Warm Autumn Butternut Squash Soup with Apples, Mint and Basil

     A lot of my friends on Facebook are into health and well being.  One of my friends from Australia who lives here in Mallorca posted a very scary but true article (http://www.theage.com.au/lifestyle/bitter-pills-20121008-277yj.html)  about the power of Pharmaceutical Companies in Australia and how they have created laws that allow children to be taken away from their parents if they do not do exactly what the doctor tells them to do.  From antibiotic injections to chemotherapy and on and on.  Four in 1,000 children are taken away from there parents each year in certain parts of Australia for not listening to the doctor.
     I mostly just focus on the bad doings of the powerful lobbyists in the United States but this article just has me flabbergasted.  The rein of the Pharmaceutical lobbyists has stretched far and wide.  For doctors in Australia if you don't do as they say the police are just a phone call away.  It's not that bad in the states yet but it sure is a scary thought though.  The problem with the judicial system is that if a law gets past that says you must obey your doctors orders then you the patient, the love one or the parents must fight the system through the proper channels which most likely will involve a lawyer and mucho dinero.
     Hopefully that day will never come.  But then again I hoped the day would never come that GM foods would hit the market shelves.  Well they have hit the shelves and these foods are not marked.
Have you ever eaten a tomato that tastes a little fishy?  Do you know why?  It's because that tomato has been spliced with a fish cell for god knows why.  The FDA has approved these GMOs with no scientific studies on human consumption of GM foods.  Only time will tell.  Until then do your best to avoid eating GM foods.
     I also hope the day will never come that every 1 in 2 persons will get cancer but we are not that far off.  Right now it is every 1 in 3.  If you ask anyone if they know someone with cancer they will at least have one or 2 personal stories about cancer affecting someone in there lives.  Off the top of my head I can think of 5.  So much for "The War on Cancer".
     You must have your own war on cancer.  And the best way to wadge war on cancer is to not let the war get started or to not let the cancer get started.  And the best way to do that is to eat a mostly plant based diet.  And eat only food that you can identify.  For example, don't eat cheese puffs, what are they?  Or twinkies or pop tarts or captain crunch or skittles or, or, or.  You get the picture.
     Now what about meat.  You can identify a chicken leg, pork rib, steak but do you know what kind of life that animal lived and do you know what antibiotics or hormones it has been fed to make it stay alive in horrid circumstances.  Unfortunately, we believe mostly what we read.  Milk, it does a body good.  Bullshit.  If it did a body good then why does the milk association (lobbyists) have a $128 million a year budget.  And why can't they put this information on the milk cartons?  Because the FDA won't allow them because it has to be backed up by facts and they can not do it.
     The list goes on and on with lobbyist over here saying this is good for you.  And they get some smart scientist who will back it up and well if he says it it must be true.  And again bullshit.  But we are naive because if it is said by him then it must be true.  He wouldn't say that because he is getting payed huge sums of money to endorse these products would he?  Hell yeah he is. 
    And that is how the system works and the sooner you realize that and snap out of this desensitized monetarily controlled media manipulated world in which we live and just realize that eating right can save your life, now!
    Can I tell you a great way to get started today?  Well that would be to make this beautiful autumn soup.  Easy, healthy and al natural.

fall vegetables

chopped and ready

sweating

almost there

herbs, spices and liquids added

last minute prep

hot german friend

final touches added

Tati and me

Warm Autumn Butternut Squash Soup with Apples and Mint

by Jeff Harter

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Keywords: blender appetizer soup/stew low-carb nut-free soy-free sugar-free vegan vegetarian Butternut Squash American Thai fall

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This lovely soup is the first fall soup I made this year because it is one of my favorites.

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion chopped
• 2 carrots chopped
• 1/2 butternut squash peeled and chopped
• 1 leek white part only chopped
• 1 celery stick chopped
• 1 beet peeled and chopped
• 1 garlic clove minced
• 1 tbsp fresh ginger minced
• 1 small potato
• 1 apple chopped
• 1 tbsp turmeric
• 1 tbsp curry
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp oregano
• 4 cardamon seeds
• 4 cloves
• 1 can coconut milk
• 4 cans water/vegi stock
• juice of 1 lime
• 5 drops fish sauce
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

• In a large deep pot heat oil over medium heat for several minutes then add onion, carrots and squash and cook for 10 minutes stirring frequently. Then add leek, celery, beet, garlic and ginger and cook another 10 minutes then add the remaining ingredients except coconut milk, water, lime juice and fish sauce and cook another 5 minutes. Then add the rest of the ingredients, bring to a simmer and cook for 1 hour over medium low heat. Take out cardamon, cloves and bay leaf and in several batches blend ingredients until nice and smooth. Place back in pot and bring to boil. Remove from heat and cover until ready to serve. Serve with chopped sauteed apples and small mint leaves. I added a drizzle of walnut oil as well.