Italian Soup with Italian Sausage, Green Lentils and Spinach

Italian Soup with Sausage, Lentil & Spinach

Eating soup and nibbling sweets are a perfect way to endure the hectic,cold days of December…right?

To me, soup season means accepting that winter is firmly in place, and it’s time to settle in and wait it out. Slurping soup when it’s cold, snowy, or rainy is comforting and helps endure the unavoidable short days and long, dark nights.

Soup warms our souls, and keeps us hydrated and healthy. Many soups are filled with veggies, and often made with beans or meat, making them hearty enough to serve as one-pot meals.

What will your go-to soup be this winter? 

If you need a new idea, then try this Italian Soup with Italian Sausage, Green Lentils and Spinach, delicious served with homemade cheese biscuits.

Cheddar Cheese Biscuits

Cheese Biscuits

These are easy to make, freeze well and are perfect to serve with soup on a cold, snowy or rainy day. I suggest using aged cheddar cheese for more flavour.

Crescent Shaped Nut Sugar Cookies

Crescent Shaped Nut Sugar Cookies

These little cookies are full of flavour ! With few ingredients, they truly are easy to make. I suggest making them small, because they are rich. I used walnuts, but pecans, hazelnuts or almonds would do as well.  

Nanaimo Bars

Nanaimo Bars

Three Layers of yumm!

If you are from British Columbia then you will be familiar with Nanaimo Bars, a three-layer sweet treat named after a town on Vancouver Island. 

We always ate Nanaimo bars when I was a kid. They have a crust of graham cracker and chocolate, followed by a layer of buttery icing sugar with vanilla pudding, and finally, a thin layer of chocolate on top. I hadn’t had a Nanaimo bar in decades and was excited to make them after I found an old recipe in one of my mother’s recipe books. They tasted exactly as I remembered!

Cranberry Maple Banana Bread

Cranberry Banana Loaf

This banana bread is different from your typical banana bread because it has coconut and cranberries. It has a nice mixture of sweet from the bananas and tart from the cranberries. It’s a great way to use up old bananas and cranberries that may be lingering in your freezer!

Cranberry Raspberry Compote

Cranberry Raspberry Compote

Here’s a cranberry raspberry compote recipe that you’ll want to have on hand for many different dishes. It’s the perfect blend of cranberries and raspberries with a little sugar and orange juice. It’s great on yogurt, ice cream, cheesecake etc. Whatever it is, the compote will make the dish shine.

Spicy Cranberry Ginger Sauce

Spicy ginger Cranberry Sauce

Here’s a spicy version of cranberry sauce to serve at your next Christmas dinner. It’s also good on chicken, pork or in sandwiches! It’s a simple recipe and can be made a few days in advance.

Cranberry Muffins with Brown Sugar Cinnamon Topping

Cranberry Muffins with Brown Sugar Cinnamon Topping

Yummy Cranberry Muffins!

This is a fun cranberry muffin recipe to try. They are perfect to have with your morning breakfast or on a coffee break. The sugar-cinnamon topping creates an intriguing blend of tart and sweet. These cranberry muffins are easy to make and freeze nicely.

Yummy Molasses, Cinnamon and White Chocolate Chip Cookies

Molasses, spice and white chocolate chip cookie

These molasses cookies are fun to chew on. They’re spiced with cinnamon, ground ginger and cardamon, which makes them a cozy cookie for the fall season. But the real treat is munching on the white chocolate chips sprinkled throughout.

Simple & Fast Tomato, Olive, and Fresh Basil Penne

Tomato Olive Basil Penne

If my husband was to make a meal for dinner, his go-to dish would be pasta. His sauce typically includes whatever he feels like throwing into the pot that day…and he never uses a recipe. 

This dish is similar to his pasta dishes, except there is a recipe for it! I use fresh cherry tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes and basil to give it a lively taste. I do like to use extra-virgin olive oil because of the flavour, but regular olive oil will do just as well. 

And if you feel inspired, don't be afraid to throw in other ingredients you like.

Whatever you decide, this is a super fast and delicious meal to prepare at the last minute.