I didn’t grow up in the most traditional family, but Thanksgiving was always one of my favorite holidays nonetheless. And once I became an adult and the whole Friendsgiving boom happened, it extended my appreciation for the day. To me, there’s nothing better than surrounding yourself with people you love (whether family, or friends that become family), eating, drinking, making traditions, and being grateful for this thing called life.

And let’s be real, cooking all day – in your PJs for most of it – is one of the very best parts. I love to cook, and can remember from an early age enjoying the art of Thanksgiving meal prep – where everyone brought a dish to share, people learned new recipes, and the kitchen was bustling all day.

So when I got the chance to have a Friendsgiving with some fellow foodies, you know I was in! I signed up to make the most delish soup eva (more on this below), and was excited to shop from ALDI when choosing my dish ingredients. If you aren’t familiar with ALDI, they’re a discount grocery store that carries a growing inventory of high-quality products (from fresh fish to cheese to award-winning wines). They literally have everything you could imagine – even easy-to-prep meals to make the day go smoother – and at a price that’s a lot lower than most grocery stores, especially bougie LA ones. So refreshing.

I pulled together the seasonal products for my Creamy Sweet Potato Soup – which BTW, you’re gonna want to make for the holidays or for your own Friendsgiving.  From fresh produce like sweet potatoes, to details like pomegranate seeds, I was able to get all ingredients from ALDI in LA. Here’s the recipe. Enjoy!:

Recipe: Creamy Sweet Potato Soup

Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Serving: 8-10 servings (depends if you serve in mugs or bowls)

Grab:
4 pounds sweet potatoes
8 tbsp Countryside Creamery Unsalted Butter
1 cup medium onion, chopped
3 shallots, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 fresh sage leaves
1.5 cup Countryside Creamery Heavy Whipping Cream
4 cups Chef’s Cupboard Chicken or Vegetable Cooking Stock (or one 32 oz. box of stock)
Stonemill Salt and pepper
Pomegranate seeds
Specially Selected Organic Cheddar and Sunflower Artisan Crispbread
Specially Selected Mini Rosemary Artisan Crackers

Make:
Peel and cut sweet potatoes into slices – place in cold water so they don’t change color.

Steam until tender 25-30 minutes.

While sweet potatoes cool, melt butter and sauté onions and shallots over medium heat until tender. Add garlic and sage leaves. Cook for 5 more minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add heavy cream and stock then using an emulsion blender, blend until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste. Smooth out with more stock if need be.

Cover and heat slowly until hot.

Serve with a dollop of whipped cream, pomegranate seeds or crackers in mugs or bowls.

Enjoy!

Excited to celebrate Friendsgiving with A Cozy Kitchen, Bakers Royale, Love and Lemons, Spoon Fork Bacon, Sugar and Cloth and The Kitchy Kitchen and share my recipe with them. Until next time!

PS: if you’re looking for a cause to donate to this holiday season, I highly recommend downloading Venmo. To help bring more food to more people this holiday, ALDI is teaming up with Venmo and Feeding America® to encourage people to add a new tradition of giving to their Friendsgiving celebrations by using the very first, custom-designed Friendsgiving Turkey Hand emoji. Every time the emoji is shared on Venmo this November, ALDI will donate 10 meals to Feeding America to help people in need, up to one million meals. Learn more about the ALDI meal donations to Feeding America here.

*Thank you to Aldi for sponsoring this post, all thoughts are my own

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