Homemade Ready

I’m very big on any kind of soup, stew or chili, especially in the fall. Nothing says home and hearth to me more than a big, steamy pot of goodness. Rich broth and slow-cooked vegetables are comfort in a bowl and perfect to warm you right up on a cool autumn day.  When it comes to chili, I usually like to make it very thick and hearty. This turkey chili, however, is a little lighter and a little bit like a soup. It has some extra vegetables, too, in case you have have any late zucchini or peppers you’re currently harvesting from your summer garden. In this recipe, I've used canned beans, but you can substitute 3 cups of your own home-cooked or home-canned beans. Turkey Chili Soup with Garden Vegetables 4-6 Servings Ingredients: 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 pound lean ground turkey 1 onion, diced 3 cloves garlic, minced 2 bell peppers (any color), diced 1 jalapeno, finely diced 1 large zucchini, diced 2 tablespoons chili powder ½ teaspoon ground cum...

I just love beans, I really do. They are a good source of plant-based protein, with the added bonuses of being tasty and economical. While I always keep beans on hand in my pantry in both canned and dried versions, my favorite approach to cooking with beans is to cook dried beans in big batches, then store them in smaller, convenient portions in my freezer.  I find this to be a cheap and easy way to have quick access to beans for use in soups, stews, chili, side dishes, salads, and for stretching out the ground meat in recipes. The thing I wonder, though, is how did cooking dried beans get to be such a controversial and (unnecessarily) complicated subject? Although grannies and cowboy cooks have been cooking and eating beans as a staple food for many long years, this practice has become something that now seems to intimidate many home cooks.  It’s understandable why this is, however, when you read the many conflicting articles out there about the hows and whys of cook...

In my mind, succotash is kind of an old fashioned dish. It was popular in our grandparents' generation (especially if your grandparents lived in the Northeast U.S. or parts of the South), but doesn’t seem to make much of an appearance on menus today. It was also a popular dish during the Great Depression because it was cheap and made from common ingredients (just the kind of thing we like around here). Its simple goodness of is exactly what makes it a perfect side for a family meal. I like to make it as an easy side dish full of fresh, summer vegetables, and topped with a little bit of bacon, just to make it extra good. (It's also great for holidays like Thanksgiving or Christmas). There are actually many versions of succotash, but because of its Native American origins, it almost always includes two vegetables native to the Americas – corn and lima beans. Now, I know that the first inclination may be to dismiss this recipe because of those (oft-dreaded) lima beans, but ...

These hearty taco bowls use one of my favorite old-time money-saving tricks: stretching the ground meat. This is something that grandmothers did regularly back in the day, often adding a little bit of bread crumbs, or some oats to make the meat go a little further. Think of all of the meatloaves, casseroles and stews that came out of the necessity to make the meat stretch a little farther.

I am a serious chili fanatic. Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall - the time is always right for chili. I am not a purist, however, because I do like to change-up my ingredients and play with seasonal flavors. This chili uses one of my favorite fall ingredients - sweet potatoes. I know that sweet potatoes are available year-round, but they are harvested and cured in the fall, and their sweet taste and orange color are just right for a hearty bowl of chili on an autumn evening.