Hello

    Welcome to my blog. This is my first post here but I hope that many more will follow. I am a foodie and I love cooking. This blog is going to about cooking at home and the occasional dinner out. I want to focus mainly on eating well on a budget which can be hard to do at times but not impossible.
     I believe that food should be delicious, fresh, and easy to make. I like to try different kinds of foods from different cultures and often try to make them at home. Food should also be budget-friendly. I often find that the best dishes are simple low-cost foods that are not intimidating. I often pull together commonly found ingredients and love the challenge of cooking from my pantry. Many times when I have thought I didn't have anything to make for dinner, I winged it and threw together something tasty. With that said, here's my first recipe.

Hearty Winter Stew by Kristen Thomas-Rivera

This warm, filling one pot meal is perfect for cold winter days. It is very easy to make with a slow cooker and common ingredients.

1 lbs kielbasa sausage sliced in ½ inch pieces

3 fresh carrots diced

3 stalks of celery diced

1 medium onion diced

2 cans of cannellini beans

3 to 4 potatoes diced

2 cups chicken broth

2 cups V8 vegetable juice

 ¼ tsp black pepper

2 tsp Adobo seasoning

1 tsp oregano

You will need a 5-quart slow cooker for this recipe.

Cut up all the vegetables as directed and try to make them all similar in size so they cook evenly. Slice the sausage in ½ inch pieces. Combine all ingredients in the slow cooker and cook for 4 hours on high or 8 hours on low. Serves approximately 6 to 8 people.

For a vegetarian version leave out sausage and substitute vegetable broth for chicken broth.

This stew goes perfectly with corn muffins.