Butternut Squash 3 ways

So I made a bit of a shopping mishap the other day when rushing around I thought a butternut squash was 95p not 95p/kilo -so ended up with a larger than I'd usually choose butternut squash  (that will teach me for picking the biggest one won't it)!

I have been trying not to eat bread at lunch and eating soup (which makes me feel much less bloated throughout the day) and I made a delicious soup today if I say so myself.

Butternut squash soup:

-half a butternut squash (roughly cubed)
-2 sweet potatoes
-2 small or one large onion
-2 celery sticks
-2 cloves of garlic
-1 tsp smoked paprika
-2 tsp grainy mustard
-1 tsp lazy chilli
-a few sprigs of parsley
-enough vegetable stock to cover

Simply chop the vegetables, throw in a pan and soften slightly (with oil or butter if you want to). Add the stock, spices, herbs and mustard and simmer until the ingredients are soft. Season to taste. Blend to desired consistency and enjoy!

Butternut squash and bacon rice:

-Butternut squash-roughly cubed-use as much or as little as you like.
-Smoked bacon
-Onion
-2 Garlic cloves
-Leek
-Grainy mustard
-Lazy chilli
-Vegetable stock
-Rice
-Herbs

Now I haven't put exact quantities down because with dinner I tend to just chuck things in and see what happens. I threw all the vegetables and bacon into a frying pan. Rinsed the rice through a sieve, then put that into the frying pan too with the chilli, mustard and herbs. I then put it all into the slow cooker, and put plenty of stock on top and seasoned to taste. Keep an eye on it as I had to add more stock. The rice would be better as risotto rice but I didn't have any!

Butternut squash toasted seeds:

Simply keep the seeds, rinse under cold water and dab with kitchen paper. Put into a hot frying pan and season with preferred spices. Shake well and if they start to pop turn off the heart, they only take about 5 minutes.