Holy balls did it get chilly around here fast!  We never got past 52 degrees yesterday, and this morning it’s again 49 degrees.  Although I know better.  You never know what fall is going to be like in Chicago – in a couple weeks we could see temps in the 80s again – you just never know.

I ate the last of my breakfast biscuits.  Although I realized these were the three without spinach because I thought Tony might eat some, but he didn’t.

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I am still resting my knee, so no workout yesterday.  If it’s still hurts when I get back from NY, I am going to have to have it looked at.  I’ve been popping ibuprofen like its candy, which helps but doesn’t take all the pain away.  I had soup and grilled cheese on my lunch menu.  Last Saturday morning while Tony slept, I got up and roasted veggies – butternut squash, carrots and apples – to make a roasted butternut squash soup.  Have I told you that I am catering a dinner party for my boss in October?  Apps, soup, salad, entrée and dessert.  She loves butternut squash, but wasn’t sure how she’d feel about this one because of the apple.  She can’t handle the spice, so I left the crushed red pepper out of hers, but I think the crushed red pepper is a nice balance to the sweetness of the apples and butternut squash.  I adapted my recipe from this one – of course, I left out the onions, duh.

 

1 butternut squash; peeled, de-seeded, and cubed
2 carrots, cut in thick slices
2 gala apples, peeled, cored, and cubed
3 cloves of garlic
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp dried Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 cup fat free half and half
32 oz vegetable stock

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Toss squash, carrots, apples, and garlic in large bowl with olive oil and the dried herbs. Spread them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or tin foil. Roast in oven for about 40 minutes, or until squash is tender and lightly browned. Remove from oven and place the vegetable mixture into a large soup pot over medium heat.

Add your vegetable stock. I made mine from scratch but you can use store-bought to save some time. You can also make your vegetable stock a day or two ahead, if preferred. Store it in the refrigerator until ready to use. Simmer for 15 minutes and then remove the pot from the heat.  Using a stick blender, blend the soup.  Stir in half and half and thoroughly mix.  You can add more broth if you like it a bit smoother.  I ended up adding about 1/4 cup of chicken broth to mine yesterday at lunch.

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I went to the store to buy some bread and spinach for my grilled cheese.  I got the spinach from the salad bar, and it rang up at .5 cents!   They also have a basket of mixed breads that are sold by the pound – I bought two slices of marble rye for .50.  Is there anything better than a melty cheese sandwich?

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And my boss loved it.  #winning

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I had bay scallops in my freezer so I made my springtime risotto and just added the scallops at the last couple minutes to cook through.  I forget how long it takes to make risotto – this was about 40 minutes but I emptied the dishwasher and did stuff while slowly adding the broth.   With the leftovers I am going to make arancini for Tony’s football food on Sunday.

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So I am excited that I’ll have some down time next Wednesday to meet up with Maggie from Say Yes to Salad!   Next Wednesday I am going on a food truck tour in NYC for lunch, but have the afternoon wide open and as luck would have it, the promotional company who is working on this event is only a few blocks from her office.  We’ve been blog friends since 2008!   So excited – now I can tell Tony that we are actually friends since we will meet in person.  Open-mouthed smile

Time to bundle up – I think I need to pull out some of my fall clothes to wear today – make it a great day!