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by Emily

Thai Butternut Squash & Coconut Soup

We”re nearing the end of soup season (which, to me, runs roughly mid-October through late-February) so I need to cram in some new recipes while I still have the chance! My two favorite types of soups are Asian-inspired, particularly Thai, and squash-based. So when my friend sent me a recipe on Pinterest incorporating both, I was IN. (And yeah I pinned it to my Soup-specific board, duh)

This fabulous recipe originally comes from the lovely blog Carlsbad Cravings. While I”ve made Thai-spiced butternut and/or sweet potato soups before, the addition of sriracha-roasted pumpkin seeds on top really brings this one to a whole other level. Actually, she used butternut squash seeds, but I had a bunch of naked pumpkin Superseedz in the pantry so I decided to use those and it came out great. Perfect if you are using pre-chunked or frozen butternut squash versus the whole gourd. (Which I actually was, too… pre-cut packaged organic squash because I was running late after work! No shame in my game on a busy weeknight.) I amped up the spice in this a bit and cut down the fat by using light coconut milk, and the result was absolute heaven.

Thai Butternut Squash Coconut Soup with Honey Sriracha Pumpkin Seeds

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by Emily

Endless Super Bowl: Top 10 Recipes for Your Football Party

Yeah yeah YEAH SONS!!!!! This Sunday is the Super Bowl and the Seahawks are BACK, BABY! Loyal ES readers may remember that I am from Seattle and loooove me some Hawks and made this ultra-handy Super Bowl Snacks for Seahawks Fans last year, and that post still stands because OBVIOUSLY THE SEAHAWKS ARE BACK IN THE ‘BOWL.

(If you want me to stop typing in all caps, SORRY NOT SORRY I CAN’T STOP WON’T STOP because I LOVE THE SUPER BOWLLL)

This year, though, to add to my Seahawks-centric list, I thought I’d share a Top 10 list of general football recipes guaranteed to please any Super Bowl partiers. There is NO shortage of Super Bowl recipes online but these are the tried-and-true snacks we’ve successfully made in the past, and/or new (to us) recipes I’m excited to try this weekend. Need even more inspiration? Take a gander at our Endless Super Bowl Pinterest board.

Big Popper Hot Buffalo Chicken and Bacon Grilled Cheese from Half Baked Harvest

What… even… ARE YOU? Once again, one of my personal favorite food blogs, HBH, comes through with an amazing recipe and gorgeously mouth-watering photos. I want, no, NEED this sandwich in my life.

Baked Garlic & Swiss Dip from Endless Simmer

I developed this recipe two years ago and it is GOOD. Your breath might smell, but so will everyone else’s, so you’ll be just fine.

Buffalo and Blue Cheese Lil’ Smokies from Inspired by Charm

Lil’ smokies are one of Rob’s favorite football snacks (and one of mine, and one of probably most of America, let’s be real…) so obv they’re a Super Bowl staple. The addition of creamy buffalo dipping sauce and blue cheese inside the “blanket” ?! A stroke of genius.

by Emily

Food Porn Champion: Give Me Room Service or Give Me Death

Now this is what we like to call… the money shot. What would a leisurely yet luxurious hotel room breakfast be without some luscious smoked salmon, and of course, a golden, runny egg yolk? This was how I started the day during a staycation at the W Austin last week. Perfection on a plate.

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by Emily

Zucchini Noodles & Shrimp in Sweet Potato-Red Pepper Sauce

I am SO in love with the new spiralizer I got for Christmas! (It’s this fancy-pants Paderno 4-blade variety… kind of complicated to put together at first, but once you get the hang of it, it’s great.) I’m about to spiralize everything up in this kitchen. Well, within reason.

Obviously, one of the best things to do with a spiralizer is to make faux-noodles. I’ve been trolling Pinterest for some spiralizer inspiration and I happened upon this recipe from Shape. Instead of heavy dairy, it uses puréed sweet potatoes to make a creamy, thick sauce. (Thankfully I also received a shiny new Cuisinart food processor at Christmas this year!)

The original recipe also uses spiralized sweet potatoes to make the “noodles” and while I love me a sweet potato, this was a little too… overly sweet potatoey for my liking, so I subbed zucchini for that component. So technically you can call them “zoodles” but I haven’t fully given into that terminology yet. I also added some shrimp for protein, it went really well with the rest of the flavors and textures. If you’re trying to keep things vegetarian/vegan, you could omit the shrimp and add some firm tofu.

This meal was SO filling and satisfying while also managing to be extremely healthy and low calorie. Rob and I split this entire recipe, and I was wondering if it’s unhealthy/weird for adults to eat 1.5 zucchinis each in a single sitting, but I guess that’s just #spiralizerlife.

Sautéed Zucchini Noodles & Shrimp in Sweet Potato-Red Pepper Sauce

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by Emily

Southwest Spiced Slow Cooker Chicken

Some of my friends and I are in a Bachelor fantasy league. Feel free to make fun of me, I don’t care. It’s awesome and a legit excuse to drink a questionable about of wine on a weeknight. It’s kind of like fantasy football, but we “draft” the hot messes from each season of the Bachelor franchise and then hate-watch and track whose players earn the most points (from achievements like “revealing a sob story,” “secretly has a kid,” “hot tub bonus make out” etc.).

We take turns hosting – whoever is on weekly host duty is also in charge of dinner. I hosted the premiere last week and needed to make a big batch of healthy food – and this southwest spiced chicken was perfect. I was able to prep everything the night before, throw the chicken in the slow cooker before work the morning of, and when I came home dinner was basically done.

Now that is worth some major bonus “hot tub make out” points. (If by “hot tub” we mean “slow cooker” and “make out” we mean “cooking.”)

Southwest Spiced Slow Cooker Chicken

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by Emily

Thai Peanut Chicken Salad

So as I recently mentioned, like every other overly indulgent American, I’m ramping up my resolutions and getting back on the healthy track after a gluttonous holiday season. This means lots of salads, but as we know, I LOVE salads so this isn’t really a punishment for me.

This salad features all the aspects of Thai food that we know and love – it incorporates sour, sweet, tangy, spicy. You have tons of vegetables, protein from the chicken and nuts, but also a nice addition of… papaya! Try to get green papaya if you can, I thought I bought a green one but when I peeled it, it was definitely ripe and orange inside. How can you tell when a papaya is green versus ripe? This is something I should look into.

Thai Peanut Chicken Salad

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by Emily

Cocktail O’ Clock: Blackberry Resolution

Let’s be real, even though we always resolve to drink less in the new year, it doesn’t often happen. So this year, I’m resolving to drink better – quality over quantity, that kind of thing. My friends at Austin’s Mettle have the perfect cocktail to kick off this goal. The Blackberry Resolution is made with all sorts of deliciousness – gin, citrus, blackberry, and yes, my very favorite: champagne.

Bartender Brice Davis says, “I wanted to make a drink that made every man feel comfortable about drinking gin and bubbles.” That’s all well and good (and some guys I know are weird about drinking champagne, which is ridiculous because champagne is the best thing ever), but I think this cocktail is perfect for any human’s celebration, no matter their gender.

Happy 2015!

Blackberry Resolution

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