Tag Archives: fall

Pumpkin Soup

This is a hearty pumpkin soup, garnished with a bit of bacon and chives for added flavor! Curry and cumin give it some warmth and a subtle flavor but are not distinct enough to make this a ‘curry’ flavored dish.

Ingredients

1 little sugar pumpkin (about the size of a cantaloupe)
3+ cups vegetable or chicken broth (more for a thinner soup, less for a chunky pumpkin stew)
1/2 onion, chopped
1 Tbsp butter, olive oil or other fat
1/2 tsp curry
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 cup heavy cream, milk or coconut milk
Salt & pepper to taste

Directions

Bake your pumpkin by slicing it in half, cleaning out the seeds, de-stemming and putting it cut-side down in a baking dish with some water, ~45mins on 350* (I did this a day or two in advance when I was baking other veggies). Peel and discard skin.
Sauté onions in butter or oil until translucent and soft
Add curry and cumin and sauté for another minute
Add pumpkin pulp, chicken broth and bring to a boil
Reduce heat and simmer for 10 mins
Remove from heat and use an inversion/hand blender directly in pot until soup is smooth
Stir in cream
Add salt & pepper as needed and garnish with crumbled bacon and chives

Paleo tip: For ‘true’ paleo, omit dairy items and instead use coconut fat and coconut milk.

Super mom tip: You guessed it – it’s ‘freezable’! 🙂

Cream of Mushroom Soup with Chestnuts

5 Replies

I’ve been so busy making pumpkin dishes, I almost forgot that it is also MUSHROOM season! Yay, love, especially in soup! I’m not that adventurous when it comes to mushrooms in general. I’m mostly familiar with white mushrooms, the kind that come fresh in a package, or those canned button mushrooms. But mushrooms are clearly in season as the local grocery store has been featuring large bins and while I really have no idea what to do with them, I mustered up some courage, picked (well bagged) a pound of mushrooms and made some soup. The chestnuts add some texture in this soft, blended and flavorful soup. It was delish!

Ingredients

1 lbs or so of fresh mushrooms
3 Tbsp minced shallots or onion
1 garlic clove, minced
2.5 cups chicken or vegetable broth
2.5 cups water
1/2 cup heavy cream or coconut milk (for paleo version)
1 cup chestnuts (bottled or canned, liquid removed)
Springs of thyme
2 or more slices applewood-smoked bacon, cooked and crumbled
3 Tbsp sour cream
Olive oil
Dusting of pepper and salt to taste

Ingredients

Sauté mushrooms with a little olive oil for ~15 minutes or until soft
Add shallots, sauté for 1 minute
Remove 1/2 cup mushroom mixture and set aside
Add broth, water, chestnuts and thyme to pan and bring to a boil
Reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally
Remove from heat and discard thyme
Use a hand blender/inversion blender until soup is liquefied
Stir in cream, sour cream, reserved mushroom mixture, salt and pepper to taste
Garnish individual bowls with crumbled bacon

Super mom tip: Mushroom or chicken broth + sliced white mushrooms or a can of mushrooms + milk/cream/coconut milk + whatever garnish you have on hand = toss together heat and serve. That’s the 5 minute version! 🙂

What to do with pumpkin seeds!

6 Replies

It’s pumpkin season.. OK, I get a little obsessed when pumpkin lattes arrive and then it just takes off from there. Pumpkin pie, pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin bread, pumpkin frosted cupcakes :-), pumpkin soup, pumpkin curry.. I’ve been feeding fresh cooked pumpkin to baby Anders who is 7 months and chowing it down! And let’s not forget pumpkin seeds! Roasted and salted.. YUM!

Ingredients

Pumpkin seeds (if you are digging them out of a pumpkin, first rinse and pat dry w/paper towels)
Oil or cooking spray
Salt

Directions

Oven to 350*
Toss pumpkin seeds with oil or just spray a large pan with some cooking spray
Bake for 20 minutes or until you hear them start to pop or they start turning golden
Salt

Paleo Pumpkin Bread

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Can’t get enough pumpkin recipes this fall? I know! October is pumpkin month around here.

This bread is a special paleo version. And for those new to paleo, this may not taste very sweet or like the classic pumpkin bread you are used to! But it is delicious served hot with butter or with a bowl of soup, such as Chicken Chili! 🙂

Ingredients

1 cup blanched almond flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
dash of sea salt
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp ginger
½ cup pumpkin (roasted or canned)
2-3 Tbsps honey or agave syrup
3 large eggs
Handful of raisins and/or chopped nuts (optional)

Directions

In a food processor combine almond flour, salt, baking soda and spices
Add pumpkin, honey or agave and eggs and blend for 2 minutes
Scoop batter into a mini loaf pan
Bake at 350° for 35-45 minutes
Cool and serve

Super mom tip: Slice and freeze individual portions for easy retrieval and reheating

Paleo what? What’s up with the whole Paleo thingy? Read more about my journey and some great resources on my food blog, Les Petits Pois!

Inspired (and slightly modified) from one of my favorite gluten free masters Elana’s Pantry

Wellness Remedies

1 Reply

It’s the season – coughing and sneezing everywhere! And then suddenly YOU are coughing and sneezing and feeling miserable.

I hate being sick. When I do get sick I’m a grouchy patient. Who isn’t? So I’m super motivated to stay well. Here are some wellness tips for cold season! Blog StayHealthy

Fresh garlic, crushed and served in a bowl of hot broth or soup at the first inkling of a cold
Honey – it’s antiseptic and sooths sore throats
Ground turmeric in some hot milk – love this one – turmeric looks like ginger root in its fresh form, but is smaller and usually is found in powder form as a spice. I learned about it from an Indian friend who gives it to her children regularly to strengthen immunity. In our house we take some every day.
Fresh ginger root – freshly minced or in powder form. Peel some fresh ginger root, slice it up and boil it in water and drink as tea. This is also excellent for your digestion.
Vitamin C – plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables throughout the year, some fresh lemon juice in hot water with honey can soothe a sore throat
Salt – mix hot water and salt and gargle – this will soothe a raw throat and is also antiseptic. Maybe that’s why salty soups taste good when you have a sore throat.
Water, plenty of it!
Hot shower and steam bath – helps clear sinuses and feels good for achy limbs and head

As a proactive measure you can use “Four Thieves Oil” – not ingested – but a drop or two on wrist/neck before going on an airplane or if around a sick people may ward off germs. The smell is kind of refreshing (ingredients include wormwood, thyme, rosemary, peppermint, cinnamon, clove, lavender, sage, camphor, juniper, pine..)

Probably the most important healing and wellness remedy is SLEEP.. with or without a furry dog laying on your feet to keep them warm. Socks will also do. 🙂

Super mom tip: if you are nursing there’s not a whole lot of medicine you can take without interfering with either milk supply or passing ingredients to baby, but by all means keep nursing. Your body creates powerful antibodies when you are exposed to germs and passes these on to baby. When you have a cold chances are that baby may avoid it! Yay!

Carrot Soup with Avocado, Lime and Cilantro

2 Replies

It’s a damp October evening in Seattle. Get your cozy on with this hot soup that is so bright and cheery you will forget about the rain!

Fresh ginger, lime, cilantro, coconut milk and carrots.. create a delicious fusion of flavors! I won’t say this is super easy as there are some steps to prepare this soup, but it’s worth the effort!

Serves 4

Ingredients

1/2 onion, chopped
1 Tbsp ginger, finely chopped
2 lbs carrots
1 lime, divided – grated (for zest) and squeezed for the garnish
2 Tbsp butter
salt, pepper
1 quart vegetable or chicken stock
1 avocado
Cilantro
1/2 cup coconut milk or heavy cream

Preparation

Melt butter in large pot
Chop the onion and the ginger into small pieces and grate the lime zest, and add to pot
Sauté the onion, ginger and lime zest in a pan with the butter
Add the carrots and some pepper and then sauté for another 2 minutes
Add the broth and bring to boil. Simmer for 20 minutes
Puree the soup with a hand blender and add the cream

Garnish

Cut the avocado into pieces, chop the cilantro add some lime juice, salt and pepper and toss together lightly. Set aside.
Serve soup w/2-3 spoons of avocado mixture in each bowl

Paleo tip: use coconut milk, not cream, that’s it!

Super mom tip: Use a 2lb bag of peeled baby carrots – who has time for peeling or scrubbing carrot skins anyway? If you are peeling them, consider that there are good nutrients in carrot skins and just scrub them with a vegetable brush to clean.