It’s officially October! I’m not a huge fan of colder weather, but I do love so many things that accompany the fall season. Picking pumpkins and apples, enjoying hot cider, going on hay rides, exploring corn mazes or finally having an excuse to break out the fuzzy socks and sweaters. My number one favorite thing about fall, however, is that it’s soup season. I love making soups, stews, and chilis in the crock pot or in a large stock pot. It makes the whole house smell warm and inviting and makes so many cheap meals for days to come.

Split pea soup is a recipe that invites a bit of nostalgia from my childhood where we enjoyed this at least once or twice a month through the fall and winter. A meaty ham bone or ham hock is definitely needed to give it that boost of ham flavor. While you can make it with just diced ham, it doesn’t give it the same smokiness or flavor that throwing in a quick ham hock provides. As with many of my other recipes, this can be quickly prepped in the morning so it’s ready to go at dinnertime.

Start with two pounds of dried split peas, and rinse these under cold water in a strainer. I usually find these sold in one pound bags in the dried beans section at the grocery store. Remove any debris or rocks as you clean them and drain before setting aside.

Gather the other ingredients minus the parsley and extra water. Wash the vegetables, then peel and cut the carrots into small pieces. Slice the celery and onions into small pieces, and mince the garlic and fresh thyme. I almost always use chicken bouillon for recipes requiring chicken broth or stock as it’s more economical than purchasing lots of chicken stock cartons, especially if you make soups all the time. If you choose to use bouillon instead of pre-made chicken broth, one cup of broth is equivalent to one solid bouillon cube or 1 1/4 tsp powdered bouillon per cup of water.

Lightly spray the crock pot liner with cooking spray to prevent sticking. Place the ham hock and diced ham on bottom, then add all of the ingredients minus the parsley and extra water; the celery, carrots, onion, garlic, thyme, bay leaves, and black pepper. Pour in the chicken broth or stock, and gently stir to combine the ingredients. Cook on Low for 8 hours. (You can cook this for 4 hours on High, but if cutting the cooking time I recommend using an immersion blender to smooth out some of the peas and thicken the soup.)

Check on the crock pot an hour before it’s finished cooking, or a half hour if cooking on High. Add the three cups of water, one cup at a time and stirring gently until smooth. Cover with the lid and finish cooking before removing the ham hock. Pull any tender pork goodness from the hock and return it to the crock pot before throwing away the hock skin and bone. Serve with parsley and additional black pepper as desired and enjoy within three days if refrigerated. This recipe can also be stored in the freezer for up to three months. Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup

Course: DinnerDifficulty: Easy

Servings

18

servings

Prep time

10

minutes

Cooking Time

8

hours

Ingredients

• 2 lbs dried split peas

• 8 cups chicken broth or stock

• 3 cups water

• 1 cup diced cooked ham

• 1 smoked ham hock

• 5 celery stalks

• 4 carrots

• 2 small onions

• 3 Tbsp minced garlic

• 4 tsp. minced fresh thyme

• 2 bay leaves

• 3/4 tsp. black pepper

• 4 tsp. fresh parsley

Directions

• Rinse peas and remove rocks and debris. Drain and set aside.
• Wash vegetables and peel carrots. Thinly slice celery, carrots, and onion.
• Spray 6 quart crock pot liner with cooking spray. Add ham hock and diced ham to bottom of crock pot. Add peas, celery, carrots, onion, minced garlic, minced thyme, bay leaves, and black pepper. Pour in chicken broth or stock.
• Stir in ingredients, cover, and cook on Low 8 hours. For last hour of cooking, check on peas and stir in the three cups of water if needed.
• Remove the ham hock and pull any tender meat to remove. Discard the bone and skin and add the pulled pork back into the crock pot. Serve with parsley or additional pepper if desired. Enjoy!

Notes

• If you’re running short on time, you can cook this recipe in your slow cooker on High for 4 hours. No immersion blender is needed to smooth out the peas if cooking for the full 8 hours on low.
• This recipe is for a 6 or 7 quart crock pot; if using a smaller one, cut the ingredients listed in half.
• The ham hock is the secret ingredient for smoky ham flavor. No additional salt is needed as the ham hock has a high salt content, but you can add extra salt if you choose to.
• Enjoy within 3 days refrigerated or 3 months properly stored in the freezer.

Slow Cooker Recipes:

• Slow Cooker Chicken and Dumplings
• Simple Slow Cooker Shredded Chicken
• Quick Barbeque Slow Cooker Pulled Pork

Latest Posts:

• Slow Cooker Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup
• Oven Roasted Carrots
• Favorite Candied Yams
• Easy Cranberry Sauce
• Slow Cooker Pork Loin & Gravy

I love one-dish dinners, as they’re so easy to put together and easy to clean up afterwards. With fall sports, classes, and extracurriculars entering full swing, it’s reassuring knowing dinner can go straight from the fridge to the oven with minimal dishes afterwards. More so, the family has a more nutrient-dense dinner than they would get at the drive-thru. This one-pan balsamic Italian chicken recipe marinates in the fridge prior to cooking, which gives it it’s amazing flavor.

How long should it marinate?

The chicken should marinate between 4-8 hours. Some marinades can sit for up to 24 hours, but I wouldn’t recommend this as the balsamic marinade will start to break down the chicken the longer it sits past eight hours and makes for a mushier texture. I suggest marinating the vegetables for an hour, but these can sit for as little as 15-20 minutes if you’re short on time. For this recipe, I marinated the chicken in the morning before getting work done, then marinated the vegetables shortly before preparing the oven and sheet pan.

Start by gathering the ingredients for the marinade and the chicken. Pat the chicken dry, and cut in half to allow for even cooking. While the recipe calls for about two full chicken breasts, I increased this to three as we have a house of teenagers.

Whisk the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, italian seasoning, garlic powder, black pepper, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a small bowl for the marinade. Place half of the marinade in a gallon-sized ziplock bag, and the other half in a tupperware container with a lid. Lightly season both sides of the sliced chicken with salt, then place in the ziplock bag and seal while removing the air from the bag. I love using ziplock bags for marinades and coatings as it makes clean-up so easy. Turn the chicken over in the bag to fully cover in the marinade, then place in the fridge with the remaining marinade container to sit for 4-8 hours.

About an hour before you plan on heating the oven, pull the vegetables and the covered marinade container from the fridge. Leave the grape tomatoes whole, but cut the ends from the zucchini and slice into 1/2-3/4″ size pieces. If using fresh green beans, wash and cut the stem ends. For this recipe, I realized last minute that I did not have fresh green beans so substituted frozen whole green beans, but rinsed under lukewarm water to partially thaw. Add all ingredients to a separate gallon-sized ziplock bag with the remaining marinade, and seal the bag before turning the coat the vegetables. Stick these in the fridge for the last hour before cooking.

When ready, preheat the oven to 425 degrees and cover a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. The Nordic Ware 21×15 baking sheets are my favorite as they can fit a full one-pan meal and cook evenly. Place the marinated chicken in the center of the pan, and line the edges with the marinated vegetables. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the chicken is cooked in the center and reaches 165 degrees.

While the chicken and vegetables are baking, gather the parmesan and parsley and thinly slice the parsley for topping. Grate the fully-cooked chicken and vegetables with parmesan to taste with your favorite grater and top with parsley when finished.

One Pan Balsamic Italian Chicken

Course: DinnerCuisine: ItalianDifficulty: Easy

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

20

minutes

Cooking time

25

minutes

Ingredients

• Marinade:

• 1/4 cup olive oil

• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

• 2 tsp Italian seasoning

• 1 1/2 tsp garlic powder

• 1/2 tsp black pepper

• 1/2 tsp salt

• Dinner:

• 2-3 large boneless, skinless, chicken breasts

• salt to taste

• 1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes

• 1 medium zucchini

• 2 cups whole green beans, fresh or frozen

• grated parmesan cheese to taste

• 1/4 cup fresh parsley

Directions

• Whisk together the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, italian seasoning, garlic powder, black pepper, and 1/2 tsp salt. Place half in a gallon-sized ziplock bag, and the other half in a tupperware container with a lid.
• Pat dry chicken breasts and slice in half for even cooking, sprinkle with salt to taste. Place in gallon-sized ziplock bag and seal closed while removing excess air. Turn chicken to cover. Place bagged chicken and tupperware with marinade in fridge for 4-8 hours.
• An hour before cooking, trim and wash green beans if fresh and cut zucchini into 1/2-3/4″ pieces. Place tomatoes, zucchini, and green beans in separate gallon-sized ziplock bag with remaining marinade. Seal shut and turn to coat. Place in fridge for remaining hour.
• Preheat oven to 425 degrees and line large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Place marinated chicken in center and line edges with marinated vegetables. Cook for 20-25 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink in center at 165 degrees.
• While chicken is cooking, thinly slice parsley. Grate parmesan to taste over cooked chicken and vegetables and top with parsley.

Notes

• Marinate the chicken between 4-8 hours to maximize flavor absorbency but prevent the chicken from becoming mushy from over-marinating.
• Slice the chicken in half to allow for more even cooking and reduce baking time.
• Vegetables require less marinate time than chicken, up to an hour but for at least 15-30 minutes.

More One-Dish Dinners:

• Sheet Pan Pork Chops & Veggies
• Shredded Chicken Tortilla Soup
• Grandma Bev’s Chicken & Rice
• Grown-Up Mac & Cheese

Latest Posts:

• Slow Cooker Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup
• Oven Roasted Carrots
• Favorite Candied Yams
• Easy Cranberry Sauce
• Slow Cooker Pork Loin & Gravy

Vodka sauce is a delicious combination of vodka, cream, and a tomato base that provides a bit of a kick due to the alcohol content. While the alcohol burns off when cooking, the vodka provides a sharp taste that is complemented by the acidity of the tomatoes and sweetness of the heavy cream. It makes a fantastic weeknight dinner and while you can buy it premade at a store, it’s just as easy (and tastes better) if you make it yourself.

What kind of pasta should I use?

Penne and rigatoni are popular pasta choices for this dish, but you can really use any tube-shaped pasta. Ziti will also hold well with the sauce if you have it on hand.

Gather the tomato paste, crushed red pepper flakes, basil, garlic salt, black pepper, and vodka and set aside. Then, finely mince the garlic and shallot. I like to buy the pre-minced garlic, but if you want to save time you can finely chop both of these in a food processor or chopper.

In a large skillet, melt the butter and add in the minced garlic and shallot. Took it for two minutes until it starts to darken, but stir it continuously to keep it from burning. This allows for the garlic flavors to fully develop for the sauce.

Next, add in the crushed red pepper flakes, basil, garlic salt, and black pepper. Keep stirring to prevent burning, then add in the tomato paste and stir for an extra three minutes. Once the tomato paste mixture is fully combined, add in the vodka and stir while scraping the sides of the pan, then remove from the heat.

In a large pot, bring salted water to a boil and add in the pasta. Cook eight minutes or until al dente, then set aside one cup of the pasta’s water before draining the noodles. Gather the heavy cream and parmesan for the sauce.

Return the saucepan to medium-high heat and add the heavy whipping cream, half of the parmesan, and half of the pasta water. Stir until the cheese is thoroughly melted and the sauce is bubbling, turn off the heat.

Gently fold in the pasta immediately after removing from the stovetop heat, then add in the remaining parmesan. If the sauce appears to be dry, add a little of the remaining pasta water at a time until the sauce is at your preferred consistency. I usually end up adding the entire remaining 1/2 cup of water, but you can use more or less as you wish. Once the parmesan and pasta water has been thoroughly folded, top with additional parmesan cheese and basil before serving.

Pasta alla Vodka

Course: DinnerCuisine: ItalianDifficulty: Easy

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

5

minutes

Cooking time

20

minutes

Ingredients

• 3 Tbsp butter

• 1 shallot

• 3 cloves garlic

• 1/2 cup tomato paste

• 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

• 1/2 Tsp dried basil

• 1/4 tsp garlic salt

• 1/4 Tsp black pepper

• 2 Tbsp vodka

• 1 lb. tubed pasta, such as penne or rigatoni

• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

• 1/2 cup grated parmesan

• fresh or lightly dried basil for serving

• parmesan for serving

Directions

• Mince garlic and shallots. Melt butter in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add minced garlic and shallots and stir continuously for two minutes.
• Add in crushed red pepper, dried basil, garlic salt, and black pepper to the shallot mixture and continue to cook for three minutes. Keep stirring to prevent burning.
• Add tomato paste to pan and stir until fully combined for three minutes. Add vodka and stir while scraping sides of pan, then remove from heat.
• Boil large pot of salted water and cook pasta until al dente, about 8 minutes. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water before draining.
• Return sauce to heat and add heavy cream, half of parmesan, and 1/2 cup of pasta water, stirring to combine and until parmesan is melted. Turn off heat and stir in cooked pasta. Fold in remaining Parmesan, adding more pasta water if the sauce is dry. Serve topped with more Parmesan and fresh or lightly dried basil.

Notes

• Want to add a protein? Cooked chicken or shrimp are fantastic with this recipe.

30 Minute Dinner Recipes:

• Lemon Chicken Piccata with Parsley
• Chicken Marsala in Mushroom Sauce

Latest Posts:

• Slow Cooker Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup
• Oven Roasted Carrots
• Favorite Candied Yams
• Easy Cranberry Sauce
• Slow Cooker Pork Loin & Gravy