Can you believe it’s almost November? Time flies here in upstate New York, and it seems like only yesterday when we were feeling the heat of the dog days of summer. Fall seems to pass by so quickly, and we feel as if we have little time to enjoy the beauty of the changing leaves.

By now, the kids are well into their school routines and your daily schedule is well established. In November, you really begin to notice the chill in the air grow deeper. Once Daylight Saving ends, you find yourself spending more time indoors, warming yourself in front of the propane fireplace.

If you love to cook, the cooler months of the year are perfect for making your favorite culinary creations. In the summer, people tend to eat lighter foods and salads more often as it feels too hot to cook much of anything. It’s funny how you finally feel as if you can cook any meal you want in the cooler months without experiencing any guilt.

Nothing tastes quite as delicious this time of year as hearty dishes you prepare on your propane cook top. Now is the time to cook food that sticks to your ribs, so to speak. Here are a few of our favorite dishes:

Mac and Cheese

Do NOT reach for a box of generic macaroni and cheese! Really, what’s in that box? Is it even real cheese, or a weird “pasteurized prepared cheese product?” Doesn’t that sound gross?

Luckily, the internet is rife with homemade mac n’ cheese recipes, ones with actual real cheese, and they’re insanely delicious! Do you want to be the favorite person in your household? Cook up a hearty mac n’ cheese dish and your family will love you forever.

If you have a child with special dietary needs, this dish can usually be modified to accommodate people with food allergies and sensitivities. Not only are gluten-free recipes available, but even vegans can indulge in mac n’ “cheez,” which is some type of dairy alternative.

Chili

If you don’t like chili, you probably haven’t found the right recipe. All you have to do is conduct a quick Google search and you’ll find thousands of chili recipes all across the board. Whether you seek a leaner, healthier chili recipe full of veggies or want a rich, meat-filled chili without beans, you can find it within seconds.

Like mac n’ cheese, chili can be modified to fit all kinds of diets, including gluten-free, vegetarian, paleo, vegan, and low FODMAP (for people with IBS).

Spaghetti Pie

Ah, yes, spaghetti pie. It’s so easy to prepare that you can even make it from leftovers, which is a great option for busy parents. It’s a well-known fact that kids love spaghetti, so baking it into a pie will delight their senses. As long as your dish includes plenty of delicious cheese and a hearty sauce, it is heavy enough for the chilliest fall night.

Scalloped Potatoes

Many Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners include scalloped potatoes as a side dish, but you don’t have to wait for a holiday to serve up this rich, filling culinary creation. Some of you lucky people may have memories of your grandma cooking up this dish for the entire family.

On their own, potatoes are the perfect vegetable to consume on chilly days, but when they’re sliced up and loaded with butter, cream and cheese, they’re even better. Add some minced garlic, finely diced onion, and the right seasonings, and you’ve got yourself a culinary masterpiece.

Chicken and Dumplings

Would you like to indulge in a classic American comfort food? Cook up a heaping serving of chicken and dumplings, which features the perfect combination of fluffy dumplings with a delicious chicken soup or stew.

Beef Stew

Nothing warms the belly on a cold day like a rich, savory stew. The internet features quite a variety of different stew recipes, which range from involved recipes that take hours to prepare to to easy slow cooker recipes.

We prefer to take the slow cooker route ourselves. After all, the key to a delicious stew is for the flavors to marry, which is best accomplished in a slow cooker. If you throw your ingredients in a slow cooker before work, arriving home will be more exciting than ever.

When cooking these dishes, the last thing you want to experience is running out of propane. Our propane suppliers provide upstate New York with propane delivery services to ensure this never happens. Contact DiSanto Propane for your home propane services today.