Eat Your Veggies

After all of the over eating during the holidays, we decide to eliminate meat from our diet for all of January. It really was not that hard because we don't eat that much of it anyways.  There was a couple of week moments when we were around family (although they were all very supportive of our decision) and at a restaurant where I always get the blackened salmon salad (Yummmm), but we managed to get through it with out cheating.  The picture above is Miso Sesame Winter Squash, made and photographed by Heidi of 101 Cookbooks, one of my favorite vegetarian food blogs. I promise major drooling if you visit her blog.

Maybe you are wondering if I feel any different, I feel a bit more energetic, I don't get tired as much. Cooking is much faster when you are dealing with veggies, and beens are so easy. It has made me eat much cleaner if that makes sense. I was able to do a couple of 5K runs, which I had not done since I had Baby B. I know there are so many other factors when it comes to how I feel and how my body responds to what I ask of it, but I strongly believe that having a plant based diet plays a major part. It works for me.

Easy Acorn Squash and Pumpkin Soup

Hi Friend,
I attended a cooking demo by Andrea Tortorella who is a holistic health counselor. She made lots of easy soups, perfect for the fall and winter months to come. I tried the pumpkin soup at home, it was so easy and yummy, thought I share the recipe. I love the colors and the shapes of winter squash, but to be honest I didn't know the little ones you see in the stores and farmers markets are eatable.  BUT THEY ARE!!!!  So here is what you need to do, Buy a few, any color you wish, I picked an acorn squash and a small pumpkin.

Cut them in half and with a spoon take the seeds out. Then sprinkle some sea salt inside. drizzle with a little bit of olive oil and put them in the oven for 20-30 minutes on 370'F.

Take them out let them sit for 15 minutes to cool. then scoop out the flesh, put it in a blender with almond milk, and what ever spice you feel like. (or use what I have recommended) puree and serve!

My Ingredients:
1 Acorn Squash
1 Small Pumpkin
1 Cup Almond Milk
1/2 TSP Cumin
1/2 TSP Sea Salt
1/2 TSP Fresh Cracked Pepper
A few drops of lemon juice and olive oil

And that's it, Try it and enjoy!

P.S. I only used half of each squash in the recipe, and used the other half to serve it in. make sure you cut a very small piece off of the bottom of the squash before you bake it so it sits flat when you serve in it. Also don't forget about the very healthy Pumpkin Muffins!