Last week I spent about 3 hours in the kitchen whipping up four different soups to  freeze. I find myself doing this a lot. I LOVE having freezer meals on hand. Soup is one of my favorite things to make large batches of and freeze for later.

Soup and salad is a goto in this house and it doesn’t get much quicker than defrosting soup from the freezer, heating it up and chopping up a salad! As a wife and mother it is important to me to have a home cooked meal on the table but some days there is just not the energy or the time! When that happens I head to my freezer!
Butternut squash soup is a classic fall soup but I decided to put a little twist on it. The sweet apple cider pairs perfectly with the winter squash. The thyme and rosemary from the garden give the soup a warm and earthy taste. I highly recommend NOT skipping the garnishes with this one! The bacon, sour cream and pecans give this soup a nice texture. Ingredients 

1 butternut squash

2 cups of apple cider

2 cups of milk

1/4 cup of flour

2 tbsp of fresh thyme

2 garlic cloves

2 tbsp of olive oil

1 tbsp of fresh rosemary

1/2 cup of chopped pecans

1/2 cup of sour cream

1 pkg of bacon

Yields: 4 servings Start by cooking your bacon, crumble and set aside.

TIP: I like to cook my bacon in the oven. It is quick, easy and no mess! I dread cooking bacon in the pan and having to stand there, wait for it to be flipped and the splashing grease. Get a cookie sheet and cover with a piece of foil. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lay bacon stripes out on the cookie sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes or until the bacon is crispy. Then remove from oven and put bacon stripes on a plate with a paper towel to soak up the grease. Allow to cool and crumble.

Cut butternut squash in half and scoop the seeds from the squash and discard. Drizzle squash with 1 tsp of olive oil and bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until tender at 400 degrees. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly. Remove and discard skin. Roughly cut into large chunks.

Chop onions, rosemary and thyme. In a skillet over medium heat add olive oil, onions, thyme and rosemary. Sauteing until onions are translucent. Add flour and stir. Then add apple cider.

In a food processor add butternut squash, apple cider mixture, and 1 cup of milk. Puree until smooth. Salt and pepper to taste. Then continue to puree and slowly add remainder of the milk until you have reach desired consistency.

Ladle into bowl and top with a dollop of sour cream, bacon crumbles and chopped pecans. Enjoy!!

Grow it. Pick it. Cook it. Eat it.

Chantelle