Hearty Winter Lamb Stew

2 lbs of Lamb Cubes
Flour
Salt and Pepper
EVOO
1 small chopped onion
4 large Carrots cut in cubes
2 cups of Chicken Broth
1-8oz can of diced tomatoes in tomato sauce
1 teaspoon of lemon pepper
1/4 teaspoon of marjoram
1/8 teaspoon of dill
1 teaspoon of garlic powder

1) Pour 1 cup of flour in a zip lock bag add the salt and pepper
2) Add the lamb cubes and shake in the bag till coated
3) heat your EVOO in sauté pan
4) add lamb cubes to brown up
5) add the onions to the lamb cubes sauté around for about 15 minutes
6) coat your crockpot with a thin layer of cooking spray
7) add your lamb cubes and onion to the crock
8) add the rest of the ingredients
9) cover and cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours

It has a delicious bold flavor! I had mine over spaghetti squash with a side of roasted purple turnips. So wonderful!

Chicken Sausage Meatball, White Bean and Tuscan Kale Soup

1 pound dried beans - I used White Cannelloni Beans because that's what I had in my house
8 cups of low-sodium chicken broth, that's 2 of those boxes, I use organic
1 small onion peeled and chopped up finely
2 carrots peeled and chopped up finely
2 stalks of celery, chopped up finely
4 large cloves of garlic, chopped up finely
4 thyme sprigs, fresh
1 bay leaf
1 small parmesan rind - buy a piece of parm with the rind - cut off the rind to use
1 pound of Chicken sausage or any kind you like - I used Chicken to save on calories
1 handful of kale
1/2 juice of 1 lemon
Sprinkling of Crushed Red Pepper
Sprinkling of Fresh Grated Parmesan




1) In your Slow cooker, add the first 9 ingredients. Cover it and turn cooker slower cooker on 4 hours for high or 7 hours for low.
2) Take the sausage and squeeze the meat out to form small meatballs - this was super simple to do.
3) Add them to the soup the last 30 minutes just so they cook up.
4) Add the kale the last 20 minutes
5) Squeeze the 1/2 of lemon into soup - stir up.
6) Sprinkle in the crushed red pepper - add as much as you want depending on the heat you like.
7) Remove the thyme springs, the parm rind and the bay leaf - discard those.
8) Plate up your soup in a bowl - topped off with some grated Parmesan cheese.

Inside-Out Carrot Cookies

These cookies are unbelievable! They are really not hard to make at all. I left out the raisins as I'm not a huge raisin fan. The recipe made 20 nice size cookies. I am constantly on a recipe hunt and this one was posted by a women in Newsday a few weeks ago. I could tell it was a true winner! Oh I also sprinkled mine with powdered sugar as they look much nicer on the plate. I highly recommend these!!!

Chicken Chili

Here's a really delicious and healthy version if you like to have Chili during the cold months. I enjoy Chili but don't eat the beef version any longer since the calorie content is so high. Just not where I chose to use up my calories. So here's the recipe:

2 cups of shredded chicken (from a roasted chicken) or you can use any type of cooked chicken you have on hand
1 large Zucchini, cubed
1medium onion, diced
1 Cup of diced mushrooms, I used baby Bella's
1 yellow pepper, diced
1 small can of green chilies (in Mexican section of grocery)
1 8 ounce can diced tomatoes in sauce
1 8 ounce can pinto beans (you can use red kidney beans)
Chili powder -add as much as you want depending on the amount of spice you like
Dash of salt and pepper
1/2 cup of a Chicken broth, I use organic
Reduced fat cheddar cheese for topping if you like

1) sauté the zucchini, onions, pepper, garlic in a amount of EVOO then as this starts to soften up add the mushrooms
2) add in the rest of the ingredients (not the cheese that's for topping at the end)
3) let it all simmer on low setting for about 30 minutes.
4) spoon into a nice large bowl
5) top with your cheese
Serve up with a big salad!
Enjoy it:)