Brrrrrrrr!

This is sort of a foodie post. It is cold here. I don't want to get into it's colder here or there. Cold is in the eye of the beholder and it's cold. When the temps in Florida get into the 20s, it's cold. Are you getting the picture? It is too much for my Hawaiian blood. I need at least mid 70s, I prefer the low 90s with low humidity, but I don't get to special order the weather. When it gets chilly like this, I think people like good, rib sticking, hearty food. I do. So here's what's been on our menu.

Last night we had lentil stew. The two younger ones are not much for it, but hubby, the big grl, and I eat it up. I had never made or eaten lentils until a couple of months ago. I actually made them for a history activity. We had a monk's dinner. I looked at my recipe I had and the one that came in our history curriculum and combined them. One of them called for a can of tomatoes and one called for a small can of green chilies. I didn't have the chilies, but I had a can of diced tomatoes with chilies in them. One recipe called for a small chopped onion and one called for onions and celery. I used the onion and celery and added some chopped carrots. I used most of the spices that one recipe called for, but also added about a third of the garlic and herb seasoning packet that came with the lentils. I probably won't do that again. It was good, but it had a twang I'm not sure if I liked or not. I made corn bread from scratch, but also served it with corn tortillas. I actually prefer the tortillas, but did have a piece of cornbread. With melty butter because it was still hot. Hold on, I need to wipe the drool. I added three boneless, skinless chicken breasts (you could use any chicken or even turkey pieces that you might have), dumped everything in the crock pot with two containers of homemade chicken stock and let it cook all day.

A couple of nights ago we had turkey burgers. We are trying to not eat so much red meat, even thought we just got our pasture fed beef. I just took some ground turkey and spiced it up a little. I let it sit in the fridge and soak up good flavors like fresh garlic and sliced ginger. After a couple of hours I brought it out of the fridge and made burgers out of it. Leave it in the container you have it in and form the patties when you are ready for them. Place the patties directly in your pan or on the grill. They tend to fall apart and get mushy if you put them on a plate. I could have used bread crumbs or cracker crumbs to hold them together better, but I didn't. They were much more filling than a regular burger and were so darn good. Ground turkey is on sale at one of our local grocery stores, so I stocked up a little. I may go back and get three more packages. You can use it for tacos, or burgers, or just about anything else that you use ground beef for. I will say I don't care for it much as meatloaf. Weird I know, but that's me. Maybe if I mixed it with ground beef for meatloaf. There's a thought. I also have a huge turkey thawing out in my sink right now. Hopefully it'll be ready to cook tomorrow. If not, there's always Tuesday. I wonder if it will fit in my crock pot?

Before the turkey burgers, I made chicken tortilla soup. That was a new one for me. I made it Wednesay morning while we were schooling and took a large container with us for lunch. We invited one of hubby's friends to share with us and I brought none home. Hubby and his friend both had two bowls, with hubby cleaning up the boy's as well. It was still warm when we ate it and that made it all the better. That night we had rice for dinner. When I put hubby's dinner together that night for the next day, I put the left over rice in a container, added a generous helping of tortilla soup, and didn't want to give it to him for lunch it looked so good. It didn't take more than 35 minutes to make. I cheated and bought a rotisserie chicken on sale at the grocery store so I didn't have to cook any chicken for it. I had home made broth again, which always adds extra flavor and texture. Once again, I added our good organic garlic and onions and peppers. It was about three hours from the time I made it until we ate it and it had time to soak in all the flavors. I served it with corn tortilla chips and sliced apples, pears, and pineapple. Nice and warm and filling without being heavy.

I think after the turkey, I might make some chili. I have the ground turkey and will mix it with some pasture fed ground beef. I don't like kidney beans, but I might add some garbanzo beans. I'll have to think about that. I don't usually like beans in my chili. Normally it's too hot here for this cold weather food. I do have a great recipe for white chicken chili, but that's not what I'm in the mood for. Some cheese and some crusty bread for dipping. Maybe slather some hot dogs in it a couple of days later with home made french fries. Somebody stop me!

What are some of your favorite cold weather meals? Do you like lots of soups and stews or do you stick to your regular? Or are soups and stews your regular and you do different things when it's cold? As cold as it is, a cup of warm tea, a blanket, slippers, good book, and cuddle time on the couch is what I like. But, a girl's got to eat.