That right, I’m adding meals to A Sweeter Thing. For a couple reasons: 1. Sometimes the sweeter things….have nothing to do with what you’re eating but who you’re eating with. For our fifth wedding anniversary (like 3 years ago….our marriage is old enough for second grade!). Anyway….the anniversary. We were given our choice of a dining room table set. We chose an Amish built table from Pineview Woodworking in Arthur, IL. It was a big deal….the dining room table is pretty symbolic to us in that we will have it forever….our family will grow up around that table….many of our greatest memories will be spent at that table. I imagine in 20 years it will be covered in scratches from kids doing homework and science projects on it, from babies “practicing” with silverware on it….heck…when I was a kid I carved into our family dining table while carving a pumpkin once. My parents cherish those scratches. 
(I actually have that table in my kitchen now….go figure). All this to say…..meal time is and will continue to be a big deal, regardless of the meal that is served at it. 2. I read a lot of food blogs, I love them all. But I read a lot of recipes that call for things that I can’t find in Decatur or that are expensive to cook with. I need meals that are relatively quick and healthy but also delicious. We love food. We love to enjoy our food. But I can’t be running to ten places to buy all the ingredients for my meals….I work part time and have a one year old. Enough said. So my goal is to share with you some of my staple recipes and some new ones too that hopefully will be as helpful to you as they are to me and that are easy to make with ingredients that are easy to find and affordable.
Here’s my disclaimer….being that I’m not a full time blogger…..I make dinner…….in the evening. That means……..its dark. So I’m apologizing right now for the food photography. Anything made after daytime hours (which a lot of times includes desserts too) will be poorly photographed but I’ll do my best
Ok, so starting with recipe #1. Truly a staple in our house. Italian Stew. I found this recipe in Kraft’s Food and Family magazine a couple years ago, and love it. It’s hearty and pretty healthy. I make it with whole grain rotini that I cook in chicken broth (or water seasoned with chicken bouillon). It has italian sausage, fresh veggies and lots of flavor. Perfect for fall and winter but honestly, we eat it year round. It’s also a fairly cheap meal to make so I like it a lot.
I used to use frozen pepper stir-fry in the recipe but now I can’t find it anywhere! So I have settled for frozen chopped onion and freshly chopped bell peppers. Amazing.
Italian Stew
Recipe adapted from kraftfoods.com
Ingredients:
- 1 lb italian sausage
- 2 tablespoons italian dressing
- 1 can italian style diced tomatoes
- 1 package frozen pepper stir fry OR 1 cup chopped onion and 2 bell peppers (I like red and orange) chopped
- 1 quart chicken broth
- whole grain rotini (or your favorite pasta)
