Since you’ll likely be spending a great deal of time in the kitchen baking cookies and preparing delectable feasts for the holiday season, you’ll want to have the right tools on hand. Why not save precious time and energy with a high-performance blender that can do it all? Entertaining can be easy this season with the Vitamix Professional Series 500.

Featuring three convenient pre-programmed settings for hot soups, smoothies and frozen desserts, the Professional Series 500 makes hundreds of recipes and helps home chefs make gourmet meals like the pros. The machine’s superior pulse feature offers greater control in processing to create a variety of textures, and its full-range, variable speed control allows for flexibility and creativity.

The Professional Series 500 is much more than a blender. It can actually replace several appliances in your kitchen, saving valuable countertop space. This multi-functional kitchen essential is easy to clean and is equipped with a commercial-grade 2+ peak horsepower motor that generates blade speeds up to 240 mph.

It really can be simple to cook for the holidays with very little stress or mess. With a simple and tasty recipe, a festive and scrumptious holiday celebration is within reach with just the flip of a switch.

Holiday Squash Soup
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Yield: 5 Cups

Ingredients:
2 cups chicken broth
1/2 buttercup or butternut squash, cooked, peeled or 2 cups cooked squash or pumpkin
1/4 small onion, peeled
1/4 medium apple
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon dried sage
1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/8 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup heavy cream

Directions:
To cook butternut squash easily, split the squash in half vertically, scoop out the seeds and place flesh side down on a lightly greased baking pan. Pierce the skin and bake at 350F for 30 minutes. Cool and scoop out flesh.

Place all ingredients, except the heavy cream, into the high-performance blender in the order listed and secure lid. Blend until smooth. Add in heavy cream and blend an additional 20 seconds.
Note: This recipe can be reduced by half and made in smaller containers.

The post Blend up a No-fuss, Festive Recipe for Holiday Entertaining first appeared on The How Do Gardener.

Whether you’re planning a small dinner party with friends or making a dish for the big family holiday gathering, you want to serve a dish that everyone will love. You might think that changing a recipe to make it more nutritious would produce something that’s a pale imitation of the original, but that’s not so – you can easily make a healthier version without sacrificing flavor.

Consider these tips for making more nutrient-rich versions of your favorite comfort foods:

Mac and Cheese
It’s a childhood staple that every adult continues to love, no matter how many years pass. Rich, gooey cheese and bite-sized elbow pasta are good on their own, but together, they’re culinary magic. To bring more nutritional value to elbows-and-cheese, consider switching your pasta from standard semolina to nutrient-packed, sprouted grain pastas like  Ezekiel 4:9. The pasta is certified organic, and because it’s made from sprouted grains, it is high in fiber, rich with extra nutrients and is a diabetic-friendly food. Plus, sprouted grain pasta has faster cooking times, so it makes meal time preparation even easier. Top your cheesy elbows with seasoned bread crumbs and bake it to perfection.

Soups and Stews
On a chilly day, few things can make you feel quite as good as a steaming bowl of soup. The infinite variety of recipes attests to just how much people love soup – and just how creative you can get with it. Making a nutritious soup takes only a few adjustments. To make it more heart-healthy, look for low- or no-sodium broth instead of the regular versions, which are often packed with salt. Even if you’re making a classic recipe, like chicken noodle, add “superfood” ingredients like chickpeas (high in fiber and complex carbohydrates), dark leafy greens (such as chard, kale or collards) or vegetables from the allium family (like leeks, shallots or garlic), which add unmatchable flavor.

Grilled Cheese
Another childhood favorite that never fades in popularity, grilled cheese sandwiches are about as simple as great food can be. Bread, cheese and a hot skillet are all you need – but you can improve on the classic with a health-conscious touch. Instead of regular loaves, opt for sprouted grain bread rich in protein, vitamins, minerals, natural fiber and – perhaps most importantly – flavor. For a more sophisticated taste, try grilling Ezekiel 4:9 Cinnamon Raisin bread with white cheddar – and add a tart apple slice with the cheese. It’s a sweet-savory combination that might just become your new favorite.

With a bit of smart ingredient selection and tweaks in preparation you can make comfort food classics that are pleasing to the tastebuds as well as the body. For more information about healthy ingredients, visit www.foodforlife.com.

The post Put a Healthier Spin on Favorite Comfort Foods first appeared on The How Do Gardener.