There is so much good all around us, if we only take the time to see it. Goodness is bright and beautiful. It fills us up and reminds us that we aren’t alone. That’s such an important thing.

Good was in the Christmas cards that arrived, sharing the kindest of well wishes in the aftermath of December 14, and still wishing us a happy holiday season. The sentiments were so perfect — because while we were digging deeply through very difficult emotions, the holidays still deserved to be celebrated. And we did.

There is so much good in the dear friend who picked up many copies of a newspaper that ran a column I wrote about the returning to school for the families of Sandy Hook. I hadn’t even thought about it, but thanks to her I have that paper so that when the kids are older and want to read what I wrote, they can see for themselves. And there was good and kindness in the care package from another dear friend who subtly encouraged me to get out of my own head and back into the kitchen. She’s right about that. And there was so much goodness in other moms who collected coats and gave out gift cards to make our days and healing a little easier.

Seeing the goodness and kindness has been uplifting. I can’t say thank  you enough times or express my gratitude enough. But thank you all.

We live in a world where the customs of polite society aren’t as heeded as they once were. Some people feel like they can say (or type on social media) whatever comes into their head — no matter how it impacts others. It’s easy to lose sight of the goodness when you are blindsided by those who question your experiences and try to shed doubt on fact. The voices of bullies can begin to sound louder than the ones of friends, loved ones and supporters. But we don’t have to let this be. We can choose love and light and goodness. We can ignore the voices of hate and focus in on those of compassion and love. I know I do, especially now.

It’s thanks to all the goodness sounding us here that I feel like we’re turning a corner. Through beautiful new experiences, we are breathing in life and finding our way. Every day, it gets a little easier to hug and kiss the kids goodbye and send them off to school. Every day, passing Dickinson Drive — the road that used to lead to our school — feels less significant. Every day, moving forward gathers more momentum. We really are okay, even though we must carry with us the heavy knowledge of what happened forever. Life can go on, without forgetting — and it is.

Part of this corner turning has led me (finally!) back to the kitchen. For awhile there, I lost all interest in cooking. I went through the motions, making meals because I had to — when I had to. The joy of creation was missing. Food became just a means to an end — a necessity. But then, I wanted that special joy that comes with making and creating good food back. Of course, it’s not that simple. No amount of willing could restore the creativity. Fortunately, work beckoned. Assignments that were pitched long ago became due and I had to give in to the powerful pull of the kitchen. That intersection of need and want was right where I needed to be to get back to what I love. And now, I feel like I am reclaiming that bit of myself — and this bright and vibrant dish is part of that.

Making Cucumber, Carrot and Edamame Salad

Cucumber, Carrot and Edamame Salad is based on one of my very favorite salads, which I usually have over rice noodles. This one is a little heartier with the addition of edamame and a little more cucumber, and doesn’t necessarily need rice noodles to be loved. It marries so many wonderful things — cool cucumbers, sweet carrots, meaty edamame and a simple dressing of rice vinegar and oil.

And making it? It’s so easy. Yet Cucumber, Carrot and Edamame Salad feels special — it’s happiness, captured in a bowl.

Try this as a side dish with a flavorful chicken. Or use it in a pita sandwich with tender, warm, thinly sliced steak.

Or just eat Cucumber, Carrot and Edamame Salad straight from the bowl and enjoy every second. It’s perfect just like that too.

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I wish I could gaze into a crystal ball and see the future, perhaps six months from now. I wish I could see that the progress we’ve made means something and our efforts — the talking, the patience, the healing books and the one-footstep-in-front-of-another philosophy — is working and will land our family and community somewhere better.

Of course, I can’t. Instead, I must take comfort in the fact that today is better than last week, which was better than the week before that. Things are improving, slowly. We’re healing, slowly.

Meanwhile, I really want to just get back to good food here on Sarah’s Cucina Bella. I mean, that’s what this site is all about, right?

Broccoli Cheddar Soup is one of my all-time favorite dishes. I fell in love with it years ago at a country fair, where it was served in a big bread bowl. But I seldom had it again until last year when I spent one day a week in an office not far from Panera Bread. Let’s just say that I ate it a lot working there. A lot, a lot.

Now that I am back to working exclusively at home, I’ve been left to my own devices to make my own Broccoli Cheddar Soup — and let me tell you, this is as warm and comforting as the one I remember. It’s like a hug from a loved one or a beautiful memory — it just wraps you in happy joy.

Good thing my family likes it too because now I make it a little more often than I probably should. For the past few months, I have been making this soup on a pretty regular basis. Sometimes I leave it a little more chunky. Sometimes I puree it totally. But either way, it’s always good.

I love this with a hunk of crusty bread, torn straight from the loaf. No butter … just the soup and the bread complimenting each other. Sometimes, that’s all you need — just a simple combination to make everything just right.

Note: recipe adapted from Juanita’s Cocina.

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As I was making my coffee this morning, Paige emerged from her bedroom — bleary eyed and yawning. Scrappy, who is still recovering from his neck injury, had been barking protests to his aching body as he moved around, trying to get comfortable. It woke her.

“It’s still early. Don’t you want to go back to sleep?” I asked her, “Or do you want to come rest in my bed a bit?”

Minutes later, we were cuddled up in my bed, talking about the dark morning and busy coming day. I breathed in her sweet scent, listening as she talked about clouds and the coming day. Then, too soon, it was time to wake Will, prepare breakfast and start the morning rush.

It was all so normal — a welcome feeling these days.

Part of finding our new normal here is figuring out our new flow of things. We’re only three days into this, but a few things are already clear. The time frames of our day have been shifted. We now have to wake much earlier so Will can catch his much earlier bus to school. And the kids come home from school much later, making dinnertime and after school fun a little harder. Since homework, dinner and all else are now condensed into a short time frame, dinners have to be simple and fast. It makes life easier that way.

One of our favorite fast dinners is tacos — crunchy for Shawn and I and soft for Will and Paige. It’s a meal that we can agree on. Making them takes only about 15 minutes, and there is room for creativity with the toppings for them — like salsas, tomatoes, lettuce and more.

But when it comes to taco seasoning, I’m a little more picky — and thus always make my own homemade taco seasoning. I love the rich, spiced flavor of homemade taco seasoning so much more than the store bought version. Call me crazy, but when it only takes four ingredients to whip up a flavorful homemade taco seasoning, why would you spend more for the packet? Try this, and you really will never go back.

And if you want it a little spicier, add a little cayenne or chipotle pepper powder to the mix — but beware, a little goes a long way.

(This recipe is a slight variation of my Homemade Mild Taco Seasoning.)

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The kids and I are about to hit the grocery store for our Thanksgiving supplies. But first, I have a few tips for how you can eat well without overspending this Thanksgiving.

1. Pay attention to price tags

It’s easy to glance at price tags and only see the big numbers. But a closer look reveals the real cost of what you are buying. Take for instance Brussels sprouts at my local grocery. They are available in the prepacked little cup or you can buy them from the bulk section. The price tag on the left (above) is the prepacked little cup. On the right, are the lose bulk Brussels sprouts. If you buy the cup, you’re paying $7.09 a pound. If you grab a bag and select from the bin, you only pay $2.49 per pound — less than half the cost. That’s a huge savings! The same can be found between green beans (prepackaged fresh ones versus bulk ones), lettuce (the bagged versus the heads), garlic and more. In the reverse, the loose potatoes at my grocery often cost close to twice as much per pound compared to the prebagged ones. Yes, it’s a hectic time to be shopping, but taking the time to pay attention to the actual unit prices will pay off with big savings for you this Thanksgiving.

2. Stay in-season

In the past, Thanksgiving has always been an anything goes holiday for me where I paid little attention to what’s in-season and just made what we like. Not so this year as I am trying to put on a great meal on a budget — and the first step I took toward doing so was to eliminate dishes with out-of-season produce (sorry beets!). While we love them, there is big savings to be had by going more traditional with a harvest-based menu.

3. Tap into easy DIY

Anytime you buy something that’s a convenience — from pre-sliced French bread for crostini to pre-cut meats and cheeses, you pay a premium. But doing itself can save a bundle and doesn’t have to take long. So buy a whole butternut squash instead of the pre-cut (hint: peel it while watching TV and then remove the sinew-y bits and seeds and dice it. Store in an airtight container in the fridge. It lasts for days). Slice your own carrots too. And also buy a head of garlic instead of pre-peeled. And if you are using shredded cheese in a dish, go big. I will be — my Decadent Cheddar Mashed Potatoes with Bacon and Apples calls for quite a bit of cheese. But I won’t be reaching for the preshredded. Instead, I will buy a big block of cheese and shred it myself in my food processor for a big savings. And leftover shredded cheese will be perfect for reinventing Thanksgiving leftovers this weekend. Likewise, I will save time on my prep work by chopping, slicing and shredding veggies using my food processor as well. KitchenAid recently sent me the new KitchenAid 13-cup food processor to try out, and it makes quick, accurate work of all this. It works particularly well with dishes that use onions — I can get a fine chop on them in a few seconds, lending all their flavor to my dishes without my husband (who hates the texture of onions) complaining about them. Score!

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Disclosure: KitchenAid provided me with a food processor for use in my holiday coverage but I wasn’t compensated in any other way. All opinions are my own.

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Most weekday mornings go something like this: The kids wake up. I wake up — either thanks to the kids, my alarm or Snoopy trying to convince me to let him out. I drag out of bed. Get the kids breakfast (note to self: it might be time to empower them to get their own breakfasts), unload and reload the dishwasher, make and pack Will’s lunch and then – finally – make myself coffee. I usually have about 20 minutes to sit down before it’s time to get Will on the bus and get down to work while Paige plays. Soon after, I repeat the process, getting Paige bathed, dressed, fed and off to school with a snack.

Often, if we don’t have grab-and-go breakfast options, I forget to eat breakfast until Paige is off to school and it’s time for lunch. Sad but true.

Honestly, I can’t wait for when both kids are in school for the whole day. The daily juggle of responsibilities and work is hard. It feels like I am constantly headed to the bus stop and in a constant round of get ready for school, with work tucked in here and there. When they are both at school at the same time, I will be able to compartmentalize work and home a little more. Until then, I need shortcuts to make sure that we are all fed, cared for and ready to tackle the day. And that I have enough time for work too — since that’s important as well.

These granola bars? They are a good answer for the grab-and-go breakfast problem I have. They are simple to make — requiring little more than mixing, pressing, baking and cutting. They store well (and easily) in the cabinet for the week and are totally wallet-friendly. For $6 or less, you can make a big batch of these chewy granola bars. When you are watching your budget like I am, that’s a pretty big thing.

What we all loved about these chewy granola bars was the combination of pumpkin flavor with lots of chocolate. Dark chocolate (hello, antioxidants!) so even that indulgence is sort of good for you. The kids love their granola bars to be chewy too — so these really hit all the right notes for them. And even though I love crispy granola bars, the combination of flavors in this makes me love them too. Happiness all around. Also, because they are so filled with good stuff, they easily fill up your belly leaving you totally satisfied. That’s a pretty big thing too.

Easy Chewy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Granola Bars
yields 20 granola bars
adapted from Prevention’s Quick and Healthy Low-Fat Cooking

2 egg whites
2 tbsp honey
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
16 oz Country Pumpkin Spice Granola (I used Trader Joe’s brand, but any pumpkin granola will suffice) – about 4 cups
9 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9×13-inch baking pan (I used my trusty Pyrex) with parchment paper or nonstick aluminum foil.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the egg whites to soft peaks.

In a small saucepan set over low heat, whisk together the honey and pumpkin pie spice until combined. With the stand mixer running on low, drizzle the honey mixture into the egg white mixture until blended. Fold in the granola and chocolate chips.

Press the granola mixture into the baking pan, pressing with a spatula to spread it evenly and pack it down. Bake for 18-20 minutes, until golden.

Remove from the oven and let site for 15 minutes. Transfer the aluminum paper (with granola mixture on top) to a cutting board. Cut gently in to squares (but don’t separate them). Then cool completely and cut again using the guides you cut after they came out of the oven.

Store bars in an airtight container with wax paper between layers of bars for up to a week.

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These might look a lot like roasted pumpkin seeds. But they aren’t. They’re actually from a spaghetti squash. And they’re just as delicious.

Ok. Are you ready for this? This might blow your mind a little … You can roast seeds from any squash for a delicious snack. Seriously. Squash seeds are edible and can be roasted to use as a garnish or eaten as a snack. So when you crack open a butternut squash or a spaghetti squash or an acorn squash or whatever, save those seeds. But just as a note — this works best with meatier seeds (sorry summer squash!).

So, how did I discover this? Well, it all started when I was roasting a spaghetti squash last week. When I cut it open, I noticed how much the seeds reminded me of pumpkin seeds. And a little spark of an idea was born. Once the squash was in the oven, I dashed off to consult with my friend, Dr. Google. He’s a helpful one, that Google. Well, turns out that seeds from any squash can be eaten. Then it dawned on me: No more wasting seeds in this house! Also, why wait for pumpkin carving to roast seeds when I can roast up all the seeds from all the squashes we eat?

I’m excited. And I wonder why I never noticed the resemblance between different squash seeds before. Have you?

Yes, this is easy — but it does take a little while. These squash seeds are tossed with a little oil and some Five Spice Seasoning. And salt too. You can’t forget the salt. Then they are slow roasted to crispy perfection. Yum.

Roasted Five Spice Squash Seeds
yields depend on squash

seeds from 1 squash (such as spaghetti squash or butternut squash)
1 tsp  extra virgin olive oil
1/4 tsp Five Spice Seasoning
kosher salt, to taste

Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Line a baking sheet with nonstick aluminum foil.

Thoroughly wash the seeds, removing any pulp. Then dry on paper towel. Toss seeds with olive oil and seasonings. Spread out on the foil.

Roast the seeds in the oven for 1 – 1 1/4 hours, until lightly golden, stirring every 15 minutes.

Enjoy!

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Would you believe me if I told you these bars are pretty frugal and also easy to make? I mean minimal fuss. It’s true!

Last school year, I got myself addicted to breakfast bars made with whole ingredients like nuts, dried fruits and honey. They’re so easy to grab and with simple ingredients, I could feel good about trading my egg, fruit and whole grain toast for a quick bar. But the cost? Well, that’s a little more tricky. I spent quite a bit maintaining my little breakfast habit. But now that I am trying to cut back on grocery expenses, the first thing to be cut was my bars. The agony. It’s hard when you develop a habit like this to just cut yourself off, but a glance at the price tag does help (depending on the store, they range from $1.25-$2 each!).

So what now? Breakfast just isn’t as easy anymore. Unless, of course, you whip up some crazy easy granola bars. (What? Doesn’t everyone do this?)

Four ingredients go into this. Four! Heck, you might even have them all on hand to make a batch right now. Seriously. How can you say no to something so simple?

The process? You whip the egg whites, mix it all up with other ingredients, press it in a pan and then bake. So simple. The hardest part is the pressing, because you really have to work the mixture to cover the whole pan — but even that is like nothing.

And the result? Crispy homemade granola bars with a delicious whisper of cinnamon throughout. Perfect for a quick and easy breakfast!

What’s your favorite grab and go breakfast?

Easy Crispy Fruit and Nut Granola Bars
yields 20 granola bars
adapted slightly from Prevention’s Quick and Healthy Low-Fat Cooking

2 egg whites
2 tbsp honey
1/2 tsp cinnamon
4 cups fruit and nut granola

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9×13-inch baking sheet with parchment paper or nonstick aluminum foil.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the egg whites to soft peaks.

In a small saucepan set over low heat, whisk together the honey and cinnamon until combined. With the stand mixer running on low, drizzle into the egg white mixture. Continue mixing until blended. Fold in the granola.

Press the granola mixture onto the baking sheet, pressing with a spatula until it’s spread to the whole 9×13-inch pan. Bake for 15-18 minutes, until golden.

Remove from the oven and transfer the aluminum paper (with granola mixture on top) to a cutting board. Cut gently in to bars (but don’t separate them). Then cool completely and cut again using the guides you cut after they came out of the oven.

Store bars in an airtight container for up to a week.

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How much do you spend on groceries each week? Each month? How much do you spend on eating out or take out? These numbers are important, and ones that I’ve been overlooking too long. How about you?

Over the last year, my income has been on a roller coaster. It’s up, it’s down, it’s doing a loopy-loop. And while I have tried to keep everything in our daily lives level, it’s meant that some months were leaner than others. I focused on cutting back on energy use, driving, unnecessary purchases. But what I didn’t tackle was our food consumption problem. Stressed, I gave into takeout too many times. Groceries? They haven’t seen a budget in way too long.

But now, it’s something I need to face. It’s time to conquer our out-of-control food spending. In some ways, this is a completely overwhelming undertaking. There are certain foods I can’t just stop buying — as a professional recipe developer, I can’t just stop buying for work. But what I can do is manage my family’s food purchases. By ignoring this, I am perpetuating the problem — and holding myself and my family back from moving ahead. The money we’re wasting on food could be doing us greater good elsewhere.

So where do we start?

7 Ways to Spend Less on Groceries

Saving money on food always begins with planning. While you don’t have to meal plan for the week, it’s a great idea and does work. But if that’s not for you, you can still save big by shopping smartly. I’ve been reading up on tips for spending less at the grocery store as well as frugal recipes. And this helps. But what’s helped more are these tips from experts on some ways to cut back and eat well.

1. Look in Unconventional Places

Confession: I usually check some unusual places for my favorite specialty ingredients like special salts and oils. Turns out I am not alone. “Some things can be found in unlikely places. Unprocessed sea salt can be found in TJ Maxx and Marshalls. It is cheaper than I can buy it wholesale. To make the trip worth while, we will purchase several bags or bottles at a time,” says Jonathan Steele, RN.

2. Choose in Season

You’ve probably heard it a billion times, but if you buy in-season fruits and veggies, you will spend less. And they are likely to have better flavor. “Strawberries and watermelon may be tempting in the winter months, but you’ll pay top dollar, too! Buy fruits and veggies when they’re in season. Coming into fall, your best bets will be apples, cabbage, kale, pears and pumpkins to name a few. Enjoy all that the seasons have to offer,” says Traci Mitchell, a healthy living and fitness writer.

3. Invest in Bulk

Eating healthier foods can result in less spending, but you have to know how to buy. Packaged ingredients naturally come at a premium, but you can save by hitting the bulk bins. “Rather than spending your money on a five pound bag of potato chips or super sized sodas, put your cash toward healthier bulk items, such as oatmeal, brown rice, dry beans, lentils and even flours. Even higher end food stores offer these foods at a much, much lower price than their traditional size counterparts,” says Mitchell. Plus, since these ingredients can make bigger dishes, they’ll go a lot farther than the snack foods would, says Mitchell.

4. Skip the Convenience

These days, you can get your cheese already shredded, your chocolate milk already mixed and your PBJ in a convenient ready-to-go sandwich. That doesn’t mean you should though. When you buy the convenience items, you spend more and get less. “Convenience has a price! If you buy shredded cheese and pre-cut fruits and veggies, your grocery bill will add up quickly. Opt for do it yourself foods and enlist the help of your spouse or kids during meal prep. Also, a Presto Salad Shooter is a wise purchase than can save you money and time,” says Karen Hoxmeier, who writes the couponing and bargain shopping website MyBargainBuddy.com.

5. DIY is a Saver

Here in the U.S., the emergence of boneless chicken, pork and beef has been a big convenience. But even though the cost of this convenience is small, you lose out on the ability to make use of the bones — which are valuable for making your own ingredients for other dishes like stocks. “Save chicken bones – keep them in a bag in the freezer – and when you have enough of them, make stock. Reduce the stock so that it’s really concentrated and save in pint jars in the freezer. Great stock, doesn’t cost a thing, other than maybe a carrot or onion for the stock,” says Elise Bauer of Simply Recipes. Likewise, you can do this with beef bones, shrimp shells and unused portions of veggies.

6. Know Your Store’s Specials

Back when Will was an infant, our grocery budget was tiny so I stretched my dollars by picking up big deals from the store’s produce mark-down rack and in the meat counter. This technique still works great — especially when you can freeze the items for later. “I love finding manager’s special deals at my grocery store. In fact, I create nightly meals based on these deals. Usually any fresh foods, meats, fish, milk, yogurt, etc. nearing the expiration date will be marked down. … Often times, your bakery may also sell day-old bread at a discount–so check in the evening for these savings. Bread that seems a stale, makes for delicious croutons or stuffing,” says consumer-savings expert Andrea Woroch.

7. Don’t Forget to Stock Up

One more thing … when fruits and veggies are in season, buy extra to freeze. This works particularly well with peppers, berries and other easy-to-freeze produce. “Perfect example – we picked blackberries when they were ripe – enough to last us all year long.  We ate what we could and froze the rest.  Now I have delicious blackberries on hand for smoothies, pies, etc.  and I certainly am not paying the current price of $4.00 a pint,” says  Pam Howard of Be Healthy. Be Happy. You can also use this tactic when cereals, oatmeals, crackers and pantry staples go on sale too. But always be sure to buy what you will use — otherwise you’re wasting money on whatever doesn’t get used.

This is Just the Beginning

A longtime reader suggested that I create a link up and talk more about this regularly — and I think she’s right. Being budget-conscious in the grocery store is important. Times are still tough, and we could all use that savings somewhere else. Share your budget-trimming posts and frugal meals in the link up below (come on! It’s fun!). Then check back here on October 4 for more on spending less on groceries. You can also join the discussion on the Sarah’s Cucina Bella Facebook page!

Save Money on Groceries Link up

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Popcorn, anyone?

On movie night (every Friday in our house!) popcorn is practically a requirement. I mean, how can you dig into a good flick without a big buttery bowl of popcorn? There’s something big to be said for traditions like that. The kids get so excited for our Friday movie and popcorn.

‘Course, making popcorn in our house mean really making it. No microwave popcorn here. After reading the ingredients list, I just couldn’t — too many unpronounceable things. But give up popcorn altogether? Never. Instead, we usually pop it in our air popper. That’s not always practical though. Sometimes you want easy — easy cooking and easy cleanup

This week’s recipe from The Food Matters Project was popcorn, which actually worked out really well because I learned a whole new way of making popcorn at home. And it’s super easy. The popcorn recipe in The Food Matters Cookbook call for it to be either cooked on the stove top or in the microwave. I opted for the latter since it didn’t require oil or anything.Bittman’s microwave popcorn is a total home hack to have your popcorn fast — without mess, fuss or bags of weird smelling packaged microwave popcorn. Score. The process is so simple. Place 1/4 cup of popcorn kernals in a paper bag with a 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Roll the top over a few times and then microwave for 2-3 minutes then toss with seasonings.

See? Couldn’t be easier.

Then the only question is how to season it. For the kids, I sprinkled grated parmesan, dried basil and salt into the bag and shook it all up. Will declared one of his favorites ever. For me, I sprinkled the hot popcorn with five spice and brown sugar. I loved the sweet-savory take on standard popcorn. It was just perfect.

What do you like on your popcorn?

To learn more about this recipe over to Cookie and Kate, this week’s Food Matters Project host.

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When you plan your meals ahead of time, the evening goes much smoother. It becomes simpler to just finish up whatever you need to (work, laundry, whatever) and then move into a speedy dinner prep. Unfortunately, I fell back into bad habits recently and wasn’t planning dinners. Heck, I wasn’t even thinking about dinner … until it was time to make it. We consumed a lot of pasta. It was really chaotic, and I hate chaos.

But I am working on it (we’re on day five of planning success!). Honestly, the stress of having dinner roll around without a plan is something I don’t need. No one needs it. And it’s just too easy to skirt the issue with a little bit of planning.

The slow cooker really comes in handy. It’s just so simple. You toss the ingredients in early in the morning and then when dinnertime rolls around, you have a hot, ready to go dinner. If you are struggling with dinners, you should totally get your slow cooker out and give it a shot. Having this stew bubbling away the other afternoon provided such sweet peace of mind so that I could focus on what I needed to without stressing over what I would toss together for dinner.

Oh, and this Slow Cooker Beef and Veggie Stew is a great dish to re-start your slow cooking adventures with.

This stew has a faint French onion-ness to the broth, but not so much that onion haters will balk (and the onion pieces are big so they can pick ‘em out anyway). And the roasted garlic adds dimension to the broth. The slow cooking blends the flavors as it renders the stew meat completely fall-apart tender. The vegetables – carrots, broccoli stems, potatoes and sweet potatoes – give the stew bulk so that it fills you up.

Did you catch that it has broccoli stems. Stems! The part that no one loves to eat. I keep stems in my freezer for using in recipes like this. And honestly, after slow cooking the stems for so long, the kids and I really enjoyed them in this stew. It was an unexpected but welcome element.

Eat this with a slice of buttered bread. Just divine.

Slow Cooker Beef and Veggie Stew
serves 6

1 1/4 lb stew beef, cut into 1″ chunks
1 small onion, quartered
1 Yukon gold potato, diced
1 sweet potato, diced
3 carrots, peeled and sliced into 1/2″ thick pieces
6 cloves roasted garlic, sliced and crushed
1/2 cup diced broccoli stems
4 cups beef stock
1/2 cup red wine
salt and pepper, to taste
flour (for thickening)

Combine all of the ingredients except the flour in the bowl of the slow cooker. Stir gently. Cover and cook on low for 10-12 hours.

Remove a ladle of broth from the stew to a container with a cover and add flour (2 tbsp to start). Cover and shake vigorously until combined. Stir into the stew. Repeat until you reach desired thickness.

Serve immediately. Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to five days.

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