The New Schedule & Butternut Squash, Kale, & Sausage Soup

Hello! Long time, no read! With the busyness of life, a new schedule was needed. But, of course, each time I made a new schedule, something new would happen to throw it into chaos.  Shuffling four kids in varying grades and interests is no joke. Now, finally, things are starting to become more regular. With a new schedule comes some new writing. As autumn is the ultimate best season ever, I am going to drop a million soup, stew, and chili recipes here for everyone to enjoy. New stories are still in the works, some scary horror stories. I hope you'll come back to read them! 

Today, I made this butternut squash, kale, and sausage soup. This is my own recipe after many years of trying several other recipes and not being 100% satisfied. With my picky eater, slow eater, eater of everything, and eater of all things plain, this soup scored a 6/6. All bowls were empty at the end of the meal. For the children, they ate it with a thick slice of English muffin bread and were full. The man guy with his bottomless void, had two pieces of bread and 3 bowls of soup--in his defense, we had an early brunch. 

Ready in 30 minutes

Serves 8 

Calories 371

Ingredients

• 1 lg. Butternut Squash

• 1 lg. Red Onion

• 4 Garlic Cloves

• 1 Red Bell Pepper

• 1 lb. Ground Sausage

• 1 tsp. Kosher salt

• 1 tsp black pepper

• 4 c. chicken broth

• ½ c. pumpkin puree

• ½ tbsp. Oregano

• 1 tbsp. Italian seasoning

• 1 tsp. Red pepper flakes

• 1 c. heavy whipping cream

• 4-5 c. kale

• Parmesan  

Preparation

1. Peel, deseed, and cut squash into 1-inch cubes. Dice red onions. Cut red pepper into small chunks. Mince the garlic.

2. Cook the sausage in a big soup pot on medium. Toss in garlic when the sausage is mostly cooked. After 30 secs., toss in red onions for about 3 mins. Then add red peppers. Stir for about 3 minutes.

3. Add squash and give a good stir, before adding chicken broth, seasonings, and pumpkin. Bring to a boil, cover, and turn down to low. Let simmer for 15 minutes or until squash can be easily poked with a fork. 

4. Once the squash is tender, add whipping cream and stir. 

5. Then add kale and stir into soup. Turn off the stove. Serve topped with parmesan and an optional slice of good bread.

Tips

I prefer to use my own homemade chicken broth to keep the salt low and taste high. 

I also highly recommend a heavy bread to serve with this meal though you could add rice if you needed to bulk it up. I eat it with an English muffin bread. 

The ground sausage can be any you have hanging around. I like a spicy pork sausage or a breakfast sausage. 

Nutrition Facts
Servings: 8
Amount per serving
Calories	371
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 24.5g	31%
Saturated Fat 9.8g	49%
Cholesterol 73mg	24%
Sodium 1208mg	53%
Total Carbohydrate 21.2g	8%
Dietary Fiber 1.6g	6%
Total Sugars 2.2g
Protein 18.8g
Vitamin D 8mcg	39%
Calcium 169mg	13%
Iron 3mg	16%
Potassium 689mg	15%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calorie a day is used for general nutrition advice.
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