Soaking up the last days of summer {brought over from my old blog}

I created this post about a year ago, and am reposting it here in my new blog space. I needed a cleaner feel and a better handle on where I was posting and how. So enjoy this from September of last year! 

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we are actively soaking in every single ray of sun and warmth that we can.. and by eating lots of squash. contradicting right? a lot of squash actually is ready in the late summer, before fall hits, which explains the abundance.

this weekend was mostly what i had hoped for. lots of pool time, running, biking, and enjoying time with my little family. couldn’t really ask for more right?

i have two delicious recipes to post about. sausage and turkey stuffed butternut squash and roasted butternut squash soup. both of these can be made vegan as well as needed.

sausage and turkey stuffed butternut squash 

ingredients:

• 3 sausage links
• 4-6 ounces of turkey
  • you can substitute chickpeas and/ or kidney beans, just be sure to add in plenty of fennel to substitute the flavor.
• half a white onion
• garlic, salt and pepper
• medium butternut squash
• Olive oil or ghee
• 2 cups of shredded kale (i used frozen. if you use fresh, saute in olive oil and salt until tender)

cut squash in half lengthwise, scoop out seeds, roast @ 400 Fahrenheit for 20 minutes or until a fork can come out clean. saute sausage. retain juices and saute onions, salt, garlic, kale. mix together sausage, shredded turkey (you could also use ground turkey), and veggies. scoop out the insides of the squash, retain the skin (try not to break it!), and mix in the squash. refill the squash skins, and place all back in the oven for an additional 5-10 minutes. you will more than likely have extra fillings, which make a fabulous breakfast the next day!

autumn butternut squash soup 

so i had butternut squash soup from panera and it was DIVINE! but, i could tell it was very cream based (lots of dairy) and sugar.. so i decided to come up with my own, which includes lots of whole fats, only a few grams of sugar, and fiber. we paired it with some more leftover turkey to get lots of healthy proteins.

ingredients:

• 1 medium butternut squash, roasted (20 minutes @ 400)
• 1/2 cups of apple cider OR one cooked apple
• 1 can of full fat coconut milk
• 1 can of pure pumpkin puree (NOT the sweetened pie filling)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 tsp of each: cinnamon, curry
• 1/2 cup of ghee or coconut oil
• pumpkin seeds for garnish

*the coconut milk and coconut oil do NOT give it a coconut flavor. these are merely substitutions to make it easier on our digestive systems.

in a large pot, heat apple cider, half the can of coconut milk and pumpkin puree. mix cooked squash, remaining can of coconut milk and oil in a blender. add squash mixture to pot. add in spices and stir until all is blended. allow to simmer for another 5 minutes. pour in bowl and garnish with pumpkin seeds (we used sprouted seeds) and enjoy!