I absolutely adore fall cooking! And now that we’re entering Christmas season the cozy foods keep on coming. This week when I set out to make a meal plan all I could think was I wanted warm, home-cooked, and feel good foods.
We love cooking outdoors, and every year make the trek to the Olympic National Forest to find our Christmas tree. I’ll share more below or you can take a look at last year’s trip here.
So here’s my meal plan for the week… I lay them out on days that work for our schedules, but I’m completely flexible on when we eat what. If something doesn’t sound good we just switch it up and pick something from another night of the week. I typically have one or two meals that are big enough to share with someone else whether that’s for our community dinner, or to be able to split our dinner in half and deliver to someone who may need it.
Skillet lasagna, doubling this for a family with a new baby.
Turkey Cranberry Braid, making this early in the week to use up turkey leftovers.
Zuppa Toscana, doubling this as well to take to a family with the flu.
Chicken wings with sticky rice and green sauce, a family favorite. Tune into my Instagram account to see me cook these in my stories.
Beef stroganoff, one of my favorites from Longbourn Farm.
Loaded Baked Potato Chowder I add garlic and bacon bits in when melting the cheese and frozen corn at the end.
My bonus ingredients are to cook a whole chicken and root veggies. Which is a winter family fave. Plus I love using leftovers for chicken noodle soup. I’d LOVE to try it in the instant pot but am a bit unsure since I live roasted so much. Any tips? Send them my way!
Also in case you missed these awesome Pork Carnitas I shared last week (I adapted using the instant pot with a little help from my friend Whitney) be sure to check them out. So easy and they are sure to WOW the crowd!
This past weekend we set out to get our Christmas tree in the Olympic National Forest. Part of that tradition for us is always taking along our camping cooking gear. Most years we make breakfast; complete with pancakes sausage and eggs, cocoa and coffee too! Other years we have done grilled cheese and tomato soup, or just brought along donuts and made hot drinks.
Food is often the center of our holiday traditions, and also a big part of most of our gatherings. I challenge you this season to try something new, but in trying something new you don’t have to do something hard. Pancakes from pancake powder is a great place to start.
“I’m not talking about cooking as a performance, or entertaining as a complicated choreography of competition and showing off. I’m talking about feeding someone with honesty and intimacy and love, about making your home a place where people are fiercely protected, even if just for a few hours, from the crush and cruelty of the day.” -Shauna Niequist
I’m happy to be on speed dial, I’m only a comment or personal message away if you need a recipe or help trying something new. Or if you want to hear more about our Christmas tree tradition I shared more here.
