Syndicated Column from the week of October 7, 2012.
Published in the Galion Inqiurer on October 10, 2012. 

Temperatures are dropping into the 30s overnight. The leaves are dropping from the trees. The animals are getting fuzzy with winter coats. Soon it will be time to turn the furnace on instead of just adding another blanket to the bed.

We were talking about prepping the house for winter the other day and there are a few things to do yet. We need to bring in the wicker porch furniture and garden hose. We will most likely have to run the mower a few more times to mulch the dropped leaves. Take a look around your yard, I’ll bet you have some similar chores.

We plan to take advantage of these moderate October days to work on that list. It is one thing to work on the winter prep list when the weather is cool and quite another if we wait too long and those days turn into damp and miserable!

On days like these, supper is best when it is a hot meal that will warm us up after working hard in the cold. We have had some soups and casseroles lately that fit that bill. But a thick beef stew with biscuits sure is appealing on crisp fall days.

Easy Beef Stew

1 lb. Beef, cut into 1 inch bits
1 lg. Onion
2 med. Potatoes
1 pkg. (14 oz) frozen Mixed Vegetables
2 pkg.(5 oz.) Beef Gravy Mix
2 c. Water

Dice the onion and cut the potato into chunks. Mix the water with the gravy packets until smooth. Add all ingredients to slow cooker. Cook on low for four hours.

Make it a Meal: Serve with biscuits or grilled cheese sandwich on the side. One family I know likes to serve their beef stew over a bed of rice.

Approximate Nutritional Information: Servings Per Recipe: 10, Amount Per Serving: Calories: 289 Fat: 7g, Cholesterol: 25mg, Sodium: 344mg, Total Carbs:40g, Protein: 16g.

Variations: If you want to add some carrots, toss in a bag of either frozen carrot slices or chop up two large carrots. If you like it spicy, add some hot sauce for a bit of zing!

It’s nice to come inside from working out in the cool air and have dinner all ready. I don’t mind cooking, but if I can make it easier on myself, but having the slow cooker do the work while I am on to another task, that is a good deal.

I like to mix up some quick rise biscuits or open a pop it type refrigerated biscuits and bake them. Again, keeping it easy on myself when I have got a full list of chores!

A few other winter prep tasks that are on our chore list include: changing the furnace filter, checking batteries in the smoke detectors, pulling the snow shovels out of storage, and making sure we have got a start supply of ice melt. It seems like the icy front steps always take me by surprise the first two times each year.

Noel Lizotte is breaking free of corporate stress with convenience cooking! This recipe is similar to ones printed in her cookbook Apron Free Cooking which is available on the website www.apronfreecooking.com. 

Interested in one of the books pictured above? You can purchase on Amazon here.