The Power of Comfort Food

This week, we are all sick. Paxton and Levi have ear infections and colds, the hubs has pink eye and I have a cold so I decided that this week we need a menu chalk full of comfort foods.  Beef Stew and  the Pioneer Woman's, Chicken and Noodles are two of my absolute favourite comfort foods.  There is something about comfort foods when your sick that just has a healing effect. Just writing about them is making me feel better.

 I make my beef stew in the oven, I slow cook it for a couple of hours until the meet just falls apart. Sometimes I use red wine to make it rich and other times I use beer. Both make the stew taste delicious.

When the meet is tender, I add in potatoes, onions and carrots and both my boys love it. It's a great meal to get the boys to eat veggies.  I serve this stew with a slices of warm Italian or French Bread. This week I use Chef in Trainings recipe for my French loafs.
 

I have never made the white chicken enchiladas. It is a recipe I found in my new cookbook, The Pioneer Woman Cooks, Food from my Frontier. P.S. If you do not know about the Pioneer Woman you can thank me now for introducing you to her. Your whole world will change if you start to make her food. It is AHHHH-MAZING! I love this cook book! If I had one recommendation for anyone who wanted to start cooking, I would say to get both of Pioneer Woman's cookbooks. Her food is comforting, she gives really easy instructions and she provides pictures for every step. Plus, everything tastes so good. So even though I have never tried this recipe for White Chicken Enchiladas, I'm not worried. I know it will good.

The Sausage & Pepper pasta is a family favourite here. Two years ago, we were at a friends house for dinner and she served this to us. We loved it and I became a little obsessed with it. I pretty much went right home and started to craft my version of it for my family. Since then, I have been making it at least once a month and my boys (all 3 of them) devour it. It is creamy and savory and very fulfilling. Don't worry, if you want the recipe, which you will, I am giving my version of it on Tuesday so stay tuned!

The Chicken Chili is also one of my favouite recipes that I have come up with over the years. I love the flavour of chili and I love dunking tortillas in my bowl. I make a slightly healthier version of chili by using ground chicken instead of ground beef. I let it simmer all afternoon and by suppertime our house is filled with the smell of chili. I serve it with tortillas, sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese and guacamole.
 

And this my friends, is Chicken and Noodles. It is the ultimate comfort food when you are sick. I found this recipe on Pioneer Woman's blog about a year ago and it is one of my absolute favourite recipes of ALL TIME! It is also in her new book, The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Food from my Frontier.

 It's very similar to chicken noodle soup. It's just a wee bit thicker and it is jam packed full of flavour. The original recipe is amazing but sometimes when my family is sick, like this week, I add a splash of lemon and ginger in it just to help heal our colds. I swear it works.

So that is what we are eating this week! What are your favourite comfort foods?