Sausage and White Bean Stew with Polenta

Disclosure- I received the mentioned product courtesy of the sponsor for the the purpose of this review. All opinions are genuine, based on my experience with the product, and have not been influenced by promotional items.

 

 

Punxsutawney Phil predicted 6 more weeks of winter recently and the only positive I'll take from that prediction is we get to enjoy stew and soup season a little longer. While my husband isn't a big soup eater in the warmer months, I do eat it year round. Because of that, I usually like to break out the recipes that I know he'll enjoy during the cold months of the year so I can save my favorites for the warmer months and not feel guilty if he opts to eat something other than what I make then. Jason will try to put sausage in any and every soup or stew, so he's lost his chili making privileges at home. He's ruined 2 good batches of chili by putting sausage in the pot, knowing that it's something that I, nor or daughter, will eat. Alas, even though he's not allowed to make chili anymore, I did find a Sausage and White Bean Stew with Polenta recipe on Golden Blossom Honey that I would be more than fine with him cooking any time he pleases. 

Even though Jason wants to believe he's a master chef, he's not very good in the kitchen. Breakfast foods I can trust him with, but anything else is always hit or miss. However, this is a recipe that I'm pretty sure that even he couldn't mess up if he tried. There are minimal, easy to prepare ingredients tossed into this stew and it's so quick to get it to all come together, there really isn't time for him to randomly add extra spices or ingredients that he assumes will just all work out (usually, it doesn't lol). That way you know that it's going to come out perfect every single time. For a vegetarian version, you could replace the sausage with sauteed mushrooms or even seitan or tofu and still have a delicious and hearty stew. Any way you prepare it, it's a nice cold weather comfort food. If we're going to be hanging on to these wintry conditions for an extra month, we might as well make the best of it with tasty stews like this one, right?

Ingredients

2 teaspoons olive oil

3/4 pound Italian sausage, casings removed, cut into 1-inch chunks

1/2 cup dry white wine

2 (14 1/2 ounce) cans diced tomatoes

2 tablespoons GOLDEN BLOSSOM HONEY

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

2 (15 ounce) cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

1 (16 -18 ounce) ready-made plain polenta roll

CLICK HERE FOR FULL RECIPE

 

You can find this recipe, as well as many more delicious recipes right on the Golden Blossom Honey recipe page! Be sure to follow Golden Blossom Honey on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date on new products and promotions.

If you like this recipe, be sure to come back every Friday, where I feature a new recipe from Golden Blossom Honey, and be sure to Pin It on Pinterest! 

   

How do you feel about Punxsutawney Phil's prediction? 

Melted Amethyst Cocktail

Disclosure- I received the mentioned product courtesy of the sponsor for the the purpose of this review. All opinions are genuine, based on my experience with the product, and have not been influenced by promotional items.

 

 

 

I'm pretty sure this is the first Valentine's Day in 28 years that I will not be spending it with Jason. He's back enjoying the Florida sunshine while I'm stuck in frigid Indiana. We never celebrated the holiday anyway, but this year I'm looking forward to a peaceful evening at home with my snacks, tea, Netflix, a cozy blanket, and a kitty curled up on my lap. Allison was trying to get me to go out with her and her girlfriends for Galentine's Day, but at my age the thought of leaving the house for drinks makes my anxiety spike. Add in the fact that I'd be stuck with a bunch of college-aged girls, well, that's just horrifying LOL. However, I did picture myself enjoying a rom-com marathon while nursing a glass or two of my favorite blueberry wine before breaking out the snacks and tea kettle. But then I saw this Melted Amethyst Cocktail recipe on Golden Blossom Honey last week and think that I may have to swap out the wine for this fun little cocktail instead. 

 

Maybe I'm just getting cheap in my older years, but the price of mixed drinks and cocktails while dining out is getting ridiculous. I've found that most of the time I'm paying more for one alcoholic beverage than I am spending on my entire meal. While we're all still reeling from inflated prices across the board, I've found that I'm more inclined to hunt down quality recipes that cost a fraction of restaurant prices when made at home. And this recipe is no exception. With minimal ingredients, it's inexpensive to mix up at home, but it tastes just as good as what you'd get handed to you from the bartender. It's fruity, it's smooth, and it has just the right amount of bite to put a little heat in your belly. While it's one that I would normally pull up in the summer months, I think it's a perfect drink to whip up for a special Valentine's Day or Galentine's Day celebration, too. With its pretty purple coloring, it's just too gorgeous not to serve on the day of love. 

Ingredients

1 tablespoon RAW GOLDEN BLOSSOM HONEY

1 ounce (2 tablespoons) blueberry vodka

1/4 cup grape juice (room temperature)

1/4 cup heavy cream

blueberries for garnish

CLICK HERE FOR FULL RECIPE

You can find this recipe, as well as many more delicious recipes right on the Golden Blossom Honey recipe page! Be sure to follow Golden Blossom Honey on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date on new products and promotions.

If you like this recipe, be sure to come back every Friday, where I feature a new recipe from Golden Blossom Honey, and be sure to Pin It on Pinterest! 

   

What's your favorite cocktail? 

Quick Cream of Wheat

Disclosure- I received the mentioned product courtesy of the sponsor for the the purpose of this review. All opinions are genuine, based on my experience with the product, and have not been influenced by promotional items.

 

 

There's something comforting about a hot breakfast to jump start a chilly morning. My daughter has been a long time fan of Cocoa Wheats, which happens to be located right next to the box of Cream of Wheat at the grocers. I have always skipped over the Cream of Wheat because something about the picture on the box made me think of southern grits, which I used to honestly feel a rage towards when they would serve that for breakfast at my preschool. My whole family on my mother's side is from the south and I don't think a single one of us ever acquired a taste for grits, so I don't even know how those are still a thing, but here we are. So as I was scrolling through Golden Blossom Honey's recipes last week looking for a Valentine's Day recipe to share with you all next month, I happened upon their recipe for Quick Cream of Wheat. You know I've been a fan of their recipes for over a decade now, so I decided to trust their judgement and tossed that red box in my cart while sending up a hope and a prayer that it wouldn't taste like grits in the end. 

As far as easy breakfasts go, you can't find an easier one than this. Just a few simple ingredients and a microwave are all you need to have your hot breakfast on the table in under 5 minutes. As for the taste test, my daughter was the first to try it and declared it tasted like nothing. I think it's because she was expecting it to be as sweet as her Cocoa Wheats and because she ate it without mixing any honey or fruit in. The husband, on the other hand, was really after the fruit at first, but as he dug in was like, "This is actually really good! Oh, look at the ingredients on the box. It's really good for you too. There's a lot of vitamins in this!" After reluctantly trying my share, I ended up agreeing with Jason. This was actually quite good. Nothing like those icky southern grits at all. I did opt to skip the water and apple juice in this recipe and went with vanilla almond milk instead, simply because I never like to use water in these kinds of recipes and apple juice usually doesn't agree with my sensitive stomach. I did top with my favorite berries, banana slices, and a drizzle more of honey. You can add in any of your favorite fruits, nuts, or seeds to dress it up a little or eat it plain as the recipe calls for. 2 out of 3 Mahoneys give this recipe a thumbs up. Don't mind the 3rd one though. Sometimes she just doesn't know what's good for her LOL. 

Ingredients

1/4 cup cream of wheat

1 cup water or apple juice

1 Tablespoon GOLDEN BLOSSOM HONEY

CLICK HERE FOR FULL RECIPE

 

 

You can find this recipe, as well as many more delicious recipes right on the Golden Blossom Honey recipe page! Be sure to follow Golden Blossom Honey on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date on new products and promotions.

If you like this recipe, be sure to come back every Friday, where I feature a new recipe from Golden Blossom Honey, and be sure to Pin It on Pinterest! 

   

Do you like Cream of Wheat? 

Indonesian-Style Tofu

Disclosure- I received the mentioned product courtesy of the sponsor for the purpose of this review. All opinions are genuine, based on my experience with the product, and have not been influenced by promotional items.

When my husband isn’t home for dinner, my daughter and I like to indulge in recipes that he normally wouldn’t be fond of. It’s usually a lot of rice, soups, and homemade pizzas. This week we were really craving mushroom risotto, but I realized I was out of arborio rice. Too lazy and too cold to trek to the grocers, we rummaged through the pantry and found a big bag of jasmine rice, shiitake mushrooms, and a container of tofu. Which worked out in our favor since we’ve been wanting to try this Indonesian-style Tofu recipe from Golden Blossom. 

Tofu isn’t something that normally excites me in recipes, but every so often I do like to season it up and toss it into a dish. To season the tofu here, it did say to marinate overnight, but I feel like the marinade has ingredients with strong flavor profiles, so I just prepped the tofu a few hours ahead instead of the previous day and it turned out quite well. After broiling for several minutes, we served over a bed of steamed rice, poured a bit of the sauce over, then finished off with some sliced green onions to add in a little color. I didn’t have any available, but I would have probably added in a sprinkling of sesame seeds as well,  because why not? This was filling and tasty, but also a healthy option. Perfect for those who are on the same path as we are with more home cooking and lighter, healthier recipes in our meal rotation.

Ingredients

1 pound firm tofu, cut into 1 inch-thick slices

Drain between layers of paper towels for 30 minutes.

Marinade:

2 large dried shiitake mushrooms (about 1/4 oz), chopped

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 garlic clove, halved

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

Sauce:

1/2 cup soy sauce

2 Tablespoon RAW GOLDEN BLOSSOM HONEY

1/4 teaspoon ginger

CLICK HERE FOR FULL RECIPE 

You can find this recipe, as well as many more delicious recipes right on the Golden Blossom Honey recipe page! Be sure to follow Golden Blossom Honey on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date on new products and promotions.

If you like this recipe, be sure to come back every Friday, where I feature a new recipe from Golden Blossom Honey, and be sure to Pin It on Pinterest! 

   

Tofu, Yay or Nay? 

Tuna and Broccoli Pasta Salad with Red Pepper Dressing

Disclosure- I received the mentioned product courtesy of the sponsor for the the purpose of this review. All opinions are genuine, based on my experience with the product, and have not been influenced by promotional items.

 

 

Sorry for my late posting this week. My daughter brought home a nasty stomach bug over the weekend and we've both been suffering from it all week long. Needless to say, we've been relying on easy to prep meals all week for those rare occasions that we are able to keep anything down. For sick days, we do turn to soups frequently, but pasta is another one that we'll keep in rotation because of how quickly the noodles cook up. I had this Tuna and Broccoli Pasta Salad with Red Pepper Dressing recipe from Golden Blossom Honey saved to try at some point this summer, but figured now was going to be the best time to put it to use since we could cook once and get multiple meals out of it. A real Godsend of a recipe when the last thing you want to be doing is cooking several times a day when you're unwell.

 

 

I appreciated that this recipe all came together in about 15 minutes, but it has nutritious and delicious ingredients too. I don't eat tuna, so I left that out of my share of this dish, but my daughter does and kept it in hers and loved it. If you don't eat seafood, I don't think leaving tuna out affects the recipe in the slightest, but you could always add shredded chicken or pork as a substitute if you still wanted to add a meat protein. The sauce is very flavorful but not overpowering, and even though there is a little mayo in there, it's still a light sauce so you don't feel weighed down after finishing a plate of this pasta salad. For me, it's very important to find a good balance between sauce and high carb pasta noodles so I don't feel sluggish after my meal and this recipe has that perfected. This is a great recipe to have on hand for those days you don't want to spend all day in the kitchen, lunch or light dinner options, or save it like I was going to for summer picnics and cookouts. We're only 154 days away from summer, but who's counting? (Me. I am. I am sick of this cold LOL)

Ingredients

Dressing:

1/3 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup roasted red peppers, rinsed and drained

1/4 cup basil leaves, tightly packed

1/4 cup capers, rinsed and drained

2 tablespoons RAW GOLDEN BLOSSOM HONEY

1 large clove garlic

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Salad:

1 (16 ounce) package penne pasta

3 cups broccoli florets cut into small pieces

2 (6 ounce) cans white tuna, packed in water, drained and flaked

6 scallions, chopped

salt and pepper to taste

CLICK HERE FOR FULL RECIPE

 

You can find this recipe, as well as many more delicious recipes right on the Golden Blossom Honey recipe page! Be sure to follow Golden Blossom Honey on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date on new products and promotions.

If you like this recipe, be sure to come back every Friday, where I feature a new recipe from Golden Blossom Honey, and be sure to Pin It on Pinterest! 

   

What's your go-to meal when you're fighting a stomach bug? 

Mushroom Soup with Scallions and Sherry

Disclosure- I received the mentioned product courtesy of the sponsor for the the purpose of this review. All opinions are genuine, based on my experience with the product, and have not been influenced by promotional items.

 

 

Do we want to talk about this cold snap that's upon us? Jason left for Florida earlier this week and I'm not even jealous because it's not nearly as warm there this winter as it was last year. Ok, maybe I am a little jealous, but we aren't getting any snow here so I'm not too mad about his adventures this month. I do eat a lot of stews and soups when the temperatures drop below freezing, and I will say that my soup pots have been in constant use this month. We've already made made chili, potato soup, broccoli soup, and even piping hot ramen, but to finish off the week, I decided to make this Mushroom Soup with Scallions and Sherry that I pulled off of Golden Blossom Honey's recipe index. 

 

I like to make these types of lighter soups when it's just myself and my daughter at home because of the ease of preparation, the short cook time, and because it's filling as-is since neither of us need extra heavier ingredients to feel satisfied. I love the earthy tones of this soup and think that it pairs well with a hot black tea for lunch or a red wine for dinner. If my husband were home when I cooked this, I would have added ground sausage to his portion, or even shredded chicken since soup isn't a full meal for him unless there's some kind of meat mixed in. So if you're the same, those are a few good options to consider to bulk it up a little. If you like a more creamy soup, pour in a little heavy whipping cream towards the end of your cook time. I served mine with some sliced ciabatta bread and topped off the soup with sliced parts of a green onion. This isn't necessary and will add a touch more onion-y flavor to the finished dish. But it added visual appeal to the soup with the pop of green against the browns in the bowls so I just went with it. If the Farmer's Almanac is to be trusted, it looks like my area will be a little below average on temperatures for the remainder of winter, so this is a recipe that we'll definitely be keeping on hand to help keep the chill off the bones for the rest of the season. 

Ingredients

2 Tablespoons butter or margarine

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1/4 cup scallions (white part only), finely chopped

1 pound mushrooms, sliced

4 Tablespoons cream sherry

1 Tablespoon GOLDEN BLOSSOM HONEY

2 (14 1/2 ounce) cans low-salt chicken broth

salt and pepper to taste

CLICK HERE FOR FULL RECIPE

You can find this recipe, as well as many more delicious recipes right on the Golden Blossom Honey recipe page! Be sure to follow Golden Blossom Honey on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date on new products and promotions.

If you like this recipe, be sure to come back every Friday, where I feature a new recipe from Golden Blossom Honey, and be sure to Pin It on Pinterest! 

   

Have the temperatures been running below average in your area this winter?