Beef and butternut squash chocolate chili

This post is sponsored on behalf of #Choctoberfest and our generous sponsors. I received free product from Divine Chocolate. As always, all opinions are my own.

This chili combines beef, two kinds of beans, butternut squash, and is simmered in a sauce of warm spices and creamy chocolate for a delicious Halloween or autumn meal. 

Galumpki (Cabbage rolls)

Galumpki are a hearty and delicious meal to make during cabbage season. These are a family tradition and a family recipe that we've enjoyed for years.

German goulash soup (Gulaschsuppe)

German goulash soup (Gulaschsuppe) is a hearty and warming stick-to-your-ribs meal for a winter day. 

Swedish meatballs

Swedish meatballs are a delicious and comforting dish. The spices and flavors make them perfect for around the winter holidays, or any winter evening where you want a warming and hearty meal. 

Moroccan apple and sweet potato beef stew #AppleWeek

This post is sponsored on behalf of #appleweek. Our generous sponsors, Envy Apples, Torani, Chocoley, Bob's Red Mill, The Republic of Tea, Taylor & Colledge, Flahavan's Irish Oatmeal, Nairn's, and Zyliss have provided us with products for recipe creation and a giveaway for our readers. As always, all opinions are my own.

Moroccan spices combine in this unique beef stew full of sweet potatoes, apples, and raisins for a warming, hearty, and delicious autumn meal. This is a delicious dish for a cool or rainy fall day to warm you right up.

Cowboy calico beans

Four types of beans come together with ground beef and bacon in a sweet and tangy sauce for a crowd-pleasing summer cookout side dish.  

Bacon cheeseburger pie

Oh my, Bacon Cheeseburger Pie is now in my life and it's left me wondering where it's been all these years. 

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At first, I was skeptical of this idea... But, you see, since I'm trying to work my way through 25 Pies in 2015 (not going to make it to 25, folks) and found myself with a block of Yancey's Fancy Grilled Bacon Cheeseburger Cheese, I had to give it a go! I first saw a recipe for a cheeseburger pie here and have been thinking on this idea for a while now..... We loved it! 

I mean, we truly could not get enough of this tasty pie when we had it for dinner and I totally looked forward to my lunch leftovers the next day. It tasted a lot like a cheeseburger, especially with the dill pickles on the side. Don't forget the pickles, they are very important! My husband kinda swooned over this pie a bit.

I think next time I will serve it with a salad of iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and Thousand Island dressing to keep the burger feel going. This recipe will serve about 6 people (or more, especially with a nice salad, or less if you love it as much as us).

Grandpa's hot dog sauce

A meaty and hearty chili sauce is a delicious way to top your summer hot dogs. This recipe is a family favorite and one we look forward to each year.

Cabbage roll soup

Galumpkis (cabbage rolls) are a favorite meal of ours; however, they can be time consuming to make on a weeknight. 

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I saw this sauerkraut cabbage roll soup and was inspired to create a soup version of our classic family dish. As you've already seen, I've been canning and preserving a lot this year. This has provided me with an abundance of diced tomatoes - so I already had those on hand. I've made a couple small batches of sauerkraut, had some cabbage in the fridge, and ground beef in the freezer (from our 1/4 grass-fed organic cow we ordered this year). 

I've been making broths as well. I'm really trying my hardest to cut our food costs while ensuring that we are still eating well as much as possible. Since we are in the harvest season, this is the easiest time of year to do that and that's why I'm canning, freezing, etc. more than before.  

This soup is a great example of a relatively easy and inexpensive dinner that utilized ingredients that were already in my home. This recipe will make about four to five main dish servings of soup. 

Cold German potato salad

I remember eating German potato salad at family and other picnics as a kid and not being a big fan. I'm pretty sure that most of it came from a can and I remember it being very sour tasting. 

 

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There's a hot and a cold potato salad recipe in The German Cookbook that I've been waiting to try. This is the cold version and it's reminiscent of the potato salad I remember, but better. I am a big fan of potatoes and vinegar together, so I was fairly confident that I'd enjoy the homemade version and I was correct. 

 

The salad would be perfect for all the upcoming summer picnics because it lacks dairy and gets better the longer the potatoes soak in the vinegar and other flavors. This recipe will serve about four people as a side dish, but you can easily double or triple it for a larger crowd. 

 

Hopefully you can find some good sweet German mustard in your grocery store or specialty foods shop. We buy it at Spar's European Sausage Shop (which, by the way, is an excellent place to pick up something to go with this salad).

Borscht

Honestly, I didn't become friends with beets until the past few years. As a kid, I couldn't stand them...as an adult, I love them.  

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We were given a large bag of beets and for some reason I became determined that I must make borscht. Why? I'm not sure - other than the fact that I like to try cuisine from all over the world. I've never eaten borscht, but for some reason I felt like it was my duty to turn some of these beets into it. There seem to be numerous spellings of borscht and even more ways that you can make it. 

I read a bunch of different recipes, surveyed my fridge and freezer, and this is what I came up with. I must say that both my husband and I were pleasantly surprised by how much we enjoyed it.

This recipe is a bit time consuming, but it's worth it to get the best flavored broth and to get a lot of the excess fat skimmed off the top. This photo is from right before we ate it, but, like pretty much any soup or stew, it gets better the next day. 

It's a nice meal for these cold and rainy days we are having and it will easily serve four to six people.

Larb (Lao beef salad)

I've never been to Laos and I never had Larb until I made this dish. When I saw this recipe amongst others I knew that a plate of Larb was in our future. 

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I love Thai food, and pretty much all Asian food that I've tried, so I knew I would enjoy the flavors of this Lao dish. From my brief research, it seems like this is the national dish of Laos and each region has variations on the herbs and accompaniments. 

 

Beef is the traditional meat, but you could also make this with ground turkey, chicken, or even pork if you prefer. 

I liked this meal because it was fun to eat. I served it with a side of Jasmine rice, sliced cucumbers, lettuce leaves, lime wedges, and chili-garlic sauce. 

 

You can either eat it on the rice with the vegetables alongside, or you can wrap everything in a lettuce leaf. Other vegetables can be served as well such as green beans or bean sprouts. 

 

My adapted recipe is below. This recipe will serve about three people, but feel free to double or triple for your next dinner party. Guests will like this fun and unique dish. 

Cider-braised short ribs

Last Sunday was our one year wedding anniversary! My husband had a pretty nasty cold, so we didn't do much that day. I wanted to make him a comforting and delicious dinner to sooth his cold and to celebrate the day -- and I also did not want to go to the store. 

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We bought some beef before our farmer's market closed to hopefully last us a few months. So I was looking around to see what I could make with what we had already. I found the short ribs and thought they'd be perfect for a slow-cooking comfort meal. 

I also found some apple cider in the refrigerator that was starting to get a little bubbly. I thought that it would be a really good flavor for slow-cooked beef and vegetables, and it was. I served it over rutabaga and potato puree (one of my new favorite side dishes) except this time I just mashed it. 

This recipe (with puree or other potato side dish) will serve four people (or two with lunch leftovers).