Pumpkin Soup

After my Thanksgiving day webinar on how to eat clean I had a great response from everyone who had gotten my clean cooking for thanksgiving guide and took the class.  Really I can’t say enough for all the support I’ve gotten for LaBonté Nutrition and Wellness, thank you thank you, thank you everyone.

If you didn’t get to take the class don’t worry we’ll have a new ones coming soon, just sign up for the email newsletter and you’ll be prevue to everything new that comes out.

Enough talk here is my favorite recipe from my thanksgiving guide.  It was my favorite because yes it is super taste but also my whole family gobbled it up without out even realizing how healthy it is for them.  I made a bunch extra, so that their would be plenty leftover for myself It keeps really well as leftovers.  I will heat the soup up with a couple pieces of turkey to make it a full meal in a bowl, will all the macro nutrients I need.

My pumpkin soup recipe calls for mirepoix.  Mirepoix is are traditional ingredients in French cooking that are used in lots of stocks, soups and sauces.

Ingredients  

1. Mirepoix

2 large, onions chopped (eye ball that your onions should match both the carrots and celery together)

2 carrots, chopped

2 celery sticks, chopped

2. 1 medium size pumpkin or 2 smaller pumpkins (~2 cups pumpkin puree)

3. 3 cloves fresh garlic, minced

4. 2 cups of bone broth, (I use organic chicken stock from the carton but if you make your own even better)

5. 1 cup heavy cream (sub whole fat organic Coconut milk for added health benefits)

6. 1/4 teaspoon of each of black pepper, allspice or cinnamon and nutmeg.

Depending on the bone broth you should salt to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350° F line cookie sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil.
2. Using a sharp knife, cut off the top of the pumpkin and then halve. Use a sharp spoon to scrape out all of the seeds and strings (save seeds in a ziplock bag for roasting).
3. Brush the flesh with warmed coconut oil and place face down on the baking sheet. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a fork easily pierces the skin. Remove from the oven, let cool for 10 minutes, then peel away skin and set pumpkin aside.
4. To a large saucepan over medium heat add 1 Tbsp coconut oil, mirepoix and garlic. Cook for 2-3 minutes, or until slightly browned and translucent. Turn down heat if cooking too quickly.
5. Add broth, pumpkin, seasonings and bring to a simmer.  Hold light simmer for 20 minutes stirring regularly.
6. Add heavy cream and bring to simmer again
7. Transfer soup mixture to a blender or use an emulsion blender to puree the soup. If using a blender, place a towel over the top of the lid before mixing to avoid any accidents. Pour mixture back into pot.
8. Continue cooking over medium-low heat for 5-10 minutes, taste and adjust seasonings as needed.
9.  

Chocolate Mousse

I might have really outdone myself with this recipe here.  I’ve been making this for a few months now and every version came out just fine, awesome actually (I just knew I could do better.)  The fact that I’m not 300lbs with a giant muffin top spilling over my pants after eating all the food I make is pretty awesome, I feel like I’m cheating the system.  Thats why I share what I know with everyone so people will know how food that fuels life should be tasting amazing, while being easy to make.  Here it is, share it with friends, make it for yourself, tell everyone it’s too good not to share.

 

Chocolate Mousse

  Ingredients

• 1 can coconut Milk, full fat

• 1 ripe avocado

• 3 tablespoons cocoa powder

• 1 tablespoon of natural sweetener, (i.e. local honey, stevia, maple syrup)

• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt

• 1/4 cup whey protein powder (isolate or consulate, preferable from grass-fed cattle) optional

Step by Step

1. Leave canned coconut milk in fridge over night or at least for one hour. When you open can, carefully scoop out only the solid coconut fat, the liquid part is extra that I haven’t found a good use for yet.

2. Combine coconut, avocado, cocoa powder, salt, whey protein powder and a small amount of the sweetener of your choice.  The goal is to use as little of the sweetener as possible.  (The whey protein powder can be left out if you don’t have it in your pantry, with it the consistency becomes a little creamier.)

3. Some sweetness will be needed to add to the flavor so start by adding just a small amount then blend and taste add more if needed and taste again.

4. Store in fridge or make fresh.

Thanks for checking out my recipe if you like it please, share it with friends or leave a comment to let me know if you like it.

Cheers,

Jerry  

Pumpkin Paleo Protein Shake

This is a recipe that I found online and had to add some flavor to make it my own. A super cool way to paleo hack for your post-workout protein.

Ingredients

4 eggs (as natural raised as possible)

1/2 can of Organic pumpkin mix (find in the baking isle)

1 tablespoon local raw honey

Cinnamon to taste

*extra credit add a teaspoon of MCT oil or coconut oil to up the healthy omega 3’s

The Process

Combine all ingredients in a blender with ice then blend till ice is mixed into drink.  This will stay cold for a few hours if you take it with you to the gym to drink afterwards.

If you don’t have a blender just combine all ingredients into a plastic bottle with ice and shake vigorously.  You might have a hard time getting the honey to incorporate into the beverage without the blender so just make sure the honey goes in after the pumpkin, and it won’t stick to the bottle as much.

There is a reason why you must blend this or shake vigorously in a blender bottle.  If the eggs aren’t denatured is someway they will not be fully digested by the body.  Blending the eggs will help to break down the protein, as well as combining the MCT oil which will bind with the

Why:

Pumpkin is a great source of carbohydrates through vegetables.  Getting your daily source of carbohydrates through vegetables will make sure your getting a boat load of fiber and other nutrients that your body will need to recover from your workout.

Eggs are probable the best source of easily accessible protein, if you can get if from a friend who is naturally raising chickens then you get bonus health points.  But they need to be denatured, if you just drink raw eggs like Rocky your body will only be able to process about %64 of the protein.

Raw honey that is sourced locally helps your immune system function by introducing local bee pollen on a regular basis.  Basically if you can find a way to have a small amount of raw honey everyday you won’t be as affected by sessional allergies.

Cinnamon has been shown to have positive health effects all across the board, from lowering the glycemic index of a food to improving someones chances against cancer and it tastes pretty awesome.

Learn more about raw honey here

Learn more about cinnamon here

Learn more about raw eggs here