• Cooler days are here and there is a wonderful coziness acquired from eating a nice warm stew/soup at the dinner table with family. But who has time to cook like that daily!?!? Welcome the crockpot. Do it all in the morning, done by night. Or even prepare everything in the morning when making kids lunches, toss it into a stew pot and an hour or so before dinner, put it on the stovetop. Here is a basic formula I use and 3 out of 4 times, it turns out delicious. The 4th time, well, we eat it anyway.

    • * Put in the mirepoix (onion , carrot, celery, aka my Three Amigos).
    • * Put in the protein (ex. chicken, stew meat, turkey, beans)
    • * Put in a vegetable or two (ex. Squash, tomato, kale)
    • * Add some spices, garlic, salt and pepper, a little bit of water and optional tomato paste. Put the lid on it.

    Here is an example of a stew I made recently that was wicked delicious. Mirepoix, chicken thighs, green beans, butternut squash, tomato paste, water and spices.

    Some extra/optional tips:

    • * Add cut up apples, prunes or apricots to layer in a subtle sweetness.
    • * Add a hint of chili pepper to “kick it up” a drop.  Mine like it a little spicy and peppers are loaded with vitamin C.
    • * Test it out on your family to see which ingredients work well and turn that dish into a stew.