I LOVE thick, hearty and rich vegetable based soups in the winter.  This soup has so much flavor that there really is NO cream required. You will be surprised at how easy it is to make and by the flavor.  The onion, garlic and ginger give it a nice spice, while the brown sugar and squash sweeten it slightly.  I actually learned how to make this simple Butternut Squash soup during my Bikini Bootcamp Challenge.  I LOVE how the challenge always had you start each dinner with a broth based soup so that you would eat less during dinner.  If you want more low calorie soup recipes like this, be sure to check out the Bikini Bootcamp Challenge or look up my Soups tag.

The BEST part is the fun toppings and add-ins you can use to make it a meal,  just have it as is for a snack or before dinner.

BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP

INGREDIENTS:

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1/2 large onion, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

1 thumb-sized piece ginger, peeled and minced

2 Tbsp brown sugar

1 medium butternut squash, peeled and cut into chunks

3 c low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth

Sea Salt & Freshly Ground Pepper to taste

Optional topping: Toasted pumpkin seeds or almond slivers for garnish

Optional add in: Serve over steamed vegetables ~ My NEW FAVORITE way to make this filling soup even heartier.

INSTRUCTIONS:

1.  Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.  Add the onion, garlic and ginger, and sauté, stirring frequently, for 6 to 8 minutes, until the onion is soft, but, not browned.  Stir in the brown sugar and set aside.

2.  Cook the squash in a large pot with the broth until tender, 25 to 30 minutes.

3.  Remove the squash from the heat, but do not drain.  Let cool for 10 minutes.  Add the garlic-ginger mixture.

4.  Work in batches, transfer the soup to a food process or blender and process until smooth.

5.  Return the soup to the pot and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes longer.  Season with salt and pepper.

6.  Top each serving with a sprinkle of toasted pumpkin seeds or almond slices.  Serve immediately.

Makes 4 heaping 1 cup servings

Nutritional information per serving (excluding toppings or add-ins):

Calories 136.6,  Total Fat 3.6 g, Saturated Fat 0.5 g, Polyunsaturated Fat 0.4 g,  Monounsaturated Fat 2.5 g, Cholesterol 0.0 mg,  Sodium 62.5 mg, Potassium 522.2 mg, Total Carbohydrate 25.1 g, Dietary Fiber 5.3 g, Sugars 0.0 g, Protein 3.4 g

This soup FREEZES well.  I like making up a big pot and freeze half for the nights when you just don’t want to cook. I added this to my SpringIt so you all can add it to your collection.

Have a great night all!  I will be back tomorrow with my daily recap and my first LONG run recap.  Fun!

Nite all!

Happy Monday All! I was sooooo excited to sleep in this morning ~ after two weeks of early morning workouts, I earned that morning of not getting up to “feel the burn”. I have to admit though, my morning somehow seemed incomplete – like something was missing. I even decided to skip my Morning Burst (hot water plus lemon) to have some Decaf Cinnamon Vanilla Nut Coffee. You know what ~ It didn’t taste good! I wanted hot lemon water…..funny how we work, right?

I found the BIGGEST glass I could to make up a Morning Burst and have exactly what I was crazing ~ A Wafflewich!

MMMMMMM ~ How I’ve missed my wafflewich! Just look at how good it looks from the side

And up close and personal!

Two weeks is just too long to go without one of these fantastic sammies!

2 Kashi Strawberry Flax Waffles
1 BIG Tbsp Naturally More PB
1 Tbsp All Natural Apricot Preserves
1 small banana, sliced

All for 6 Weight Watchers Points and worth EVERY BITE! Ok, so I have to share with you what absolutely MADE my day today……aside from my Wafflewich.

My 14 day Bikini BootCamp Results!

Weight lost: 5.6 lbs!!!! How awesome is that?!
Inches lost all around (some areas got bigger – go biceps & calves, while others smaller) 2.75 inches lost!

Awesome! It made EVERY day totally worth it. I really think it helped me not to peak at the scale each day and let that dictate my mood. This was my mid-month check up and I like what I am seeing.

As I told you all last night I plan on keeping with several aspects of the program for the month and turning them into a lifestyle.

* I am allowing myself one “treat” meal tomorrow and making a healthy steak dinner tonight for The Husband (so he doesn’t disown me). Everything else in between will be BBC.

* I am modifying my eats to fall into their eating concepts/categories (light breakfast with fruit/veggies plus protein, salad type lunch, 1-2 light snacks, soup plus healthy carb, lean protein and healthy fat dinner with the occassional dessert.

* Workouts ~ I will continue working out 6 out of 7 days a week and plan on doing morning/afternoon workouts often.

I think that’s a good start ~ My next Weigh In point will be before our Vegas Trip, 06/25/09 and then a final Weigh In at the end of the month when we return.

Quick recap for yesterday:

Calories burned: 2,897
Steps taken: 13,645

Alright all ~ Today is a pretty busy day ~ such is life when the work week starts again

Here are some FUN THINGS to check out today!

* Heather is having one of the best giveaways ever – a FREE YEAR of Yoga downloads. Click HERE to check it out.

* Michele is hosting a Naturals Giveaway – Click HERE.

* And if that wasn’t enough Giveaways to satisfy you, Tip Junkie is having OVER 50 Giveaways. Click HERE to check them out.

You can now enter my fantastic Healthy Holey Donuts Giveaway. Click HERE!

Have a Fantastic Monday all ~ well, if that is at all possible on a Monday!

Are you all surprised as The Husband was to see Mexican Food on the menu again tonight? I LOVE the Mexican Food theme of the Bikini Bootcamp Challenge (BBC), however, I do think it appears ALOT.

The Husband wanted to have “snacks” tonight. I decided to make him some homemade Bean dip with these super cool chips I found at Trader Joe’s called LongBoard Chips. Check out the shape – just like a surf board – Fun!

Spicy Bean Dip

Why buy a jarred, funky looking dip, when you can whip up your own in minutes.

15 oz can organic pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 roma tomato, quartered
1/2 red onion, chopped
1 small jalepeno, seeded, cleaned and chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 Tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
1/4 C Fire On The Mountain Salsa
Sea Salt & Pepper to Taste
if it isn’t hot enough, add a few dashes of HOT sauce

Whirl it all up in your food processor (or blender) until it is smooth. Then have your Husband add a ton of his cool new chips to enjoy! (he’s so funny!)

I also whipped up a quick batch of Guacamole for fun dipping for The Husband and topping on my vegan meal.

I found these super cute Mini Tacos for The Husband at Trader Joe’s….so he enjoyed these with ALL the toppings while I whipped up a batch of Basic Black Beans and Vegetable Fajitas.

Tonight like all the other nights was supposed to start with soup. It was a Spicy Lentil Soup that I actually made up last weekend and froze. However, I decided to not pull it out of the freezer so you will get to see it along with the recipe another night

I absolutely LOVED my dinner tonight – no tortillas were even needed. However, you might seen tortillas make an appearance for lunch tomorrow.

Easy Veggie Fajitas

1 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 small onion, sliced
1/2 green and 1/2 red bell peppers sliced
1 yellow zucchini, sliced
7 button mushrooms, sliced
2 Tsp Taco Seasoning – THIS is my favorite one
Salsa Mexicana
Guacamole
Basic Black Beans

In a large pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and cook for 3-4 minutes until softened. Add remaining veggies and cook for 4-5 minutes until crisp tender. Sprinkle with taco seasoning and remove from heat. Serve with Salsa Mexicana, Guacamole and Black Beans. Makes 2-3 nice size servings.

This is such a low-cal, low Weight Watcher Point, Vegan, healthy and full of flavor meal. Here is what my plate looked like with all the topping goodness!

Veggie Fajitas plus Basic Black Beans

Salsa Mexicana

Guacamole

I am completely satisfied and finally sitting down for the first time ALL day long – phew! Busy weekend. I am off to catch up on your blogs and comments before I catch some zzzzz’s!

Night all!

Wow ~ I can’t believe the 14 days of Bikini Bootcamp have come and are now almost gone. I have to say I completely LOVED this challenge, the workouts, the great recipes and the balance it helped me create in my life. It is a bit time consuming, but, in a good way. I am definitely planning on continuing some aspects of the challenge – the workouts, the eating concepts, fitting in yoga and meditation most days of the week and maybe a spa treatment here or there. I do not think it is realistic for me personally to workout 7 days a week…we all need a little time to rest and recover. I cannot wait to Weigh In tomorrow morning to see my results and take my measurements. I’ll be sure to report back and let you know all the outcome with any final thoughts I have on the book too- yeah!

Here we go with my final eats for the BBC challenge. I spent the morning transferring stuff from the old fridge to the new and broke for breakfast around 10 am. I whipped up a quick Pineapple Smoothie.

1/2 c unsweetened almond breeze (did not have yogurt or milk)
3/4 c pineapple
1 c ice
1 tsp ground flax seed

All whirled up in my Magic Bullet.

I actually prefer the sweetened Almond Breeze – it makes it taste more like an ice cream milk shake. This smoothie would have also been fantastic and creamy using greek yogurt – yum!

We spent the morning getting all stocked up at Sam’s Club, checking out new garage doors and such. The Husband has this serious hot dog fascination whenever we go to Home Depot or Sam’s Club. He wanted that for lunch so I had their “veggie snacker”.

I have to say I was fairly impressed to see a somewhat healthy option on their menu. This bad boy still packed 310 cal and 21 g of fat if you ate it all – crazy, huh? I ate all the veggies, 1/2 the nuts and cheese but left the ranch. It was good at tiding me over.

After some more shopping, we decided to take a stroll over to Starbuck’s (my walking for the day). I pondered an ice tea or a fat free latte – the latte one and became my afternoon snack.

Along with a few butter toffee almonds I bought for The Husband at the farmer’s market a few weeks ago.

Comning up next ~ tonight’s VEGAN Mexican dinner – YUM!

Yesterday was a super busy day as we helped our friends install laminate wood flooring in two of their bedrooms. It turned out so amazing as they redid their base and painted their walls in yellows and light greens. But, let me back up for one second to the start of my day so I can give you all in all in one recap of the day.

I started off my early morning with a little meditation and yoga before I headed to my Weight Watchers meeting. I weighed in backwards again but she said I did good and lost – yeah! I cannot wait to step on the scale tomorrow and FINALLY see my 14 day BBC results. I was sad when I found out my favorite WW receptionist is retiring and moving to Utah But, my day was brightened when I saw the nail place sign next door.

It’s supposed to say Alamo, not “lamo” Ha! Yes, that is hilarious to me because I am easily amused have the sense of humor of a 12 year old LOL…..

Breakfast was a fantastic fruit salad that I made up for both The Husband and I.

1 banana sliced
1 nectarine sliced
1 pluot sliced
1 apricot sliced
handful of blueberries
1 Tbsp raw sliced almonds
sprinkle of organic unsweetened coconut

The bright red color is the Pluot – a cross between a plum and an apricot. They are my favorite! So sweet and juicy, but, their season only lasts about 1-2 months tops.

My mid morning snacks were 3 of my favorite new crackers – AkMak Sesame Crackers

Then about 2 hours later, I had a white nectarine.

We decided to work through lunch which I thought I could handle since I came prepared with a ton of BBC approved snacks. I didn’t have time to make up a lunch or I would have. I figured I would get a grilled chicken salad, but, that never happened. My lunch was my container of 100 cal almonds with a little TJ’s Berry Blend.

Later in the day I might have also stole a handful of The Husbands peanuts (BBC approved) and then a handful of his Annie’s Organic Snack Mix Crackers. All was well and I drank a ton of water and was relatively satisfied with my eats all day.

Then, the dreaded helping out your friends temptation appeared ~ Pizza! The only snack I had left at 6 pm was my sugar snap peas and my stomach was grumbling. I thought I could gracefully bow out and just wait it out when this plate was presented to me.

I thought I could maybe get by with just a bite….um, ya, that was one bite too many. I know better – I am not the type of person who can eat just one bite and be like um, ok, I am sooo satisfied now. If I have one bite, I am pretty much eating it all. I WISH I had that technique – really I do. So, I had two pieces – they were amazingly cheesy, bready and good! I felt a little guilty but then I saw my stats this morning and feel like I earned it by running up and downstairs ALL day carrying the wood, cutting the boards, etc.

Calories burned: 3,237
Steps Taken: 17,043

Here is my big debate today. Do you all think I need to do a make up Bikini Bootcamp day since I didn’t fit in my cardio plus circuits and eats were a little off?

I will say my stomach was not happy with me ALL last night or this morning – it was pretty much like, WHAT were you thinking?! LOL. A good thing right – if you put kool aid in your gas tank your car isn’t going to run so well…

So, that was my day yesterday! Fun, right? Today is another busy day, but, I am going to leave you with TWO fun things.

* First, I won another COOL giveaway – Thorlo-Experia Socks! Click HERE to check out Erica’s rockin’ site and learn more about the giveaway.

Here is a BIG hint for my giveaway that begins tomorrow ~ It is what The Husband had for breakfast – the name alone tells you how amazing it is ~ An OREO Cookie Boston Cream Pie Healthy Donut!!!

Have a fantastic Sunday all! Catch you all later today when hopefully I get a little down time to catch up on comments, blogs and all that jazz!

Do you all know that song by The Commadores, Brick House? The Husband is a total clown, seriously! We picked out Nichia siding for our house to put on our front to frame our new round cement steps and do a wall border. We received samples from the rep this week and he was walking around the house singing this song WITH the samples. I snapped a few pictures of my “Brick House”…..LOVE him!

He is such a clown! Actually, here is a picture that the super cool sales rep sent us of an example using the style and color of fiber cement brick we are using. This isn’t a picture of our house, but, this is one of the ways we plan on using the brick. Doesn’t it look cool?

I cannot wait to install it and show you all how cool it looks! Tonight we decided to have a little fun. We stopped by so I could buy some lotto tickets for tonight and tomorrow before heading out to one of The Husband’s favorite places, M&S Tasty. I figured I’d let him choose since he has been a trooper Bikini Bootcamping it with me. I picked a Grilled Chicken Salad with Thai Peanut dressing on the side.

It was light and tasty! After that we were off to see the new movie, The Hangover. OMG, this movie was soooooo hilarious, however, it isn’t for the faint at heart. It’s definitely an R rated movie and in the category of Super Bad, but, it’s funny. We loved it and actually want to buy the DVD to see all the “cut” scenes

Tomorrow I am heading out in the morning to my WW meeting for another backwards weigh in. Then, we are off to help our friends install their laminate flooring. I will be back tomorrow night with a full recap of my day if I don’t make it back during the day. I STILL plan on sticking to my Bikini Bootcamp Routine Morning Burst, BBC breakfast, Salad for lunch and BBC snacks and dinner. 2 days to go…….Woohoo!

Have an awesome Saturday and enjoy whatever you all are doing. See you later!

Yoga for my mind, Yoga for my body! I picked a Yoga Fusion class today for lunch and it was awesome. This class is different from regular Yoga in that it will get your heart rate up and you leave feeling really strong. Here is a description they give for the Yoga Fusion Class:

“Yoga Fusion is a blend of yoga, strength, movement and flexibility. What make this class different are the music, choreography & movement. All moves are put to very unique music in a very unique style. You can expect to flow through this class and experience a full body stretch, as well as muscle strengthening, lengthening & endurance. ”

It was honestly just what I needed to ring out all the stress I had going on this week and to stretch out my sore muscles. Although somehow, I think I’ll end up sore tomorrow from it LOL. I feel stronger and empowered now – woohoo!

My breakfast kept me full all morning long – no need for an AM snack (and I so wanted to show you all the inside of the pluot -it’s bright red!) I came back ready for the fantastic salad I threw together last night.

Quick ChickPea Couscous Salad*

*It’s Vegan!

1/2 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/2 c cooked whole wheat couscous
2/3 cucumber, peeled and quartered
1/3 c Trader Joe’s Berry blend
1 Tbsp toasted almond slices
1 serving Ginger Sesame Dressing (my new favorite thing – it makes me happy!)
1-2 roughly chopped basil leaves
Sea Salt & Pepper to taste

Mix it all together and enjoy! Makes 1 BIG 9 Weight Watcher Point salad!

TWO FUN THINGS TO CHECK OUT:

The awesome folks at PBLoco (you know the fabulous gourment peanut butter -Think Sumatra Cinnamon Raisin and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough – YUM!) wanted me to share a fabulous coupon special they have going on right now. Stock up on all your favorite flavors by buying 5 and getting the 6th one FREE. Just add 6 jars to your cart and use this code “BLOG709″ when you check out. Coupon expires July 10, 2009.

And because I think this would be a fabulous addition to dunk if your chocolate. Go to Ashley’s site for details by clicking HERE to get a FREE Mars bar!

I hope your day is flying by as fast as mine ~ the weekend is almost here – yahoo!

Happy Friday all! I cannot believe the weekend is almost here – Yeah! It’s just been such a long week with being nonstop on the go ALL week long.

We had fun getting everything last night, but, I have to admit I was completely bummed that they didn’t have any strawberries, raspberries or blueberries. There was a boysenberry guy but he wouldn’t sample them. I didn’t want to buy them unless I knew they were sweet *sigh* Don’t people know that is how you get your product to sell? People sample it and if you are like me, you decide at that point you cannot live without it!

Are you ready to see the Farmer’s Market spread I laid out for everyone to enjoy today?

A gigantic bowl of fruit ~ White & Yellow Nectarines & Peaches, Apricots and Pluots – my favorite!!! They are a cross between an apricot & a plum.

A big bowl of cherries – can you believe I scored this entire bowl for only $9 – It’s 5 lbs!

Nuts are a must at any market especially when you have them specially roasted by a farmer.

My favorite ~ Butter Toffee Almonds.

Orange Honey Almonds

Honey Roasted Almonds

And pistachios!

All together this is table #1!

Table #2 is separate because well – it’s all my weaknesses LOL! I need to stick to the fruit and nuts

Cinnamon Raisin Challah bread

Seeded Honey Raisin Walnut Wheat Bread and 1/2 white & 1/2 wheat hummus dipping bread

Two Types of homemade hummus that are WAY better than Sabra ~ Roasted Garlic & Roasted Red Pepper

Kettle Korn……Once you start, you can’t stop – steer clear of this amazing stuff!

I was really hoping that the honey guy would have his flavored sticks but he doesn’t make them anymore Too bad because they make for fantastic pictures! I settled for regular local honey sticks that are great eaten straight up or drizzles on either of the breads.

All together ~ Table #2!

So that is everything ~ fun right?! Can you see now why I have a Farmer’s Market addiction? Every time you go it’s different and each market is different too – love that!

For breakfast, I had planned on making a pineapple smoothie topped with Kashi Honey Flax Granola. Then, I realized I forgot my magic bullet. Ok, fine, I’ll make a parfait, but, when I opened up my lowfat greek yogurt it smelled like sour cream Boooo!

So I decided to change things up a bit and go with the Farmer’s Market Friday fruit and nuts I was saving for my morning snack.

I ate the nuts, cherries, bread and a piece of cinnamon raisin challah bread (not pictured). I am saving the nectarine and pluot for my morning snack. Phew – a healthy save – yeah!

Quick recap of yesterday:

Calories burned: 3,068
Steps taken: 13,510

Alright all, I have to finish out my crazy busy week! I am thinking some nice Yoga and stretching is in the works for lunchtime versus spinning……See you all later!

I was pretty excited ALL day for dinner tonight ~ Basic Black Beans and Chicken/Spinach Spa-Chiladas. What I LOVED about this recipe was you didn’t have to heat your oven or cook it for that long. I have to apologize ahead of time as I was sorta frumpy making up dinner tonight. I think feeling like I need another me to get everything done and being a bit sleep deprived isn’t a good combination for me.

Anytime you need to pick yourself up, I highly recommend starting you dinner off with DESSERT first. This is exactly what I did! I whipped up a quick Pineapple Frappe and only wished I had a little alcohol to add to it

1 cup pineapple
1 cup ice

All blended together – that’s it! It was so tasty and reminded me of a fruity drink you’d get to sip on the beach while on a tropical island. I will definitely whip this up again.

Dinner was sort of a good flavored flop tonight. What I’d change is making my “enchilada” sauce thicker and I’d “fry” up the tortillas first.

Spa-Chiladas with Basic Black Beans

Enchilada Sauce

6 roma tomatoes, quartered
1 jalepeno, minced
1/2 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic
1 handful cilantro
Dashes of garlic salt and freshly ground pepper
Water

Remaining ingredients:

2 – 5 oz chicken breasts, cooked and cut/shredded
1 bag of organic spinach
Salsa Mexicana for topping
Avocado would be fantastic as a topper too

Take 1/2 of all the above ingredients and place in a sauce pan. Cover with about 1 – 1 1/2 c water (I used 2 c and I think that was too much). Cook for 12 minutes or until the tomatoes are softened. Blend and return to the pan.

Take the other 1/2 of your ingredients and chop, leaving it a bit chunky. Mix it into the puree mixture and simmer for an additional 10-15 minutes

You can use pre-cooked rottiseuirrie chicken, boil chicken breast or grill it! I grilled up 2 five oz chicken breasts with a little garlic salt and pepper. Chopped and place in a boil.

Place spinach in a microwave safe dish with 2 Tbsp water. Cook for 2 minutes, remove drain and place in the chicken bowl.

Add a few spoonfuls of the “enchilada” sauce to the spinach chicken mixture.

Dip your tortillas in the sauce and place on a plate. Top with a scoop of beans and a scoop of chicken/spinach. Fold in half and top with additional sauce and/or Salsa Mexicana.

You can serve additional black beans on the side.

I had 2 SpaChiladas stuffed with all of the above (minus the avocado) – I would’ve LOVED that!

In other SUPER COOL NEWS – I have TWO much anticipated giveaways in the works for you all. I am planning one to start on Monday and the other is lined up for the week we are in Vegas. I guarantee you will want to WIN both – yahoo!

Speaking of Giveaways ~ I won ANOTHER GIVEAWAY today! C.G. Foodie hosted a fabulous “Goddess” Giveaway and I won!!! Woohoo ~ I can’t wait to learn how to Belly Dance – Thanks C.G.! I am soooo playing lotto tomorrow – TWO giveaways in one week – woohoo!

Alright, please forgive me for being behind on your blogs. I promise to catch up soon – for now, I will catch up on your comments and get to bed early to catch up on some much needed sleep.

Have a great night all ~ I am soooo glad tomorrow is Friday!

Sometimes I LOVE being busy just because time flies by. My stomach, however, always keeps me aware of time every 3-4 hours though My morning snack was awesome. I whipped up 1 c fat free Greek Yogurt using one of Trader Joe’s Organic 0% Vanilla Bean containers with the balance being plain. I topped it with a little TJ’s berry blend and some pumpkin seeds.

Oh how I missed that Vanilla Bean Greek Yogurt – so good! It was the perfect salty, sweet combination! A little bit later I headed off to Body Pump Class. I LOVE this class and it always gives you a great workout – as if I needed to be more sore, right?! LOL. I came back to a quick salady lunch.

Crunchy “Chicken” Salad

2 stalks celery, chopped
1 small organic fuji apple, chopped
5 oz grilled chicken, chopped
1/3 c Trader Joe’s Berry Blend
2 Tbsp Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
1 serving Curry Dressing
Sea salt & freshly ground pepper to taste

Mix it all together and enjoy! This salad was really interesting – sweet, savory and definitely a little curry spicy. I LOVED all the crunch and flavor!

It kept me full ALL afternoon! I didn’t need an afternoon snack which was good because The Husband ate my watermelon snack. I did have a spare apple from the gym ready to go, but, changed my mind when my co-worker presented me with a couple of these.

I am such a sucker for candy that talks to me – especially when it’s creamy Dove Dark Chocolate. My messages perfectly fit my day and my week.

I think the last message means I NEED to take Yoga tomorrow instead of spin. What do you think?! LOL….wishful thinking maybe on my part as a way to spend my required hour long cardio session.

Part 2 of my afternoon snack was sampling fruit at the Farmer’s Market – I am LOVING the nectarines, peaches and finally PLUOTS!!! Yeah….I’ll be sure to take a picture of my full spread tomorrow for you all.

Coming up next my “Spa-Chiladas”…..