I was in such a funk last week and I’m not sure why. Things at work are busy but not overly stressful. In all honesty I’d rather be busy than bored. I was physically feeling fine. And no major bad news (other than the constant stream of negative stories on the media) came my way. I was just off for no reason. Does that ever happen to you? It was so odd.
Anyway, to cure my blues I decided to test out some new recipes, most of them pumpkin. I thought it was fun doing something a little different with the Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes but sometimes going traditional is the way to go. I’m sure everyone has made or at least had a pumpkin soup in their life. I never realized how easy and tasty it was until I had the other night. I had planned to cut the recipe in half but forgot to I have been eating everyday for about three days now! Good news is, it hasn’t gotten old! Below is the recipe I chose. This one happens to be vegan but I added non-vegan substitutes if that’s how you roll. I’m not judging, to each his own 
Pumpkin Soup (5-6 servings)
(P.S. I spy with my little eye Mr. Big on the couch in the ingredients pic, did you notice? That is his spot so keep a look out, he is there in a lot of those!)
Ingredients
- 1 cup of finely chopped onion
- 1 medium leek or two small leeks
- 1 cup of chopped apple or pear
- 2 15-oz cans of canned pumpkin puree
- 1/2 cup of coconut milk
- 1/2 cup of almond milk (or your choice of low fat milk, skim, soy, etc.)
- 1 15-oz can of veggie broth (or whatever broth you choose)
- 2 cups of water (not pictured – came from sink)
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil (broth works too)
- 1 clove of garlic
- 3 Tablespoons NuNaturals NuStevia (you can use sugar also)
- 3/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger (not pictured)
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, more to taste
- pepper to taste
- Cayenne to taste and as garnish (I used several shake-fulls to give it a little kick)
Directions
1. Heat olive oil or broth in a large pan and add chopped onion and garlic, cook for 3-4 minutes on medium heat or until onion is translucent. Add the leek, apple, NuStevia, spices, and salt and cook, stirring constantly for another 2-3 minutes or until leek is softened. Add the veggie broth and water and bring mixture to a boil then turn down to a simmer for about 20 minutes or until the apple pieces are soft, then turn heat off.
2. Slowly stir in the pumpkin puree, coconut milk and almond milk, stirring constantly. Working in small batches, puree the mixture in a food processor or blender until smooth and return soup to pot. Heat over low heat, stirring constantly until you reach the desired temperature. Add salt, pepper and cayenne to taste.
3. Pour soup into bowls and add a sprinkle of cayenne, swirl with spoon and serve.
Weekend Adventures
I had quite the weekend – sorry for just sharing now that we are halfway through the week haha! On Friday Corey and I went with a couple friends to see Corey’s favorite band play, Boyce Avenue. If you’ve never heard of them you should definitely check out their YouTube channel. They do some awesome covers of popular songs mixed in with some of their own.
Then on Saturday, drum roll please……we went to a roller derby! Has anyone else ever been to one? It’s crazy! They might be wearing pink but these chicks do not joke around! There was some serious carnage on that track.
But they were all good sports about it and both teams joined in a cha-cha line at half time haha! I love the chick on the end being the “tail”
Random Photo
And today’s random photo for your viewing pleasure comes from one of my readers, his dog named Doug. Just look at that underbite! So cute, I just had to share!
Questions
1. Have you ever been to a roller derby, know anything about it, know someone who does it, ever curious about it?
2. Did you do anything fun this weekend?
3. If you checked Boyce Avenue out, what do you think? If you have any pics that you would like to send me for the random picture feature I just recently added, I’d love to post it!
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3. While the squash is cooling, cook the onions and garlic in the broth until softened (about 7-10 minutes) then add to a mixing bowl. Scoop out the cooked squash (leaving a little room on the sides to keep the shape) into the mixing bowl and return the hollowed out skins to the baking sheet, hollow side up.
5. Add dry mustard, sour cream/yogurt, eggs and cheese to the mix and stir until well combined. Fill the skins with the mixture, top with breadcrumbs and sprinkle with thyme and paprika.
6. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes, or until heated through and breadcrumbs are toasted.
