Roasted Butternut Squash and Flax Seed Soup

          I had every good intention to get this post up earlier this week, but if there is one thing I have learned (over and over again) from having a child is that no matter how much you plan, you always have to be ready for the unexpected. For someone like me who loves going by a schedule, and plans dinner the night before, the unexpected can sometimes be agitating.

          This week has been a week solely devoted to hospitals and doctors appointments. This was not intentional, but that is what it became. It started last Monday night when Emory started stumbling around and acting weird. We were a little (or maybe a lot) freaked out, and took him to the Urgent Care. After three long (there is nothing worse than taking your child into a dirty room full of extremely sick kids) the only determination they could come up with was that he probably ingested a pill at my grandparents house. This was very odd because we watch him like a hawk, and there were three of us there watching him, but we decided it was a fluke thing and called it a night. He woke up that next morning fine, and continued to be fine all week, until yesterday morning. I picked him up out of his crib and took him upstairs, and when I set him down I could tell something was off again. He was not walking right, and quite honestly it scared the hell out of me (I do bot use that lightly). If it wasn't something with his equilibrium and head, I would have been less concerned. Toby, being the amazing daddy he is, suggested we just take him to the Emergency Room to see what they could do. So we made the 40 minute trip to the Phoenix Children's Hospital. After 4 hours, and a CT scan, they could not determine anything.

          His CT came back fine, and all his vitals were perfect. They were stumped. So we left there just in time to make it home to eat a quick lunch, put Emory down for a much needed nap, and then try to re-group. We were so relieved that his CT was good, but so confused as to why he was acting the way he did. I was really hoping when he got up from his nap all would be good, but it just wasn't. He was still falling all over the place, and seemed very off balance. When he woke up this morning he was the same, so we went to see his pediatrician (who we love!), and he could not figure it out either. Emory appears to be in perfect health, but he should not be off balance like he is. The only thing he could do was order blood work, so me and Emory headed to the lab. Finally after 2 1/2 hours, they took 5 viles of blood from the poor guy. Now we wait. I hate waiting, but I am praying everything coms back fine, and we just get to look back on this one day and say "remember that time Emory was off balance and fell a lot? That was weird, but I'm glad that only lasted a few days"..That is my hope and prayer.

          Anyways, that is why this post is somewhat behind schedule. I have been a bit worried and exhausted to even think of posting a blog. But here it is. Roasted Butternut Squash and Flax Seed Soup. It is delicious, healthy, and earthy. It is packed full of veggies, alfalfa sprouts, flax seeds, and Kale. Delicious, simple, and living food for your body.

Roasted Butternut Squash and Flax Seed Soup

This makes a big pot, but we ate it for lunch the next day. If you would rather have a creamy soup, omit the kale, but I liked the switch from creamy to crunchy.

1 medium butternut squash, peeled, seeds removed, and cut into 1 inch pieces
2 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
A few pinches of allspice
2 tablespoon flax seeds
1/4 cup roasted, unsalted, pepitas (or sunflower seeds)
Extra virgin olive oil
3 stems of kale, stems removed, and roughly chopped
1 medium yellow onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 ribs of celery, peeled and chopped
4 cups low sodium vegetable broth (plus more water if needed)
1 cup alfalfa sprouts
2 tablespoons organic apple cider vinegar
sea salt and fresh ground pepper
parmesan cheese and a few pepitas for garnish

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Toss squash and carrots with olive oil, salt, and allspice. Roast in oven for 45 minutes to an hour, until soft and roasted. In the meantime, start the soup base.

Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large soup pot over medium high heat. Saute onions, garlic and celery with a pinch of salt until they become soft, about 10 minutes. Add in the cooked squash and carrots, and vegetable broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer. Simmer for 5 minutes. Add in the apple cider vinegar. Remove from heat and puree with an immersion blender, or alternately in a blender. Once smooth, add in pepitas, flax seeds, and sprouts. Blend again until smooth. You may ned to add more liquid. Once smooth, put back on low heat, and season with salt and pepper. Stir in kale, and cook on low heat until kale is slightly wilted (kale will never wilt completely, and keeps a nice crunch). Serve with zested parmesan cheese, and some pepitas.