Thanks for all of the wonderful comments you left on my last blog post. I knew I would get some people who disagreed with me about the inclusion of fruits in the diet, and the fact that Weight Watchers now considers fruits to be free foods (some of you only sort of agreed with me). I loved reading all of your thoughts and opinions. I think the bottom line is that fruit is great, and much better than most sources of sugar, but if one really wants to lose weight they need to remember that sugar is sugar, and if you eat it in excess the weight won’t come off.Here are some of my favorite nutrition and health articles from the week;
People Eat Food Out of Habit, Even When Food Is Stale
(This studied showed that eating habits can be so ingrained that some people may even resort to eating stale popcorn at the movie theater simply because it’s a habit. Don’t let eating “habits” contribute to mindless eating, in the true sense of the word)
Moderate Drinking Tied to Better Health For Women, Study Suggests
(One drink a day may not be such a bad idea. And no, it doesn’t have to be wine!)
Drinking Pattern Linked to Alcohol’s Effect on Heart Health
(Research suggests it’s better to have one or two drinks a day than to save all your drinks for the weekend. Hmm, sort of sounds similar to the recommendations for food! Right? Don’t “save” calories for the weekend, and don’t “save” drinks either. It just doesn’t work that way.)
Battle Lines Solidify Over Bid To Distinguish Food From Supplements
(Is it a food, or a supplement? Many companies are classifying their products as supplements simply because the regulations for dietary supplements aren’t as strict and there is no pre-market approval. Tricky stuff.)
And now it’s butternut squash recipe time! We’re down to about 25 butternut squash (even after giving away about 20!) and I’m still creating a new recipe each week. Caitlin from Feed Between the Lines recommended a roasted butternut squash soup, which sounded delicious but was way too similar to the butternut squash soup I made last year. So I decided to try out the Cabot Reduced Fat Butternut Squash Soup instead.
Creamy Butternut Squash Soup
Ingredients
- 2 pounds butternut squash (~2 butternut squash), peeled and cut into chunks**
- 4 cups chicken or vegetable broth (low sodium chicken broth)**
- 1 cup 0% Greek Yogurt
- ½ cup Cabot 50% Reduced Fat Cheddar, grated (75% reduced fat white cheddar cheese)
- 2 tablespoons salted butter
- ¼ teaspoon ground red pepper (cayenne)
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- Several chives, cut into 1-inch pieces
Instructions
- In large saucepan, combine squash and broth. Bring to boil, then reduce heat to medium. Simmer until squash is very tender, about 20 minutes.
- Remove from heat and let stand until slightly cooled; puree in batches in blender.
- Return puree to saucepan and place over medium-low heat. Stir in sour cream (or Greek yogurt!), cheddar, butter and red pepper. Season with salt and pepper.
- Stir until heated through (do not allow to boil). Taste soup, adding sugar if squash was not particularly sweet. Serve sprinkled with chives (or not….).
Notes
** This recipe is not low FODMAPs, because of the butternut squash. If you seem to be able to handle more than ¼th-1/2 cup butternut squash, than this recipe is fine (I seem to do well with butternut squash). Also, if you are going to try this soup and you want it to be lower FODMAPs, look for a chicken broth with zero garlic or onion (see my low FODMAPs broth recipe)
Do you see that little bubble to the left of the spoon? Yeah, I let it boil on accident. Oops. I talked to some of the chefs with whom I work and they said I “broke” my soup. In other words, I let it get too hot and it curdled the butter and yogurt. So the soup wasn’t pretty, but it was still delicious!
This was so delicious that even Nick liked it (and he “hates” soup). It’s delicious with a nice piece of crunchy whole wheat bread.
It also tastes great with a good beer. If you’re a beer lover, like Nick and me, you have to try Dogfish Head Punkin Ale. I tried it for the first time two years ago and now I think it’s my all time favorite beer. It’s pricey, but completely worth it! Nick and I have been drinking this since we found it in stores a couple weeks ago. I try to stick to “moderation”, but sometimes it’s so hard! And yes, I normally use this as my “dessert” (normally…).
