Holy Butternut, Batman!

It's that time of year again; trees are becoming vibrant colors, evenings are getting cooler, and - ahem - FOODS are getting YUMMY!!! Not to say food isn't yummy year-round, but autumn cuisine holds a special place in my stomach. It's warm, deliciously spiced, and colored to match the beautiful outdoors.

Now, anyone who knows me understands that I enjoy cooking. I also enjoy eating (bet you didn't know that......), and my momma always taught me to eat my veggies. Like a well-bred Southern Gal, I did as Momma said, and I love vegetables. For fall, I must say one of my absolute favorite veggies is Butternut Squash. I love it!

I recently went to the store to buy some butternut squash, and to my dismay, I discovered they were running very low. But......BUT........upon closer inspection, I discovered..............THIS:

 

This, my friends, is an 8.5 pound butternut squash. That's right - I was only 3 ounces bigger than this when I was BORN. Even the cashier looked at it wide-eyed and said "DANG". 

And, while Bella did not seem to share in my enthusiasm, she was patient enough to pose with it for some size comparisons. Reluctantly.

The best part about this squash? Usually, if you plan on prepping a large amount of squash, it involves peeling and seeding several, which can be a teedious and sticky job. With this, I only had to peel one squash, and there was, honestly, only about half a cup of seeds in the rounded tip of the squash (on the left in the pic with Bella). That was it - the rest was solid squash. Probably 7.75 - 8 lbs of squash got prepped and frozen in one night at my house.

I was just so excited I had to share with you all.

Warm, Quick, and Healthy......shhhhhhhh!!!!

Well, according to The Weather Channel, it is 46 degrees outside. So, I decided I wanted something on the warm side for lunch. Also, since hubby and I are having a garage sale tomorrow, I am trying to get the last few items priced and things in order, so I wanted something quick. Oh, and since I have realized that I am not feeding my body properly (more on that in a bit), I wanted something healthy. Warm, quick AND healthy. Tall order. Or so you'd think...............

Quick interjection here, in what will probably be a poor attempt at making a long story short:
Went to the doctor about a month ago to get some help with managing my weight. After trying out a new medication called Qsymia, I have successfully lost 8 pounds over the first month. The best part about it is that I'm not changing my diet really - I just don't have much of an appetite. I eat 1/4 - 1/2 of what I was used to eating, and I am becoming more aware of when my body is hungry and when it is full. I still have sweets, carbs (Mmm.....delicious carbs....yummy, tasty carbs......) but now instead of a plate and a half full, I will have part of a dish, plus a whole lot of veggies. Oh yeah.....that may be one of the most awesome things - I am now CRAVING veggies. Who'duh thunk?!?

The problem I ran into was that BECAUSE I wasn't eating much (even to the point of forgetting to eat, if you can wrap your head around that one) I wasn't getting proper nutrients into my body, and I started feeling quite sick. So, I did some research, and thanks to the suggestion of a dear friend, Laura, I found some guides to the types of food my particular body type needs. Not radical changes. I'm adding whole grains, lean protein, and more fiber to my diet.

Anyway, back to the main point of this blog - LUNCH!


So, after scanning my fridge and freezer for leftovers and potential ingredients, I founds some leftover chicken flavored long grain & wild rice (already cooked, high in protein, fiber, and a whole grain), an almost-empty bag of frozen broccoli (high in fiber and vitamins), some cubed, frozen raw chicken breast (low fat, high protein), and some frozen homemade veggie stock (no sodium, no additives, just water & veggie "tea").

Having invested a whopping 2 minutes scavenging these ingredients, I set to work cooking. It took about 10 minutes from start to finish, and the results were DELICIOUS and quite filling! You can play around with the ingredients to your liking, but the recipe below makes one serving, and the nutritional information is for the ingredients I used. You will need to adjust your nutritional data accordingly.

Healthy Chicken & Broccoli Soup

3.5 oz. boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into cubes
1 cup frozen broccoli pieces
3/4 cup long grain & wild rice blend - herb roasted chicken flavor
3 cups sodium free vegetable stock
1 tsp. dried parsley
1/4 tsp. ground tumeric
1/4 tsp. ground fennel
2 Tbl. dried, chopped onions (or substitute fresh)
1/4 tsp. salt (to taste)
2 Tbl. lemon juice, reserved

Add all ingredients except lemon juice in a quart-sized lidded pot. Cover and place over medium heat. Allow mixture to come to a boil. Stir occasionally to cook chicken on all sides. Once chicken is cooked through and broccoli is fork-tender (approximately 6-8 minutes), pour contents into bowl and sprinkle with lemon juice. Enjoy.

If any of you try this, let me know what you think of it!

Oh, I almost forgot to add in the nutritional facts:

The whole recipe (above) yields one serving. Each serving contains:

373 calories

2.8 grams fat

49.5 grams carbs

8.7 grams dietary fiber

29.7 grams protein