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Now’s the time for a nice bowl of soup. If you are on a diet, this one is perfect and will fill you up too.

White Bean Soup with Ham

2 tb Olive oil
1 c Diced onion
1 Carrot, peeled and sliced
1 Celery stalk, sliced
2 tb Minced garlic
1/2 c Diced country ham or prosciutto
3/4 lb Dried cannellini or navy beans
2 tb Fresh chopped rosemary
8 c Chicken stock
1/2 ts Pepper
Salt

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, celery, garlic and ham and saute, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes. Add the beans, rosemary, chicken stock and pepper, and bring to a boil. Simmer, covered, for 30 minutes. Taste the cooking liquid, and add enough salt so that it becomes slightly salty (the amount needed will vary depending on the type of ham used for seasoning). Recover the pot and simmer for 40 to 60 minutes, or until the beans are soft. Puree the mixture in a food processor fitted with the steel blade or in a blender. Serve hot. Serves 6 to 8. The soup can be made up to three days in advance and refrigerated, covered.

Book of Soups: More than 100 Recipes for Perfect Soups (Hardcover) – 5 stars from 21 reviews

You can say this is similar to a beef burrito, but way better.

Slow Cooked Beef Tortillas

2 garlic cloves — minced
2 pounds round steak
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons lime or lemon juice
1 medium onion — chopped
1 cup carrots — chopped
1 teaspoon marjoram
1/2 cup beef broth
1 can peeled tomatoes (14 1/2 oz.)
1 pkg med size flour tortillas

Spread minced garlic on round steak and sprinkle with salt, pepper and lime juice. Place in the slow cooker and add remaining ingredients. Set cooker on low and cook for 8 hours. Meat should be fork tender and shred easily. Fill tortillas with favorite fillings and meat.

Williams-Sonoma Essentials of Slow Cooking: Recipes and Techniques for Delicious Slow-Cooked Meals (Williams Sonoma Essentials) (Hardcover)

Delicious coffee flavored chocolate mousse.

Kahlua Chocolate Mousse

1/4 c Sugar
4 oz Semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 Egg whites, beaten stiff
1/4 c Kahlua or other coffee liqueur
3 tb Cream
1 c Whipped cream, beaten (minus the 3 T above is ok)

In saucepan over very low heat, mix coffee liqueur and sugar; stirring until dissolved. Remove from heat. In top of double boiler, melt chocolate with cream, cool 20 minutes. Stir chocolate into coffee liqueur mixture. Carefully fold in egg whites, then whipped cream. Chill 3 hours before serving.

I’m Dreaming of a Chocolate Christmas (Hardcover) – 4 1/2 stars from 14 reviews

This is a delicious stew if you can spare some time on your day off to make it. Try it this winter.

Beef Stew with Ground Cumin Seeds

2 c Unbleached, all-purpose flour
1 tb Dried thyme
1 t Salt — plus extra to taste
1/2 ts Freshly ground black pepper plus extra to taste
3 lb Beef stew meat — in 1″ cubes
1/4 c Olive oil
1 c Dry red wine
1 1/2 c Homemade beef stock
1 c Canned crushed tomatoes
2 tb Ground cumin seed
1 t Chili powder
1 Bay leaf
8 To 12 white pearl onions
6 Garlic cloves peeled and chopped
1/2 c Chopped Italian parsley plus extra for garnish
1 1/2 c Green Sicilian olives

Stir the flour, thyme, 1 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. pepper together in a shallow bowl. Turn the cubes of stew meat in the flour to coat well, shake off excess and transfer to a plate. Heat olive oil in a heavy kettle. Add the beef cubes, a few at a time, and brown them well on all sides. As they are browned, transfer them to paper towels to drain. When all the meat is browned, discard excess oil but do not wash the kettle. Add the wine, beef stock and crushed tomatoes; set kettle over medium heat. Bring to a boil, stirring and scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Return beef to the kettle, then add cumin seed, chili powder and bay leaf and season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover kettle and set it on the middle rack of the oven. Bake at 350 F. for 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally and regulating the oven temperature to maintain the stew at a steady simmer. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cut an “x” in the root end of each pearl onion and drop them into the boiling water for 1 minute. Drain them and drop them into a bowl of cold water. When completely cool, drain and peel them. After the stew has been in the oven about 1 hour, stir in the onions. Continue to cook the stew, uncovered. After another 15 minutes, stir in the garlic, 1/2 cup parsley and the olives. Continue to cook, uncovered, until stew is reduced and thickened to your liking and beef is tender. Transfer to a serving bowl, sprinkle with parsley, and serve immediately. The authors note that “depending on the rest of the menu, this stew seems Mexican or Mediterranean because it is hearty and intriguingly seasoned with cumin seed…” From _The Silver Palate Cookbook_ by Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins with Michael McLaughlin. New York: Workman Publishing Company, Inc., 1982. Pg. 125. ISBN 0-89480-204-6.

Best Slow and Easy Recipes: More than 250 Foolproof, Flavor-Packed Roasts, Stews, and Braises that let the Oven Do the Work (Best Recipe Classics) (Hardcover) – 5 stars

Here’s a delicious and filling appetizer to serve guests watching Playoff’s, X Games, the Superbowl etc.

Cajun Chicken Nuggets

1 Env. Onion Soup Mix *
1/2 c Plain Dry Bread Crumbs
1 1/2 ts Chili Powder
1 ts Ground Cumin
1 ts Thyme Leaves
1/4 ts Red Pepper
2 lb Boneless Chicken Breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
Oil

* You can use onion or onion-mushroom recipe soup mix in this recipe.
In large bowl, combine onion recipe soup mix, bread crumbs, chili powder, cumin, thyme and pepper. Dip chicken in bread crumb mixture, coating well. In large skillet, heat 1/2-inch oil and cook chicken over medium heat, turning once, until done; drain on paper towels. Serve warm and if desired with assorted mustards. Honey mustard would be a good one.

The Last Hurrah: the Ultimate Super Bowl Party Planner (Paperback)