How-To Roast Squash
One of my FAVORITE things about the Fall and Winter is SQUASH. I LOVE all the different varieties that you can find at the market and have fun trying out different ways to bake, roast and cook them. I think my FAVORITE method of eating any type of squash is by far Roasting it. It’s quite simple and roasting just brings out all the sweet, nuttiness in the squash and makes it so tender it just melts in your mouth. I think another reason I LOVE squash is that you serve it sweet like dessert, savory as a side or even use it as a healthier alternative to FRIES!
This is the first time I’ve used Kabocha Squash and I LOVED it. The flavor reminds me of a cross between butternut squash and pumpkin. Here are two easy methods for roasting squash plus a few variations to help you spice or sweeten it up. Enjoy!
HOW TO ROAST SQUASH
INGREDIENTS:
1 Kabocha Squash
2 tsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Sprinkles of Sea Salt ~ 1/4 tsp
Dashes of freshly ground pepper ~ 1/8 tsp
OPTIONAL VARIATIONS:
* You can make your squash sweeter by adding cinnamon, brown sugar and butter like this Brown Sugar Butter Acorn Squash.
* FRIES!!! Butternut Squash Fries are an amazing alternative too!
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Prepare a cookie sheet with foil and nonstick spray.
2. Rinse the outside of your squash, slice in half and scoop out the seeds. Slice your squash into pieces, think cantaloupe slices, leaving the skin on.
3. Place squash slices onto prepared cookie sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt and freshly ground pepper.
4. Bake for 30 minutes, flipping your slices over once half way through.
Makes 2-4 servings, depending on how much squash you’d like to enjoy!
ENJOY!
STEP-BY-STEP:
Rinse and dry your squash to remove any residual dirt.
Slice in half and use a spoon to scoop out the seeds.
You can roast your squash in two halves, just skip to step #3. This method would be the preferred method if you are making the Brown Sugar Buttered Squash.
However, I prefer to roast them sliced because they are more fun to eat that way 
Place your squash slices on your prepared cookie sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, sea salt, and black pepper.
NOTE: Any sea salt will work, however, I prefer to use a course salt that has a intense flavor like this Himalayan Pink Sea Salt. You will be surprised how different it tastes from what you can pour out of a shaker ~ a little goes a long way
Roast at 400 degrees for 30 minutes, flipping half way through.
If you are brave, you eat the skin too, but, if you are like me, you leave the skin behind 
This method works great for just about any squash, however, Kabocha and Acorn Squashes work best.
and Enjoy!
Butternut Squash Soup
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!
Smokey Black Bean Chili in Squash Bowls
Can you believe it’s almost HALLOWEEN and time to Fall Back? I am so ready for the time change because it’s SOOO dark when I go to work in the morning. I have to admit that it’s a pretty awesome way to start my day by watching the sunrise as I drive into work though….
I am a total believer in eating what you crave. I woke up this morning craving two of my FAVORITE things ~ Apricot Preserves & Crunchy Nut Barn Almond Butter.
I LOVE that the BioNature Apricot Preserves are sweetened with apple juice vs sugar!
I toasted up 2 slices of Nature’s Pride 100% Whole Bread and smothered them in apricot almond goodness!
Mid morning I grabbed a Low-Fat Cabot Cheese and a mini fuji apple.
Lunch today involved more Halloween shopping or lack there of and at stop at the Over The Top Shop for Froyo!!!! Today’s mix included SNICKERDOODLE (YUM!!!), Peach-Mango Tart and Vanilla with sprinkles and crumbled waffle cone.
As I was eating this I was really thinking how it would be AWESOME to have a Cuisnart 45-Mix-It-In Soft Serve Froyo machine at home! Maybe for CHRISTMAS *wink, wink* LOL….I don’t know though – that could be a BAD thing to have froyo that accessible!
Lunch started out with this togo Thai Salad with Peanut Dressing.
However, the spicy broccoli shrimp I got to go with it was NASTY! It was ALL fish sauce and i just couldn’t eat it at all. I skipped lunch and opted for a bigger afternoon snack.
Whole Foods Organic Stone Wheat Crackers, Laughing Cow, Lean Turkey and FIZZY water! I was STILL hungry after so I grabbed an organic orange for dessert.
My co-worker who won the Organic Veggie Box from work broke out a super cool new to me veggie that I had to snap a picture of. Any guesses on what it is?
It’s a RADISH ~ Kinda crazy! I am not a fan of radishes but I had to try it because it looked like a mini watermelon. The flavor was interesting ~ it tastes like spicy cabbage. I like the heat, but, I am still debating the cabbage flavor.
When I got home The Husband was singing ~ “I got a cookie and you can’t have one!” LOL. Look at how AMAZING these snicker doodles are – perfectly round too! He got it at work. Of course, I snapped off a bite ~ MMMM ~ so much to LOVE about these cookies ~ cinnamon, sugar, butter, chewy….Need I say more.
Dinner tonight started out with roasted these cute Organic Sweet Dumpling Squashes I got at the market on Saturday. I decided they would make the perfect chili bowls.
I cut them in 1/2, de-seeded and rinsed them out.
Then, rubbed with a little Extra Virgin Olive Oil and sprinkled with sea salt.
Perfectly roasted at 400 for 30 minutes.
While the squash roasted, I whipped up a Smokey Black Bean Salsa Chili that I saw in the October issue of Cooking Light. The recipe was lightened up by the enlightened chef and sounded amazing ~ Beans, Bacon, Turkey, Spice ~ YUM!
I picked Trader Joe’s Spicy, Smoky Peach Salsa as the STAR ingredient.
Step 1 ~ Puree 1/2 your beans with brown sugar and water.
Stir in your remaining beans ~ I accidentally opened TJ’s Cuban beans instead of black beans ~ so I went with it!
Step 2 ~ Brown your 99% Lean ground turkey in nonstick spray. It’s important to pick the 99% lean to ensure you are getting turkey breast vs thigh meat and skin.
Step 3 ~ remove your browned turkey and add your onion and bell peppers.
and your BACON! Cook about 5-10 minutes until the onion is soft and slightly browned.
Step 4 ~ Add your turkey and spices.
Plus your bean mixture and salsa.
Step 5 ~ Add your beef broth, tomato paste and crushed red pepper flakes (b/c you forgot to with the spices . Stir to combine, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
I subbed ff Greek Yogurt for the sour cream and added, lime juice and cilantro.
To create a fantastic chili topper.
Sweet Dumpling Chili Bowl, plus Smokey Black Bean Chili plus cilantro lime “sour cream”. MMM ~ DELISH! I LOVED how easy this recipe was to make, but, I am not sure that the bacon really mattered. You didn’t really taste it and if I am adding calories for something like that, I want to TASTE it!
Sweet Roasted Squash in every bite! I really do think that this type of squash tastes bit like pumpkin, but, not as strong.
While the chili was simmering, I whipped up a batch of Carrot Pumpkin Cupcakes with Fresh Whipped Frosting. Would you believe me if I told you this is a low-cal recipe?!
Recipe coming up next! Tonight is the last night to WIN COOKIES!
A day of fall eats…
The Husband had us up bright and early this morning to head over to Lowe’s to pick up more bricks for our front landscaping. LOVE him for that since I didn’t sleep for anything last night :/ We have to pick up over 700 so we have been picking up about 100 at a time.
On our way out the door, I toasted a Thomas Double Fiber English muffin with my NEW almond butter ~ SOOO CRUNCHY, CREAMY GOOD! I like the Nut Barn’s Nut Butter because it isn’t oily like several of the store brands. I also had him buy me a tall FF Chai Tea Latte for being a super trooper (Chai is my favorite FALL drink)
After loading over 160 bricks and unloading, plus catching up on posting, it was time for lunch. I snacked on the remnants of Parmesan Garlic Pita Chips while I made lunch.
Lunch was healthy and something The Husband requests just about EVERY day ~ BLTA’s.
3 slices of TJ’s 97% FF Turkey Bacon (the cat and it’s dog friend had the other)
2 slices TJ’s FF Multi-Grain Bread, toasted (it’s all gone now 
)
1/4 mashed avocado sprinkled with sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
Romaine
BIG tomato slices
MMMMMM….and only 5 Weight Watcher Points!
I have been going through cider withdrawals ever since we left Apple Hill. I knew I should’ve just bought some juice because it’s the BEST there, but, I felt I didn’t need to drink a gallon worth of calories/points. To satisfy this craving, I picked up Trader Joe’s Spiced Cider.
It has decent nutritionals and a CLEAN ingredient list.
I boiled up 8 oz and served it up with……
a Trader Joe’s Windmill Cookie. I LOVE these cookies – if you are an almond cookie fan and like a little sugar sprinkle, these are the cookies for you. But, warning, they are highly addicting
About an hour later, i decided to have a “real” snack with a Yoplait Lemon Parfait Yogurt. See – I fit in 2 fruit servings and a dairy serving with my afternoon snacks lol….
It was an amazing day outside today so we decided to do a little BBQ. I grilled up a bunch of organic chicken legs with Gayle’s Sweet & Sassy Honey BBQ Sauce.
Plus 2 of the “Home Fries” I made for The Husband.
AMAZING organic swiss chard ~ red & green ~ steamed and sprinkled with a little butter, garlic salt and freshly ground black pepper!
I have been wanting to make this Acorn Squash Recipe with Brown Sugar Butter Sauce ever since I saw it on Alice’s site. I had it for dessert tonight, modifying the recipe by omitting the nutmeg and only using 1 tsp butter with 1 Tbsp brown sugar. I think next time I’d double the brown sugar. It was AWESOME ~ buttery, sweet and cinnamony ~ try it, you’ll like it!
All together it was a super filling dinner.
I feel like my day was filled with fall eats. Can you believe it’s almost Halloween and day light savings too?! Crazy….we are busy decorating our office for our contest & I STILL have to figure out my costume – ahhhh!
I finally did a little blog catch up work this weekend too ~ get ready for a pretty cool week including 2 fun announcements, another giveaway, a fun picture post about a “famous house” we visited and a bunch of NEW recipes ~ Yeah!
For now….my book and bed are calling my name! Nite all!
Pumpkin Pomegranate Muffins Recipe
This recipe screams FALL and SUPER FOODS to me! It includes not 1, but, 3 Super Foods ~ Pumpkin, Walnuts and Pomegranates. I am IN LOVE with PUMPKIN everything this year so I knew I needed to create another recipe to include it. POMEGRANATES always remind me of when I was little and could sit for hours eating seed after seed. WALNUTS ~ well, honestly, shouldn’t every bread include them?!
Last week I had a random thought of how I could mix all of these together to make some fantabulous creation. The result was these muffins that seriously blew my mind with uniqueness ~ sweet, sour, crunchy and just plain good!
Pumpkin Pomegranate Muffins
INGREDIENTS:
1 c Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 c white or oat flour
1/4 c brown sugar, packed
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/3 c chopped raw walnuts (roasting them 1st will intensify their flavor)
1 c pure pumpkin puree
4 egg whites and 1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 agave nectar
4 oz POM 100% Pomegranate Juice
2 Tbsp Canola Oil
1 Pomegranate, seeded
* You could probably add 1/4 ground flax seed to these as well for an even bigger nutritional boost!
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and prepare a muffin pan with nonstick spray or muffin liners.
2. Stir dry ingredients together in a medium bowl and set aside.
3. Whip egg whites until stiff white peaks form in a separate bowl.
4. In another bowl, combine pumpkin, agave, vanilla extract, egg yolk, POM juice, and oil. Fold in egg whites just until blend.
5. Mix dry and wet ingredients just until blended. Add pomegranate seeds and mix until combined. Do not over mix. Fill Muffin Cups about 3/4 full and bake for about 20 minutes or until they are browned and bounce pack when touched.
6. Remove from oven and let cool on wire racks for 5 minutes. Remove from muffin pan and allow to cool entirely on the wire rack.
Makes 12 muffins
Nutritional information per muffin:
Calories 121.8, Total Fat 5.2 g, Cholesterol 17.1 mg, Sodium 184.5 mg, Potassium 98.5 mg, Total Carbohydrate 16.0 g, Dietary Fiber 2.4 g, Sugars 2.9 g, Protein 4.3 g
De-seeding your Pomegranate is super easy. I followed Elise’s Method for How to Cut & Deseed a Pomegranate
Start out with one BIG pomegranate. I have to admit I LOVED seeing the POM Wonderful sticker on there. I honestly think that is what made me pick THIS one.
Cut it in half then break into chunks. Soak in a bowl of water for 5-10 minutes. The seeds just fall out when you pull the rind apart.
Skim the top of your water and drain. This leaves you with the BEAUTIFUL POM seeds!
Combine all your dry ingredients in a medium bowl and set aside.
Beat your egg whites until fluffy smiley faces show
Mix pumpkin, agave, vanilla extract, oil and fold in egg whites.
Add POM Juice.
Doesn’t the Pumpkin POM combo make the coolest looking colors mixed?
Combine your wet and dry ingredients. Add POM seeds.
Stir just until blended. I LOVE the color of this batter too.
Bake for 20 minutes or until browned and springy.
Cool and enjoy! Pumpkin + Spices + Pomegranate + Walnuts = LOVE!
I LOVE the crunchy sweetness of the POM seeds and toasty walnuts with the spicy pumpkin ~ absolutely DELISH! I think adding Homemade Healthy Pumpkin Butter to these would definitely put them Over The Top! MMMMM….I need to go make some more now!
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