Soups, Stews, Slow Cooking Is Dvine

These winter months call for slow cooking.  Soups and stews are on my mind. Old fashioned beef stew, or lentil soup, chilli, chicken vegetable YUM!  I shop for all my ingredients, fresh vegetables, vegetable broth...low sodium, potatoes, chicken---a fresh free range vegetarian fed bird, carrots, parsnips, herbs.  Just the act of shopping for these ingredients grounds me and calms me.

My days shuttling kids from pillar to post wears me out. There are days when I am at a lost at "what's for dinner?" and fast food is seeming my only option, I mean when you're tired and the day is long and some kid has basketball practice, cheerleading practice, music lessons, a book report due so they have to go to the library, you start to rationalize the imagined health benefits of fast food!  Yes I have done it!

Take a breath and let go of the guilt, here's my discovery: a slow cooker (old school crock pot).  it is a life saver, a gift from God!  A bag of beans, black, lentils, mixed, you can find them at any grocery store and they are cheap!  I do however spend extra money on good vegetable broth...low sodium and heart healthy.  When I get up in the morning, I throw all my ingredients in the slow cooker, fill with vegetable broth and set it to low.  Out the door I go with the kids in tow for drop off. By the time I get home at the end of the day, I walk in and I am greeted with the best aroma known to man, flavorful soup/stew/chilli.  I have learned that I can prepare a great meal that will be ready without me having to do a lot of cooking in a hurry.

Slow cooking is divine.  I have even bought slow cooking cookbooks! YES! I am embracing my slow cooking revolution.  So take a tip, see where this will work in your own life.  Maybe you are overwhelmed and there are days when you get home later and dinner is a rushed meal.  Consider another way.  Give yourself back some time and create healthy filling meals for yourself and your family.

Here are two of my favorite sites, check them out and try a few recipes.  Change your life one good meal at a time!

Slow Cooker Main Dish Recipes

A Year of Slow Cooking