My Afflation

I am officially tired of winter. More than that, my SAD is kicking in hard , despite 8-12,000 IU of Vitamin D nightly. I started writing this post on Sunday, had the draft, found the links to the pretty recipes (need to remember to do that again for next week), and here it is Wednesday, and I am dragging ass. You can check out my Fitbit stats if you don't believe me. via GIPHY

Why can I never stick to the recipe? Doesn't matter, this came out amazingly well. In the last few years I have become the queen of 30-minute or less meals (from scratch! unless it's a slow-cooker meal) because I just don't have the time in our busy schedules to do more. But, when someone bats his ridiculously long eyelashes at me coupled with puppy dog eyes and tells me how good my cooking is ... well, I decided to put in some effort on a new recipe. Using a pre-made crust saved me about an hour of time though. Caveat, the original recipe called for 2 tablespoons tomato paste, but I read it wrong (I mean, who uses such a tiny amount, right???!) Beef Short Rib Pot Pie Recipe by Annette Holland Adapted from Epicurious: Short Rib Pot Pie 5 stars Prep time: 3.5 hours Cook time: 1 hour Total time: 4.5 hours Yield: 4 servings Ingredients 2 pre-made gluten-free pie crusts or butter puff pastry shells 1.5 lbs beef short ribs (on th...

I'm allergic to pork, so I substitute turkey bacon for regular bacon. I think this would be pretty darn tasty with gouda cheese and less butter as well. That's my next experiment. The bread I used was from La Brea Bakery and conveniently sold in my local grocery store (their bread is to die for). (Turkey) Bacon & Pear Grilled Cheese Sandwich Recipe by Annette Holland Adapted from Simply Recipes Prep time: 10 minutes Cook time: 5 Total time: 15 minutes Ingredients 2 pieces of (turkey) bacon for each sandwich 1/4 pear for each sandwich (or used canned in water or lite pear juice) 1 loaf french bread 2 slices sharp cheddar cheese per sandwich 1 tablespoon butter - for spreading Cooking Directions Pre-heat skillet and melt a little butter in the bottom. Cook your (turkey) bacon to desired crispness. Slice bread to desired thickness and ...

A bowl of chicken and dumplings with vegetables served at Nicoll's Cafe, 255 Main Street, Pine City, Minnesota (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Prep time: 25 minutes Cook time: 6-8 hours Total time: 8 hours, 25 minutes Yield: 4-6 servings Ingredients Chicken Stew 2 lbs chicken, chopped into 1" cubes 4 carrots, chopped 1 large potato 1 cup sliced mushrooms 1 onion, chopped 3 cloves garlic, chopped or 2 teaspoons garlic powder 14 oz low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth 9 oz frozen peas 1 tbsp Italian seasoning Dumplings 1/2 cup whole wheat flour 1 cup all purpose flour 1/2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 cup milk 6 tablespoons butter (or 1 cup half & half instead of milk+butter) Cooking Directions In a 4-6 quart slow-cooker, layer potatoes, carrots, onion, garli...