Soup-aholics

I live with two soupaholics...and it is fantastic!

Since the weather became cold, I've been making homemade chicken broth every week or two. One batch of broth results in two batches of soup. These days, one large pot of soup only lasts for 2-3 days.  My girls have been devouring bowls of soup like it's ice cream. After finishing, they usually raise their bowl up and yell "Mamamama!"with an expectant look on their faces. The nutritionist in me adores the fact that they eat healthy food with such gusto!

Soups are such a fantastic way to get a ton of nutrients into our kids. Soup is the perfect food when we're feeling under the weather and have little appetite. It's a great way to warm up on these cold days. Indirectly, I also love how good the girls have become with spoons as a result of regular soup eating!

Most recently, I made them a butternut squash-carrot-apple and a curried pumpkin-pear-sage soup. Here's an idea of what I threw into these two soups:

Butternut Squash-Carrot-Apple

3-4 cups of chicken broth
1 large butternut squash (roasted for 1 hr at 400 degrees)
1 large onion, chopped and sautéed
3 large carrots, chopped
2 apples, chopped
Grated fresh ginger (to taste)
Dash of cinnamon and nutmeg
Salt and pepper to taste

-- Cut and seed butternut squash and bake cut side down in coconut oil at 400 degrees for about one hour
-- Sautee chopped onion in a coconut oil for 4-5 minutes
-- Add chicken broth, carrots, apples, ginger and spices (and butternut squash when it is cooked)
-- Cover and simmer on low heat for 1-2 hours
-- Thoroughly blend with hand blender

(Sometimes I'll add coconut milk to this type of soup, if I have it)

Curried Pumpkin-Pear-Sage

4 cups of chicken broth
1 large can of pure pumpkin
1 onion, chopped and sauteed
2 large pears, chopped
6-8 sage leaves, finely chopped
1 tbsp. mild curry powder
1 tsp all-spice
1-2 squeezes of fresh lemon
Salt and pepper to taste

-- Method is pretty much the same as above