Wellness Wednesday: Butternut Squash and Carrot Soup

Over Christmas Break, Husband and I had the pleasure of hanging out with some good friends. One of Husband's best friends from college drove up to Dallas with his wife to spend some time with us. Seeing how great they both looked, Husband and I were inspired. We continued to indulge ourselves in as much chips, queso, and enchiladas as humanly possible over the remainder of our stay in Texas, but the minute our flight touched down in Munich things changed.

It's been about two weeks now and we are very careful with our carb intake. Husband is doing better than I am...but at school there have been three days with birthdays. Hmp. It's so hard to turn down a cupcake. Teacher life. 

We are doing better when we are cook at home. It's easier for us to eat more healthy when we know what fresh items are going into a dish. This also gives us the power to keep certain things (like butter... "mo' butter mo' better") out of our food. If a recipe calls for rice or noodles we have replaced those starches with spinach. Surprisingly, the spinach has not disappointed once! 

When it comes to cooking in the kitchen, I just discovered butternut squash this past fall. It is one of the sweet squashes and is pretty low maintenance. Husband sometimes helps me cut the fat bottoms of the squashes but other than that I can cut the squash into 1 inch disks. Then I trim off the skin and cook it covered on the stove-top. I can always tell when the butternut squash is finished cooking because it is soft. Easy peasy! 

Last week I made a new recipe for Butternut Squash and Carrot Soup. It just might have been the lowest calorie soup known to man besides a pot of hot water. 

Here's What You Need:

1 Butternut Squash, cubed
4 Carrots, chopped
1 Medium Onion, chopped
3 Garlic Cloves, minced
2 tsp. Fresh Gingerroot, minced
3 tsp. Curry Powder
4 cups of Vegetable Broth
1 cup Coconut Milk
Salt and Pepper to taste

First, heat in a large saucepan 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium-low heat. Stir in the butternut squash and carrots. Cover the pot and heat for about 15 minutes or until the butternut squash and carrots are soft. (You might want to add a tiny bit of water to the bottom and turn the temperature down lower.)

Meanwhile, pour a dash of olive oil into a stock pot and cook the onions until tender. Mix in the garlic, ginger and curry powder. Cook an additional minute.  Add the vegetable broth and bring it to a boil. 

Reduce the heat, add in the butternut squash and carrots then simmer, uncovered for 10 minutes. Next, using a potato masher (or a blender if you want it without chunks) mash the butternut squash and carrots. Stir in the coconut milk, salt, and pepper. Bring the temperature back up to medium heat for an additional 5 minutes cooking time. Stir occasionally. 

Top off the soup with cilantro or parsley and you are finished! 

*Optional tip: This pot of soup lasted us 2 nights. On the second night I added two more cups of vegetable broth. Then I had an idea on how to get in some greens. I stirred into the soup fresh baby spinach just before serving. We found out that we preferred the soup even more once the spinach was added inside! 

Check out some of my other soup recipes perfect for the dark winter days!
Slow Cooker Taco Soup
Roasted Red Pepper and Carrot Soup

Do you have a healthy soup recommendation? I'd love to hear about it!

Happy Wednesday,