My husband is a hunter. There, I said it. Although we were both born and raised as suburbs-kids, Ryan loves the great outdoors and spends a great deal of his fall and early winter getting up early, gathering his gear and looking for our “groceries” (that’s how I like to think of it). As a result, we have a lot of meat in our freezer this time of year.

Now that it’s January, my slow cooker has become my best friend. Our house is chilly and I find myself wearing a scarf and felted wool slippers. This new recipe for African Chicken Peanut Stew seemed just right for a chilly Minnesota weeknight. I was working from home for the day and this stew only needed 4 hours in the slow cooker, so I made it mid-day. I love the feeling that dinner is already done!

Summer is my favorite season for three reasons- 1) no more school, and the girls can sleep in, 2) the sunny weather, and 3) we use the grill for dinner almost everyday.  Life doesn't get better than that!  Speaking of using the grill, the other day Jeremy and I were invited to a cul-de-sac cookout with a few friends, and it was one of the coolest parties ever!  Everyone (like 6 houses) had tables set up in their driveways, and you could go from house to house sampling food and drinks.  Talk about fun!!!  People were grilling hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken, steak, etc.  It was unlike any get-together I'd ever been to.  Makes me wonder whether we should have moved into a cul-de-sac...Oh well! 

I mentioned on Monday that I recently had my son, Kyle, and a bunch of his buddies over for dinner.  It was a warm night and eight boys were planning to come so I decided it was the perfect night to eat out on the deck.  No table to set, less mess to clean up and lots of room for those big football players.  It was a work night so I wanted to make something quick and easy.  I found just the ticket – Sweet & Zesty Kansas Barbecued Chicken.