1 tsp of coconut oil
• 1 tsp of cumin
• 1-2 tsp of curry powder (I used 2 because I LOOOVE curry)
• 1 tsp of thyme
• 1 tsp of minced garlic
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Cut cauliflower and butternut squash up into bite sized pieces.
• Put cauliflower and butternut squash in a medium bowl and drizzle with 1-2 tbsp of olive oil and top with salt and pepper (as much as you like).  Then mix around.  

• Place cauliflower and butternut squash on a baking sheet and roast vegetables in oven for 25-35 minutes (until lightly golden and easy to put a fork through the vegetables).
• While cauliflower and butternut squash is cooking, chop up some onions.  Grease a saucepan with coconut oil.  Put the onions in the saucepan and sauté on medium-high heat for 3 minutes.
• Rinse chickpeas and let strain.
• Add spices to onions and cook for 2-3 minutes.
• Add chickpeas to saucepan and let cook for 5-8 minutes at medium to low heat (until cauliflower and butternut squash are done).

                                                         

• Add cauliflower and butternut squash to saucepan.  Cook on medium heat for 2-3 minutes.
• Add coconut milk and bring to a boil.  Then let cook for 5 minutes.
• Then enjoy!  This is great as a side with the almond chicken (like I have shown below).  Or, it is a great as a stew over quinoa!

                                            

After this delicious dinner, I SERIOUSLY had a tough time not cheating.  I don't know why, but I was pretty hungry.  Looking back, maybe I should have added a salad or something.  Let's just say that 2 Christmas Cheesy Hallmark Movies saved the day by keeping my mind off of it! Thank GOD for Netflix! (PS I highly recommend Christmas Kiss.  

Christmas Lodge was cute but pretty terrible acting.  

I mean TERRIBLE lines as well.  But still cute!).   PHEW! It was a close one for cheating on this cleanse.  Well, hopefully tomorrow is a little bit easier :)

The Cleanse is Back!

Okay, I'm pretty embarrassed for how long it's taken me to post on the blog.  Let's just say that life has been crazy at work, home, and everywhere, but I'm back in the game! And I'm going really big....CLEANSE TIME!

I'm sure everyone is in a similar boat where we ate way more than we wanted to during the holidays and feel (and probably are) about 5-10 pounds heavier.  I also just watched Hungry for Change a documentary about how the way we eat makes us sick and some of the foods we ate, especially sugar, are pretty much like a drug that makes us addicted! I knew about some of the things they talked about, but this really hit home.  

Well, I wanted to RECHARGE my body and start over! So, I'm going to be posting about some of the recipes I used on this cleanse and hopefully this will inspire others to join my 21 day cleansing challenge!  If I can get my husband in on this...you can do it too :) 

Day 1:

Breakfast:

Veggie Shake (to be honest, it's not one of my best, since I don't have our juicer we used to use...but not too shabby)

P.S sorry I don't have pictures for this...I realized later in the day that I would posting recipes.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup of water
• 2 bunches of kale chopped (or spinach--whatever tickles your fancy)
• 1/2 lemon (juiced)
• 1/2 cup of orange juice (fresh, not from the carton)
• 1 Fuji Apple (any type of sweet apple)
• 1/2 cup of berries
• 1/2 tsp of grated ginger
• 1 tbsp of chia seeds

Directions:

• Put the above ingredients in a blender in the order they appear in the list.
• ENJOY!

Lunch:

Butternut Squash Soup with Sage (from my site)

Almond Baked Chicken Salad (Chicken from Live2Eat).  See below.

BTW, this chicken was NOT very crispy if you follow the recipe from the site.  To make it crispy, I put the broiler on for the last 4-5 minutes of cooking.  Made a HUGE difference in the taste!

Ingredients:

• Almond Baked Chicken
• Organic Baby Romaine Lettuce
• Organic Arugula
• 1/4 cup of organic cucumber
• 1/4 cup of organic sweet red pepper
• 1/2 rip of celery
• 1 tbsp of dried cranberries (no added sugar)
• 1 tbsp of sliced almonds
• Gluten free diva's vinaigrette (see recipe below)

Gluten Free and Dairy Free Vinaigrette
Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

2/3 cup olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
4 tbsp white balsamic vinegar (or vinegar of your choice)
2 tbsp dijon mustard
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tbsp chopped fresh basil (I used 1/2 tbsp because I only had dried)
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1 tbsp chopped fresh dill (I used 1/2 tbsp because I only had dried)
salt and pepper to taste



Snack

Fruit and Nut Bites 
(Disclaimer: I used half the amount of nuts because then it's actually possible to make into bite-sized balls.)

Dinner

Almond Chicken Bake (see above for link) and 
Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Apples Recipe (adapted from OhMyVeggies.com)

Ingredients:

• 1 lb of brussel sprouts (trimmed and halved)
• 1 apple (I used Fuij)
• 1 tbsp of olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup of cranberries
• 1/4 cup of chopped walnuts
• 1 tbsp of maple syrup (optional--I didn't use it because of the cleanse and it still came out great!)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Toss brussels sprouts and apple slices with olive oil, salt, and pepper on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until brussels sprouts are tender and browned on edges, stirring halfway through cooking time.
• Transfer brussels sprouts and apple to large bowl. Stir in cranberries, walnuts, and maple syrup (optional).

Butternut Squash Soup!

This is one my favorite fall/winter soup recipes! It is savory, satisfying, and fills you with warmth!   I've come across MANY butternut squash recipes....parmesan...garlic...but I really loved this Sage Butternut Squash Soup that I tailored to my tastes from Epicurious' recipe.

The hardest part of this recipe is cutting up the butternut squash! Besides that, this is a very easy recipe that lasts me for the whole week! 

Ingredients:

1 1/2 tablespoons coconut oil

2 cups chopped onions

2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley*

2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage*

1.5lbs or 4 cups of cubes peeled and seeded butternut squash

1 teaspoons celtic sea salt

1 garlic clove, minced

4 to 5 cups Organic Vegetable Stock

*I recently made this again and used 1/4 cup of sage and no parsley, and I actually enjoyed it more!

Take a look at a few of the ingredients below:

Directions:

Melt coconut oil in large pot over medium-high heat. 
Add onions, parsley, and sage; sauté until onions are softened, about 5 minutes. 

                         
Add squash and coarse salt; sauté until squash softens and onions are golden, about 6 minutes. Add garlic; stir 1 minute. 

Add 5 cups stock; bring to boil.
Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until squash is very soft, about 25 minutes. Cool slightly.
Use an immersion blender to liquify (or take apart in batches using a blender).

Then enjoy! :) Hope you love it as much as our family does! We love that everything is organic and/or local, fresh, vegan, and not processed.  We are really trying to stay away from eating a lot of meat, processed foods, and foods with sugar.  It's definitely the beginning of our journey!

Curried Green Lentil Soup

This is adapted from Heidi Swanson's Super Natural Every Day.  


Ingredients
2 tbsp of butter (or coconut oil-extra virgin)
1 large yellow onion (chopped)
3 cloves of garlic (chopped)
1 1/2 cups of green lentils (rinsed and drained)
5 cups of vegetable broth (or water)
1/2 c of  chopped scallions
1 tbsp of curry powder (can be put right into soup or used for curry powder butter sauce)
3 tbsp of butter (optional for curry powder butter sauce)

Directions:

1. Cook 2 tbsp of butter/coconut oil in a large stock pot on medium-high heat for 1 minute and add the chopped onion and garlic until onion is translucent (2-3 minutes)
2. Add vegetable broth and green lentils. Let this cook on low for 30-50 minutes until lentils are cooked entirely.
3. Puree soup with an immersion blender.
4. Add curry powder and mix together OR make the curry powder butter sauce
• Cook 3 tbsp of butter in a small skillet until browned and has nutty flavor then add curry and put half of it in the soup and mix together.  Then add curry butter mixture as a topping to each serving.
5. Add a bit to each serving of the soup as a topping.

Roasted Cauliflower! The possibilities are endless!

So, this is one my favorite dishes to make because it is so versatile!

• Have it as a snack
• Combine it with vegetable broth to make a DELICIOUS cauliflower soup (it honestly takes so creamy it's as if you have put milk or cheese in it)
• Combine it with tamarind coconut curry sauce and chickpeas to make a delicious chickpea soup (see below)

Ingredients:

1 large head of cauliflower chopped into bite-size pieces

Salt and pepper

1/2 teaspoon of curry powder

1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  
2. Coat a baking pan with tin foil.
3. Put the chopped pieces of cauliflower on the tin foil.
4. Add the spices, salt and pepper evenly over the cauliflower (I usually mix it all around after sprinkling everything on top to ensure its evenly spread out).
5. Cook until most of the tops are browned (about 20-30 minutes).

Now, want to turn this into a delicious curry recipe! Just do the following.

Just add this amazing sauce from Whole Foods:

And....some chickpeas and even some carrots and green peppers would be a great addition.

Cook in a pot on medium-low heat for 15 minutes and VOILA!

Curried coconut cauliflower stew!

UPDATE: Today, I thought that the coloring of this stew was just not my favorite...SO, I used sweet potatoes instead of chickpeas (and...now it's PALEO!)

Serve it over some quinoa and it's PERFECT!!

Check this out: