New Fall Recipes

I've just turned the heat on in my house! It's getting nice and chili outside and I'm in the mood for some comfort food. Here are 2 of my new favorite recipes. I did not write these - just adapted both of them and changed some ingridents:)

Sausage & Barley Soup
Adapted from Cooking Light Magazine
By adapted I just mean I doubled parts of it. It's so good - fast and easy and all my family loves it. Serve it with some nice crusty bread or Chris' favorite - grilled cheese.

Fresh, delicate baby spinach doesn't hold up to hours of cooking, so it is added at the last minute. Pureeing the vegetables allows you to drastically cut cooking time while maintaining all the rich flavors of the vegetables.

Prep: 5 minutes; Cook: 18 minutes

Preparation Time: 5 minutes
Cooking Time: 18 minutes
Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 1/2 cups)

Ingridents
Cooking spray
* 6 ounces turkey breakfast sausage (or sweet Italian sausage)
2 1/2 cups frozen bell pepper stir-fry (such as Birds Eye) (I use trader Joe’s tri colored frozen peppers)
2 cups water
* 1 (14 1/2-ounce) can Italian-style stewed tomatoes, undrained and chopped
* 1/4 cup uncooked quick-cooking barley
* 1 cup coarsely chopped fresh baby spinach

Directions

1. Heat a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add sausage; cook 3 minutes or until browned. Remove from heat.

2. While sausage cooks, place stir-fry and 2 cups water in a blender; process until smooth. Add stir-fry puree, tomatoes, and barley to sausage in pan. Bring mixture to a boil over high heat; cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer 10 minutes. Stir in spinach; cook 1 minute or until spinach wilts.

ADAPTED: When I made this soup, I made some adjustments and doubled parts of the recipe. The *starred ingredients I doubled – made this soup even more hearty!

Email me if you want a PDF that you can print!

Beef Stew. Make this. It's delicious. It is adapted from a receipe from the Food Network by Paula Dean called Old-Time Beef Stew

Ingredients
2 pounds stew beef (I use Kosher Beef from Trader Joe’s)
2 tablespoons Olive Oil
1 ¾ Cup Low Sodium Beef Broth
¼ Cup Dry Red Wine (I use a merlot)
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 cloves garlic, peeled
2 bay leaves
1 medium onion, sliced
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon pepper (I use white pepper)
1/2 teaspoon paprika
Dash ground allspice or ground cloves (I use allspice)
3 large carrots, sliced
3 ribs celery, chopped
2 tablespoons cornstarch

Directions
In a heavy bottom Dutch oven, heat oil (till you drip some water on it and it sizzles) Brown meat on all sides until you have a nice sear. Add broth, wine, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, bay leaves, onion, salt, sugar, pepper, paprika, and allspice. Cover and simmer 1 hour. Remove bay leaves and garlic clove. Add carrots and celery. Cover and cook 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes longer. To thicken gravy, remove ½ cup of hot liquid. Using a separate bowl, combine 1/4 cup water and cornstarch until smooth. Mix with a little hot liquid and return mixture to pot. Stir and cook until bubbly and slightly thickened. Serve over noodles or mashed potatoes.