Date Night Recipe // Turkey Stock Soup

Written with love, by Sarah-Elizabeth Stone

Quiet nights sharing a meal, chatting about the work day or discussing a good movie happen to be one of the highlights of my day.  There’s something about the weather getting colder, the days getting shorter and my sweaters getting heavier that I love. Call me a cliché but if we could throw in a fire place, a few cats and huge slippers in there, I’ve practically died and gone to heaven.

I did this recipe right after our Thanksgiving dinner, using the leftover turkey bones. It’s a basic stock soup, but you can use anything and everything in your fridge, which is one of my very favourite things to do! So curl up with your love, sit in front of the fire place and enjoy! (Just make sure to start this recipe well ahead of dinner!

Ingredients

·         Turkey bones, frame

·         ½ cup of turkey meat

·         1 white onion, cut into quarters

·         8 cups of water

·         4 celery stocks

·         2 cups of sliced carrots

·         ½ cup chopped broccoli

·         1 tsp salt

Directions

1.       Have a strong stomach

2.       Chop/cut up turkey frame and bones

3.       On medium heat add 8 cups of water mix in turkey frame, onion, chopped celery stocks, bring to a boil and then let simmer for 3-5 hours

4.       Remove turkey frame & cooked vegetables, strain broth, and bring back up to a boil

5.       Add in carrots and broccoli and salt

Date Night Recipe // Stuffed Shells

Written with love, by Sarah-Elizabeth Stone

One of my favourite things to do, besides eat, is to use all the ingredients in my fridge before they go bad. I often have the issue of getting groceries when I’m hungry after work. My eyes tend to be bigger than my stomach and I wind up with a lot more food then we actually need in the house. And between my husband and I, we really dislike wasted food.

I love when recipes can be flexible, and include food already in the fridge. It’s a great way to use left overs, or empty out the cupboards at the end of the week. Feel free to take this recipe and run with it depending on what you’ve got! 

 

Ingredients

·         2 cubs of jumbo pasta shells

·         2 cups of spinach

·         1 tsp basil

·         1 tsp of garlic powder

·         ½ cup of chopped mushrooms

·         1 lbs of ground chicken, turkey or beef

·         1 cup of shredded cheese

·         ½ cup of tomato paste, or pasta sauce

·         ½ cup of chopped onion

·         Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions

1.       Preheat oven to 350F

2.       Start by boiling water, and cooking shells until they just begin to get soft

3.       In a frying pan, on medium heat, cook the ground meat, mushrooms, spinach, spices and onion

4.       Set the shells aside once there done cooking to cool

5.       Next, stuff the shells with the meat mixture, and lay out in a casserole dish

6.       Pour the pasta sauce over the shells and then sprinkle the cheese on top

7.       Let cook in the oven for roughly 15-20 minutes, or until the cheese is golden brown

8.       Serve with some side veggies, or as an appetizer

Date Night Recipe // Ham + Pea Soup Recipe

Written with love, by Sarah-Elizabeth Stone

You rush around preparing for the better part of the week for ‘the meal’. You clarify likes, dislikes, allergies and intolerances.  The family has been invited, and you’ve sent your partner to the store and back half a dozen times too many.  The dogs have been tubbed and scrubbed and kids pressed and dressed. This is what Thanksgiving dinner looks like for the great many who choose to host, or help host, each year.  Of course we always take the time out to remember who we’ve been blessed with and what we’re all thankful for.  But when the last person leaves at the end of the evening, the tiny click that follows as the door yawns closed is truly a great sound.

More than anything, I find that bringing myself to cook a huge meal the next day just isn’t a possibility. So use those left overs! Get creative and start cooking!

Ingredients

·         4 cups of beef or vegetable stock

·         2 cups of peas

·         ½ a large onion

·         Left over ham

·         ½ tbs of basil

·         ½ tbs of garlic powder

·         ½ tbs of paprika

·         1 tbs of olive oil

·         ½ block of cheese, cubed (optional)

Directions

1.       In a large pot, on medium heat, brown onion in olive oil for roughly 5-7 minutes

2.       Pour in beef stock, and allow to simmer for 5 minutes

3.       Pour in peas, basil, garlic powder, paprika, cheese and allow to everything cook for about 10 minutes, or until the peas are fairly soft

4.       Using a hand blender mix everything together until it’s thick

5.       Add in cut up ham pieces and simmer for 5 minutes

6.       Serve with garlic bread, or anything else left over from your meal!