Simplify your diet and ground yourself by cooking food ahead to have ready for yourself and your loved ones when you come home.

Quinoa “Stuffing”

You will need:

• 1 cup quinoa, cooked

• 1 cup celery, chopped

• 1/4 cup fresh parsley, minced

• 2 carrots, chopped

• 1/2 teaspoon each: salt and pepper

• 1 large yellow onion, diced

• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 1 egg

• 1 tablespoon stone-ground brown mustard
  

  Prepare quinoa: rinse well through a fine-mesh strainer. Combine 1 cup quinoa with 2 cups water. Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer, add salt and black pepper. Cook for 15 minutes or until the water is gone. Set aside.
  
  As quinoa cooks, chop vegetables. Add olive oil to skillet. Add onions and sauté on medium heat for 10 minutes.
  
  Add carrots and celery. Sauté for 5 more minutes.
  
  Turn off heat. Add quinoa, minced parsley, and vinegar.
  
  Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease an 8x8 baking dish with olive oil.
  
  Whisk egg, mustard and 1/4 cup water together.
  
  Place quinoa in baking dish. Pour egg mixture over it and bake for 15 minutes.
  

  
  White bean or turkey stew with root vegetables 
  

  You will need:

• 2 Tablespoons olive oil

• 1 onion, peeled and chopped

• 4 garlic cloves, peeled and minced

• 4 stalks celery OR 1 small celeriac root, chopped

• 1 turnip, chopped

• 2 carrots, chopped

• 1 yellow potato, chopped

• 1/2 pound grass-fed ground turkey OR one 12 oz. can organic, salt-free canellini beans

• 1 teaspoon each: rosemary, thyme, black pepper

• 4 cups beef OR vegetable stock

• sea salt to taste

  
  In a soup pot, sauté onion and garlic 1-2 minutes on medium heat.
  
  Add celeriac/celery, turnip, carrots and potato and continue cooking 2-3 minutes.
  
  In a separate frying pan, heat a small amount of oil and sauté the beans or ground turkey until lightly browned. Season with spices and sea salt.
  
  Add to the soup pot with stock and salt.
  
  Bring to a boil.
  
  Cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer 45 minutes to 1 hour.
  

  Savory Pumpkin Oatmeal Soup

You will need:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 1 large pumpkin OR 1 can pumpkin puree

• 1 large onion, loosely diced

• 2 garlic cloves, smashed

• 1-inch knob of fresh ginger, chopped

• 1/2 teaspoon each: cinnamon, cumin, coriander

• 1/8 teaspoon each: nutmeg, cloves, allspice

• 3 cups water or broth

• 1 Tablespoon tahini (roasted sesame butter)

• 1 cup rolled oats

• Salt and pepper to taste

Chop pumpkin into 6-8 sections. Scoop out the seeds and set them aside.

Place in a soup pot with 3 inches water. Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer, and steam until soft.

Run cold water over it. Peel off the skin. Set aside.

Heat 1 Tbsp. olive oil over medium-high heat in a large, deep sautee pan.  

Add onion and cook for 5 minutes on medium heat until onion is clear and soft.

Add steamed pumpkin. Sauté for 7-8 minutes or until ingredients turn golden brown.  

Reduce heat to low, add garlic, and cook 10 more minutes, until vegetables are a caramel color.

In a separate soup pot, add 1 Tbsp. oil, ginger, and the spices.  Sauté for 5 minutes on medium heat, until the spices are fragrant.  

Add broth/water and vegetables to soup pot. Add tahini. Add oats.

Bring to a low boil over medium-high heat.  Reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes, partially covered, until the pumpkin is tender.

Meanwhile, rinse pumpkin seeds and toast in a skillet with olive oil, cumin and coriander. Set aside.

Puree soup with immersion blender or mash with a potato masher.   

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Garnish with toasted pumpkin seeds and serve.