Time flies...

I can't get over the fact that it's already December. It feels like yesterday it was summer. I love the fall so I'm bummed that it always goes by so fast. Before you know it, you're bundled in hats, scarves, gloves and boots.  But today it's nice and warm in NYC and I'm really excited because as I told you before, I don't work on Mondays (new job = awesome schedule).  So today I'm going to do a little workout at home, meet an old friend for lunch, and then head into Manhattan for some holiday shopping. All in 58 degree weather. Not bad for December!

I know it's a little late to be posting about Thanksgiving, but since I don't post as often as I used to, I wanted to share a couple of recipes that I made on Thanksgiving because they were really, really good. The first one is butternut squash and ginger soup. It was really good and I think you all should try it!

Butternut Squash and Ginger Soup
4 lbs. peeled and cubed butternut squash
2 medium onions, diced
3 cloves garlic, diced
3 Tbsp. Earth Balance
1/2 tsp. salt plus more to taste
8 cups low sodium vegetable broth
about 1 inch fresh ginger, sliced

Directions -

1. Halve, seed, peel and cube the butternut squash. Set aside.
2. Dice the onion and garlic.
3. In a large pot, over medium heat, add the earth balance and onion.  Season with salt.  Stir occasionally and cook until the onion is soft (about 3 minutes)
4. Add the garlic and cook about one more minute
5. Add the squash, ginger, and the broth. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to a simmer, and cook until the squash is very tender, about 20 minutes.
6. Use an immersion blender to blend until the soup is smooth.
7. Add more salt to taste, and a pinch of red pepper flakes.
8. Garnish with more red pepper flakes, if you like it spicy!

This soup was really delicious, super healthy, and really easy to make. Everyone loved it. 

The other recipe that I made for Thanksgiving which I totally loved was the Engine 2 Diet's Vegetable Lasagna. This lasagna is vegan and is incredibly delicious and nourishing. I first saw this recipe when I was watching Forks over Knives and really wanted to try it. I don't have the Engine 2 cookbook (yet!), but I was happy to see that they have this recipe online so I took it from there. It was easy and fun to make. There are tons of vegetables in it - even sweet potato. The sweet potato was fantastic in it. I highly recommend this recipe!

image source

We had a great Thanksgiving and these recipes were fun, easy and delicious.

I hope to be posting more often again really soon. Have a great week, everyone!