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.  

January: It's Cold

Yes, I know I live in Ohio.  Yes, I know this weather is typical.  No, I don't care.  I'm not a lover of cold.  I'm just not.
But I'm trying to get better with it.  My favorite form of exercise is walking.  So I'm still trying to get outside and walk a few days a week even when it's cold outside (but not today.  Today I'm sick and it's only 7 degrees outside, so NO WAY).

We've actually been very lucky.  The snow this year has been a minimum and the weather has been warmer than normal.  But of course all that changed at the end of last week.  And as luck would have it, my son had a wrestling tournament in southern Ohio over the weekend when the snow storm hit.  Due to his food allergies, I made sure that I went and took all his safe food for him.  I also ended up being the food lady for the team.  So loaded up with several coolers and my 50 pound suit case (I do not pack lightly), I left the day before the storm and headed to Cincinnati for the tournament.  It's a four hour drive and I was by myself.  I'm not usually an audio book person, but I downloaded an audio book from our library and it really helped make the trip pleasant and made time seem to go quickly.  I love that the library also has audio books and digital books that you can take out at no cost.  That audio book saved me!  I found the book by recommendation on the Simply Luxurious Life blog.  The book is Death at the Chateau Bremont by M.L. Longworth and the mystery was very entertaining.  Some of the reviews for the book mentioned that there were too many details of French cuisine and life in France in general, but I really liked those parts.  I'm interested in French food and French culture so for me, it was an added bonus.  I plan on continuing with the series, but right now, I'm in the middle of two other books, so it will have to wait.

Luckily we missed the second snow storm on the way home too.  I'm a nervous wreck driving in the snow and I prayed to miss it all, and we did.  Prayers answered.

The tournament was good and two of our four guys placed.  My son is a newer wrestler, so it was good experience for him.  But I am glad that it's our only tournament that we have to travel to.

In other news:

In a few weeks, my oldest son turns 18.  How is that even possible?  18?  It's just amazing to me how quickly time goes.  I always want to impress to moms of littles how quickly it goes and to enjoy every minute.  But when you are in the midst of those "littles" years, that is really the last thing you want to hear.  It can be hard.  And tiring.  And you really can't enjoy every moment because in many of those moments, you want to run and hide.  But believe me, those moments ARE hard, but they go by SO quickly, even when it doesn't feel like it.  Even if you can't enjoy every moment, try to take it all in.  Those years are so precious.  I'd suggest starting a diary or an online blog/journal and writing down the daily mundane.  It's sweet to go back and revisit those days.  Before you know it, 18 years will be gone in a blink.

Things I like for January:

Essential Oils for mood (I don't sell oils and I don't buy from one particular company, so I'm not hocking anything here):  Essential Oil for Treating SAD (graphic on Pinterest) I like citrus blends, thieves oil, or a blend of peppermint, lavender, and lemon.

Harney & Sons Hot Cinnamon Spice Tea This tea is so cozy and uplifting at the same time.  It's my favorite for this time of year.

Sherpa Throw from Walmart  This blanket is such a great size and it is super warm.  And it's SOFT! The kids fight over who gets to use it.

When I walk outside, I wear these leggings under my heavy sweat pants.  They are fairly warm.  If I were rolling around in the snow, I'd probably want something else, but for walking, these are plenty warm and the price is right.

Winter Rollercoaster

We started off this week with a snow day.  Then mid week temps were around 56 degrees F.  Then Friday was a "snow day" (more like ice day).  We've gone from winter, to spring, back to winter.  Today is on and off snow with temps around 16 degrees F.

With all this wacky weather, someone was bound to get sick.  And they did.  The 5 year old is sick right now.  He started saying last night that his throat hurt and he didn't feel well.  He seemed fine this morning, then started complaining about not feeling well and having a headache.  But he was dancing around the house so I didn't think too much of it.  But by noon, he was couch bound and crying that he was going to die.  So we just returned from Urgent Care and he tested positive for strep.  So he's couch bound again, and he's gotten his first dose of antibiotics.  Now we wait to see who gets sick next.  Since the older boys are at scout camp today, it's bound to happen.  My bet is on the middle one.

I used to love winter and snow.  But now I'm part of the cliche:  "The older I get, the less I can tolerate this snow and cold".  I do not like being cold.  And I detest driving in the snow and ice.  If it were just the cold, I wouldn't like it, but I could handle it.  But having to drive in snowy or icy weather is just too stressful.  I always say that I'm a southern girl trapped in a northern girls body.  It becomes truer and truer every year.

Last year I read the book Winter Meditations by Fr. John Bartunek.  It helped me to appreciate the beauty of winter and the season itself.  I probably should have revisited this book again this winter.  I've actually read all of his "Meditation" books and highly recommend them.  I found helpful insights in all 4 of his books, but Winter Meditations was particularly helpful since Winter is my least favorite season.  But it helped to see why God gave us winter and the reasons why I should appreciate this season.

Ok, I think I just talked myself into getting the book out again so I can revisit some of the benefits of this cold and barren season.

This was our "snow day" on Friday.  It went from 54 degrees at 10 am to 34 by 11 am.  The rain turned to ice and then the snow began.

Today.  16 degrees F with on and off again snow and 40 mph wind gusts.