Day 3 of the Elimination Diet started off a bit rocky. After doing so well at the end of my two day green smoothie fast yesterday, I had a bit of a dark patch that lasted through this morning. Certainly a few occurrences triggered it, but a few kind people, including my husband, also helped pull me out of it. Can’t be sure if it was normal darkness or detox side effects. Whichever, it only strengthened my resolve to continue.

I broke the smoothie fast with a smoothie! (and two pieces of celery slathered in sunflower seed butter). About 90 minutes later I had a nice bowl of brown rice covered in blueberry syrup and toasted pumpkin seeds. It was heavenly, although I nearly burned my house down toasting the pumpkin seeds (slight exaggeration). Just FYI, don’t toast shelled pumpkin seeds in a toaster over on the “toast” setting. They do catch on fire. However, toasting them at 300F for 10 minutes was perfection. In a celebration of the coming autumn, my favorite time of year, I even enjoyed it in a pumpkin bowl.

About that same time I cut an acorn squash in half and set it to roast in a 350F oven for 50 minutes. One finished, I scooped out the soft insides and started the below recipe. It was the best soup I’ve ever had in the history of soup! (Not that I’m prone to hyperbole or anything.) It was so so so delicious, I’ll be eating it for the rest of the day. The recipe is below for your enjoyment. I altered it from The Whole Foods Kitchen’s Spiced Pumpkin Soup recipe. You can also make it with butternut squash if you’d like. I didn’t use apples or onions in the original recipe because of my aforementioned intolerance to those.

Spicy & Sweet Acorn Squash Soup with Quinoa

Ingredients
1 acorn squash, roasted at 350F for 50 min
1T coconut oil
2 carrots, sliced thin
2 celery, sliced thin
1T fresh ginger, chopped
1 1/2c water (preferably filtered)
1T organic maple syrup
1/4t nutmeg
1/4t cinnamon
1/4t cloves
Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
Fresh cilantro for garnish, if desired

1. Roast acorn squash. Cut in half and scoop out the seeds (save for roasting). Roast squash face down in a baking dish at 350F for 50 minutes. Scoop out of skin & set aside. Yields about 2 cups.
2. Heat coconut oil in large saucepan, then sauté carrots, celery, and ginger for about 10 minutes
3. Add water, cooked squash, syrup, and spices. Simmer for 20 minutes.
4. Transfer to blender and blend smooth.
5. Serve over quinoa or rice for a hearty, yummy meal. Garnish with cilantro.

Makes about 4-5 cups of soup, or three 1 1/2c servings. The below nutritional information is per serving with 1/4c cooked quinoa, but you could also use brown rice.

157 Calories. 4.6g Fat. 0g Cholesterol. 45.7mg Sodium. 27.9g Carbs. 5.7 Fiber. 4.9g Sugars. 3.8g Protein.

Looking forward to my cookbook coming in tomorrow. Join me! Get The Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook and let’s feel better!