I am a Honey Bee

All about my adventures with cooking, crafts, and travel

Soups, Stews, Chili

Slow Cooker Beef Burgundy Stew

Slow Cooker Beef Burgundy Stew is a hearty, healthy dinner that will comfort you throughout the cold winter months. It’s coziness in a bowl.

Post from 2/5/14, Pictures updated 12/30/18

Post Contains Affiliate Links. Read my full disclosure HERE

We’re getting snow again in Boston today. Big surprise! It’s the year of snow!

Well, it’s the year of the horse but whatever.

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Butternut Squash-Apple Soup

Butternut Squash-Apple Soup

How is October wrapping up this week?

Halloween is Thursday night. I really wanted to have a costume this year since I could have fun and dress up the baby bump but I’m not having much luck coming up with a costume. We’ll see what I can come up with quickly so that I can get dressed up to hand out some candy. Oh yeah, and we can’t forget to get a costume for Kemper. ha!

Since October is wrapping up it means it’s time to post this month’s recipe for my Secret Recipe Club post. This month I received the blog called The Wimpy Vegetarian. Susan’s blog is full of great recipes that feature fresh ingredients and vibrant flavors.

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As usual, Price picked the recipe for me to make for this month’s SRC post. He was thinking fall when he picked the Butternut Squash-Apple Soup. I’m so glad that he did because we had a monster of a butternut squash sitting on our counter just waiting to be used. I had been staring at it wondering what to do since it was so big. Seriously, it was about from my finger tips to my elbow. A little intimidating to say the least. But this soup ended up being the perfect fit for it.

We loved this soup! It felt so rich without being indulgent. Can’t beat a healthy soup that is quick to make. It would be the perfect fit to make on a weekend or just after work.

Even the dog liked the soup! It’s vegetarian so I just mixed a bit into his food and he loved it. I’m always trying to give him extra fruits and veggies as treats instead of processed treats so I figured I’d just give this a try as well and he LOVED it.

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I highly suggest making this amazing Butternut Squash-Apple Soup when you are craving a delicious soup that is simple to make and that will fill you up on fresh fall flavors.

Butternut Squash-Apple Soup

Makes 6 servings

Ingredients

  • 2 medium butternut squash
  • 1 large yellow onion, diced
  • 2 tablespoons olive oils
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 5 cups vegetable stock
  • 1 cup apple cider
  • 1 teaspoon salt, to taste

Process

  1. Preheat the oven to 400° F.
  2. Peel and then slice off the top and bottom of each squash. Slice in half lengthwise and scrape out the seeds and pulp with a spoon and then chop the squash into 1″ cubes.
  3. Toss the squash with a little olive oil, lightly salt, and spread on a baking sheet. Roast until very, very soft and lightly caramelized, about 30 minutes.
  4. In a very large pot, melt the butter over medium high heat and cook until lightly browned. Lower the heat and add the remaining olive oil and the onion. Saute for about 20 minutes or until the onion begins to caramelize.
  5. Add the squash, vegetable stock, apple cider, and salt to the pot, and bring to a simmer for 10 minutes.
  6. In small batches, pour the soup into a blender and puree to a smooth.
  7. Season to taste prior to serving.

Adapted from The Whimpy Vegetarian

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Secret Recipe Club

Check out my previous 2 years of  Secret Recipe Club Posts.

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Thanks for visiting. Please leave me a comment to provide some feedback. I appreciate all the comments I receive.

Guinness Irish Beef Stew

Guinness Irish Beef Stew is a hearty fulling stew that is filled with tender beef, onions, & mushrooms. Rich flavors made better with a strong Guinness.

A stew simmering away on your stove all afternoon is a great way to start to get you excited about your dinner. The smells will perfume your kitchen and you’ll be dying to dig in to this Guinness Irish Beef Stew.

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Sausage, Lentil, and Kale Soup

Sausage, Lentil, and Kale Soup is a healthy, hearty soup that will leave you satisfied inside & out. You’ll love the flavors and textures from the lentils and kale. A sprinkling of cheese and a drizzle of olive oil will make each bite a perfect 10!

Post from 12/12/12, pictures updated 7/7/18

I’ve been in this crazy cooking and baking mode lately. It feels inspiring and fun. I love it so much!!

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Gazpacho

We live during a time when everything is available 24/7/365. Just because I can get a tomato or corn during freezing January, doesn’t mean I should. Over the last few years I have become much more aware of when I purchase food seasonally. I have gotten extremely picky over tomatoes. I think tomatoes really should only be purchased when they are fresh to your region. I admit that I can’t stop myself from buying grape tomatoes all year (I just need them) but I can promise you that I will NOT purchase some watery large tomato just to slap it on top of a burger.

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Light Cheddar Broccoli Soup

While driving back from a recent trip to Montreal, we stopped for lunch at Park Row Cafe in Waterbury, VT. This place served amazing sandwiches on home made bread, hot sandwich specials, and homemade soup. Price got a cup of their cheddar broccoli soup to go with this 1/2 a BLT. I had never had cheddar broccoli soup before. Why? Because I hate the smell of steamed broccoli. Any time I hear of broccoli as a side dish I think of overcooked cafeteria broccoli. But I tried and anyway and I LOVED IT. It was creamy, thick, cheesy, hearty, and the broccoli was not a stinky mess.


So I had to have this soup again. However the drive to Waterbury VT from Boston is not every convenient so I had to create a homemade version that would satisfy my craving. But, to make this soup more figure friendly I made it in the lightest way that I could, without having it watered down or using some (gross) non-fat cheese.

Since this soup is on the lighter side I felt it was best to cook the broccoli in the milk, compared to just added steamed broccoli to the soup. Why? I did not want to loose any flavor, or nutrients, in the discarded water used for steaming. While I have found that blending a light soup is the easiest way to make it “richer”, I decided not to do that since I wanted to have a bit more texture to the soup, but there is no restriction about blending the soup.

Light Cheddar Broccoli Soup

*serves 4-6*

Ingredients

  • 2 heads of broccoli
  • 3 cups of skim milk
  • 2 cups of chicken stock/vegetable broth
  • 1 large onion, finely chopped
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1/4 cup of whole wheat flour
  • 3 cups of skim milk
  • 2 cups of chicken stock/vegetable broth
  • 8oz of shredded reduced fat cheddar cheese (I prefer to use Cabot Creamery Brand)
Process
 
  1. Finely chop 2 heads of broccoli, including steams. In a large pot, combine the milk broccoli and simmer until broccoli is tender.
  2. In a small pot, saute the onions with 2 tablespoons butter. Once the onions are translucent, sprinkle the flour in and mix with a wooden spoon until the flour has evenly covered the onions. Add the broth slowly and mix until all lumps of flour are broken down.
  3. Add the broth mixture into the large pot. Lastly, add in the cheese and mix until the cheese is melted and completely incorporated. Serve immediately.

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Thanks for visiting. Please leave me a comment to provide some feedback. I appreciate all the comments I receive. 


 

Easy Spiced Carrot Soup

Easy Spiced Carrot Soup is a wonderful vegetarian soup that will warm your belly and soul with it’s bold flavors from the spices you blend in. Yum!

Healthy dinners don’t have to be complicated. This Spiced Carrot Soup is an easy recipe to make that is great for vegetarians and meat eaters alike because everyone loves rich bold flavors. 

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Sweet Pea and Mint Soup

This Sweet Pea and Mint Soup is a soup that welcomes Spring with open arms. It’s vibrant green hue is on par with the rich, fresh flavors in this vegetable soup.

Post Contains Affiliate Links. Read my full disclosure HERE

Post originally from 4/16/10, Pictures updated 2/8/19

Spring has sprung!!!! I love the freshness of spring. I love the new beginnings of it all. It is hard not to feel happy in spring with everything waking up from a long winter. Maybe you don’t love it, if you have allergies, but I love everything in bloom. It just makes me happy. 

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Easy Slow Cooker Turkey Chili

This Easy Slow Cooker Turkey Chili will keep you warm & cozy all winter long. It’s hearty & healthy, but without all the fuss. The perfect, easy dinner!

Post Contains Affiliate Links. Read my full disclosure HERE

I love our slow cooker. We use it all the time!

Do you have a slow cooker? If not, you need one!!! It’s so awesome.

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Gazpacho and Shakespeare

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I could never understand gazpacho. It just seemed like people were eating salsa but calling it cold soup, yeah that makes it okay then. Well I finally caved and had it one day and I have been hooked. It just screams summer to me.

I made I big batch to bring to the Couples meetup for our Shakespeare in the Park picnic.  For one thing it was fun to watch Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors but it was also great to meet new people and have great food. Who knew that you could have a conversation about Extra Virgin Coconut Oil? Well I have to find some and give it a try.

Gazpacho

1 English Cucumber, Diced

1 red/orange pepper, diced

1 green pepper, diced

1 red onion, diced

2 large tomatos, diced or 1 pint of grape tomatos diced

1 1/2 cups of corn, fresh or frozen

2 tablespoons minced garlic

1 quart, 14 oz of tomato juice (very large can) *

1/2 cup red wine vinegar

1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil

Juice of 1 lime

Hot Sauce

Salt and Pepper

Dice all vegetables and add to tomato juice. Add in red wine vinegar, olive oil, and lime juice. Add hot sauce, salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy.

*I try to use low sodium so that I can adjust the salt myself

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Thanks for visiting. Please leave me a comment to provide some feedback. I appreciate all the comments I receive.Â