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Forget Boring Mashed Potatoes And Go For This AWESOME Gratin Instead!

Here’s a dish that will knock your socks off! And your dinner guests, too! This potato gratin is something I make for every special occasion, whether it’s Thanksgiving, Easter or just a birthday celebration dinner. It’s a dish so yummy that you could probably serve it as the main course, and you wouldn’t hear any complaints. However, so far I’ve just served it as a side dish.

Except on those rare occasions when we’ve had leftovers. Then I’ve just enjoyed those for lunch the next day – and my family knows I won’t share! I’ve reserved the right to eat any leftovers of this potato gratin, unless they have helped me make it.

Not that it’s a difficult dish to make – it isn’t, but it does take a little time to peel and slice those potatoes. I recommend getting a mandolin slicer; it will make the task a lot faster and easier! Plus, it’s such a fun tool that I wouldn’t mind slicing potatoes all days long, haha!

Serve this gratin at your next family gathering and watch it disappear in minutes!

Image credit Dreamyshade.

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Quick Tip: This potato gratin makes the perfect side to any entree, but I especially enjoy this with a good steak.

Put Your Slow Cooker To Good Use And Make The BEST Soup Of The Season

Here’s the greatest chicken soup recipe on the face of the Earth, if you ask me! It’s not your usual chicken noodle soup, quickly made of chicken strips and frozen veggies. There’s nothing wrong with those, of course, but once you’ve tried this you know there is no going back to your old recipe!

The secret is to use fresh vegetables, a whole chicken, and to let everything cook together slowly in your crock pot. You might think it takes a lot of work to make this but you’re wrong. After you’ve chopped the veggies and seasoned the chicken, you can literally forget the whole thing until it’s dinnertime!

I often put this together in the morning before leaving for work and when I return, the whole house smells amazing! How all the flavors come together in the slow cooker is something unbelievable – and you know, this is one of those dishes that only gets better after a day or two in the fridge! This really is the comfort food of all comfort foods.

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Quick Tip: This recipe makes 8 to 10 servings.

These Aren’t Your Grandma’s Cabbage Rolls – Or Are They?

Raise your hand if you’re a fan of cabbage! It’s one of my favorite ingredients in the world, which is kind of a big deal since I didn’t used to like it at all, as a kid. I would go into the kitchen and tell my mother the whole house smelled awful, whenever she was making cabbage soup or any cabbage dish, really. Poor Mom – I was definitely a picky eater when I was little!

But I think I was about 10 when grandma was staying over at our house and she wanted to cook dinner for all of us. She made her famous cabbage rolls and I just didn’t have the heart to tell her I don’t like cabbage. It’s weird, isn’t it? I had no problem at all telling my mother I hated it, but when it comes to grandmas I guess we all act a little differently!

Anyway, I’m really glad I decided to keep my mouth shut because it meant I had to give those cabbage rolls a try. And they were ridiculous. I mean that in the best possible way! They were so tasty I kept eating until grandma laughed and said I was probably going to explode if I had one more.

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Quick Tip: Make a double batch and freeze the other one for a quick meal when you need one!

Are You Struggling With Your Grocery Bill?

We all know how expensive food can be these days, and I doubt it’s going to get any cheaper. When you’re cooking for five people (or even more) you will quickly notice how things add up. I am always on the lookout for recipes that will help me save a few bucks each day. I have plenty of use for an extra hundred dollars, instead of spending it all on food!

Don’t get me wrong; when it’s a special occasion I like to pamper myself and my whole family with meals that are out of the ordinary and may even cost a little more than usual. But I just don’t want to spend a lot of money on weekday meals, especially if I can make something totally mouth-watering with a fraction of the cost!

Most stews are like that and this time of year I make them very often. This outstanding beef bourguignon from Plank, is a meal I would be happy to serve to even the finest dinner guests. The flavor is mindblowing and by tasting it, you wouldn’t believe how little it costs to make this!

Recipe and image courtesy of Plank.

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Quick Tip: How to make this dish even more inexpensive; use less meat and add more vegetables, omit the wine and add more beef stock instead, serve over rice to get more servings out of one batch.

Fill Your Belly With These Fantastic Flavors!

What I’m going to show you today is one of the yummiest soups I have ever made in my whole life! Trust me; I’ve tried quite a bunch of them, so I know what I’m talking about. At this time of year I basically just ditch all the salads and grilled meals and go for steaming hot bowls of happiness. And they sure make me happy!

When you can get such a delicious meal, with very little effort, it makes you want to cook the same recipe over and over again. And that’s basically what I’ve been doing these past couple of weeks! This soup is not just really yummy – it’s also pretty lean, so you don’t need to worry about your calorie intake.

With a few little tweaks you can make it taste brand new every time! Add a little bit of tomato paste, or use sausage instead of ham and no-one in your family will even realize you’ve been using the same recipe all along! Serve with homemade biscuits or dinner rolls and you’ll get a hearty meal your whole family loves.

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Quick Tip: Add a splash of hot sauce for a bit of a kick!

Delish, inexpensive and lean – everything a great meal should be!

One of my earliest childhood memories is of my mother, standing by the stove, making split pea soup in a huge pot.

Family was coming over to help my father make a new wood shed, and Mom wanted to make a hearty meal for the whole bunch. Back then money was often an issue (or the lack of it), so she certainly couldn’t serve fancy steaks for ten people. However, my mother had a way of turning the most modest, inexpensive ingredients into such delicious meals that everyone was always happy to dine with us.

This recipe very much reminds me of mother’s; the way she used a ham bone to bring that juicy flavor into the soup. All the ingredients were pretty inexpensive then, and that’s what they are now, too. But I guarantee you’ll have the tastiest soup you’ve ever tried in your whole life.

If you want something extra, you can add some cream into this soup, but it certainly isn’t necessary. My father would always mix a spoonful of spicy mustard into his portion, and I wanted to sprinkle some grated cheese on top. Whatever you want to serve this with, it’s going to be amazing!

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Quick Tip: Omit the celery, if you’re not a fan!

Here’s a one pot meal ya’ll are going to love! I always enjoy stews like this – first of all, because they’re so extremely tasty. And second, because the cleanup is a breeze!

I honestly think it’s a blessing for everyone when you don’t have to bring out all your pots and pans to feed your family. As you let all of the ingredients simmer together in one dish, it makes the flavors even more delightful and you won’t need to add anything fancy. In fact, you’ll probably have most of these ingredients at hand, right now!

This stew is a great way to add some veggies into your picky eater’s diet. My little one does not like celery at all, but he never complains when I serve this for dinner. I honestly think all the flavors have combined so nicely that he doesn’t even realize there’s celery in it! But, of course, you could omit that if you’re not a fan.

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Quick Tip: Omit the red wine, if you’d like.