What am I gonna do with this $4.00 squash?

Make Butternut Squash Soup
Duh

Since revamping my grocery budget but still refusing to by mass processed garbage at cheaper prices, I have had to work a bit harder to stretch the meals.
Last night I made a delicious Butternut squash soup from Scratch for only a few bucks and it will last me multiple meals.

I looked online at a few squash soup recipes to get an idea of the basic ingredients that go into it. Then I went through the kitchen and created my own recipe using what I had on hand.

Here is concoction I came up with.

First I made a Mirepoix using:
1/2 Onion
2 sticks of carrot
2 sticks of celery
A few cloves of fresh garlic

I cooked that till tender in a large pot with some olive oil, salt & pepper

Then added:
1/2 can Veggie Broth
1 can Chicken Broth
1/4 cup cream of mushroom soup ( left over from previous Beef Stroganoff dinner )

Then whisked in:
4 small yellow potatoes ( cubed and roasted till soft)
1 small roasted butternut squash ( roasted and scraped out of the skin)

When it was all mushy & cooked together ( about 10 min)
I added:
3/4 can of organic whole coconut milk ( instead of heavy cream)
1/4 Cup whole milk ( to thin at the end)

And seasoned it with:
3 TBS Real Maple syrup
1/2 TBS cinnamon
1 Tsp nutmeg
1 Tsp ginger
1 Tsp cayenne pepper

Then I removed it from the stove and blended it all together using my immersion blender until smooth.

( Add more cream or broth depending on how thick you would like the finished product)

In the mean time I toasted some sourdough rolls and pepitas in the oven

Then I topped my soup with a scoop of sour cream ( or use Greek Yogurt) and the roasted pepitas!

For not using a recipe it turned out really good!

It was even better the second day too.

You could also throw in a baked apple if you wanted to.

Soup is kind of about using what you have to make a whole meal.

I hate to waste food and usually I end up tossing veggies or fruit when I don’t eat them soon enough and they go bad.
I always feel SO GUILTY doing that.
So when I am doing a casserole, soup or even a smoothie, I dig through the fridge and if there is something that is about to go bad, I try to use it in one of my next dishes.
You can hid a lot of foods in things to use them up and get extra nutrition without compromising the flavor of the dish.