Recipe / Autumnal Butternut Squash soup

Today I decided to change my diet slightly so that I eat healthier. I downloaded an App called Honestly Healthy and they have some amazing recipes separated into groups of breakfast, lunch & dinner, desserts, snacks & treats, drinks & smoothies and cleanse & weight loss. So there is definitely a lot to choose from! I love cooking from scratch, whether its something really simple or a new recipe that I haven't tried before. 

Before I started this recipe I decided that I wanted to take photos and write a blog post about it to share it with you. I found this particular recipe on the Honestly Healthy App and it really was as simple as it says it is! I have never made a homemade soup before and I am really happy with the results :)

Ingredients

• Butternut squash - roughly 350g
• Sunflower oil - 1 tsp
• Vegetable Bouillon powder - 1.5tsp
• Boiling water - 250ml
• Salt - generous pinch
• Cumin - 1/2tsp

I started off by preheating the oven to 175 degrees. I then cut off the ends of the squash and went on to peel it afterwards. Once the squash was all peeled I sliced it into roughly 2cm cubes.

Once the squash was all chopped up, I covered it in sunflower oil and roasted it in the oven for approximately 20 minutes, or until it was soft. 

Once the squash was nice and soft, I removed the tray from the oven and mixed the rest of the ingredients with the squash in a blender.

I used my Blend Active and it worked fine :)

This recipe is seriously so easy and delicious, if I can do it then anyone can! It is the perfect lunch or dinner when the weather is cold and you need warming up. I'm hoping to be doing more posts like this so watch this space.

What meals do you like to cook in these winter months?

Love Amy x

Why I love Autumn/Winter

My favourite time of the year is back and I can definitely feel it! October has been and gone already and now that November has arrived, the cold wintery weather has definitely made an appearance too. The leaves have turned into gorgeous shades of reds, oranges and purples and look beautiful falling through the sky onto the ground.

This blog post will consist of roughly 5 aspects of Autumn/Winter that I love.

Yesterday was the 5th of November, which is of course Bonfire Night! Or Guy Fawkes night as it is also called. Matthew and I decided we wanted to go watch the fireworks at one of our local parks, which was so good! The entry was free which is also a bonus and they also provided hot dogs and soup which was also free of charge. However we didn't have any of the free food because we had plans to go to Pizza Express afterwards. We met up with my mum and little brother and some friends. It was lovely to see the children's faces when the skies lit up with all different colours :)

Sadly my memory card ran out so I couldn't take any photos of the food we had, but we ordered dough balls to share and then Matthew had a pizza and I had a chicken pasta dish. We even ordered dessert afterwards because we were feeling a bit naughty, I had honeycomb cheesecake and Matthew had a fudge sundae. It was so good!

There is nothing I like more than being inside my house when it is cold and horrible outside; whether I'm snuggled up on the sofa watching films with a hot chocolate, or having a bit of 'me' time in the bath with some Lush or Zoella Beauty products! More on this in another post.

When the weather is nice (well as nice as it can get in these months!) I like to wrap up warm in thick tights, boots, gloves and a scarf and go for a nice walk. There's something about walking through crunchy, berry coloured leaves that make me really happy and all nostalgic :)

Now don't get me wrong, I love and burn candles all year long but now that the winter months are here, I like to burn my seasonal candles and not feel guilty! I used to work in a shop called Hallmark (which sell discounted Yankee Candles) and as an employee I also received an extra 25% off! Before I left to work in a nursery I stocked up on as many candles as Matthew would let me, which will probably last me a lifetime!

I think I have saved the best till last, Christmas is fast approaching and I am so excited! This year will be significantly different and quite strange, considering Matthew and I now have our own house. We have been buying decorations and already have a box full, ready to turn our first home together into a magical wonderland. I cannot wait for December to come around so I can finally put up our tree and all our decorations! 

Christmas is a time for spending time with family and friends, eating too much, spoiling loved ones and just generally being happy.

What do you love about Autumn/Winter?

Love Amy x

Image taken from Pinterest