Butternut Squash Soup

It’s starting to warm up here!  57 is the forcasted high for tomorrow so my friends and I are planning to take our kiddos to the park.  I know 57 isn’t really that warm but it is to me after having the high constantly in the 20s.

While I am so excited for it to be spring soon (don’t get jealous, it’s not spring here yet, just a random warm day), one thing I will miss about winter is the absence of bugs.  Yep!  I HATE bugs.  Flys, ants, and especially grasshoppers, spiders, and roaches.  Ewww!  It makes me cringe just to think of them.  I even have a hard time killing them.  Not because I care about them living (sorry PETA!) but I don’t want bug guts on my shoe and I can’t stand the crunch and squish.  eww, eww, EWWWW!!

When I was young I would just scream and someone in the house would come kill it for me (I’m the baby of the fam).  They did get tired of that so I resorted to freezing them with hairspray and then scooping them with a cup and flushing them.  When I first got married I trapped a few spiders under some cups for my husband to squash when he got home.  My grandpa is genius and at his cabin he just sucks up the flies with the hose of his vacuum and plugs the hose with a Kleenex so they can’t get out and just die in there.  I have now found a little courage (for the sake of my baby) and killed many bugs but my first defense is bug spray which I’ll be doing in a few months when springs rolls around.  If anyone has some good solutions to bug proofing please share. 🙂

Well let’s talk about something we do like… FOOD!

Remember how I mentioned my husband strongly requests meat somewhere in our dinners?  Well that means soup is usually a no go.  I love soup, so rather than make soup plus a bunch of other stuff, I decided to make a soup each week for my lunches.  A satisfying, delicious, and fun lunch for me! 🙂

This here is a smooth creamy soup that has the main ingredient of butternut squash (a personal fav).  My friend brought it to a “Souper Saturday” (crafting and eating soup) activity that the women’s organization in my church had.  I loved it!  So, I got the recipe, made some changes, and voila!

Print Recipe

Butternut Squash Soup

Prep Time10 mins

Cook Time20 mins

Total Time30 mins

Servings: 6

Calories: 250kcal

Author: Garnish and Glaze

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup sweet onion, chopped
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 6 cups butternut squash, peeled & cubed
• 4 cups water
• 4 teaspoons chicken bouillon
• 1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 6 ounces cream cheese, cubed
• 6 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, shredded (for garnish)
• 6 tablespoons Croutons or crackers, for garnish

Instructions

• In a large pot, melt butter. Add onions and saute until tender.
• Add squash, water, bouillon, marjoram, black pepper, and cayenne pepper. Bring to a boil, cover, cook on medium-high heat for 15 minutes or until squash is tender. Remove from heat and add cream cheese.
• Puree cooked vegetables and cream cheese with a hand blender* until smooth. Serve garnished with Parmesan and croutons.

Nutrition Facts

Butternut Squash Soup

Amount Per Serving

Calories 250

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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*I have this Cuisinart 2-Speed Immersion Hand Blender.  If you don’t have one you can just blend the veggies and cream cheese in a regular blender but you will probably need to vent the lid to allow the hot steam to escape.  I do suggest getting one if you like to cook though.  Buy it at Bed Bath and Beyond and use one of their 20% off coupons!  (Did you know they even accept expired coupons?  I never buy anything there without a coupon!)

Recipe Source: Adapted from my friend Janna Ang (more onion, more water, less cream cheese, salt added, Parmesan cheese added, croutons added)