Hungry, I mean Healthy eating

With the wedding far behind us and all the hustle and bustle starting to settle down (Yea right we are headed into the holiday season, who am I kidding?!?), I have finally implemented our "We need to eat healthier" plan. H4L and I have been "talking" about getting healthy for a long time now. But I found it was time to put my foot down and get us started. We have no more excuses. I joked before the wedding that I couldn't lose weight because I had my dress custom made to my exact size, well no more, the dress has been worn, so diet has commenced. H4L has borderline diabetes. He was a fabulous bike in the garage with a Baby DIVA seat in place and ready to roll, diet and exercise have commenced. We are well on our way. One big problem we have is that we both LOVE food. I LOVE to eat and cook delectable yummies. H4L loves to savor delicious yummies. So how do we couple a healthy lifestyle, emphasis on the healthy eating, with a passion for food?

Well let me introduce you to what has been happening in my kitchen:

Butternut Squash Soup and Cheese Ravioli

Ingredients
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup diced onions
2 1/2 cups peeled, seeded and cubed butternut squash
5 cups chicken broth
1 pinch ground cinnamon
1 pinch ground ginger
1 pound cheese filled ravioli
3/4 cup light cream
salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Place the cumin seeds and nutmeg in a large saucepan over medium heat, and cook until lightly browned. Stir in the butter, and saute the onions until tender. Mix in squash and chicken broth. Season with cinnamon and ginger. Reduce heat, and simmer 10 to 15 minutes.
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add ravioli, and cook 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
With a hand mixer, puree the soup mixture. Blend in light cream, and season with salt and pepper.

Mix in the cooked ravioli just before serving.

Oh my goodness it was absolutely divine! And quite healthy too! I even cooked enough for H4L to take to his work's Thanksgiving Potluck and it was a hit! Now I did cheat a bit used store bought pre made cheese ravioli. I could have made some from scratch utilizing squash as the base instead of flour and making it that much more healthy, but I was a tad lazy and HEY we are just starting this whole diet and healthy life, so I cut myself some slack! It really is good though. Give it a try. It is a breeze to whip up and serves fabulous as well as warms the body on a cool fall night!

Happy Healthy eating!

*I originally found this recipe on allrecipes.com. I made some minor changes to it from the original recipe.*