Thursday, September 11, 2008

Butternut Squash Recipe

I didn't really use a recipe for the butternut squash soup but here's what I did: I put just a little EVOO in the bottom of my huge saucepan and then added 1 massive clove of garlic (diced). Then I added the butternut squash (the entire thing except for the seeds) which I cut into small pieces and chunks. Next I added my seasonings--a little salt and pepper, 1 Tbsp or so of onion powder (if I had an onion I would have just diced it and added it with the garlic but since I didn't and I still wanted the onion flavor I added the onion powder), 1 tsp nutmeg, 1 Tbsp or so of cinnamon. I let that saute for 5 minutes or so then I added 2 cups of water (I would have used stock but didn't have any). That cooked for about an hour and then I added 3 more cups of water. I let it simmer away for two or three hours while I went to the gym. When I came back I added 6 oz of reduced fat cream cheese and let it cook for another hour before I ate. It made almost 10 cups exactly and I figured each cup to be about 100 calories. A couple of notes: (1) I add the reduced fat cream cheese because it really gives veggie soups a little extra creaminess, and (2) you could use a blender and puree the soup once it's cooked but I didn't do that because I like my soups to have a little something to chew plus the small pieces of the squash completely broke down and the only chunks left in the soup are the bigger chunks of squash.



When I went running on Monday I noticed that about 1/2 way through I just didn't have any energy left. I remember this happening to me when I ran last Thursday as well (at the time, I just chalked it up to not running for a week or so). But I realized Monday that I haven't been eating a morning snack lately because my oatmeal keeps me full. And I'm not hungry when I start running but about 30 minutes in I don't have any energy left and my tummy starts to feel grumbly. So note to self--even though I'm not hungry, I still need to eat a little something before running to give myself the energy to do my entire run.



Today's Plan:

Activity: 5.5 mile run at lunch

Breakfast: WW Stuffed Breakfast Sandwich, 1 banana, grapes and berries

Snack: Chobani yogurt

Lunch: Salad with 3 oz chicken, 1 serving butternut squash soup, 1 whole grain roll

Dinner: Baked chicken, salad, veggie--probably green beans

4 comments:

Jen said...

MMMM, I am so going to make that soup this weekend!!! It sounds delicious!!!

I am a big advocate of not eating unless you are hungry UNLESS you are exercising!!! Sounds like you have it all figured out though!

Heather said...

Can you please mail me some of that soup? It sounds great!

Cat said...

I just wrote a massive comment and blogger deleted it! ArrhHhhhgghh!!

Your soup sounds delish!!

Sara said...

mmmm that sounds great!!

I was eat something 30min-1hr before I exercise, especially if I'm going for longer than 30 minutes!!