I promised myself that THIS year I would try some new recipes.
I seem to get into a cooking rut…making the same things over and over again. Boring.
Do we all do this?
Lord knows I have enough recipe books. (and the internet)
So, I went through some of my books on Saturday. I just randomly picked a few that looked good.
Apparently the cold air has has gotten to me, for everything I made turned out to be comfort food. You know hot bowls and home made bread for dipping…My Aunt gave me her bread maker at Thanksgiving and that baby is getting a work out! (Thanks AT and UJ!)
I headed to the grocery store with my list and plans for at least 5 different meals. Two of them were soups.
Creamy Cauliflower….I loved this.
And from Rachel Ray I got a great recipe for potato, spinach and tomato soup (below) it was delish and then I added a warm sammie to it. (made with homemade bread)
My friend (thanks Tim) turned me on to this recipe from Ray Ray: Straw and Hay Pasta…spinach fettuccine with sautéed prosciutto and Brussels sprouts. YUMMO. I will make this again! I ate it for breakfast the next day too…I love leftovers for breakfast.
And don’t tell my family (stop reading here family) but I am bulking on the veggies and going very lean or NIL on the meat.
It is good for all of us…and our colons. Did you know I love to talk about colon health? It irritates my family. But not their colon. :) Dang…that was funny.
I made this great POT of Portuguese chicken and chorizo. It was fabulous.. it accompanied a salad and some crusty warm bread. mmmm….
I was always afraid of carbs…but now, I am making friends from them. But the good thing is, when dinner tastes delish, I don’t look for anything else to eat later on. I’d rather get my calories at the dinner table than sitting on the couch.
Potatoes are cute…but not on my couch.
I hope this lasts for more than a week. I think it will.
I actually look forward to cooking when I plan things in advance!!!
The NEW me.
In between cooking dinner and writing this post, I saw this beautiful display of color out the front door. GORGEOUS!!!
I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. Any plans? Any cooking plans? It looks like there is not a warm place on our map right now…so make something warm and good.
Or open a bottle of wine..that’ll warm you up as well!!!!
Bee sweet!
Oh my goodness it looks so fab! : ) The soup! And the gorgeous sunset! How pretty. Please move here immediately : )
ReplyDeleteYour soups sound delicious! This is definitely the weather for nice warm comfort foods. Your sunsets are gorgeous. Something about being near an ocean that makes the sky extraordinary.
ReplyDeleteI want to try some new receipes myself but my family is so pickiy it's hard to do that. I'm still trying to figure out how to get all of us to eat better. All those receipes looked good and i love the photo's of the sunset.
ReplyDeleteWhat a sunset!
ReplyDeleteFunny you should talk about cooking--that's one of the things I'm posting about today.
Wow, that sunset is heart-stopping! I so miss clear skies-- I love these pictures. So glad you posted.
ReplyDeleteMmmm soups! That chorizo one sounds delicious! Sounds like you are going to be eating very well this year!
Gowgous sunset!
ReplyDeleteI'm so proud of you. Keep it up.
Did you see the Crock Pot Pork Roast on Nurses Rock? It looks SO good. I'm planning to make that next week. Love the healthy comfort food & soup ideas - thanks!
ReplyDeleteYour sunsets are lovely. Happy Weekend. XOXO
The soup recipes sound especially good to me. It has been a cold week here in Georgia! The sunset pics you shared are stunning. I hope you all have a warm, cozy weekend!
ReplyDeletewas that sunset not spectacular??? i'm not sure i have ever seen a more brilliant one... and me without my camera card. oh yeah- took out my camera and NO CARD! what is the sense of having it if i cannot snap a photo in the middle of the home depot parking lot?
ReplyDeleteyour recipes sound delish! and what a perfect week for comfort food! i'm not sure they will love them come july, but a hot bowl of anything tastes divine when it is this chilly!!
see ya!! (in 6 hours!)
your recipes sound d-lish for sure! i too am a soup maker. i too lerve comfort foods. i too lerve homemade bread... we must be twins...
ReplyDeletetake care hon, and have a great healthy weekend! its 38 below zero here right now! 38!
frigidly yours [but not in THAT way],
c
If you don't mention 'colon' around the house, they'll embrace whatever yummy food you give them and never question it.
ReplyDeleteWe love soups here. Veggies get a good workout here.
Boy, do I ever have plans to cook some great stuff this weekend! You'd REALLY love it! A four step meal plan that spans pretty much the whole week truly makes meal prep effortless and delish:
1. Chef Stu does the marketing.
2. Chef Stu does the food prep.
3. Chef Stu does the cooking.
4. Chef Stu does the serving.
What can I say? We're retired and it's his passion. Who am I to argue??!!
i have been wanting to make chili FOREVER, i am finally going to make some on sunday!
ReplyDeletei wish i didn't work nights so i'd be able to cook more.
your soups look pretty yummmy
those recipes sound heavenly. i was planning some shrimp tonight but i will make some warm soup since it is -17 outside!!
ReplyDeleteMMM! I love homemade soup. And homemade bread. Isn't it so nice to plan meals ahead then you aren't standing in the kitchen at dinner time wondering what you are going to fix.
ReplyDeleteI should have married a cooking man or you.
ReplyDeleteNow I will go waste two hours finding that soup recipe and rationalizing why I can't make it.
I love soups, but my family does not. So I don't get much homemade soup. Been thinking about telling the fam to eat it or starve and make some anyway. lol But I'm nicer than that. Most of the time.
ReplyDeleteYou should try the crock pot. Soups are perrrrfect for the crock pot! They're low and slow anyway. And you don't have to fuss with making dinner late in the day. That is my favorite part of the crock pot. Just walking in and sitting down to eat. No muss. No fuss.
Love your sunset!!! We don't get much 'pretty' right outside our door. : (
The food you've been cooking up sounds perfectly delicious...and those pictures. Beautiful. We work hard to eat pretty healthy at our house too. We just may have to make some soup this weekend too and of course drink some wine to keep warm. And this cold weather can just go away already...it was -21 this morning with a -41 wind chill. Yuck!!! Sorry it's so cold there for you guys too. Happy Weekend to you and yours! XX Lori
ReplyDeletePS I've missed visiting you. :)
Forgot to say...love your blog makeover! Looks great!
ReplyDeleteI love me some yummy soup!!! And, I REALLY love my bread machine! When I first got it (about 10 years ago, if not more) I made bread every single day for months!! Stud and I would eat it right out of the machine, hot with tons of butter! Oh, yummy! But, then I realized what all that bread and butter was doing to my butt, and Mr. Bread Machine took a bit of a hiatus. But, when I'm feeling particularly daring (and saying "to hell with my diet!") he comes for a visit, and makes me very, very happy!
ReplyDeletei'm back, well my internet is up, let's all cheer! yay!
ReplyDeletehee hee, anyway, those recipes sound yummy. i don't cook much, because my boys are picky eaters, so i gave up on cooking. and so we eat out alot.
I'm really loving these warm dishes of which you speak!
ReplyDeleteYou know, what I love about Rachael Ray is that she makes regular food, just good homey feel good food that most anyone would eat!
It's perfect soup weather up here in Tennessee. Santa brought us a bread machine for Christmas and it is getting a good workout. I might regret that the next time I step on a scales!
ReplyDeleteYour sunset photos are gorgeous.
The recipes AND the sunset look great! You've inspired me to try some new recipes! :)
ReplyDeleteWe are enjoying our Snow Day today! 1" of snow shut this WHOLE CITY down! LOVE IT!
we've been using menus & grocery lists from http://www.e-mealz.com for about 6 or 7 months now. i won't tell you we use every single recipe for each day - but we do use a goodly number of them and the fact that their menu's come with a built-in grocery shopping list makes it really nice. plus, like you, we're big rachel ray fans and watch her 30 minutes meals show all the time. some great recipes from her!
ReplyDeleteno big plans but none that involve cooking, that I can tell you
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh! All that good warm cookin, your ready for the cold weather in Canada!
ReplyDeleteHi Suz, One of my favorite comfy foods during these cold days/nights is home-made chili --and of course homemade bread.
ReplyDeleteOur breadmaker is new --and we are trying all kinds of bread mixes. Please tell me some of your fav's --and we'll try them. So far we like the sourdough, the sweet bread and a 7-grain one... Others????
Have a great weekend and stay WARM down there.
Hugs,
Betsy
Before I forget to ask- what is a warm sammie? The recipes look really interesting and sound lovely. Sprouts and pasta? Can't imagine that combination.I love sprouts.
ReplyDeletePictures from the front door are lovely
hey girlfriend, good to see you. i really love your sunset photos ... so pretty. i am trying out some new recipes too. you might want to make the african stew from recipe czar's site. it's meatless with a chicken broth, chopped tomatoes and peanut butter base. it's awesome and everyone in my life loved it. see you soon. happy new year, my precious friend! xoxo.
ReplyDeleteI love new recipes. I get this great magazine called Living Without that has tons of GF stuff and it's fun to try. Love your pictures!
ReplyDeleteYou have a great eye for photos, madame BB!
ReplyDeleteSuperb.
And the soupies... don't get me started on the soupies or I'll need a bib.
Seriously.