Monday, November 11, 2013

Butternut, Beets, and a few Monday Goals


Last night we enjoyed a sinful Butternut Squash Galette for dinner (thanks to my Sunday Costco haul), and Hank has officially declared it his favorite dish ever. But with a homemade butter pie crust and cheddar cheese filling, it's not the healthiest meal around. To balance that, I wanted to make something better with the second container of butternut squash. I did a google search for a few soup recipes, and with the Classic Butternut Squash Soup recipe from Whole Foods. It was pretty straightforward and didn't require too many ingredients. I made a few tweaks that I'll list below, and the end result was delicious. Fresh, healthy and filling- perfect for an easy lunch when paired with a salad.

The Holland House: Butternut Squash Soup


Speaking of salads….you might remember those little beets I was so excited about yesterday? I wrapped them up in foil and roasted them at 400° for about 20 minutes, cubed them and put them on top of a spinach salad to go with our soup for lunch today. I also added a little crumbled goat cheese, 1 Tb chopped walnuts and a side of balsamic dressing. For dessert we have low fat cottage cheese with a few of the raspberries from Costco on top. Quick and easy to put together!

The Holland House: Beet &  Goat Cheese Salad



Hank requires a few extra calories than I do, so I supplement his lunch with a Clif bar, an apple (and today- leftovers from dinner). He typically gets larger portions than me at each meal too, and that usually makes up for calories. I wanted to make things easy for this week, and this lunch totally fit the bill. The soup made 4 servings, so we'll be having this same exact lunch on Wed. Doing this reduces waste, and doesn't have me slaving over unique lunches each day of the week.


Classic Butternut Soup
(makes 4 servings)

1 2lb. container peeled/cubed butternut squash
1 yellow onion, chopped
1/2 cup diced carrots (I used baby carrots that we already had)
1 tsp dried thyme (fresh would be good, but I used what I had)
4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
1 Tb. heavy cream (you could absolutely leave this out, but for just 52 calories it added a little creaminess)
salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat oil in large sauté pan, add carrots and onions. Sauté until the onions are translucent, stirring occasionally.

2. Add remaining ingredients, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and allow soup to simmer for 30 minutes, or until the squash is fork tender.

3. Allow to cool, and either use an immersion blender to puree, or do two batches in a blender or food processor (my Vitamix was perfect for this.)


Nutritional info:

calories: 144
fat: 5.1g
Sodium: 156g
Carb: 24g
Fiber: 4.8g
Sugars: 7.6g
Protein: 2.1g


Now on to a few goals for this week. I recently came across a new favorite blog, How My World Runs, and I love that she lists a few goals each week and holds herself accountable to how she did. Heading into the holidays, we are trying really hard to eat well and exercise consistently so that we don't feel too guilty indulging a little here and there. I have also had such a struggle trying to lose these nasty 10 pounds that have taken residence on my body, and nothing seems to work lately. But I'm going to keep on trying, and maybe a little accountability will do the trick.

This week my goals are:

1- To not drink alcohol Mon-Fri
2- To run M/W/Sat, and do kettle bell class T/Th
3- To take a 15 min walk every mid-afternoon to give my rear a break from sitting all day
4- To stick to the meal plan I worked so hard on for this week, and enter my intake into the LoseIt app each day

Wish me luck, and feel free to share any goals that you might have for this week too!

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