It has been so hot that I don’t care to cook but today I was thinking about summer ending and school starting and I love to cook when it is cold. Part of the reason for the winter food dreams is left over sauerkraut that I didn’t want to toss out. I decided to make Hunters Stew or Kapusta as it was know when I was a kid. I grew up not to far from Detroit Michigan and a lot of my family’s friends were Polish. My mother learned how to cook several Polish dishes and this was a favorite. It is a stew made from drained and rinsed kraut, sausage (cubed pork of you have it), more chopped cabbage, mushrooms, and like most stews, pretty much whatever you have around. I added a can of pinto beans drained and rinsed, a cubed potato, some baby carrots, and some chopped onion. Put it all in a crockpot and leave it on low all day, fix some cornbread and you have some good eating.
In the winter you could put it all in a big kettle on your wood heater and after a day of running around in the snow, trying to work and run errands, you would come home to wonderful smells and curl up with a good book and a quilt and life would be good.
While I am in the food mood I am going to share some of my favorite food websites.
Healthy recipes and recipes that contain ingredients that are tailored for certain health problems. There are videos, you can sign up to receive recipes by email or subscribe by rss. He is selling a book of course and advertising the tv show on Lifetime but the recipes seem pretty good.
http://www.hungry-girl.com/
Good recipes – again she is selling a book but the website is fun – there is even a game (whack-a-snack) and a section on tips and tricks for dining out and staying healthy.
There are two sites that give you comparison foods – something you shouldn’t eat and a substitute that is a healthier choice. These are not necessarily sugar or fat free choices – just better. There are some surprises here.
http://www.menshealth.com/eatthis/index.php
http://www.womenshealthmag.com/files/eat-this-not-that/index.html
New on my wishlist!
One of my faves – good country cooking, pictures, and you will feel like you have known her all your life!
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/