Wednesday, December 14, 2011

My fantasy winter menu

So, on my day off yesterday, I made beef stew. Nice chunky, homey stew...red potatoes, carrots, onions, green beans, and some really tasty beef. It was a good reminder of why I love my crockpot. Throw everything in with a little liquid and seasonings, let it do its thing...4-6 hours later, delicious dinner! And getting to smell it cook all day and make all the neighbors on my floor jealous=bonus points. I just had my second helping of leftovers. Nothing like a little stew for a midnight snack.

I've decided that, if it were healthy/practical/not something that would make my husband cry, I would love to eat this sort of thing everyday (well, while it's cold out). The warmth...the blend of hearty ingredients and savory broth...getting all that yumminess in one spoonful...it's perfect! I also inexplicably really prefer eating from a bowl, as opposed to a plate. Yep, my week could go something like this:

Monday--chicken and gnocchi (something like Olive Garden's...but lighter on the salt)
Tuesday--beef stew (from my crockpot!)
Wednesday--tomato basil soup (Panera has a really tasty version. As does Target Cafe, surprisingly.)
Thursday--miso soup (Sushi House! Or Oyama.)
Friday--baked potato soup (I actually can't think of a restaurant where I love this soup...I just know that I love it, in general.)
Saturday--chili (Texas Roadhouse has good chili, don't you think?)
Sunday--chicken tortilla soup (I think this is best homemade. Maybe for my next crockpot day!)

Mmmm.

As for other, more relevant bits of life...well, I'm not in the best of moods lately. Really excited for Christmas with my family next weekend, but otherwise feeling pretty blah-tastic. So let's just leave on the happy, cozy thought of "mmmm." Also, my warm puppies snuggling me.