Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Butternut and Acorn Squash Soup and a Sweet Wine Reduction

The elimination diet is over. Officially. I still have not added everything back into my diet, but am working on doing so one day at a time. On Sunday night I had beef, half a beer, and a tiny bit of chocolate and ice cream (as in, a couple bites). Yesterday I had a small yogurt, which was my only source of dairy for the day. Tonight I might just have to have a small bowl of the homemade low fat ice cream I made recently.

I made a batch of vanilla low fat ice cream, then added a bunch of leftover Halloween candy.



If you're wondering how I'm doing with my caffeine, I'm happy to report I am still only consuming 200-250 mg/day, which is 100mg less than before my elimination diet. I'm feeling great.


Finally, some new recipes!

Sweet Wine Reduction Sauce

What do you do when you open a bottle of wine and it's just...well....gross!!?? You make a reduction sauce! This wine below was just too sweet for my taste. I rarely ever say that, but if you tasted this I bet you would agree.



So being the "foodie" that I am (I guess), I poured the bottle into a large saucepan and heated it on LOW heat for about 90 minutes. The key to making a reduction sauce (as I read online) is to NOT let it boil. There really isn't any need to stir, but you need to be patient and it will eventually start to reduce and thicken.


Once it's reduced to the point where it's starting to almost bubble, turn off the heat. The next step is really up to you, but I added about 1/4 cup of Smart Balance 50/50 butter sticks, as well as some basil leaves.


Once it was cooled I poured it into this plastic container, just to see how much it really reduced!


I reheated the reduction sauce a couple days after making it, and poured it over some homemade frozen yogurt.




Butternut
and Acorn Squash Soup

I found this recipe on Allrecipes.com, but as always I modified the recipe by using Greek yogurt instead of cream cheese. It was so simple. The most difficult part was taking the skin off the butternut squash.


After cutting up all the squash, I put it into a blender with all of the other ingredients (low sodium chicken broth, Smart Balance 50/50 butter sticks, and plain 2% Greek yogurt). I blended the ingredients in two batches since my blender couldn't hold it all at once.


After the ingredients were well blended and pureed, I added the soup to a large saucepan to heat it. Then I added some cinnamon and nutmeg.



This soup was so good, even Nick ate it (and I've never seen him eat soup, ever).


I made this soup before my elimination diet, but last week I made it again using EVOO instead of butter, and cultured coconut milk instead of Greek yogurt (it wasn't enough to give me gas, thank goodness). It was just as good this way, and made a great addition to my lunches.



Question: What's your favorite flavor of soup?? I really enjoy tomato basil and any type of squash soup.









23 comments :

  1. Reading your blog today is making me hungry...in a good way!

    I'm a tomato soup girl, too. In fact, I've been craving a bowl for over 2 weeks.

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  2. Yum!! That sauce looks great...although I rarely have leftover wine ;-)

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  3. I bet that icecream was super delish! :)
    I'm definitely going to have to try that butternut squash soup, too.

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  4. OOhhh! That soup looks good! I'm going to try that. I love acorn squash.

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  5. I'd love to make my own ice cream sometime. With all the crap that's in grocery store garbage I'm sure it's worth it.

    My husband and I left out a carton of chapman's one time and it didn't melt. It turned into a gummy substance. WTF?

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  6. I love all kinds of soup! Lately though I have been loving the Boudin Bakery Butternut squash soup.

    I might have to make yours so I can have it more than just on Sundays!

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  7. Yum I love soup :) My favorites are minestrone, carrot ginger, and butternut squash, yum.

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  8. Great idea to make a reduction sauce with the wine, and to drizzle some of it over the ice cream!

    That soup looks so good! Love the addition of cinnamon and nutmeg!

    My favorite soups are beef stew, chili, bean soup, and just discovered that I really like tomato basil soup!

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  9. oh sweet ice cream i want some nowwww! i think i just may have to whip out my ice cream maker tomorrow and experiment! i love that you made it so halloween festivus :)

    i'm clicking on your v-bean recipe as we speak

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  10. Mmmm! I am loving squash soup, too! I am posting a recipe tomorrow that is basically butternut squash, vegetable broth, curry powder and other Indian spices, and low-fat coconut milk. SO GOOD!! I'm with you, squash soups are yummmmy!! The wine reduction sounds amazing, too...and on ice cream!? Brilliant! I didn't know that about not boiling the wine...good to know! I love reductions. I wonder if the same goes for something like balsamic vinegar..

    Hope you're having a good week! Let me know when there's a night that works for you and Nick to get together again!

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  11. I am definitely a tomato soup kind of girl. I wonder what your soup preferences say about you. I like chunky tomato...now I want soup.

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  12. Aren't b-nuts a pain to peel??? I love potato leek soup but don't make it near enough.

    The reduction sauce looks like it was a success!! Have a great day, Gina!

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  13. I have been craving squash soups lately! I always love a tomato based soup as well.

    Great idea for wine that you don't really like! I'm going to have to remember that.

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  14. I have never been big on soups but these butternut squash soups have me intrigued because they are thicker and I like that thicker consitency. Usually thick soups = high calories but this looks incredible!

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  15. Haha there was once a time in my life that all I wanted to eat for dinner EVERY night was butternut squash soup! I LOVE it, but eventually I woke up one day and didn't want it anymore. Now I like spicy home-made Minestrone soup, with lots of beans! Yum!

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  16. I've just caught up on all your elimination diet posts - very interesting! There aren't any foods that seem to definitely upset my system, but there are times when meals cause me gas and times when I'm fine. Every time I've been fine, there's been a grain involved (ie. breakfast of oats/cereal makes me feel amazing). I guess I would have to do an elimination to REALLY figure it out, but I don't really have pain in the first place.

    I'm more of a stew person than a soup person I think - I like to have my whole meal in one bowl. :) Chili = ideal!

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  17. What a great idea for your wine reduction sauce. Wonderful! I can't wait to try it. I might just buy an inexpensive sweet red to give it a try. :)

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  19. That soup looks great! I've done similar ones, but not with the yogurt, will have to give it a try!

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