Slow Cooker Beef With Squash Stew

In the crock of your slow cooker, mix the following ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds organic stew meat
1 1/2 pounds butternut squash (peeled, seeded and chopped - you can also buy frozen chopped squash)
2 small onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups organic beef broth
1 small can tomato sauce
2 T. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. dry mustard
1/4 tsp. black pepper
Cook for 8 to 10 hours on low or 4 to 5 hours on high.

In last 15 minutes of cooking, turn to high heat setting. In a small bowl mix:

1/2 cup cold water
4 tsp. cornstarch

Stir into slow cooker. Add one package of frozen green beans at this time too.

Serves 6.

Kiwi Strawberry Spice Smoothie

2 kiwi fruits, peeled and cut in half
1 prganic apple, cored and roughly chopped
10 strawberries, stem and top peeled off
dash of cinnamon powder

Tip:  If you’re using organic fruits then it’s a good idea to leave the peel on as it contains lots of vitamins and nutrients.  If you’re using non-organic fruits, then it may be best to peel them before using.

Blend all the fruit until smooth and sprinkle with a little cinnamon.
Cinnamon has been shown to help control blood sugar levels, which is great for avoiding energy slumps.

Fruit Facts:

Kiwi is a power food with tons of nutrients and has been shown to help protect the heart too. The pectin in apples may help lower cholesterol levels - as the saying goes, an apple a day keeps the doctor away!
Strawberries provide a good source of antioxidants

Weekend Cooking Means Weeknight Bliss

Weekend Cooking Marathons Pay Off With Weeknight Bliss

Want dinnertime to be a snap in your busy household, on any given night of the week? Gourmet food preparation businesses are providing the ingredients, cooking stations and supplies necessary for wannabe chefs to create their own culinary sensations to package up, take home and freeze for a week or two worth of meals. While this trend is gaining some major ground, not everyone can afford this option. This, however, doesn’t mean the concept cannot be enjoyed in your own home.

Whether you delight in the idea of cooking or you just want to provide your family with healthy meals, there is nothing preventing you from bringing this concept home. In fact, many working singles and couples set a few hours aside each weekend to prepare and freeze food for the week. In some homes, the entire family is brought into the act to make it a fun activity with very tasty rewards.

There are three basic things that need to come into play to make weekend cooking marathons at home really pay off. They are:

* Proper storage containers. Make sure to have the right freezer and refrigerator containers on hand to properly store individual dinners or full meals for use during the week. Enough freezer space doesn’t hurt either. Reusable containers make the most sense. Make sure to clearly label the containers with the contents and creation date.
* The meal plan. To make the most of a weekend cooking marathon, it is a must to plan everything out in advance. This will help with the shopping, meal preparation and even the cooking. If, for example, spaghetti is on tap for Monday and lasagna for Friday, a single red sauce can cover both meals easily. It’s also smart to cut up all the necessary vegetables for the entire week and then measure them out accordingly per recipe specifications. It beats chopping five onions at different intervals as individual recipes come together. Make the most of things like slow cookers, crock-pots, the oven and even a microwave for making multiple nights’ meals at once.
* Time. Since the typical home kitchen simply doesn’t have the cooking capacity that a professional preparation kitchen will, making meals for the week in an hour is likely not possible like it would be in a store setting. Still, with the right planning and creative uses of all potential cooking implements, the process can move rather quickly.

Creating meals in advance for the week is an excellent way to enjoy home cooking without a ton of time and hassle on nights where it just isn’t feasible. When the right planning goes into the proposition, the outcome can save both time and money.

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