I am craving and eating more soups and pastas this time of year and rely on meals that I have frozen in anticipation of the busier months ahead. I am also testing out a couple of recipes I plan to make for Christmas Eve dinner, which I am hosting. I am also a sucker for those once/year holiday treats that show up at Starbucks, Peets, etc. but those tend to lean more towards the sweet vs savory variety. So I try to balance it all out with a healthy breakfast (oatmeal) and lunch (soups or salads) in addition to regular face-time at the gym.

But what is that a picture of-it looks delicous!

Right now I desperately want ham and eggs and maybe a side of roasted brussel sprouts. This weekend will be a nice minestrone soup with a side of hectic party prep.

This time of year, it's all about warm, soft comforting food. I'm thinking savoy cabbage gratin, if I can find the cabbage this weekend.

Soup soup soup. Last night's was curried carrot.

Tonight I'm making Dorie Greenspan's bread and cheese stuffed pumpkins for book club. Hopefully that will offset the inevitable book club drunkenness and hangover.

I'm craving comfort and heat, both of which I find in what I'm eating right now for lunch: whole wheat fusilli with spicy turkey italian sausage and broccoli rabe in a spicy red pepper sauce. I'm on my third day of eating this for lunch and dinner and I'm still not tired of it.

I made spanikopita last night to last a couple of days. During December, I feel like I don't have as much time to cook for my husband and myself. I'll spend hours canning jam for gifts, but I'd rather not cook every night.

After TG and hosting the in-laws for 10 days I'm done with salt, butter, eating out, big meals, cheese, cream, et al. All I want to put in my body are smoothies, particularly if someone else wants to make them for me.

I am all about carbs during this time of the year. Pasta, bread, bring it on!

Noodle Pudding with cinnamon and raisins. I could eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I posted the recipe @ myrecessionkitchen.com

I second-third-fourth the soup craving. After Thanksgiving, everything feels too heavy (including me) and I just want nice, hot soup until the Xmas party food starts and I can't resist.

cinnamon bread, bean and chard soup with parmesan, blueberry muffins, apple pancakes, hot chocolate, turkey pot pie, homemade sausage pizza and popovers.

Lots of brown rice with brothy vegetables on top, with a slice of good bread on the side. Winter greens and squash. Anything slow-cooked and robust in flavor, but not too rich.

Ditto soup. Too many heavy meals makes me crave something simple and comforting. Getting tired of all the cookie recipes popping up this time of year :|

Chili & risotto..yum!

I second the chili! I live with someone who won't eat soups (weird, I know) but will eat chili and stews. So I'm utilizing my slow cooker and making big batches of homemade chili and beef stews to freeze for lunches and those nights when it is just too gross outside to want to do anything more than pop a bowl in the microwave and cuddle up!

Pizzelles. One of my mother's customers always makes them around this time of year and gives her a bunch (nicely wrapped) as a gift. Also clementines eaten mindlessly while watching movies at home. And freshly roasted chestnuts.

We seem to have been eating hefty meals and soups of late so I bought a basil plant and we had pesto and pasta tonight. It made a lovely change and a touch of Summer on a winter night.

Gumbo!

I made a huge pot from the Thanksgiving turkey leftovers and carcass and plan to eat it all month long.

I'm still feeling pretty bloated after Thanksgiving and the leftovers. Even though I didn't gain any weight, I think all the heavy starches are getting to me. All I want to eat are some nice lean pieces of fish and veggies! Brussel sprouts have a nice ring to them. But pretty soon I'll be craving the sweets!

anything with butter:) and lots of it

I haven't craved Christmas cookies...ever. But this year I can't get them off my mind.

Nthing the post-Thanksgiving soup-and-salad brigade. More generally, I find I'm desperate to find raw things to eat in the winter. So a lot of oranges and cole slaw, carrots and beet juice.

I wanted Vietnamese food, so we went out tonight.

Other than that, I've been on a huge salad kick. HUGE. I like a big bowl of Romaine with black beans, corn, a bit of shredded sharp cheddar, and possibly some tortilla strips and chicken. Not really winter food, but I'm not much of a soup person. Also turkey sausage, pasta, risotto, eggs, beans.

There's half an hour left for lunch and I crave for a delicious lasagne and Chai Tea Latte afterwards.

Lots of jacket spuds, with stew or grilled meat. Plenty of curry, at least once a week! Basically easy comforting food. We don't really have an issue with too much festive food as we haven't reached the christmas dinner season yet, and we don't have turkey-day.

Lots of leafy green winter veg too, we seem to eat broccoli, sprouting brocolli, curly kale, and cavelo nero all the time!

I definitely had cravings for Thai and Chinese food. I ordered in Thai one night, but then yesterday I made stir-fried cabbage with shallots and peanut noodles.

After the butter and gluttony of Thanksgiving and all that eating out, all I want is soup and salad. I've been making warm salads, since cold greens don't seem very appealing in cold weather. The spicier and lighter the soup, the better. A few weeks of detox are definitely in order!

If you have spicy soup and warm salad recipes to suggest, I'd love to hear them!

Homemade buns, fatty foods (especially dairy like butter, sour cream, and cream), green veggies, and potatoes and squashes. *Nom!* I made macaroni and cheese with cream cheese last night to go with cold leftover ham and steamed green beans. Sooo good....

All I've been wanting to eat is soup with a big hunk of great bread.:)

Craving the broth based soups I grew up with like arroz caldo (chicken, rice, ginger, lemon, and green onion), pancit molo (chicken and shrimp dumplings and veggies), seafood or pork noddle soup.