Comfort Food

I had kind of a stressful day today. I emphasize "kind of" because it's not like I took any helicopter trips to the emergency room, but all the regular activities took more patience than they usually do: stoplights (because I was running late), Bible study (because I had nothing inspired to say), my mom group (because both kids were grumpy), etc.

When I got home I started to think about supper and realized I was out of ideas that didn't involve beans. We've had beans the last 3 nights, and I wasn't sure a fourth night would be good for our marriage. So I prayed for inspiration and God provided! I happened to glance at the squash shelf on our bookcase (we're a little short on pantry space) which triggered the memory of a soup I'd made last winter.

I started throwing it together and something about the smell added years back to my life. It was warm and cozy and comforting and put me in a darn good mood. So, since I can't bring everyone a yogurt container full of liquid love, I'll share the recipe. Here's to world peace!

Life Altering Squash Soup

2 T butter
1 onion, diced
cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, allspice (or pumpkin pie spice)
1 medium butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and roughly chopped
3 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
1 apple, seeded and roughly chopped
1 can coconut milk
4 oz cream cheese
salt

In a soup pot, saute onion in butter until translucent. Add 2 or 3 shakes of each spice and saute for a few seconds. Add squash, carrots, and apple. Pour in coconut milk and enough water to just cover the chunks. Simmer until everything is soft. Remove from heat and puree with a blender. Return to heat and stir in cream cheese and salt to taste. Serve with homemade bread if you have it sitting on your counter already. We added peas and sausage chunks (after pureeing) tonight, but I don't think those made it better. Let me know if you find the perfect chunks for it.