Slow Cooker Moroccan Lamb Stew

Slow Cooker Moroccan Lamb Stew

The temperature in my area dropped to the 40's today. I froze most of the day. I am not a cold weather person. While I love fall for the leaves turning colors, the baking etc I hate when the weather starts to turn towards winter. Growing up in Seattle it stayed mild most of the year. While it did get colder in the winter, it was no where near as cold as it gets here. When it hits into the single digits going to the bus stop with my oldest is just torture. Winter also brings about pneumonia and strep throat, just to name a few of the things that I have been fortunate enough to have the last two years (with hospital stays). I don't think my body was built for winter. My husband's is always turning the heat down since he roasts while I literally shake from being cold. I blame genetics, my dad is rail thin and freezes all winter also. Thanks dad.

One thing that I do love about colder weather is stew. There is something incredibly comforting about sitting down at the table with a giant bowl of steaming stew and a crusty loaf of bread. This week I tried a new recipe for Slow Cooker Moroccan Lamb Stew.

Cabell County Courthouse Huntington, WV

This recipe has 16 ingredients. It takes 8 hours and 30 minutes of total time, 30 minutes of which is active and makes 8-10 servings. I made a number of changes to the original recipe. My local grocery stores refuse to stock currants, so I substituted equal amounts of chopped raisins and dried apricots. I could not find my turmeric (sometimes spices hide in my cupboards or simply somehow disappear) so I left it out entirely. Since couscous is not gluten free I served the stew over white rice. While I know brown rice is better health wise, I just can't eat it all the time. When you can't eat gluten free brown rice can become a little bit monotonous so I allow myself white rice when I want it. Finally, as I have talked about before I make my own chicken stock. This way I can control the amount of salt in the recipe and it tastes so much better! I allowed the stew to cook on high for 6 hours and served it with homemade Irish soda bread.

Ritter Park Rose Garden Steps Huntington, WV

Lamb stew is normally a hit in my household and this was no exception. The lamb cooked perfectly and the spices blended well. I did add cinnamon to the crock-pot along with the other spices listed in the recipe. I love the flavor of cinnamon with lamb and it was a nice addition. I used the same amount of cinnamon as the allspice, which worked out perfectly. I would recommend making this addition. Over rice this stew was delicious. It also re-heated well the next day served alone in a bowl with crusty bread. 

For the recipe go to Slow Cooker Moroccan Lamb Stew. 

The Huntington photos from today are from this summer. I wish it was that pretty today!! I miss the warm blue skies.

Slow Cooker Moroccan Lamb Stew

Recipe Type: Main

Summary:

A flavorful slowcooker recipe for Moroccan Lamb Stew. Great with a loaf of crusty bread during the fall and winter!

Preparation Time: 0h, 30m

Cooking Time: 8h, 0m

Total Time: 8h, 30m

Yield: Serves 8

Chicken Stew with Turnips and Mushrooms from Eating Well Magazine

Chicken Stew with Turnip and Mushrooms

I love fall. Hot weather isn't something I do well with and most of the summer I stay indoors. Growing up in Seattle it was never overly hot and the humidity was low. Then I moved to West Virginia. The humidity and heat almost did me in the first summer. It didn't help that we had a heat wave and the day my husband and I got married it was almost 100 (and yes my husband and I met and got married in only 11 months - sometimes things just fall into place). Fall is a total other story. I love fall in my state. The leaves are beautiful here and the weather is mild. Plus it means lots of soups, stews, and chili. It is by far my favorite time of the year. Tonight I tried a new recipe for Chicken Stew with Turnips and Mushrooms from the October 2013 issue of Eating Well magazine.

Sculpture Ritter Park Huntington, WV

This recipe has 14 ingredients. It takes 45 minutes of total time, all of which is active and makes 6 servings. I only made a few modifications to the original recipe. First, I used baby kale. I was so happy to have found  washed and ready to eat baby kale at the store this week. It's a new item and I scooped it up. So much easier than washing and cutting regular kale. In order to have the turnips fully cooked it took approximately 10 minutes more than the recipe suggested. I really don't like the texture of undercooked turnips. I served the stew with homemade Irish soda bread.

Bridge Ritter Park Huntington, WV

My whole family enjoyed this stew. The flavor was great and the fact that it had mushrooms was the selling point for my two boys. They are both obsessed with mushrooms. The stew was perfect for a cool evening and serving it with Irish soda bread was a nice combination since the bread could sop up the stew. This is definitely a recipe I would make again. If you aren't a fan of turnips this recipe would also work well with potatoes, sweet potatoes or parsnips.

For the recipe go to Chicken Stew with Turnip and Mushrooms.

Chicken Stew with Turnip and Mushrooms

Recipe Type: Main

Summary:

A filling chicken stew recipe with baby kale, turnips and mushrooms. Perfect for fall and winter!

Preparation Time: 0h, 15m

Cooking Time: 0h, 30m

Total Time: 0h, 45m

Yield: Serves 6

Spanish Turkey Meatball Stew

I love my food with lots of flavor. Dishes that are bland or lack any kind of spice have never been something that I liked. Growing-up my mother loved any type of ethnic food she could try and we went to every type of restaurant my mom could find. She also loved going to small ethnic grocery stores to find just the right ingredient for a recipe she had gotten from someone. It was through her that I learned to love and use spices in my cooking. Using the right spice can transform a mediocre dish into something spectacular. Having two boys I am always having to find the right balance between the spice that I want and what my boys will actually eat. So I often modify recipes to still have great flavor with a little less bite. This week I tried a new recipe for Spanish Turkey Meatball Stew from the October 2012 issue of the Food Network Magazine.

This recipe has 12 ingredients. It takes 35 minutes of total time, 30 minutes of which is active and makes 4 servings. I did make a few changes. First I used baby carrots which I sliced instead of full sized carrots. I love using baby carrots in recipes, they are easy to work with since they are never too thick. Instead of using canned chickpeas I made my chickpeas from scratch. A great way to save money is to make a large batch of dried beans and then freeze them in smaller portions. Much cheaper than canned and lower in sodium. For the turkey I used 93% lean. I find that 85% is way too greasy and the more lean varieties are too dry. Since I make my own chicken stock I always have to add salt at the table, but if you use store bought this shouldn't be as much of a problem.

I found that this recipe made more than four servings. There was enough stew for two meals for my family of 4. I did think that it might have been nice if their were some egg noddles to add a little more texture to the soup. I would also suggest adding another cup of chicken broth to make a larger amount of broth. The spiciness was perfect for my two boys, but if you like more of a kick I would suggest adding 1/8-1/4 tsp of crushed red pepper. My two boys were fans of this recipe and add their servings happily, so it was kid friendly (at least in my house).

For the recipe go to Spanish Turkey Meatball Stew.

Slow-Cooked Green Chile Stew

As you know if you've read my blog for a while, we are a pork family. I have been successful with changing a lot of food habits in my family. I have started using honey and sorghum instead of granulated sugar, olive oil instead of butter and brown rice flour instead of wheat flour. As for proteins I like a varied diet. I think eating anything in large amounts isn't great, but I also don't think that eating pork and beef aren't bad for you either. According to my doctor I have some of the best cholesterol levels he has seen and I eat red meat 2-3 times a week. However, I also prepare a large amount of turkey, fish and chicken. Pork is a meat that my husband loves. In any form be it bacon, tenderloin or roast he devours it. So do my two boys. Cooking as many things from scratch as I can is important to me and one of my favorite meals to make is stew. A great stew can make even a poor cut of meat delicious and can feed my family for multiple meals. This week I tried a new recipe for Green Chile Stew from the January/February 2013 issue of the Food Network Magazine.

This recipe has 14 ingredients. It takes 2 hours and 55 minutes of total time, 25 minutes of which is active and makes 8 servings. I did make a number of changes to this recipe. First I made my own chicken broth which I do not salt. Instead I salt the dish once it's done to reduce the total amount of sodium in my dishes. Second I cubed my pork instead of dicing it. I was unable to find a 3 pound roast, so I bought two smaller roasts and cut them into small cubes. I find dicing meat to be a nuisance and I prefer my meat to have larger pieces in soups and stews. Finally, I changed the overall cooking time. The recipe only cooks the pork for slightly over an hour. To me that isn't long enough to produce a great flavor. Instead I added 8 cups of chicken broth to the pork and allowed it to cook for an hour, then added the hominy and let it cook for another hour. Then I added the potatoes and let it cook for a final 40 minutes. The end result was flavorful and perfect. Since I eat gluten free I served the stew with corn tortillas instead of flour.

If I had made this just for adults I would have made it spicier by leaving in the seeds on the peppers. Since I was cooking for my kids I seeded the peppers. My husband's only complaint was that it wasn't spicy enough, but that is normal since I have to keep my kids tastes in mind when I cook for our entire family. Make sure to add salt at the end, especially if you are using low sodium stock or make your own. I would suggest using additional chicken stock instead of the water suggested in the second part of the recipe. The water would make the soup less flavorful.

For the recipe go to Green Chile Stew.

Slow-Cooker Tomatillo Pork Stew

Pork is very popular in my house. As I have talked about before my two boys and husband love bacon. If they could eat it everyday, three times a day they would. However, I am not going to let that happen. As a compromise I make pork frequently. One of my favorite cuts of pork is pork shoulder. It is tender and delicious and can be made a variety of different ways. The crock-pot is a great way to cook pork, it is simple and always turns out well. Yesterday I tried a new recipe for Slow-Cooker Tomatillo Pork Stew from the February issue of Family Circle magazine.

This recipe has 11 ingredients. It takes 8 hours and 15 minutes of total time, 15 minutes of which is active and makes 6 servings. I had no problems finding any of the ingredients at my local grocery store and made no ingredient modifications. Since all the pork shoulder at my store was 6 pounds or more I bought a larger shoulder and cut it down to size. I would recommend increasing the salt or adding additional at the end since it wasn't salty enough as written. I normally serve brown rice to my family, but for this recipe I used basmati and it worked very well. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

I was really pleased with how tender this stew turned out. It was flavorful enough for my husband and I without being too spicy for my two boys. If you want the dish to be more spicy use a less mild salsa. I chose to use mild salsa since I was serving it to my two boys. For my serving I used just cilantro, for my kids I served the stew with sour cream and cilantro.

For the recipe go to Tomatillo Pork Stew. (registration required)

Rajma - Northern Indian Kidney Bean Masala Stew

I am feeling blah. For whatever reason January is never a great month for me. I don't know why, but I have horrible luck with appliances breaking and things going generally not in the right direction during this month. People also seem to be less than pleasant right now also. Today at the grocery store I was in the frozen food aisle. I was looking at some vegetables and the aisle was very narrow thanks to a display the store had set-up. When I was walking away I noticed there was a woman behind me that I hadn't noticed. Honestly, after two kids when I'm at the grocery store without them I tend to get in my 'me' zone. It is literally the only couple of hours during the week that I have to myself. I immediately apologized to the women and asked if I was in her way. Her response took me a little off guard. This woman was well into later life and used a profanity at me followed by the line 'of course you were.' Okay. I can understand if I was in her way. However, she could have said excuse me or brought it to my attention since I in no way say her since the door was open to the frozen food case. Second, why pull out the s word. Not necessary at all. I hope that my kids will grow up knowing that politeness is always the best response. Overall, I think so far I am already ready for the month of January to be over and it has just started. So I am feeling a little blah. Given my current winter mood I have been making a lot of soups and bean dishes. Last night I made a new recipe for Rajma (Northern Indian Kidney Bean Masala Stew) from a recent issue of Saveur magazine.

This recipe has 17 ingredients. It takes an hour and a half of total time, 45 minutes of which is active and makes 4 servings. I did make a number of modifications. First I doubled the recipe. Four servings is not enough for my family, which includes two growing boys. Second I try to follow a recipe as much as I can but sometimes I am unable to find a particular ingredient. So with this recipe I left one out. I have used chiles de arbol when I lived in a much larger city. Finding them in my city just isn't a possibility, so I chose to not use them. Finally, since I was making this for my kids I seeded and diced my serranos. It would have been too spicy for my kids to eat otherwise. I also chose to cook my beans on the stove. I have a pressure cooker which I use for canning, but I find it a pain to take down and use for everyday cooking. I let my beans cook for two hours in order to be fully softened. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

By leaving out the chiles de arbol and seeding the serranos this dish had a slight kick, without being too spicy for my kids. I let my beans cook down slightly so they were thicker than a traditional stew, but still worked well served over brown rice. My husband really loved this dish and was happy that it tasted different than the normal Indian curries that I make frequently.

For the recipe go to Rajma.

Chipotle Pork and Sweet Potato Stew with Cornbread

Tomorrow is my oldest son's last day of school before winter break. Of course I completely forgot to buy a teachers gift or something for his bus driver until tonight. Thank you gift cards, you are so easy and convenient for last minute gifts. Normally I am ahead of schedule and have all my gifts bought ahead of time. This year however I seem to be behind; just today I finally got the last of Christmas cards addressed. Of course they will arrive to my family back in Washington probably after Christmas day, but it's the thought that counts. Now I have to actually think of what to make for Christmas eve and day. You would think that since I am a food blogger I would have everything figured out, but things had to change last minute thanks to car issues and now I am going to spend part of the next couple of days trying to figure out meal plans. That's okay though since that is something I enjoy along with the actual cooking. I'm still getting over a nasty cold so I have been making stews and soups all week. Earlier in the week I tried a new recipe for Chipotle Pork and Sweet Potato Stew with Cornbread from the January 2013 issue of Family Circle magazine.

This recipe has 18 ingredients. It takes 6 hours of cooking time, 15 minutes of prep and makes 6 servings. I did make a few modifications to the recipe. Since I don't eat gluten I made gluten-free cornbread. It worked just as well as it would have with wheat and the texture was perfect. For the flour I used gluten free all-purpose flour. I made my own chicken stock as I normally do, which I make un-salted so I had to add more salt than the recipe suggested. Instead of spraying the bowl with cooking spray I used a slow cooker liner. Finally, I added only one tablespoon of cilantro instead of two since my kids were eating this dish. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

The pork in this recipe turned out very tender. My husband and two boys fell in love with this dish and ate their entire servings and most of the leftovers.  I like that per serving the recipe has 34 grams of protein and 472 calories. Plus it was a great, warm meal as the weather turned cooler.

For the recipe go to Chipotle Pork and Sweet Potato Stew. (registration required)

Chicken Brunswick Stew

Cold season has hit my house hard this week. Of course, like always I have gotten sicker than everyone else. It probably has a lot to do with the fact that the bus stop for my oldest son is over a block away and I have to wait 10 minutes in the freezing cold every morning and afternoon. If you are wondering why I wait 10 minutes, I tried leaving later a few times and of course the bus was early. So I have a 10 minute span of when the bus 'might' come. Last winter as some of you probably know I was lucky (not) enough to come down with pneumonia and ended up in the hospital. Apparently being very small with a not so fabulous immune system isn't so great as you get older. And by older I mean 30. Ever since I turned 30 it seems my health has taken a nose dive. Low potassium, low iron, gluten intolerance, migraines you name it. So this week I am suffering through a nasty cold with a hyper four-year-old at home and making lots of stew, soup and chili. There is something so comforting about warm foods when you feel not at your best. This week I tried a new recipe for Chicken Brunswick Stew from the January 2013 issue of Family Circle, which looked like perfect comfort food.

This recipe has 11 ingredients. It takes 6 hours on high in the Crock-pot, 10 minutes of prep and makes 6 servings. I actually had a hard time finding canned butter beans in my area. I had to go to multiple stores to find the beans since they seem to be scarce in my city. As I always do I used a crock-pot liner instead of spraying cooking spray in the slow cooker bowl. I find the liners to be much easier to use and make a lot less dishes to wash. Make sure to add additional salt before serving. Since the recipe utilizes potatoes it needs a decent amount of salt to have flavor. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

My husband was very impressed with this recipe. It turned out very tender and the chicken literally fell off the bone before being shredded. I really don't serve okra often, since it can become slimy when cooked. However, the okra in this recipe was cooked perfectly and delicious.  Brunswick stew is one of my husband's favorite dishes and this recipe was definitely a hit.

For the recipe go to Chicken Brunswick Stew.

Slow-Cooker Caribbean Beef Stew

The weather in my area has been unseasonably warm. It was almost 70 degrees on Tuesday and it has been making my kids a little bit wild. With the warm days it feels more like spring than almost Christmas. Even though the weather has been all over the place, I refuse to let it change my food plans. This is the time of the year when I make pumpkin cookies, eggnog baked good and most importantly stews. I love stews. They are delicious and comforting. I make them at least twice a month and they are a fall stable in my house. Since I now am eating gluten free I have had to find new stew recipes that work well with gluten free flours. This week I tried a new recipe for Slow-Cooker Caribbean Beef Stew from the December issue of the Food Network Magazine, which looked full of classic Caribbean flavor from the allspice and white pepper and perfect for a busy weeknight.

This reicpe 13 ingredients. It takes a total time of 7 hours and 15 minutes, 15 minutes of which is active and makes 4 servings. I had no problems finding any of the ingredients at my local grocery store. Since I don't use wheat flour I substituted the all-purpose flour for gluten free all-purpose flour. Crock-pots can be very hard to clean so I always use slow-cooker liners to reduce the mess. I let my stew cook on high for 7 hours. When I only put my potatoes in the crock-pot on low for 7 hours they never seem soft enough to me, so I normally cook my stews on high. Finally, I decided to top the servings with scallions for taste and presentation. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

Make sure to adequately salt this stew once it is done in the crock-pot. The recipe requires more salt than the recipe states. My husband and I really liked this stew. The flavor was great and the spiciness from the green chiles was delicious. My two boys thought it was a little too spicy for their tastes, but I added sour cream to their servings and then they ate it happily.

For the recipe go to Slow-Cooker Caribbean Beef Stew.

Beef and Apricot Stew

You are probably tired of me talking about stews. In the fall and winter months I make soups and stews at least once a week and I must say they are one of my favorite foods. If you read my blog regularly you know that both by how much I talk about my love of soups/stews and how many recipes I post. I promise that come spring I will be back to lighter fair, but until then stews will be a staple. It helps that both of my sons are huge stew eaters. So much so that my son's birthday was this past weekend and that was what he requested for his birthday dinner. Love that kid. Beef stew is probably my favorite type of stew. It is comforting and re-heats well for lunches. Last weekend I tried a new recipe for Beef and Apricot Stew from Everyday Food (the last issue-boo!), which looked simple and perfect for fall.

This recipe has 11 ingredients. It takes a total of 1 hour 55 minutes, 25 minutes of which is active and makes 6 servings. I had no problems finding any of the ingredients at my local grocery store with the exception of the lamb which was supposed to be the main ingredient. I have a horrible time finding lamb in my area. I am hoping that since we now have a new International market that I might have more luck. Since lamb was non-existent I substituted beef. Two things that I would change about this recipe. The ginger sticks weren't popular in my house. Instead of making sticks I would suggest grating the ginger on a micro plane. This would allow the flavor, but not make large sticks of ginger which my kids pretty much hated. Additionally, I would cut down on the amount of apricots to 1/2 cup. Using 3/4 of a cup of apricots was just too many. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

With an hour and a 1/2 in the oven this recipe takes a little bit of pre-planning. However, any good stew is worth the wait. If you implement the changes that I made above  I think this stew could be a great fall and winter staple recipe. Plus it's gluten free which works great for my dietary needs.

For the recipe go to Beef and Apricot Stew.

Beef Stew with Potatoes and Parsnips

I absolutely love soup and stews. There is something incredibly comforting about making and eating a big batch of homemade soup. The last couple of months my two boys and I have seemed to be passing the same cold back and forth between the three of us. As soon as one of us gets better the next one gets sick. Since we have all been feeling under the weather I have been making a large number of soups. Plus cold weather and soup seem to go hand in hand, so it works all around. My whole family seems well this week just as the weather has gotten much colder so it's time again for a new round of soup and stew recipes. I love being able to eat the leftovers from a batch of soup I make on the weekend. It is a quick and hearty lunch option. Last month I made a new recipe for Beef Stew with Potatoes and Parsnips from Everyday Food magazine, which looked hearty and perfect for the colder weather ahead.

This recipe has 10 ingredients. It takes a total time of 1 1/2 hours, 25 minutes of which is active, and makes 4 servings. I had no problems finding any of the ingredients at my local store. I did make a few modifications in order to make the recipe gluten free. Instead of using all-purpose flour I substituted gluten free cornstarch. I do this frequently with recipes and it works very well. I made this dish in my dutch oven. If you don't already own and use a dutch oven, I highly recommend it for your holiday wish list. My dutch oven is one of my favorite kitchen tools. The recipe suggests letting the stew cook for an hour in the oven. I actually let my stew cook for slightly longer in order for the stew to fully thicken. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

I was really impressed with this recipe. It came out tender and delicious with little effort. I liked that this stew only takes an hour and a half instead of the 2-3 hours required by a lot of other beef stew recipes. Adding the vinegar at the end of the cooking takes this soup from good to delicious. I was skeptical when I added the vinegar, but after tasting it it made all the difference to the final taste. I will definitely make this stew again.

For the recipe go to Beef Stew with Potatoes and Parsnips.

Squash and Lentil Stew

This has been a long day. Not for the reasons you might think. Don't get me wrong, I love the excitement of election day, but this year it has taken a back seat to the rest of my day. This afternoon my two boys were in the kitchen together. I should have known right there that something was wrong. When my two boys are being quite together something is brewing. I walk in and my youngest son is partially bald and surrounded by his cut hair. You guessed it, my oldest son had given his baby brother a haircut. Now on most boys this wouldn't be a huge deal, but my son had very long beautiful hair. He has always loved his hair long and cried as soon as he realized it was gone. Of course I was trying to figure out what my oldest son's reasoning was. When he finally told me I had to try not to laugh. Apparently my youngest son had been saying 'potty' words and my oldest decided that he needed to be punished...by cutting off all his hair. Gotta love kids! So tonight's blog post goes back a couple of weeks to a great stew recipe I tried. Last month I tried a new recipe for Squash and Lentil Stew from the October issue of Family Circle magazine, which looked perfect for fall.

This recipe has 12 ingredients. It takes 56 minutes of cooking time and 20 minutes of prep and makes 6 servings. I had no problems finding any of the ingredients at my local grocery store. I have never seen French green lentils locally, so I used brown lentils instead. Instead of store bought chicken stock I used homemade. I don't salt my homemade stock, but instead salt the stew itself once it's finished. For the carrots I used baby carrots. I find baby carrots easier to deal with, especially since they are already peeled. I let my onion, celery and carrot mixture cook longer than the suggested 5 minutes by the recipe. Instead I allowed the mixture to fully soften. Make sure to fully salt the stew once it has completed cooking. Even with store bought stock this recipe will need a good amount of salt. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

With 8 grams of fat and 17 grams of protein this recipe is a great low-fat meal. My two boys really liked the butternut squash and ate all of it in their servings. I liked that this stew is full of vegetables and beans and has a great flavor. I would suggest letting the stew cook slightly longer than the 40 minutes suggested in the recipe. I think it would allow the lentils to be even more tender and the flavors to fully incorporate. Overall, a great fall recipe.

For the recipe go to Squash and Lentil Stew. (registration required)

Keralan Vegetable Stew

Cold season seems to have hit my house. Last week I finally recovered from the cold that I had picked-up from my oldest son when my throat started hurting. This week everyone in my house has been sick. I love how once my oldest son started school I have gotten every single cold that has gone around school. The one good thing about when my whole house has a cold is that I can make spicy foods. I love anything spicy. Growing-up my mom invented an peanut noodle dish with chili oil that I loved. The only problem was that my dad hated spicy foods and every time my mom made the dish it seemed to get spicier and spicier. I loved it, my dad hated it. My kids are hit or miss with spicy foods. The older they seem to get the more opinionated and picky they become. So when everyone ends up ill I make dinners spicy. Recently, I made a new recipe for Keralan Vegetable Stew from the September issue of Food and Wine magazine, which looked full of flavor and delicious.

This recipe has 14 ingredients. It takes a total time of one hour, 20 minutes of which is active and makes 4 servings. I have never seen fresh curry leaves in my area, so I chose to use bay leaves instead. I ended up having to go to two separate stores to find frozen pearl onions, which is normal for my area. Instead of serving the dish over white rice I used brown rice. I prefer brown rice and rarely eat white rice. I ended up letting the stew simmer for almost an hour instead of the 30 minutes suggested by the recipe. I kept the heat very low and let the flavors meld. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

I must have gotten some very spicy Serrano chiles because this recipe had a lot of kick. It was way too spicy for my kids as written, but once I added Greek yogurt it was much better. I would suggest seeding the chiles or using a milder chile if you are looking for milder flavor. I will say that if you have a cold this dish will definitely work on your sinuses. Additionally, the flavors were very delicious and the vegetables came out perfect. Since my family really loves curry this dish was perfect for us.

For the recipe go to Keralan Vegetable Stew.

Pork and Green Chile Stew

Anyone else have a hard to handle three-year-old? My youngest son this last week has been given new meaning to being a toddler. He is in the middle of a growth spurt and when he isn't eating he is having a complete melt down. Shopping with him in tow has become impossible and I am beginning to want to have a temper tantrum myself. The thing that has saved my sanity is cooking and baking. Cooking has always been my lifeline. As a teenager when everything was crazy in my life cooking was my way to relax and stay grounded. To this day it has the same effect on my well-being. I love to cook and bake and they are a great way for me to feel as if I am doing something worthwhile for my family. Recently, I tried a new recipe for Pork and Green Chile Stew from the September issue of Food and Wine magazine, which looked filling and delicious.

This recipe has 10 ingredients. It takes a total of 45 minutes, 25 minutes of which is active and makes 6 servings. I had to go to multiple stores to find all the peppers needed, but that is normal for my area. I ended up buying Anaheim peppers, since I could not find decent poblanos. Since I was cooking for my kids I seeded all my serrano chiles, my kids can be pretty picky when it comes to spiciness. As I always try to do I served brown rice instead of white. I prefer using brown rice almost exclusively. In order for the stew to thicken completely I allowed it to cook for 50 minutes, instead of the 20 suggested by the recipe. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

I really enjoyed this recipe. Over rice it is delicious, but it was also great heated up in a bowl and eaten more like a traditional stew the next day. The flavors from the chiles were delicious, I loved how rich the stew turned out and the pork literally melted in my mouth. My two kids loved the pork and picked it out of the peppers, which is normal for them. Overall, a great chile stew recipe that I would make again in the future.

For the recipe go to Pork and Green Chile Stew.

Lamb, Potato and Leek Stew

This is my favorite time of the year. The weather gets cooler, the leaves start to turn beautiful colors and stews and chili start filling my kitchen with delicious smells. I love stew. There is something so comforting and warming about a great stew. It can transform a bad day into something bearable. I use my crockpot extensively during the cooler months, but there are some stews which just taste and smell better when done on the stove. There are few things better than the smell of stew on the stove. It's very warm and inviting. My favorite meat to make stew with is lamb. When cooked correctly, lamb is a great meat in a variety of recipes. Recently I tried a new recipe for Lamb, Potato and Leek Stew from Everyday Food, which looked easy and perfect for the cooler weather to come.

This recipe has 7 ingredients. It takes a total of 1 1/2 hours, 15 minutes of which is prep and makes 4 servings. I had no problems finding any of the ingredients and made no ingredient modifications. I chose not to top the stew with parsley. The parsley at my local store was mediocre, and my kids pretty much hate it, so I chose to leave it out. Make sure to adequately salt the stew. Without adequate salting the stew will lack flavor and be bland. After salting the flavor was perfect. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

I love stew made with lamb and this recipe was great comfort food. The lamb was tender without being over cooked. If your looking for a stew with a variety of spices, this isn't the recipe your looking for. The flavor of the stew comes from the lamb, which is delicious if cooked correctly, After salting this stew was perfect comfort food and even my two boys enjoyed it.

For the recipe go to Lamb, Potato and Leek Stew.

Slowcooker Pumpkin Harvest Beef Stew

Everyone knows how much I love my crockpot. If there is one kitchen appliance that I don't think that I could live without that would be the one. I love it and it makes my life so much easier, especially with two very active boys. While some people use their crockpot only in the colder months, I love mine year round. It's just as great to not heat up my kitchen in the humid and horribly hot summer months as it is to have a great meal of chili or stew waiting in the slowcooker at dinner time in the winter. Fall is my favorite time of the year. I love that the weather cools down, without being too hot or too cold. One of my favorite things about fall is the food. I absolutely love pumpkins and winter squash. They are delicious in so many recipes and dishes. Last week I tried a new recipe for Pumpkin Harvest Beef Stew from the October/November issue of Taste of Home magazine, which looked full of fall flavors and a perfect crockpot recipe.

This recipe has 17 ingredients. It takes 25 minutes of prep and 6 1/2 hours of cook time and makes 6 servings. I chose to use sweet potatoes instead of the pumpkin. I didn't want to take the extra step of peeling and cutting the pumpkin. I find sweet potatoes easier to deal with and make the substitution frequently. I chose to leave out the beef granules. The all natural beef broth that I chose to use is naturally lower in sodium and I preferred to salt at the table instead of adding the beef granules. Finally, instead of using flour I substituted cornstarch since it is gluten free. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

I love beef stew and making it in the crockpot is a great way to save time. It also works well on lower quality cuts of meat. This recipe does a great job of combining beef stew and fall flavors. My oldest son really loved this dish. He is a big fan of beef stew and ate all of the beef out of his serving. I like that this recipe uses multiple types of fall squash. Overall, a great fall crockpot recipe.

For the recipe go to Pumpkin Harvest Beef Stew.

Portuguese Linguica Stew

Before I got married I wasn't great about eating green vegetables. I would eat a salad when I went out to eat, but rarely anything else unless it was a holiday. After I met my husband I discovered that while he hated fruit he loved vegetables. The vegetables I was used to eating were salad, broccoli and asparagus and not much else. My husband on the other hand loved greens. I had never had a lot of exposure to greens and honestly knew nothing about them. So my husband bought mustard greens and I attempted to prepare them. The first time was a semi disaster. The greens lacked a lot of taste and I didn't know to take out the tough stem. However, after a few more tries I discovered that I not only loved greens I was good at preparing them. Now I buy greens at least once a week and use them in a variety of recipes. A couple of months back I bought a large amount of linguica sausage on clearance. I searched around the web for recipes and came across a delicious looking one for Portuguese Linguica Stew, combining linguica and collard greens.

This recipe has 12 ingredients. It takes 15 minutes of prep and 45 minutes of cooking time and makes 4-6 servings. I had no problems finding any of the ingredients at my local grocery store and made no recipe modifications. Make sure to remove all the tough stems from the collard greens or they will not cook all the way through in 10 minutes. Plus they taste much better without the stems. The great thing about this stew is that it requires very little salting. The linguica sausage naturally salts the broth and I found that I didn't have to add any additional salt. I did heat the stew slightly longer than the suggested ten minutes after adding the collard greens. I wanted to make sure all the flavors came out fully and that the greens weren't still tough. I followed the remainder of the recipe as stated.

I love how this recipe doesn't require any stock for cooking. Instead the water is turned into a delicious stock from the sausage and vegetables. The collard greens are colorful and flavorful, providing a nice addition to the stew. My two boys really liked this recipe. The stew is not overly spicy, it has a slight kick from the crushed red pepper, but not enough for my two boys not to enjoy it. My husband and I really enjoyed the flavor in this soup and I ate the leftovers the next day for lunch. The stew was even better the next day after sitting in the fridge. Overall, a great way to use greens in a flavorful stew.

For this recipe go to Portuguese Linguica Stew.

Portuguese Chourico Stew

I have a weekly tradition when I go to the grocery store. After I've bought all the meat that I have for my menu plan for the week I make a beeline for the reduced meats section. I love looking through the reduced meat section! In case you have never shopped the clearance meat section, it's a section of the store where the meat that is going to expire in the next couple of days is marked downed, sometimes by as much as 50 percent. Whenever I see a great deal on a meat that I know we will use I purchase it and stick it in my freezer. This way I have meat at a much lower price which is a great way to reduce my weekly food budget. A couple of months back I bought a number of packages of Chourico sausage on clearance and put them in my freezer. Last week I searched the internet and came across a recipe for Portuguese Chourico Stew, which looked simple and a great way to use discounted sausage.

This recipe has 9 ingredients. It takes approximately an hour of prep and cooking time and makes 8 servings. All the ingredients besides the sausage are very basic and I had no problems finding any of them at my local grocery store. The recipe doesn't specify what type of canned green beans to purchase, so I used cut regular green beans. Make sure to adequately wash the green beans to rinse off the metallic taste. I love sweet onions and used one for the onion in this recipe. The sweetness was a nice contrast to the spiciness of the sausage. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

If you love spicy foods you will like this recipe. The chourico sausage and crushed red pepper give a spicy flavor to the stew, which my husband and I enjoyed. The spiciness of the stew isn't hot like chicken wings, but rather has a temporary burn that doesn't linger. My husband thought this was one of the best stews he had eaten in a long time and ate multiple bowls. I liked that the recipe uses water and all the flavor comes from cooking the sausage and vegetables. Best of all the skill level for the recipe is low, making it accessible while maintaining flavor.

For the recipe go to Portuguese Chourico Stew.

Bon Appetit Chickpea Stew

In the last couple of months I have been trying diligently to add more beans into my family's diet. When I first met my husband he ate lots of meat and very little fruits and vegetables. Over the last almost nine years I have slowly been adding more beans and vegetarian meals into his diet. Now he is the point that we have at least one vegetarian meal a week and he eats them happily. Beans have been harder than tofu and pasta dishes to convince my husband to eat. He grew up on pinto beans and will eat them happily, but other types of beans can be hit or miss. As I was flipping through a recent issue of Bon Appetit Magazine I can across a recipe for Chickpea Stew, which looked like a perfect blend of beans and chicken thighs and promised to be filling.

This recipe has 13 ingredients. It takes 45 minutes of total time, 25 minutes of which is active and makes four servings. I had no problems finding any of the ingredients at my local grocery store and made no ingredient modifications. I did use more than two chicken thighs suggested by the recipe. I thighs that I purchased at the store were on the small side and in order to get the full flavor from the thighs I used three thighs, instead of two. Additionally, I used slightly more bread cubes than the recipe called for since my family loves country bread. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

I found this stew to be very filling and made more than the four servings suggested by the recipe. I was very proud of my husband for trying this soup and he ended up really liking it. He liked the stew so much that he ate all the leftovers the next day for lunch. My two boys are huge chickpea fans and ate their whole servings quickly. The finished stew is a little on the spicy side for young or sensitive taste buds, so I added Greek yogurt to my son's servings. Overall, a great way to add more beans into your family's diet and easy to prepare.

For the recipe go to Chickpea Stew.

Family Circle Moroccan Beef Stew

I love stew. There is something extremely comforting about sitting down with a warm bowl of homemade stew. Plus, there are normally delicious leftovers to heat up the next day to enjoy the dish all over again. My two sons are both in stages where they decide that they hate all the foods they used to love. Last week cheese was my youngest sons favorite food, this week he told me at lunch that he hates cheese. Luckily stew is one of their favorite foods and that hasn't changed even with their varied food choices. My favorite meat to use in stew is beef. I love how tender beef becomes after sitting on the stove for hours. The February issue of Family Circle Magazine had a recipe for Moroccan Beef Stew, which looked full of flavorful ingredients and perfect for my stew loving family.

This recipe has 14 ingredients. It takes 15 minutes of prep and approximately 2 hours of cook time and makes 6 servings. The biggest modification I made to the recipe was to make my own beef stock. Homemade beef stock is actually very easy and has a great impact of the flavor of homemade stock and stew. Roasting the beef bone before adding the vegetables and water brings out a great flavor to the stock. For the beef I made sure to buy a high quality cut of beef chuck, I have tried buying cheap cuts in the past and even after extensive cooking time they still were tough and full of tendons. I chose to serve the stew over pearl couscous. This was the first time that I had served this type of couscous to my family and my kids thought it was great and loved the shape. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

The combination of the fruit and beef blended well together and the stew came out very tender. I liked the inclusion of spinach in this recipe, it provides great nutrition and brings all the flavors together nicely. My two kids loved the pearl couscous and it will be something that I serve more of in the future. Overall, an easy and delicious tasting stew recipe.

For the recipe go to Moroccan Beef Stew.