Author: aurorahlina

Meals · Recipes

Crockpot Beef Lentil Chilli

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Cozy – adjective – giving a feeling of comfort, warmth, and relaxation. 

To me, chili is a meal for a cold cozy day, where you want a tasty hearty meal. Packed full of flavour this recipe blends in the classic beef, with lentils for an added twist, and no beans. You can easily add beans if you would like, or remove the meat to make it vegetarian. Make this meal to serve a crowd, and add some warm biscuits or nacho chips as a side – Yum!

Crockpot Beef Lentil Chili

Servings:  about 6 – 8

  • 1 lb. ground beef
  • ½ small white onion – diced (about 1 cup)
  • 1 cup red pepper – diced
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  • 1 540 ml can chickpeas – rinsed
  • 1 540 ml can lentils – rinsed
  • 1 ½ cups of corn
  • 2 tablespoons of brown sugar
  • 1 can diced tomatoes
  • 1 can tomato paste
  • 1 ½ tablespoon of chilli powder
  • Salt/pepper to taste
  • 2 cups beef broth
  • Onion and garlic powder to taste
  • Grated cheese (optional)
  • Nacho chips (optional)

How to

  1. Heat a frying pan to medium-high and cook beef, onion, peppers, and minced garlic until meat is browned and onions/peppers are cooked almost through.
  2. Add everything from the pan and the rest of the ingredients to a large crock pot. Season to taste.
  3. Cook on low for 8 hours, or high for 4 hours.
  4. Stir occasionally, taste near the end to decide if you would like to add more seasonings.
  5. Optional – Serve with grated cheese on top, and biscuits and nacho chips on the side. Yum!

Note: You can cook this in a large pot instead. Do step one, then add everything and bring to a boil then simmer for 15-20 minutes.

*Freezer meal friendly*

Recipes

Pasta salad

aurorahlinaLeave a comment

This salad is so fresh, filling, and easy to make. Make in advance to serve as a side dish, or bring it to a potluck as everyone will enjoy this dish. Add any vegetables, or cheese, you want to make it your own.

Vegetable Pasta Salad

Servings:  6

  • 4 cups pasta cooked, rinsed, dried off
  • ¾ cup peppers – chopped
  • 1 cup cauliflower – chopped
  • 1 cup cucumbers – chopped
  • 1 large tomato – chopped
  • ½ cup marbled cheese – cubed
  • Italian dressing – to taste

How to

  1. Cook pasta according to package directions, drain, rinse, and let cool down.
  2. Well pasta is cooling, chop up all vegetables into bite-size chunks.
  3. Add pasta, vegetables, and cheese to a bowl, mix.
  4. Add the desired amount of dressing, and you are done!
Home/Daily Life · Lifestyle · Meals · Recipes

The 411 on Meal Planning

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When I got married (I was 19!) I really worried about cooking for us. How was I ever going to keep him full!? I’ve come a long ways from that time haha. The hardest part about cooking for me was coming up with dinner ideas every day. Now I find that meal planning helps make my week a lot smoother … let me share how, and why, you should do it too.

 

Plan out 7 Dinners

To get rid of the daily struggle of wondering what to make for dinner … I suggest at the beginning of the week planning out 7 dinner ideas – you can even assign them days if you want. I write down my own ideas, Pinterest recipes I have saved, something flagged in my cookbook etc. (check out my dinner recipes here for ideas!)

I also use categories to help come up with ideas (beef, chicken, crockpot, meatless, fish, pork, a new recipe, pasta, and soup) I just find this helps me mix things up, rather than making a chicken meal 4 days in a row.

Grocery Shop with Intention

Now that I know what I’m making for dinner all week, I make my grocery list and get what we need (this also helps keep down our grocery bill!). As for breakfast and lunch, we keep it simple (eggs, bagels, cereal, leftovers, and salads) so that’s always predictable of what to buy.

Prep Ahead of Time

It’s also handy having healthy snacks around, I always keep a container of cut up veggies, as well as fruit around for easy access.

The way I use my list of meals is every day I pick 1 of the 7 ideas and take out any meat (if needed) in the am to thaw. I now know what I’m making for dinner, as well as when to start cooking it, and now I won’t need to think about it for the rest of the day.

 

I encourage you to start meal planning to save you time in the long run (no more running to the store multiple times for something), you won’t have to struggle at the end of a long day to think of a dinner idea, and of course, it makes dinner time much easier and enjoyable!

 

If you need some dinner ideas check out my recipes here! Ideas such as Shepards Pie, Turkey Lettuce Wraps, Rustic Italian Veggie Soup and more.

Want some more tips to stay organized? Check out this post ’15 Tips to Keep your Day and Home Organized’.

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Meals · Recipes

Rustic Italian Veggie Soup

aurorahlina1 Comment

 

 

I love a good chunky soup, and this is my favourite go-to recipe. My mom always made awesome soups growing up, but she threw things together and never really followed a recipe…I am the same way, however this soup I keep the same. It’s great to make ahead of time and freeze or put everything in a slow cooker so it’s ready for company after church.

Rustic Italian Veggie Soup

Servings:  9 +

  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • ½ cup white onion – finely chopped
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  • 375 g Kolbassa Sausage – chopped (about 2 cups)
  • ½ cup celery – chopped
  • 3 large carrots – chopped small (about 1 cup)
  • 2 large potatoes – chopped (about 2 cups)
  • 6 cups beef broth
  • 2 cups corn (I use frozen)
  • 1 can chickpeas (2 cups)
  • 1 398 ml can diced tomatoes
  • 3 cups water (may vary)
  • Salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder – to taste
  • 2 tablespoons Italian seasoning

How to

  1. In a large pot, melt butter on medium heat, then add in the onion, minced garlic and sausage. Cook until onion is clear and sausage is lightly browned.
  2. Add celery, carrots, potatoes, and broth to the pot. Increase heat to medium-high and bring to a boil for about 3-5 minutes, then reduce heat to a simmer.
  3. Now add the corn, chickpeas, and diced tomato can. Depending on how chunky/liquidy you like your soup, slowly add in 3 cups of water (or broth) to get desired consistency.
  4. Mix in the seasonings, and let simmer for 15-20 minutes, until veggies are softened and flavours have combined.
  5. Serve with some warm biscuits, yum!

Note: Rather than cooking in a pot, you can place all the ingredients into a large crockpot and cook on low for 6 hours.

*Freezer meal friendly*

Meals · Recipes

Cheesy Enchiladas

aurorahlinaLeave a comment

We love having some sort of Mexican meal each week, and enchiladas are a surprisingly easy meal. They are super filling, packed full of flavour, and you can make them with any other meat or try them without. You can even prepare the filling ahead of time then stuff the tortilla shells when it comes time to serve the meal.

Cheesy Enchiladas

Servings:  4

  • 2 large chicken breasts – finely chopped or shredded
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • ½ cup onion – chopped
  • ½ cup black beans
  • 1 cup corn
  • 2 cups marble cheese – shredded
  • 1 can (296 ml) enchilada sauce
  • 8 tortilla shells
  • Green onion
  • Sour cream

How to

  1. Heat oven to 350 F.
  2. In a large pan melt butter on medium high heat, then cook the chicken to almost done. Add the onions and cook until clear.
  3. Mix in the black beans and corn, slowly add in ½ the can of enchilada sauce. Let simmer for 5 min.
  4. Add 1 cup of the cheese until melted.
  5. Now to prepare the shells, add about 3 tablespoons of the mixture into each tortilla shell. Roll up tightly and place side by side in a 9 x 13 baking dish.
  6. Pour the rest of the enchilada sauce and cheese on top.
  7. Bake in the oven for about 20 min. Edges will be slightly golden and cheese melted.
  8. Top with sour cream and green onions if desired and enjoy!