Guest Blog Post: Whole30 Butternut Squash Apple Soup by Kathryn Joerg It’s the beginning of new year and i’m sure you, like most, have a New Year’s Resolution to eat healthier. Don’t we all? One of my co-workers, recently began the Whole 30 Challenge and graciously shared with us the beginning of her journey, as well as a delicious recipe she made that was in compliance! Keep following along as we progress thru this Challenge! Hi everyone! I’m Kathryn and I am so happy that Courtney and Steve have given me the opportunity to share some of my recipes as I embark on the Whole 30 Challenge. I don’t know about you all, but during the month of December, I was eating every single cookie that crossed my desk. I was going to happy hours with friends without even thinking twice about what I was putting into my body. I decided I needed a reset. A few friends of mine have been cooking Whole 30 and they look amazing! They are in great shape, have clear skin, and always seem to have energy so I thought, why not give it a shot. For those of you who don’t know, the abbreviated version of Whole 30 is 30 days (or longer) of eating nothing but meats, veggies, fruits, some nuts and some oils. You can check out the Whole 30 website for the official shopping list. At the end of 30 days, most people report clearer skin, more energy, less joint pain, less cravings and a good amount of weight loss. While I’d love to tell you it’s easy, it’s not. I started on January 2nd and made it to the 7th when I cheated, but I’m not giving up. I learned from my first Whole 30 restaurant experience and I’ll be better prepared next time. I pretty much had a hangover the next morning. I had a headache and I just felt plain gross. I learned to have a game plan going in and to stick to it. The same thing goes for home cooking during this challenge—prepare a ton of food so you will not give yourself excuses. I will be sharing one of the soup recipes that I made this week. This is a great option because you can throw the ingredients in a slow cooker while you’re at work or you can even make these over the weekend and freeze them for a later date. I just popped the soup in small ziplock bags and froze them flat so I could stack the bags in my freezer. Ingredients: Olive Oil – ~3 tbsp 4 cups water 1 butternut squash (peeled, seeded and cubed) 3 apples ½ medium sized yellow onion 1 tbsp Cinnamon Salt and pepper to taste Directions: In a large pot on medium heat add olive oil. Add the onion and let it cook for about 10 minutes. Then add your squash, apples, cinnamon, salt and pepper. Add the water and let all the ingredients cook down together until soft (40 minutes) When everything wash mashable, I put the metal pot in a large bowl of ice water to bring down the temperature. DO NOT, I REPEAT DO NOT DO THIS WITH GLASS COOKWARE. When cooled, I added the mixture to my Ninja blender (The best kitchen appliance ever invented) and pulsed it for about 10 seconds. This is not a science, it is an art so if you love cinnamon, add more cinnamon, if you hate apples, maybe just add one. And have fun eating your Whole 30 compliant soup. I added some pecans on top of mine just for the fun of it so adapt this as you choose. Catch more recipes on Kathryn’s journey at https://craveitall.wordpress.com