Spicy Butternut Squash Soup

2 medium butternut Squash (peeled, seeded and diced)

1 Granny Smith apple (peeled seeded and diced)

1 leek (halved, washed/rinsed and thinly chopped)

1/2 tsp ginger

2 bay leaves

2 cinnamon sticks

2 garlic cloves (chopped)

1 tsp coriander seeds

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Salt and pepper

4 cups chicken stock

Place all ingredients in crockpot. Cook on low for 9-12 hours. Cool completely. (I put mine in the fridge overnight.) Remove cinnamon sticks and bay leaves. Place in blender and blend until smooth. Serve warm. 

Great with turkey!!  

Fiesta Quinoa-Egg Bake

Fiesta Quinoa-Egg Bake

12 Servings
172 Calories per serving

30 Egg Whites (or 1 32oz carton of egg whites) / 1 qt Egg-Beaters
1 red bell pepper
1 orange bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
1 yellow bell pepper
1 yellow onion
- Note - I mix up the veggies. Sometimes I'll do spinach, kale, zucchini, mushrooms, etc...Just shoot for 2 1/2 c. of cooked veg.
1 c. shredded cheese* (any cheese: goat, cheddar, feta, Mex Blend, Mozzarella, etc...)
1 lb breakfast meat (sausage, turkey sausage, bacon, etc...)
1 c. cooked quinoa
1 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. red chills flakes

salt
pepper
2 tbsp evoo

Preheat oven to 425
Use low cal/fat cooking spray to prepare 9x13 glass casserole dish

Dice vegetables into uniform sized pieces. Cook quinoa according to instructions, once cooked set aside in colander to drain any excess liquid and cool. Heat oil in pan over medium heat. Cook onions until translucent. Add salt and pepper. Add remaining vegetables and cook for another 5-7 minutes until just tender. Remove from heat. In large mixing bowl, mix eggs and any spices you are incorporating (experiment with Italian, Mexican, Greek, or other flavors to make the dish your own)! Use wisk to mix just until they are incorporated.

Pour quinoa into casserole dish and spread across bottom layer. Layer vegetables on top of quinoa, followed by meat. Pour egg mixture over the top. Finally, sprinkle eggs with cheese. Bake for 35-45 minutes at 375. Eggs will puff up and brown on top. You'll know that your dish is done when the center no longer "jiggles". It should look like the top of a quiche when fully cooked.

Allow to cool/set for 5-10 minutes. Cut casserole into 12 equal servings. This would be good served with salsa or as is.

Spaghetti Squash Lasagna

Pre-Heat oven 425 Degrees

Ingredients
16oz Low/Reduced Fat Ricotta
16oz Low/Reduced Fat Mozzarella
2 eggs (beaten)
1lb Sausage *sub with turkey sausage if cutting calories*
1lb Ground Beef *sub with ground turkey*
1 large spaghetti squash
1 jar marinara sauce (I used Newman's Own)
salt and pepper

Prep

• Cut squash length wise using a very sharp knife
• Remove seeds
• Place flesh side down in glass dish and fill with enough water to cover 1/4 of the squash
• Seal with plastic wrap (I like press and seal by Glad)
• Microwave until squash is tender (approx 8-15 min depending on size)
• While squash cooks, cook your ground beef and sausage. When cooked, completely drain all fat from meats. 
• Using a fork, remove the flesh of the squash from the skin. Use the tines of the fork and drag length wise in one direction. This is how you will get the "spaghetti" type flesh off the skin. It should come off easily. Cook longer if it isn't coming apart.
• Place squash flesh in colander or strainer and over a bowl to drain as much liquid from the squash as possible. You don't want watery lasagna!
• While your squash drains, grate mozzarella cheese
• Combine cheeses, beaten eggs and salt and pepper (about a tsp of each). If you like a little extra kick, toss in some red pepper flakes. Mix together until you have a paste type mixture. 
• In 9x11 casserole dish, layer squash>meat>cheese>marinara. I "spread" the cheese with the back of my spoon. It spreads more easily after the marinara is poured over it. You want to finish with a marinara/cheese layer. 
• Bake dish in pre-heated to 425 oven for 25-35 minutes (until marinara and cheese is bubbling).
• Remove from oven and let rest for 5-10 minutes. Serve hot/warm.

Gluten Free Mushroom and Beef Cream Sauce (for Pasta/Rice)

So, growing up my mom used to toss a can of cream of mushroom soup (Campbell's), 1c. milk and 1lb of ground beef in the pan with some pasta and call it "Beef Stroganoff". Technically, I don't think this meets the definition and while it was great on our very low budget, it is not healthy nor is it gluten free.

However, I have been craving it, so I did a little experimental cooking today. Here's what I used:

1 lb Stew Cut beef
2-3 c. chopped (large) mushrooms*
1 lg finely diced scallion
3 cloves minced garlic
1 bullion cube (veggie)
1 c. water
4 oz heavy cream**
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp corn starch

In a crock pot I tossed my bullion cube, scallion, garlic, salt and pepper, chopped mushrooms and beef. I let this cook 4-5 hours until beef was very tender (my beef was frozen).

Removed the beef chunks and placed mushroom and broth mixture in heavy bottomed sauce pan. Set aside 1/4. of broth to which I added the cornstarch and whisked until incorporated. Then I added the heavy cream.

To the sauce pan I added butter followed by cream/cornstarch mixture. I brought this to a low simmer while I chopped the stew meat into smaller chunks (similar to mushroom size). Return the beef to the sauce and simmer for 5-10 minutes. You'll want to let it cool so it will thicken before serving.

I served the sauce with shell quinoa pasta. However, it would be good with any pasta/rice.

Next time I do it, I will add veggies. It is a rich sauce and needed something to break it up a bit - perhaps peas. :)

Also, topping with freshly grated parm would just make it extra magnificent!! :-)

*I used cremini, however, I think it would be good to use a combo of different kinds of mushrooms. Perhaps if you wanted to skip the meat you could add portobellos for some heavier mushrooms.

**I would rather have used creme fraische, but was trying to do it cheaply and avoid Whole Foods or AJs. Why American grocers don't sell creme fraische in the regular store I will never understand!