Tag Archives: stew

8 Easy Cauldron Dinners for Halloween Night

crockpot-dinners

OK, OK, we’re talking about a Crock Pot, but for Halloween a cauldron just sounds so much cooler! With the hustle and bustle that Halloween night can be, make one thing super easy on yourself — dinner. Load up your cauldron — or slow cooker — in the morning and by evening you’ve got a ready-to-eat meal that will fuel your trick-or-treaters for the candy trek ahead.

Chilis, soups, stews, maybe even some ghoul-ash, they all make hearty, satisfying dinners on one of falls most exciting nights.

roasted tomato soup

ROASTED TOMATO BASIL SOUP

This one is admittedly a little more laborious than the others, but if you make it in advance, you can let simmer on warm all day. Serve with a grilled cheese sandwich; trim the crusts by using a pumpkin or ghost cookie cutter! Or, try these mummy quesadillas! (more…)

Spice Up Fall with a Chicken Taco Soup Recipe That’s Simple and Satisfying

It is the crunchy season, aka fall, and that means it’s soup and stew season, too. Woohoo!

I love fall. Like lovvvve fall.

Not such a fan of the soups though. I’m more of a stew and chili kind of girl, if I have to be. But a few years ago, I found a compromise in my Crock Pot and it has become my family’s single most favorite meal of fall and winter.

I used simple, healthy Mexican ingredients — a food genre I swear I could eat every single day — stirred them up, and started filling bowls with Taco Soup.

chicken tortilla soup

It’s one of those slow cooker meals that fills the house with intoxicating smells for hours until you’re so hungry you’ll risk third degree burns on your tongue just to get that first taste! (more…)

Infuse Your Favorite Fall Recipes with Seasonal Vegetables

Fall weather typically means cooler temperatures and heartier meals. However, eating heartier doesn’t have to mean you are eating foods that are unhealthy. You can easily use seasonal vegetables that are available this fall to add flavor and nutrition to your traditional fall recipes.

Vegetables that are available during the fall season include Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, squash, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, broccoli, potatoes and turnips. For fruits, be on the look out for apples, dates, pears, kiwi and tangerines. Simply putting some of these items on your grocery list can help inspire you to infuse them into your meals. Since these items are at their peak during the fall season, you can get them at a good price and while they are at their freshest.

Below are a few ideas that incorporate seasonal produce with your everyday fall favorites.

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Fall Comfort Foods for Vegetarians

As the weather grows cooler, it’s easy to fall into the temptation of hearty, stick-to-your ribs comfort foods. When you think of comfort food, you probably think about tucking into a rich bowl of beef stew or a cheese-laden pasta bake, but hearty doesn’t have to mean unhealthy this year.

Comfort foods tend to be rich and decadent, which holds especially true for vegetarians who have to rely on cheese and often fattening dairy products to give their favorite hearty dishes the textures and flavors they crave.

Next time you’re looking for a healthy, hearty dish to warm you up, think meatless with one of our favorite meat-free recipes.

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Healthy Recipes to Cook for Kwanzaa

Most of us know that Kwanzaa is a week-long celebration held in the United States between Christmas and New Years to honor African-American heritage and culture. For most Americans, there is practically no such thing as a celebration without food, so we pulled together some of our favorite recipes for Kwanzaa.

Although Kwanzaa is a relatively new holiday, created in 1966, the foods used to celebrate it are based on old traditions. According to Donna Mintz, a New York City-based personal chef, savory stews and jerk-seasoned meat are excellent additions to your Kwanzaa menu.

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Six Healthy and Comforting Cold Weather Soups

With the cold weather rolling in, there’s no better time for a hearty bowl of soup. While some cream-based soups can be calorie traps, making your own soup at home is fast, economical and healthy, because you can control what ingredients and how much of them you put into the soup.

To shake up your soup routine, try some of our favorite techniques, including adding new vegetables to your favorite chowders, skipping the meat in your favorite chili and cutting down on the cream. You’ll still have that satisfying bowl of soup that will help take away the chill right up until spring.

Creamy Broccoli Soup: If the cold weather leaves you craving creamy, comforting soups, you can skip the cream, flour and butter that give most cream soups their velvety textures.  Use white bean puree to add depth and consistency to a lightened-up cream of broccoli soup that delivers fiber and nutrients along with taste. (more…)