Cincy Chic...that's us, alright!

Honk! Honk!

Hear that? Yeah, I was just tooting my own horn for a minute there. (Did it sound a little like a migrating goose to you, too?)

I am absolutely tickled to announce that Hot Dinner Happy Home is featured in the Best Kept Secrets issue of Cincy Chic, an online magazine for the lovely ladies of Cincinnati. You can check out the article here to read up on Hot Dinner Happy Home and see a picture of me with my favorite haircut ever.

If you're joining us from Cincy Chic, welcome to the party! You're in for a good time. You can continue the conversation with Hot Dinner Happy Home over on Facebook or follow us on Twitter (Erin, Amy, Andrea) and Instagram.

And since we're the kind of gals who like to feed our friends, here's a Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Mini Muffin for you.

Let's get cooking!
Erin

P.S. Hungry for more? Check out all of our recipes here.

Stovetop Veggie Macaroni & Cheese

Hungry for delicious, creamy pasta that is as healthy as it is delicious? I've got you covered.

Want dinner on the table in 20 minutes? Well, here you go.

Trying to trick your kids into eating vegetables? Have I got the meal for you!

Stovetop Veggie Macaroni & Cheese. It's the answer to all of your dinner questions. While the pasta cooks, stir together a creamy sauce rich with nutty Parmesan cheese. Frozen butternut squash puree (so easy!) adds depth and that glowing orange hue that will make your kids think it came from a blue box. Next thing you know your whole family will be begging for seconds...picky kids and meat-loving husbands included.

Let's get cooking!
Erin

Stovetop Veggie Macaroni & Cheese
Adapted from Kitchen Daily and inspired by Butternut Squash Mac & Cheese
Serves: 6

16 ounces small pasta (I used little shells.)
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
2 cups warm milk (I used 2%.)
12 ounces frozen butternut squash puree*, thawed
1 1/2 cups shredded Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper
Pinch of nutmeg

Cook pasta in salted water until al dente according to package instructions.

Meanwhile, melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in flour and cook until it begins to turn light golden brown and smells a bit toasty, about 2 minutes. Very slowly whisk in warm milk until it's smooth. (Using warm milk helps prevent lumps.) Continue to cook, whisking constantly, until the milk begins to thicken, about 5 minutes.

Stir in squash puree. Then stir in Parmesan cheese until it's melted and creamy. Season sauce to taste with salt, pepper, and a pinch of nutmeg. Stir in cooked pasta and serve immediately.

*Frozen butternut squash puree is typically sold in a little box like frozen chopped spinach. It is fantastically convenient and delicious.

Turkey, Black Bean & Sweet Potato Chili

The warmer days of middle March mean my boys play outside as long as they can. As the nights remain cool, it's a good time for a spicy-sweet chili that fills their bellies without being too heavy.

This turkey, black bean and sweet potato combo is nourishing and the slightly honeyed taste of the potatoes hints of full-on spring.

This dinner is close to my heart because I first started making it when we moved from Cincinnati to Peoria. We spent three months in a cozy, turn-of-the-century cottage. Our temporary home offered a tighter space that fostered just the right amount of family closeness we needed during our transition to a new city.

Since then I've tweaked this recipe from its original – a skillet potpie with a cornbread topping. I never could get the cornbread to be anything buy mushy. Now I serve it on the side. And my boys eat more of the chili. Points for Mom!

Whenever I make this meal, I think of the start of our Peoria adventure (four years ago now!) and it warms my soul. I hope it makes your family feel all warm inside, too.

Mangia! Mangia!
Andrea

Turkey, Black Bean & Sweet Potato Chili
Adapted from GoodHousekeeping.com.
Serves 6.

1 pound sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
1/4 cup water
1 jumbo onion (about 1 pound) finely chopped
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 garlic cloves finely chopped or 1 tablespoon jarred minced garlic
1 pound lean ground turkey
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon black pepper, divided
1 or 2 tablespoons canned chopped roasted green chilis or pickled jalapeño peppers, if you prefer more kick
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 cans (14.5 ounce) no salt added, fire roasted or plain diced tomatoes, mostly drained
1 can (15 ounce) no salt added black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Optional:
Chopped fresh cilantro for garnish
Shredded cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese for topping

Place sweet potatoes and water in a microwave safe bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and vent. Microwave on high for 5 minutes or until tender.

Using a deep 12-inch skillet or Dutch oven, heat oil over a medium-high flame. Add onion and cook, stirring frequently, until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. (Don't worry – while this looks like a ton of onions, they melt down and add a subtle flavor to the chili.)

Add garlic and cook for 1 or 2 minutes. Add turkey, salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Cook for 5 minutes, breaking up turkey into small pieces.

When turkey is lightly browned, add roasted chili or jalapeño peppers, chili powder, cumin and the sweet potatoes with their liquid. Cook for 1 or 2 minutes while stirring.

Add tomatoes, beans and black pepper and heat until bubbling. Reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes.

Dish up chili into bowls. Top with cilantro and cheese.

Midwestern Vegetable-Beef Soup

I have been on a big soup kick. This is in part due to the colder than usual winter here in Charlotte and how we Southerners do hate to be cold. Bless our hearts. It’s also due to my new love — my pressure cooker — which makes preparing soup so easy and fast. The chopping is the most time intensive part. My sous chef daughters Lucy, 8, and Penny, 6, are the perfect assistants.

This soup is inspired by my mom’s, which I grew up eating. It took me just 40 years to give it a whirl in my own kitchen. I call it Midwestern vegetable-beef soup, because I grew up in Ohio and it reminds me of Mom.

NOTE: The following directions call for the pressure cooker. You could also cook everything on the stovetop. I may be finishing my second bowl and packing up the leftovers when you sit down to eat, but please carry on.


XOXO,
Amy

Midwestern Vegetable-Beef Soup

1 pound lean ground beef
3 large carrots, peeled and diced ½” inch thick
3 celery stalks, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
15 oz. diced tomatoes, with juices
32 oz. beef broth
1 teaspoon thyme
1 bay leaf
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup frozen corn
1 cup peas

Using the sautee setting on your pressure cooker, cook the ground beef, adding some salt and pepper in the process. Do not drain. (If you are  not using lean meat, you might want to drain off  a bit of the fat.)

Add all of the veggies, except the corn and peas, as well as the thyme, bay leaf, diced tomatoes and broth. Cover and cook on high pressure for six minutes.

When time is up, do a quick release on the pressure cooker and remove the lid when it is safe to do so. Remove bay leaf, add in the frozen corn and peas and allow the soup to heat through.

Serve and enjoy!

PS: Don’t have all of these veggies on hand? Use what you have. My neighbor followed up on my version with her own variation, which involved her stovetop (no pressure cooker,) green beans and cabbage. She shared some leftovers with me. Yum. You could even add a cup of pasta like farfalle to make beef-vegetable-noodle soup. If using pasta, toss uncooked noodles into the pressure cooker with the other the ingredients.

PPS: Vegetarian? By all means, skip the meat and use vegetable broth instead.

Introducing...

I can't believe that I've been writing this here blog since September 2010. I've cooked breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Conquered the crock pot and canning. Baked cakes and cookies, brownies and pies. Prepared for holidays. Introduced my son.

And I have loved every minute of it.

But it's time to shake things up here at Hot Dinner Happy Home. It's time to invite some friends to the party. Starting on Monday, two of my culinary comrades will be joining me here at HDHH.

Amy and Andrea are kitchen dynamos who are sure to impress you with their cooking prowess.

Amy is a Francophile who dabbles in vegan cuisine and loves to get in the kitchen with her two daughters.

Andrea comes from an Italian family and makes a mean meatball for her husband and sons in Illinois.

For the most part, Amy will be posting on Mondays and Andrea will be posting on Wednesdays. I'll be ringing in the weekends with Friday posts. And if you want to see what you'll be getting yourself into next week, learn ten scintillating things about all three of us in the "Meet the Ladies" section here.

They are funny. They can cook. Together, we're whipping up some fun.

Irish Soda Bread

When we were living in Milwaukee, our local grocery store made raisin-studded, sugar-crusted Irish Soda Bread for St. Patrick's Day every year, and it blew my mind. It wasn't exactly authentic, but it was dang good.

Since I couldn't walk down the street to the store to pick up soda bread this year, I set out to duplicate it at home. Traditional buttermilk and all-purpose flour for simplicity. Baking soda and baking powder for a little rise, salt for flavor, and sugar because that's how I roll. (I said it wasn't authentic, okay?) Studded with raisins and sprinkled with coarse sugar crystals to guild the lily.

I was giddy with excitement when I pulled this baby out of the oven. The scent alone was absolutely tantalizing. The sugar glittered on the golden crust like treasure at the end of a rainbow.

So I ate a quarter of the loaf for dinner.

Tender and rich with just enough sweetness. Raisins in every bite. Crisp with sugar crystals. Holy cow. The luck of the Irish is with you today, folks, because this bread is good.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Irish Soda Bread

3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
4 tablespoons butter, melted
1 1/3 cups buttermilk
1 cup raisins
2 tablespoons milk (You might not need it all.)
1 tablespoon coarse sugar crystals (I used Sugar in the Raw.)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Stir in melted butter until the mixture looks crumbly. Stir in buttermilk and raisins until the dough just comes together in a shaggy mixture.

Turn out the dough onto a lightly-floured counter. Knead just until the dough comes together in a smooth ball, about 10 times. Pat dough into an 8" circle and place on prepared baking sheet. Brush top of dough with milk and sprinkle with coarse sugar. Use a knife to cut a large "X" on the top of the loaf.

Bake for about 45 minutes, until the crust is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork

Ooooh, baby. Today's recipe is easy.

Speaking of...I've noticed something about myself. Whenever I really like a recipe, my first qualifier is simplicity. After that comes deliciousness. It all speaks to my laziness and love of TV. Less time on dinner = more time with the Real Housewives. I may not be great at math, but that's the kind of equation I can get behind.

Anyway, as I was saying, today's recipe is easy. And delicious. I'm usually dubious about dump-and-stir crockpot recipes, so my first bite of Slow Cooker Pulled Pork was tentative. But my concerns disappeared as easily as this tender, fall-apart pork disappeared into my belly.

Next time you're feeling—how can I put this—less than ambitious, pop some pork into your slow cooker and tell your family you were sweating over the stove all day. They'll believe you. And then they'll offer to clean the dishes as they lick barbecue sauce off their sticky fingers.

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork

18 ounce bottle of your favorite barbecue sauce
2 tablespoons chili powder
3 1/2 pounds pork shoulder roast
1 onion, peeled and quartered
Salt and pepper
Hamburger buns, for serving (optional)
Simple Coleslaw, for serving (optional, recipe below)

In your slow cooker, stir together barbecue sauce and chili powder. Add the pork roast and roll it around so it's coated in sauce. Nestle the onions in with the pork. Cook on low for about 8 hours, or until the pork is tender and literally falls apart when you poke it with a fork. (Mine only took 7 hours, but my slow cooker tends to be on the speedy side.)

Carefully remove the pork from the slow cooker. Use forks to shred it into bite-sized pieces. Use a spoon to skim fat from the remaining sauce in the slow cooker. Stir as much sauce* as you like into the pulled pork and season to taste with salt and pepper. If desired, serve on hamburger buns topped with Simple Coleslaw (recipe below).

*A note about the sauce: If you're planning ahead for leftovers, consider leaving some of the pulled pork plain. I used the leftovers without sauce to make Cuban sandwiches and quesadillas.

Simple Coleslaw

4 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons plain Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
16 ounce bag coleslaw mix (or feel free to shred your own cabbage)
Salt and pepper

Stir together mayonnaise, yogurt, vinegar, and sugar. Stir in coleslaw mix. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (At this point it will look a little bit dry.) Refrigerate at least one hour or until ready to serve. (As it sits the cabbage releases moisture and the coleslaw gets creamier. I've found that it gets soggy if you add too much mayo at the beginning, and I like my slaw crunchy. Feel free to stir in more mayo or Greek yogurt at this point if it's too dry for your taste.)