Five on Friday: Soups and Stews

 

Now that the weather is getting cooler (it was actually 49 degrees yesterday afternoon), I'm starting to make stews and soups again.  The following are my favorite fall-winter soups/stews/chilis:

1. Italian Wedding Soup

Last year we went to a deli that served Italian Wedding Soup and it was the best I've ever had.  I've to tried to recreate it, but I just can't get it as good as theirs was.  But this soup is really good.  I usually use ground chicken for the meatballs to make it extra healthy.  I love having the leftovers for lunch.

2.  Tomato Soup

This soup is easy, delicious, and comforting.  Tomato soup always pairs well with grilled cheese and the grilled cheese recipe attached to this soup recipe is good too.  But honestly, I'm a grilled cheese purist.  I prefer American cheese even though I know it's processed cheese.  Maybe it's because I'm a child of the 70's/early 80's.

3.  Slow Cooker Beef Stew

Beef stew is so filling and comforting.  I love making it in the slow cooker.  It combines all the flavors so well.  This recipe is a simple and classic beef stew.  I do like browning my stew meat first.  I put it in a plastic bag with flour and salt and shake until the meat is covered in flour.  Then I use the browning feature on my slow cooker/multi cooker and heat up 1 tbs of oil.  Dump the flour covered meat into the cooker and brown on all sides.  Cancel the browning mode, add all the other ingredients and cook on low for 8 hours.  You can do the same exact thing with the pressure cooker, only the stew is done so much quicker (use sauté feature to brown the meat, then set the pressure cooker for 45 minutes and let it naturally vent).

4. Slow Cooker Baked Potato Soup

Baked potato soup is one of my favorites.  I love it so much that I could make it once a week.  Unfortunately, it's not the healthiest of soups, just the yummiest.  The recipe that I share above is my absolute favorite, but there are times I want to try to make it a little more "middle aged mom friendly" and I use this WW friendly potato soup.

5.  Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup

We love this soup.  It's so easy and so tasty.  And I love using my slow cooker so it's perfect for an easy, quick weeknight meal.  I usually make this a few times in the summer also.  We love it that much.

The nice thing about soups or stews are that they can be very budget friendly.  The ingredients are usually lower in costs, and leftovers can be used for lunches.  Trying to keep the grocery budget down is especially important now with prices so high.  To make these meals extra filling, serve with bread, rolls, or corn bread.  

What Do You Want To Do With Your Life?

With having the two boys in college, this question comes up a lot.  And how many 18 year olds actually know the answer to this question?

I remember being a senior in high school and having to answer this question, and not having a clue to what I was supposed to choose for a major.  One parent was pushing for medicine or law.  Those are great things and if I applied myself, I might have been able to swing one of those (but I doubt it).  I'm not someone who had an easy time in school, and I'd have to apply myself above the normal level of studying and neither of those things felt like a calling to me.  I know myself too well to know that if I'm not 100% invested in a subject, I am not going to go above and beyond to master it.  

There were a lot of subjects that I was interested in, but nothing I felt I could make a career out of.  Since I never really excelled at anything (I'm more a of a middle of the road achiever than an over achiever), I picked the one thing that I actually won an award in, and even though I had no idea what kind of job I could get with that major, I went with it.  It all worked out in the end.  I always feel like God puts you where you need to be, sometimes even in spite of yourself.  

My husband and I met at work.  Had I chosen a different major, maybe we would have never met.  Or maybe we wouldn't have met at the right time.  Everything works out the way that it should.

But even though I truly believe all of this, I feel like I'm missing something.  I feel like I should be doing something more.  But I don't know what that is.  I'm a wife and mother, and I've ALWAYS known that is what I want to do with my life.  Even as a little girl, I knew that.  And even in college when people would ask me what I planned on doing after college, I always responded that workwise I have no idea, but I hope to be a wife and mother someday. 

The last few years, I've felt like there is something else I should be doing.  Kind of a side hustle, but nothing that interferes with my main calling of wife and mother.  I'd like to bring in a little extra income.  We are fine financially, but college is expensive, and I'd like to be able to help out. But I have no idea what I want to do with my life...yes, even at the ripe old age of 52.

I pray about it.  And I ask God to show me the way.  I thought I would love to be the church secretary.  I love our church and I love running an office.  But that job wasn't open.  So, I just kept praying about it.  Then a family member was diagnosed with cancer at the same time that job opened up.  And the family member needed me more.  I took that as God's way of saying that church secretary was not the job for me.  

And I continue to pray about it.  And I don't feel like God is answering me.  But maybe that is the answer.  Maybe being wife and mother is the only thing I'm supposed to be doing right now.  Maybe that is enough right now.  We still have the little guy at home, and we have aging parents and maybe this is right where I'm meant to be.  I'm not 100% sure, so I'll keep praying on it.  And I know God will put me right where I'm meant to be.  Because he always does.  Even if I don't understand it.  Even if I think I should be somewhere else.  God knows, even if I don't.  

Menu Plan 9/23 to 9/29: Feeding the Family

I did another Aldi pick up this week via Instacart.  I thought it went really well until I realized that they charged me for the chicken I ordered, but that I didn't actually receive it.  That was such a bummer.  They immediately gave me a credit on my next order, but I still have to go out and get the chicken.  Not that big of a deal but I thought I was completely organized and I'm not.  

This is the last week of football practices.  I'm super excited about that.  But it's the final tryouts for basketball this week.  I think we get a week or two off before basketball starts.  At least there's that.  

Next week the oldest will be home from college for the weekend.  He has a weightlifting competition.  He will get to choose next weekend's dinner.  

This week's menu:

Friday:  Bow Tie Pasta with Asparagus and Fish Sticks.  I know, fish sticks. But sometimes mama needs a little help and a short cut.  

Saturday:  Pizza Night:  I'm making the Little Italy Pizza and the Fresh Ricotta Pizza from The Food Nanny Rescues Dinner Again

Sunday:  BBQ Chicken Dinner from the Sisters of Notre Dame.  It's a fund raiser for the Sisters so we will pick up our dinners for takeout after football.  I also ordered an apple pie for Thanksgiving.

Monday:  Sausage and Veggie bake.  I have so many veggies and peppers from the garden, I'm trying to use up as many as I can.

Tuesday:  Mexican Chicken and rice (again, this recipe is from The Food Nanny Rescues Dinner Again cookbook)

Wednesday:  Slow Cooker Pesto Ranch Chicken Thighs, rice, and vegetables: Recipe from picky-palate.com

Thursday:  Clean up day or sausage and veggie packets

Five On Friday

 

5 of my favorite things this week:

1.  Early morning walks outside with the puppy.  
She doesn't do well on the leash yet, so we only walk around our yard.  But we have over 3 acres and much of the yard I don't ever get to explore (especially back by the woods or the pond).  I feel like I'm experiencing my own yard for the first time, and now that the seasons are changing, there's so much new to explore.

2.  My electric tea pot.
I used one when we were on vacation, and I loved it.  It's so easy and so fast.  I found this vintage looking one on Amazon and I'm so glad that I found it. The weather has cooled down to the 50's this week (hello fall!) and I'm making a lot more tea.

3.  Fall decorations.
I put up my fall decorations.  They just make the home seem so cozy and festive.  I put up the outside Halloween decorations last weekend when it was in the 80's.  I hope to get the indoor ones put up this weekend.

4.  The library.
I have always loved the library.  Books and reading are a passion of mine. I'm interested in doing some research on a topic that interests me, and I love how I can look up online the books that I need, then put a hold on them, and have them sent from whatever library in the area they are at.  

5.  Go Clean Co's Fall Cleaning Challenge
I've got a lot of cleaning and organizing to do, and I've gotten even further behind due to the puppy.  But the challenge is motivating me to get my butt in gear and get some stuff done.  I don't expect to get it all done, but whatever I do clean/organize will be a bonus.

Menu Plan 9/16 to 9/22

 This Thursday Autumn begins.  And I saw on social media that we have 14 weeks until Christmas. I swear the older I get, time flies faster than a rocket ship.  

And we have another week of meal planning.  Saturday night I planned for pizza since we finally celebrated M's birthday with his friends.  Unfortunately for him, his actual birthday was August 14.  That meant we were only back from vacation for 2 weeks, and I was trying to get two boys off to college.  I just could not add in another thing.  So, I promised him a 10th birthday party, but it would have to wait.  Saturday was the day and I think the boys had a fun.  I had Game Truck come for the party and the boys had a blast.  I've used them in the past for the older boys, and they have always done a good job.  But just like everything else, the price increased SIGNIFICANTLY.  I was really surprised.  

We still have football going on and now this week starts basketball tryouts.  I feel like sports just never end and I know I've said it before, but I don't like it.  I would put my foot down and say no basketball, but the therapist says that keeping him in sports, helps with his anxiety.  How do I argue against sports with that logic?  I guess I can't, and I just have to put my head down and plow through. But right now, I'm sports-fatigued.

The puppy and I spent the morning watching the Queen's funeral.  Such a historic event.  I'm sad it's the end of an era, but she lived such an amazing life of service.  Rest In Peace.  Job well done.

This week's menu plan.  I shopped at Aldi this week and supplemented at Giant Eagle for drinks and cake for the party (the $20 ice-cream cake is up to $27...oy)

Friday:  Slow Cooker Tomato Soup and grilled cheese

Saturday:  Sheet pizza for the party

Sunday:  Baked Chicken Thighs, pan fried potatoes, and tomato and mozzarella salad (tomatoes from the garden)

Monday:  Generals chicken with rice and broccoli

Tuesday:  Turkey tacos

Wednesday:  Turkey burgers and hot dogs on the grill, baked potato, and corn

Thursday:  Clean-up Day

I'm still working on getting my grocery budget down.  I'm trying different stores to see where the best place is to save money.  

And I'm toying with the idea of making Saturday night "pizza night" and trying out different pizza types (that I make myself).  But we'll see how it goes.

Have a blessed week ahead!!

Menu Plan for the week of 9/8-9/15

 Do you feel like you are losing inspiration on what to cook?  I do.  I feel like I make the same things over and over again, or I feel just uninspired.  But we have to eat.

The older boys are at college, so that means that I'm just cooking for the three of us.  Adjusting my cooking and my serving sizes has been interesting and a bit daunting.    We have had A LOT of leftovers.  The good thing with all this is that my grocery budget has gone down, and when I get the hang of cooking for three, it should go down even more (but I miss those guys and would take a heavier budget if it meant having them home).

I've also been cooking things that my middle son is allergic to.  With him away at college, I feel safe cooking wheat pasta and using flour.  Of course, I am still keeping my pans safe for when he comes home.  I have a limited set of pans that I used for non-allergy safe foods.

Thursday 9/8:  Slow Cooker Baked Potato Soup
I based my soup off of this recipe but I made it my own.  I started by sautéing celery, carrots, and onion in butter.  Once those were softened and fragrant, I added in the other ingredients except for the cream of chicken soup.  I just didn't feel like making my own that morning, so I left it out. And I added in 32 ounces of chicken stock and a ham bone that I found in the freezer (that's why my soup will look beige in the photo, it was from a smoked ham. The ham bone added a really nice depth of flavor to the soup).  I also added a cup of heavy cream about an hour before the soup was done.  I dissolved a tablespoon of corn starch in the cream before added to help thicken the soup.  It turned out really well.

Friday 9/9:  Mrs. T's Pierogis
The Little One had a football night on Friday and I was pressed for time.  And honestly, I think I need to add in some convenience foods into my menu every so often.  Mama needs a break.  Fridays are meatless at our house, and this was a quick and easy dinner, and it ended up being a big hit.  I haven't made these in a long time.  I used to sauté or boil them.  But the directions said you could also put them in the oven, and I think that is now my favorite way to make them.  After they were cooked, I poured some melted butter over them and we really enjoyed that simple, cost-effective dinner. 

Saturday 9/10:  Homemade pizza
This will be my first time of making homemade pizza dough in almost 20 years.  J is deathly allergic to wheat, so I don't use wheat flour when he is around.  But I thought it would be nice for us to do that for pizza night.  It's also cost effective, and I like being able to control the ingredients that I use.  

Sunday 9/11:  Homemade Sauce, Meatballs, and Rigatoni
Sunday pasta dinner is always so good.  But I have an ulterior motive for doing this today.  Tuesday I'm doing a Meal Train meal for a family from our church, and I'm doing an Italian night for them. I've been doing this about once a month, and I try to do a different theme every time.  I'm making the sauce and meatballs on Sunday when I have more time.  I will be serving them on Tuesday and I'm using cheese ravioli since the mom needs to have soft foods.  

Monday 9/12: Beef Ramen Noodles

Tuesday 9/13:  This is the Meal Train Night. Homemade sauce, meatballs, cheese ravioli, salad, garlic bread, and cookies
We are having the same, but without the cookies.

Wednesday 9/14:  Grilled Mexican Chicken Thighs, rice, and vegetables

Thursday 9/15:  Clean up night

I'm really trying to get my grocery budget down.  I've been using Walmart more frequently since they have fairly good prices.  And I fill in at our local grocery with things that Walmart doesn't have.  We also Joined a CSA this summer and we pick up our produce box on 
Thursdays (this coming Thursday will be our last of the season, but we are surrounded by local farms, so I feel really blessed to be able to get fresh, local produce).  The price of everything has skyrocketed and I need to cut costs on what I can.  Food is the biggest way that I can have control over the budget.  I really am trying so you may see some different things on my menu plans.  I am still trying to eat cheaply but keep it as healthy as I can.  If you have any cost saving advice, please let it in comments.  

Have a blessed week ahead!!

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The Summer That Flew By

 Last time I checked, it was June.  How are we here in September??  

The last thing I posted was about the graduation party.  It was nice!!  It was a ton of work.  Next time I have a graduation party, it will not be at my house.  Oh, the work involved.  But to have it at a hall or restaurant was very expensive. And I would have had it at a local park, but apparently you have to book those one to two years in advance.  I know that now.  I will not make that mistake again. But the party really did turn out nice and it was worth all the stress and sleepless nights.

Then we moved on to vacation.  I LOVE the beach.  But again, it's a lot of work to get ready for it.  We've been going so many years that I have a system.  But it doesn't happen all on its own.  I love it though.  I'd be there right now if I could.

After vacation, I had two and a half weeks to get two boys ready for college and another boy ready for 4th grade.  Even though one has been to college the last two years, he moved into an unfurnished apartment this year and it was like starting over.  And this is the other boy's freshman year.  I'm broke and I'm tired.  But they are settled and happy.

My car was loaded, and this was just one boy.  And this is a new car.  We bought a new car during those 2.5 weeks.  Because why not add more chaos in the mix? 

Got the other one off to 4th grade. So far so good there.

AND last week, we got a puppy.  Of course, right?  But the son with the allergies finished his allergy shots (and is on maintenance) and is at college so the allergist thought it would be ok.  The little guy has been begging for a dog, the doctor said it would help with his anxiety, and with both brothers leaving, we felt it was a good time.  

Yes, it's like having a baby.  Yes, it is.  We are trying to get into a routine.  As of right now, we've had her a week, and she is slowly getting settled. And I'm slowly getting settled too.  Slowly.  She sure is cute though.  Meet Daisy.

And the young one is playing tackle football this year.  So far so good there too.  He sure does love his sports.

This is the quick, abridged update for a very busy time.  I told everyone that I was hibernating during September and not to bother me.  That's not going to happen.  So maybe I'll hibernate during October.  But I doubt it.