Night 43

Recipe 237

Crispy Fried Sesame Shrimp, Zucchini, and Mushroom Caps with a Ginger-Soy Dipping Sauce

Matt rating **** 1/2

Ingredients used:

Tamari

Garlic clove

Fresh ginger

Sugar

Lime

Sesame oil

Hot sauce

Vegetable oil

Pancake mix

Sesame seeds

Shrimp

Zucchini

Shiitake mushrooms

OMGoodness!!! The recipe title is just a long way of saying Tempura Shrimp and Veggies...this was delicious! By now you should know that Matt hates "anything that lives in the water and anything that is considered a fungus". I added a salad and fried rice to round out the meal. He ate every last piece of this meal and was raving about the dipping sauce. I don't make many fried dishes so this was quite messy, but was well worth the clean-up. I would give this recipe 5 stars!

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Mandy

Night 42

Recipe 50

Big, Thick, Hearty Thighs...and That's a Compliment!

Matt rating ****1/2

Ingredients used:

EVOO

Chicken thighs (I used drumsticks)

S&P

Yellow onion

Garlic cloves

Thyme

Dry white wine

Chicken stock

Red potatoes

Peas

Lemon

Flat-leaf parsley

Crusty bread and salad

I wasn't a huge fan of the chicken itself in this dish, but surprisingly Matt gave this a pretty high rating. I did like the potatoes that were cooked along with the chicken though. Maybe it would have turned out a little better had I actually used the thighs like it called for instead of the drumsticks I had on hand. Oh well, it was tasty enough to eat and Matt was happy...that's all that matters, right?

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Mandy

Night 41

Recipe 92

London Broil with Parsley-Horseradish Chimichurri

Matt rating ****1/2

Ingredients used:

Shoulder steak

Worcestershire sauce

EVOO

S&P

Horseradish

Garlic cloves

Red wine vinegar

Flat-leaf parsley

Lemon

Any steak will make Matt happy, and this one was no exception! The chimichurri was a great compliment to the steak. As you can see from the very small list of ingredients, this was a very simple meal to make. Definitely a keeper!

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Mandy

Night 40

Recipe 351

Pork Chops in a Sweet Chili and Onion Sauce with Creamy Cilantro Potato Salad

Matt rating ***1/2

Ingredients used:

Russet potatoes

S&P

EVOO

Pork chops

Red onion

Chili powder

Ground cumin

Garlic cloves

Dark brown sugar

Chicken stock

Unsalted butter

Mayonnaise

Cilantro leaves

Red wine vinegar

Celery

Red bell peppers

Matt wasn't a big fan of the pork chops because he prefers the way I make them with my own ingredients, but I thought the sweet chili and onion sauce was great! The ladies at my Wednesday morning Bible study loved the leftover potato salad and I ended up giving them the recipe for it, so I would say that that deserved to bump the rating up to at least a 4! I guess I'll keep the potato salad recipe and drop the pork chop recipe :)

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Mandy

Night 39

Recipe 33

3 Beans and Some Chicken

Matt rating ****

Ingredients used:

Zest and juice of 1 lemon

EVOO

Thyme

S&P

Chicken breasts

Pancetta (or bacon)

Yellow onion

Red pepper flakes

Dry white wine

Chicken stock

Green beans

Wax beans

Cannellini beans

Flat-leaf parsley

I would say that the star of this dish was definitely the beans! The chicken unfortunately turned out a little dry but the moisture from the beans helped make up for it. Not too bad for yet another chicken recipe!

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Mandy

Night 38

Recipe 202

Fall Minestrone

Matt rating ****

Ingredients used:

EVOO

Pancetta (I used bacon)

Red pepper flakes

Garlic cloves

Portobello mushroom caps

Onions

Carrots

Celery ribs

Salt and pepper

Fresh rosemary

Fresh sage (I didn't have any)

Zucchini

Kale

Cannellini beans

Diced tomatoes

Chicken stock

Vegetable stock

Parmigiano cheese

Ditalini pasta

Crusty bread

Matt isn't a really big fan of soup, and I sort of had to talk his rating up. I personally thought this soup was really good. I've never cooked with kale before, but I've had it in soup at the Olive Garden before and I knew I would like it. I'm glad to have plenty left over for lunch tomorrow!

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Mandy

Night 37

Recipe 201

Aussie Meat Pies, Made Quick

Matt rating ****

Ingredients used:

Refrigerated pie crust

Salt and Pepper

EVOO

Unsalted butter

Ground beef

Onion

Flour

Worcestershire sauce

Tomato paste

Brown sugar

Beef stock

Grill seasoning

Ketchup

Fresh chives

These are a ritzy version of a sloppy Joe, and a sped-up version of a down-under favorite - and very tasty!

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Mandy

Night 36

Recipe 137

Artichoke and Walnut Pesto Pasta

Matt rating *****

Ingredients used:

Course salt

Penne rigate

Walnut pieces

Artichoke hearts

Garlic clove

Zest of lemon

Flat-leaf parsley

Parmigiano-Reggiano

Course black pepper

Freshly grated nutmeg

EVOO

Arugula

(I also added chicken)

I made this dish for company, and it's always a cook's best compliment when they ask for the recipe! I added chicken to make the dish a bit more filling and satisfying, and it was delicious!

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Mandy

Night 35

Recipe 256

Chicken Divan and Egg Noodle Bake

Matt rating ****1/2

Ingredients used:

EVOO

Unsalted butter

Button mushrooms

Flour

Chicken stock

Cream

Freshly grated nutmeg

Salt and pepper

Shallot

Chicken breasts

Broccoli florets

Fresh thyme leaves

Dry white wine

Extra-wide egg noodles

Unsalted butter

Gruyere cheese (I used cheddar)

Chives

I guess I was in a comfort-food kind of mood last week when I was making these dishes - lots of pasta dishes in the same week! I love my carbs though, so no biggie! This was a great twist on a classic, and dumbing it down so any average cook like myself could pull it off. Good stuff!

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Mandy

Night 34

Recipe 67

Sirloin Burgers with Gorgonzola Cheese and Mediterranean Slaw

Matt rating *****

Ingredients used:

Garlic clove

Feta cheese crumbles

EVOO

Juice of a lemon

Sugar

Radicchio

Red onion

Fresh dill

Coarse salt

Poppy seeds

Sesame seeds

Ground sirloin

Yellow onion

Coarse black pepper

Fresh sage

Balsamic vinegar

Gorgonzola cheese

Rolls or hamburger buns

Arugula

WOW!!! These have got to be the very best burgers I have ever made, and maybe have even ever tasted! They were very flavorful and the Gorgonzola cheese melted on top was heaven on a bun. The Mediterranean Slaw was interesting and had a great bite to it. I will definitely be making these burgers again in the future.

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Mandy

Night 33

Recipe 9

Turkey Noodle Casserole

Matt rating ****1/2

Ingredients used:

Course salt

Extra-wide egg noodles

EVOO

Bacon

Ground turkey

White mushrooms

Onion

Freshly ground black pepper

Ground thyme

Dry white wine

Chicken stock

Heavy cream

Freshly grated nutmeg

Unsalted butter

Gruyere cheese (I used cheddar)

Plain bread crumbs

Flat-leaf parsley

Once again I was a little surprised that Matt gave this one such a high rating, considering the ingredients used! I'm so far behind on my blog that I can't quite remember how long it took to make this, but I remember how good it tasted! On to the next blog entry!

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Mandy

Night 32

Recipe 13

Saucy BBQ Chicken Sammies with Pepper and Scallion Potato Salad

Matt rating ****

Ingredients used:

Small potatoes

Pepperoncini peppers

Red bell pepper

Scallions

Wine vinegar

EVOO

S&P

Chicken stock

Mexican beer

Chicken breast halves

Garlic cloves

Onion

Worcestershire sauce

Hot sauce

Grill seasoning

Dark brown sugar

Tomato paste

Pickle slices

Hamburger buns

I would call these Spicy Chicken Sloppy Joe's. They had a great kick and lots of flavor. Perfect for a Sunday afternoon and plenty leftover for snacking tonight!

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Mandy

Night 31

Recipe 101

Cheddar-Studded Tex-Mex Meatloaf Patties, Scallion Smashed Potatoes, and Spicy Pan Gravy

Matt rating **1/2

Ingredients used:

Ground sirloin

Plain bread crumbs

Milk

Egg

S&P

Worcestershire sauce

Nutmeg

Tomato paste

Bell pepper

Garlic clove

Scallions

Vegetable oil

Chicken stock

Potatoes

Ground coriander

Ground cumin

Sharp cheddar cheese

Sour cream

Cilantro

Lime

As you can tell from Matt's rating, this turned out to be a near-disaster! This was a take-off from a master recipe and I had to go back and forth between the two. The directions were incorrect/incomplete so I ended up not using all the ingredients that I should have in the meatloaf patties. Had I done everything correctly, I think this would have turned out much better. I tried to salvage it by topping the meatloaf with the cheese, since I didn't add it beforehand, but alas, it was a tad bit too late. I should have reduced the heat from what the directions said, but was too busy prepping other ingredients to notice that the meatloaf patties turned out really well done. At least I made it to over 30 recipes before we had a bad one! Oh well, on to the next one!

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Mandy

Night 30

Recipe 8

Mega Meatball Pizza

Matt rating *****

Ingredients used:

EVOO

Pizza dough

Flour

Fresh rosemary

Course salt

Ground beef

Onion

Garlic cloves

Coursely ground black pepper

Tomato sauce

Parmigiano-Reggiano

Flat-leaf parsley

Mozzarella

If Matt could have given this six stars, he would have. Super delicious and filling! I added a simple salad with Italian dressing on the side and it made for a perfect dinner to hang out in front of the tv with!

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Mandy

Night 29

Recipe 26

Florentine Meatballs

Matt rating ****

Ingredients used:

Frozen spinach

Ground turkey

Onion

Garlic cloves

Egg

Milk

Bread crumbs

Parmigiano-Reggiano

S&P

EVOO

Unsalted butter

Flour

Chicken stock

Italian cheese blend

Nutmeg

Parsley

Oddly enough this recipe only called for the meatballs and cheese sauce, with nothing else to go with them! I added a box of bow-tie pasta to act as a bed for the meatballs and sauce. Matt couldn't even tell that the meat was turkey! This made a TON of meatballs - too much for just the two of us - so I took the rest over to a friend who is on strict bedrest at the end of her pregnancy. I hope she and her hubby enjoy them as much as we did!

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Mandy

Night 28

Recipe 1

Scramblewiches

Matt rating *****

Ingredients used:

Baguette

Unsalted butter

Deli-sliced ham

Eggs

Milk

Hot sauce

S&P

Swiss cheese

Parsley

This was by far the quickest recipe I've made to date. It took all of 15 minutes, and it was a lot more filling than we expected. Sometimes you just can't go wrong with breakfast for dinner!

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Mandy

Night 27

Recipe 343

Sausage and Mushroom Polenta "Lasagna"

Matt rating ****1/2

Ingredients used:

EVOO

Unsalted butter

Italian sausage

Portobello mushroom

Yellow onion

Garlic cloves

Rosemary sprigs

Red pepper flakes

S&P

Chicken stock

Lemon

Ricotta cheese

Egg

Parmigiano-Reggiano

Plain bread crumbs

Prepared polenta

Mozzarella

As usual, this is a twist on a classic dish. This "lasagna" didn't have red sauce or noodles. In place of the noodles the recipe calls for polenta. I am a huge fan of polenta so I knew I would love it. I made a Caesar salad and garlic bread to go along with it to complete the meal. Our guests for the evening seemed to like the meal, and even ordered the cookbook from Amazon to use themselves! I guess I'll take that as a compliment :) Matt gave it a great rating too, so a successful evening indeed! The lighting in the picture is bad again, but I'll still post it just for effect. I hope you are enjoying your visits to my blog!

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Mandy

Night 26

Recipe 279

Everything-Crusted Chicken Rolls Stuffed with Scallion Cream Cheese

Matt rating *****

Ingredients used:

Vegetable oil

Cream cheese

Scallions

Chicken breast

S&P

Bread crumbs

Garlic salt

Poppy seeds

Dehydrated onion flakes

Sesame seeds

Flour

Eggs

It's not very often that I fry anything, so I was a little out of my element tonight, but boy did dinner turn out great! It was also weird not using EVOO, onions, and fresh garlic! It's not too often that any of RR's recipes don't call for these ingredients. This recipe was a spin off of everything bagels, which I love, so it was bound to be a winner! I made this for company tonight and we all loved it. I served it with a simple salad that I threw together with a bunch of veggies left in the crisper drawer of the fridge. Definitely a keeper!

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Mandy

Night 25

Recipe 110

Chicago Dog Salad

Matt rating *****

Ingredients used:

Yellow mustard

Vinegar

Sugar

Vegetable oil

Red onion

Shredded cabbage blend (store didn't have any so I grabbed a small head of radicchio and a small head of regular cabbage)

Romaine lettuce

Tomatoes

Pickles

S&P

Pork or beef hot dogs (I actually used chicken since I had them in my fridge)

Boy did we pig out on this one! I won't say how many of the hot dogs we actually ate, but out of an 8 dog package, there weren't too many left in the pan! This was much more tasty than I imagined it would be. It was really easy and fast to make so it was perfect for a busy day. This would be a great dish to make for the kids, and you can also get them to help make the salad to get them interested in cooking. Yumm-O!!!

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Mandy

Night 24

Recipe 217

Spanakopizza

Matt rating ****

Ingredients used:

EVOO

Unsalted butter

Garlic cloves

Red onion

Frozen spinach

Dried oregano

Feta crumbles

Plum tomatoes

S&P

Roasted red peppers

Flat-leaf parsley

Kalamata olives

Arugula

Pepperoncini

Pizza dough

Four cheese pizza blend

WOW...I absolutely loved this pizza! The only mistake that I made was in getting a thin crust pizza dough. I should have done a regular crust or thick crust because there were so many veggies that it made the dough a little too moist. The flavors were very bold and I will definitely make it again. I think Matt would have given it a better rating if I hadn't had the dough mishap. A good lesson for next time!

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Mandy

Night 23

Recipe 60

Balsamic-Glazed Pork Chops with Arugula-Basil Rice Pilaf

Matt rating ****1/2

Ingredients used:

Unsalted butter

Rice pilaf mix

EVOO

Pork chops

S&P

Onion

Thyme

Rosemary

Garlic cloves

Balsamic vinegar

Honey

Chicken stock

Arugula

Basil

Who says pork chops have to be boring? These were very tasty and juicy, and I think my favorite part was the rice pilaf mix with the arugula and basil. Super yummy! This was a very quick meal to make. A tip - invest in a splatter guard! The one I bought at IKEA a few months ago has come in handy on nights like this one!

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Mandy

Night 22

Recipe 293

Chicken No. 14,752 - Chicken in Mustard Sauce

Matt rating ****1/2

Ingredients used:

Chicken breast halves

Thyme leaves

(I also added some poultry seasoning)

Juice of one lemon

S&P

EVOO

Chicken stock

Dijon mustard

Sour cream

Couscous

As you can see this was a surprisingly simple dish to make, but the flavors came out great! It took all of about 20 minutes to make - perfect for a Friday night! I love Dijon mustard sauces paired with chicken. It definitely takes the boring out of plain old chicken!

Well that is it for my catching up on posts. I hit a two for one deal at Albertson's this week on a bunch of meat, so hopefully I'll have plenty of recipes to come.

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Mandy

Night 21

Recipe 72

Fajita Beef Pie

Matt rating *****

Ingredients used:

Corn muffin mix

Eggs

Butter

Milk

Frozen corn kernals

EVOO

Ground beef

Garlic cloves

Yellow onion

Red bell pepper

S&P

Chili powder

Ground cumin

Hot sauce

Worcestershire sauce

Dark brown sugar

Jalapeno Pepper Jack cheese

Scallions

Cilantro or parsley

This dish was perfect for a cold, crisp fall day! Matt rated this one a 5 as well, so there's not much more to say!

One more recipe to follow...

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Mandy

Night 20

Night 97

Chicken Tortilla Soup with Lime

Matt rating *****

Ingredients used:

EVOO

Chicken tenders (I used regular chicken breast)

S&P

Garlic cloves

Green bell pepper

Onion

Jalapeno

Celery

Ground cumin

Ground coriander

Yellow corn tortilla chips

Hot sauce

Chicken stock

Sour cream

Limes

Cilantro

Scallions

So you thought I had gone MIA? Nope, just haven't had time to post my recipes on the blog. Two more will be following this post :).

I made this recipe last weekend when I was overcoming the flu and a nice little visit to the ER. It really hit the spot as it's the kicked-up version of chicken noodle soup. Why is it that these types of soups always seem to make you feel better? It was delicious, as you can note in Matt's 5 star rating. He's not really big into soups so that says a lot. I also made a quesadilla to go along with it from a previous recipe using tortillas, cheese, and scallions. It was a perfect pairing!

Okay, on to the next blog!

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Mandy

Night 19

Recipe 136

Spaghetti con Aglio e Olio with Tomato and Onion Salad

Matt rating *****

Ingredients used:

Course salt

Spaghetti

Crusty bread

EVOO

Garlic cloves

Red pepper flakes

Flat anchovy fillets

Flat-leaf parsley

Tomatoes

White or yellow onion

Course black pepper

I actually made this recipe last Monday but due to illness in the house haven't gotten around to posting it. I've actually made this recipe in the past because it is in another one of RR's cookbooks. It's one of the few recipes she has done that with because it is a classic Italian dish and really yummy! It's very easy to make and has a great kick to it. It's a surprisingly simple dish but the few flavors that are used are very bold and stand out.

I will most likely get another recipe on here Monday night since we have so much going on at the church this weekend. Thanks for checking in on my progress!

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Mandy

Night 18

Recipe 55

Halibut Soup

My rating ***1/2 (Matt's going to poker night so I spared him a fish dish!)

Ingredients used:

EVOO

Andouille sausage (or chorizo)

Yellow onion

Carrot

Poblano pepper (the store didn't had one so I did a green bell - a poblano is a mild sweet pepper)

Garlic cloves

S&P

Dry white wine

Chicken stock

Hominy

Halibut

Zucchini

Flat-leaf parsley

Cilantro

Lime

French bread or any crusty bread to mop up the juice

Wow I had no idea how expensive halibut is! I think I should have just halved this recipe since I made it for myself, but now at least I have leftovers...I wonder if this would freeze well? I guess I can try and see what happens. The bread was great for dipping in the broth/juices and for filling up that carb crave! This has to be a pretty healthy dish because of all the veggies and fish. There really wasn't much sausage and I would have doubled it because there was so much fish. This was a good soup but I have so many other soup recipes that this one is lower on my list to make again. Definitely worth trying though! My next installment will be on either Saturday or Sunday, so stay tuned!

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Night 17

Recipe 65

Uptown Down-Home Chili

Matt rating ****1/2

Ground beef

Grill seasoning

Baby portobello mushrooms

Shiitake mushroom caps

Yellow onion

Celery ribs

Red bell pepper

Garlic cloves

Worcestershire sauce

Chipotle peppers in adobo

Ground cumin

Beer (I used Sam Adams Boston Lager)

Black beans

Crushed tomatoes

Beef stock

Thyme

Smoked Gouda

White onion

This chili made my house smell SO good! It only called to let it simmer for 10 minutes, but I made it a little early and let it simmer for an hour. I really think that helped everything come together to make an excellent chili. The smoked Gouda and chopped onions on top were a great finish. I also made cornbread to go with the chili because you just can't do chili without it! Matt really liked the chili and didn't realize until a few bites into it that there were mushrooms in it. He hates mushrooms because "they're a fungus", but once again he ate the entire dish and gave it a great rating! I am throwing a baby shower next month and we are going to do a soup pot-luck. I think I'll make this chili for it!

Once again we forgot to put the memory card in the camera when we took the picture so I don't have one to post. I'm sure you can imagine what chili looks though!

I won't be cooking tomorrow night since we have dinner at church, and then Thursday Matt has a guys poker night so it looks like I'll be back for the weekend. Happy cooking!

Night 16

Recipe 59

Chicken in a Horseradish Pan Sauce over Orange and Herb Couscous

Matt rating ***1/2

Ingredients used:

EVOO

Boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

S&P

Chicken stock

Plan couscous

Navel orange

Flat-leaf parsley

Yellow onion

Prepared horseradish

Thyme leaves

Dijon Mustard

Half-and-half

Yet another take on a chicken dish...this one actually took me 30 minutes. Maybe I'm getting better in the kitchen, or this was just a pretty easy recipe to make...most likely the latter of the two! The pan sauce tasted more like dijon than the horseradish, but that was fine by me. It was very creamy and tasty, and I've become a big fan of couscous. I would recommend pouring extra sauce on the couscous to make it a little more flavorful though. This was one of the easier dishes I've made and definitely worthy of a Sunday dinner!

I have been absent from this project for a few weeks due to family being in town and then us going out of town, but I'm picking right back off where I left off. I haven't decided on a dish tomorrow yet. I'm going to see if we actually get a rainy cold day and if so I'll make a comfort food meal. I just LOVE this time of year when the weather changes and you can feel that crisp air and watch the leaves falling from the trees! We might have to make a drive through the mountains to get a preview of the colors. This is the time of year that I really love living in this beautiful state.

Night 15

Recipe 269

Big Beef Balls with Bucatini (or spaghetti)

Matt rating ****1/2

Ingredients used:

Course salt

Spaghetti

Ground sirloin

Garlic

Egg

Italian-style bread crumbs

Parmigiano-Reggiano

Freshly grated nutmeg

Course black pepper

EVOO

Onion

Dry red wine

Crushed tomatoes

Tomato sauce

Flat-leaf parsley

Capers

Sage

Pancetta

Cremini mushroom caps

Beef stock

This was just spaghetti and meatballs, but homemade! The meatballs were definitely the star of this dish and I will use this recipe to make meatballs again. I made this dish when my family was in town a few weeks ago and they ate it up. Unfortunately the pictures we took were saved to the camera and not the memory stick and we don't have the cord to plug it in to the computer, but I'm sure you can get a pretty good idea of what spaghetti and meatballs looks like.

Night 14

Recipe 42

Cider Vinegar Chicken with Smashed Potatoes and a Watercress and Cucumber Salad

Matt rating ****1/2

Ingredients used:

Red-skinned potatoes

EVOO

Chicken breast halves

S&P

Yellow onions

Thyme

Honey

Garlic cloves

Apple cider vinegar

Chicken stock

Half-and-Half

Unsalted butter

Dijon mustard

Iceberg lettuce (it called for Watercress but Matt couldn't find it)

Seedless cucumber

I suppose I should just let my husband the photographer start taking all the pictures from now on since this picture looks like it belongs in a magazine! This dish was definitely different with the tangy kick from the vinegar but it was soooo good! I'm usually not a fan of caramelized onions but they were really good with the vinegar, broth, and seasonings used. My 16 year old nephew is staying with us this week and I think he didn't stop to breathe before he finished, and then he went back for seconds! I guess 16 year old boys will eat anything you put in front of them though, huh! Matt liked it too though so we'll call it a success!

I'm going to my church's women's retreat tomorrow (yay!!!) and won't get back til later Saturday night, so I'll cook again Sunday night. Have a great weekend!

Mandy

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Bonus Stir-Fry Recipe

Pork and rice stir-fry (using pork tenderloin leftovers from Sunday's dinner)

Matt rating *****

Ingredients used:

2 tablespoons wok oil (or vegetable oil if you don't have it)

3 cups chicken stock

1 1/2 cups uncooked rice

A sprinkle of crushed red pepper flakes

4 cloves garlic, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

4 green onions, chopped on an angle about an inch long

About a pound of leftover cooked pork tenderloin, chopped into bite-sized cubes

About a cup or so of frozen peas

Soy sauce, to taste

Bring chicken stock to a boil and add rice. Lower heat to a simmer, cover, and cook for 20 minutes. While rice is cooking, chop all the veggies and meat. Heat a wok or large pan over medium-high heat and add the oil. Add the crushed red pepper flakes, garlic, celery, and green onions. Cook for about a minute and then add the meat and peas to heat through. Add the cooked rice to the pot and use soy sauce liberally, to taste.

Using all leftovers, this dish turned out surprisingly well considering I just winged it!!! It says a lot that Matt gave it the highest rating when he does not usually like leftovers in any form. This made quite a bit, maybe enough for 8 people. My sister is getting here tonight with her three boys so we'll have plenty to feed them when they get here, and if they're not hungry then I'll have some for lunch tomorrow :) I'm sure this dish could easily be made with leftover chicken as and turn out just as good.

Back to the fussing baby!

Mandy

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Night 13

Recipe 331

Rosemary Lemon-Pepper Pork Tenderloin with Creamy Lemon-Parmigiano Dressed Greens and Garlic Croutons

Matt rating ****

Ingredients used:

Pork tenderloins

Lemons

S&P

Garlic cloves

Rosemary

EVOO

Bread

Mayo

Parmigiano-Reggiano

Romaine hearts

The star of this dish was definitely the croutons! I've never made home-made croutons before and they turned out so yummy. I don't think I'll ever buy store-bought croutons again after seeing how easy they were to make. The dressing for the salad was a hit too and was almost like a caesar dressing, but not quite as heavy. The pork wasn't quite all the way cooked through when I pulled it out of the oven so I put it back in for about three more minutes and it turned out a little dry, but still tasted pretty good. I had a whole tenderloin leftover so I'll use it in a rollover dish tomorrow night. Tonight we are having a bbq for my mom so no RR recipe tonight. We're just going to do easy burgers and dogs tonight to keep it simple. Depending on the plans I might cook again Thursday since my mom will be heading to Montana with my sister that day. Not sure what I'll make yet, but I think I'll put the frozen chicken or hamburger to use to save some $$$.

Mandy

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Night 12

Recipe 288

Lime-and-Honey Glazed Salmon with Warm Black Bean and Corn Salad

Matt rating *** (Julie rated it *****)

Ingredients used:

EVOO

Red onion

Garlic cloves

Crushed red pepper flakes

Ground cumin

S&P

Limes

Honey

Chili powder

Salmon fillets

Red bell pepper

Corn kernels

Chicken stock

Black beans

Cilantro

Baby spinach

This is the second fish dish I made this week and once again I have to give Matt props for at least sampling the salmon. Once again I was shocked that he gave it a decent rating! Blake and Julie were good sports about it because this was the first time I've ever made salmon and it came out a little "blackened" on one side, but Julie says she likes it that way...haha! All in all it really did have pretty good flavor. The black bean and corn salad was really yummy and had a nice little kick to it and both Blake and Julie went back for seconds of it, and took the leftovers home! Lucky for Matt, there are only like two or three other salmon recipes in this cookbook and I'll wait awhile to make it for his sake :).

My mom is flying in from South Carolina tomorrow evening so I will probably not be able to make dinner and it will be a little hit and miss while she is in town. Rest assured, I will continue cooking through this recipe book and this blog. Can't believe I've made twelve recipes already! What is that, like 353 to go or something...sheesh!

Mandy

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Night 11

Recipe 236

Cornmeal-Crusted Catfish and Green Rice Pilaf

Matt rating *** (I would give it 4)

Ingredients used:

EVOO

Unsalted butter

Shallot

Thyme leaves

S&P

Long-grain rice

Dry white wine

Chicken stock

Flat-leaf parsley

Spinach leaves

Basil leaves

Lemon

Catfish fillets

Yellow cornmeal

This post will be short as I am typing one-handed because I am holding a bag of ice in the other on the burns I received while making this dish. Note to self...never grab a frying pan by the handle after it's been in a 400 degree oven!!! Anywho, I finally dared to make an actual fish dish tonight and was very proud of Matt for eating half of his catfish fillet, and for giving it a decent rating! I love catfish so this was a yummy dish for me. I only had to get three ingredients from the store today since I had everything else already. The cornmeal crust was really good and the rice was pretty interesting! I love how RR finds ways to make rice or mashed potatoes interesting by adding different ingredients to them.

Well I can't type much more so hopefully my hand will quit burning before I hit the sack here in a few minutes. I will be taking a two night break since we have dinner at church tomorrow and then I'm eating at a friend's house Thursday. We are having our friends over Friday night and I'll be making them Salmon for their 10 year anniversary! I'll be making chicken nuggets and macaroni and cheese for their kids and Matt, since I won't make him eat fish twice in one week :) Have a great night!

Mandy

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Night 10

Recipe 74

Turkey Croquettes with Spinach Mashers and Pan Gravy

Matt Rating ****

Ingredients used:

Potatoes

Course salt

Ground turkey

Celery

Yellow onion

Poultry seasoning

Thyme

Flat-leaf parsley

Course black pepper

Egg yolk

Plain bread crumbs

Vegetable oil

Unsalted butter

Flour

Chicken stock

Cream

Baby spinach leaves

Prepared whole-berry cranberry sauce (I omitted this)

We had our newlywed friends, Kevin and Anne, over for dinner tonight and it was great to fellowship with them! I did some prep work ahead of time by chopping the veggies and mixing in the herbs and seasonings and put it in the fridge for a couple of hours so I wouldn't be rushed at dinner-time getting everything ready. This was a pretty healthful meal that I wasn't shy about going back for seconds (and even thirds on the potatoes!). The baby spinach was added to the mashed potatoes and you'd be surprised at how good it turned out by having a little bit of crunchy green in them! The pan gravy (not pictured) on top of everything just made it that much better. The only complaint that I have about this meal is that there weren't leftovers for lunch tomorrow ;-) It took two batches because my pan wasn't big enough to fit 8 patties, so the second batch came out a little darker because the oil was darker, but they were still pretty tasty.

I haven't decided what to make for dinner tomorrow yet, but I've got to start making some of the fish/seafood dishes and just hope that Matt will like them! Stay tuned and we'll see if I dare to make one tomorrow...

Mandy

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Night 9

Recipe 25

Taco Chili-Mac and Double-Decker Baked Quesadillas

Matt rating *****

Ingredients used:

Ground beef

Hot sauce

Worcestershire sauce

Ground cumin

Chili powder

Macaroni

Vegetable oil

Jalapeno peppers

Green bell pepper

Onion

Celery

Garlic cloves

S&P

Stewed tomatoes

Crushed tomatoes

Chicken stock

Cilantro

Flour tortillas

Cheddar cheese

Scallions

Pepper Jack

Sour cream (oops, forgot to use it!)

Matt gave this five stars because the baked quesadillas were killer! Good thing I have extra torts and cheese cause I'm gonna make them for a snack tomorrow :) There were so many leftovers that I was able to freeze a big bowl of the chili-mac so Matt can have it when I go to the women's retreat here in a couple of weeks, plus plenty for my lunch tomorrow too!

Well not much else to say since it's so late and we need to get to bed...Judah has been in a mood today so I haven't had time for much else. Hope she sleeps well tonight!!!

My next installment won't be until Sunday as we have plans Friday and Saturday night that will keep me out of the kitchen. Looking forward to the two day break!

Mandy

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Night 8

Pan-Roasted Garlic and Herb Chicken Breasts with Chopped Salad and Creamy Caper Dressing

Matt rating ***1/2 (I'd give it 4)

Ingredients used:

Garlic cloves

Flat-leaf parsley

Hot sauce

EVOO

S&P

Chicken breasts

Mayo

Capers

Red wine vinegar

Dijon mustard

Cherry tomatoes

Radicchio

Scallions

Cucumber

This recipe was super easy to make taking all of about 20 minutes. It called for the chicken to be marinated for only five minutes, but I marinated it for about two hours in the fridge. I started it by browning it in a pan for a few minutes and then finished it off in the oven. I probably needed to cut down the oven time just a little bit but it still turned out really tasty. The salad was a little different because of the strong tasting radicchio lettuce used, but the creamy dressing and all the other veggies balanced it out - it was a very colorful salad. I would probably use half of the radicchio next time and use another crisp lettuce like iceberg to even the taste out a little better. The crunch in the salad was great and the dressing was soooo yummy. I'll definitely use the dressing again for another salad.

Once again I have the night off tomorrow night for Fellowship at the Farm with free hot dogs and hamburgers...hope to see you there! Come back Thursday for a review of Taco Chili-Mac!

Mandy

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Bonus Recipe

Since I have quite a bit of produce in my fridge that I know I won't go through before it goes bad, I decided to make a vegetable and bean soup for lunch today that will keep me fed for lunch for the rest of the week. I make this soup different each time just depending on what I have on hand. It started off as a Campbell's recipe that I have added to and tweaked to suit my taste and ingredients. I know, I know, it's like 97 degrees outside and I'm making soup, but I've got air conditioning, so it's okay!

Vegetable and Bean Soup

Ingredients used:

2 tablespoons EVOO

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1/2 small onion, finely chopped

2 medium carrots, chopped

2 celery stocks, chopped

2 zucchini, chopped

Dash or two of red pepper flakes

1 quart box chicken stock

14 oz can crushed tomatoes

14 oz can diced tomatoes (I used fire roasted this time)

1/2 to 1 cup short cut pasta (I used ditallini today)

14 oz can cannelini beans, drained and rinsed (I usually use kidney beans but these are just as good)

Handful Italian parsley, chopped

Parmigiano-Regianno cheese, for sprinkling on top

Heat the oil in a soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the garlic, onions, red pepper flakes, and veggies. Save the parsley for the end. Cook 3-5 minutes until veggies are tender-crisp and then add chicken stock and both cans of tomatoes. Bring to a boil and add pasta. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook about 10 minutes until pasta is al dente. Add the beans and heat through. Stir in parsley and ladle into bowls. Top with the cheese and enjoy!

About 8 servings or so?

Night 7

Recipe 53

Eggs-traordinary Stuffed Toasty Baskets

Matt rating *****

Ingredients used:

EVOO

Bacon

Garlic

Onion

Red pepper flakes

S&P

Soft white sandwich bread

Unsalted butter

Tomato

Eggs

Parmigiano-Reggiano

Who doesn't like breakfast for dinner? Matt would eat breakfast every night if I made it. He took one bite of this dish and yelled out "5 stars, even with tomatoes!!!!" Guess this one is a winner! Again, this was a super easy dish to make. It called for a green salad on the side, but salad just doesn't seem to go with breakfast food for me. We didn't miss it. We definitely could have eaten another one of these though! Luckily this is a master recipe and there is a variation to use for another recipe down the road where you swap out chorizo for the bacon and add green olives...sounds interesting! This would definitely be a great recipe to use for the whole family!

Mandy

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Night 6

Recipe 126

Spicy Shrimp and Penne with Puttanesca Sauce

Matt rating **** (I would rate this 5 stars!)

Ingredients used:

Penne pasta

Course salt

EVOO

Garlic cloves

Red pepper flakes

Anchovy fillets

Kalamata olives

Capers

Canned crushed tomatoes

Canned diced tomatoes

Shrimp

Flat-leaf parsley

(I also added freshly grated parmesan cheese)

I absolutely love puttanesca sauce, so any dish with it will be a winner to me! Puttanesca is named after "ladies of the night" because it's spicy, fast, and easy!!! This dish took me less than 30 minutes to make, and would have been even less time if I would have purchased pre-peeled shrimp, but I got the shrimp that was on sale that just needed a quick peel since it was already de-veined.

I inhaled this dish before Matt had even eaten three bites of his. I am very proud of him considering this had tomatoes, anchovies, and shrimp, all things he is not fond of. He finished every shrimp on his plate and actually gave the dish a better rating than I was expecting. This is a keeper for me, but maybe on a night when I am having girlfriends over.

Well the baby is crying so back to mommy-duty I go!

Mandy

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Night 5

Recipe 2

Smoky Turkey Shepherd's Pie

Matt rating ***1/2

Ingredients used:

Course salt

Idaho potatoes

EVOO

Bacon

Ground turkey

Smoked paprika

Course black pepper

Thyme leaves

Onion

Carrots

Celery

Red bell pepper

Frozen peas

Flour

Chicken stock

Sour cream

Egg

Unsalted butter

Chives (fresh from my garden!)

This is definitely a comfort food recipe, but one you can feel good about eating. Turkey and lots of veggies, but some bacon to add some flavor. It was a pretty easy meal to make, but lots of chopping of veggies involved which took the most time. It took me about 45 minutes to complete this meal, but it was worth the time involved. Matt gave it three and a half stars and said that he would eat it again...he's not big into veggies. I would have given it four stars myself. There was so much flavor in this recipe that you couldn't even tell that it was ground turkey that was used. Since there are only two of us, I could have frozen half of the dish for later use, but I'll just have leftovers tomorrow. I thought it was so good that I had two helpings!

I'll be taking tomorrow night off as we are having dinner over at a friend's house, so you will see my next installment on Sunday. Have a great weekend everybody!

Mandy

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Night 4

Recipe 123

Steaks with Two Tapenades, Arugula Salad, and Crusty Bread

Matt rating ****

Ingredients used:

Kalamata black olives

Anchovy fillets

Capers

Flat leaf parsley

Lemons

Jarred roasted red bell peppers

Basil pesto

Medallions of beef tenderloin or New York strip steaks (I used eye of round steaks cause they were on sale)

EVOO

S&P

Arugula (I used red-leaf lettuce since I still had it on hand)

Parmigiano-Reggiano

Crusty bread

How can you go wrong with steak, right? Well, a smoke filled house is one way!!! The directions call for a "screaming hot pan" to cook the steaks in so I cranked it up. My entire upstairs filled with smoke in a matter of seconds, but once I blasted the fan and opened the sliding glass door we were in the clear. The steaks ended up with a great caramelized crust and were super juicy, and the tapenades were really tasty. Of course I didn't tell Matt that anchovies were in one of them, and guess which one he picked that he like the most...the fishy one! We are making progress, one meal at a time :) It was a hard choice for me to pick which tapenade I like the best (one was an olive/anchovy tapenade and the other was roasted red pepper). Both were really good. I applaud Matt for trying everything, but he has always said that if steak needs a topping, then it's not a good steak. He likes his naked as long as they are cooked right.

I think the best part about this entire meal is that it took all of about 15 total minutes to make! And cleanup was the easiest it's been all week.

Well my baby is getting cranky and needs mommy time. As always, thanks for stopping by!

Mandy

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Night 3

Recipe 7

Smoky Chipotle Mac-n-Cheddar with Tomato and Chorizo

Matt rating *****

Ingredients used:

Coarse salt

Elbow macaroni

EVOO

Unsalted butter

Onion

Flour

Cayenne pepper

Paprika

Whole milk

Chicken stock

Smoked Cheddar

Dijon mustard

Freshly ground black pepper

Chorizo

Canned diced fire-roasted tomatoes

As you can see, we all have the majority of these ingredients on hand, so once again this was a very easy recipe. It is definitely a grown-up version of mac-n-cheese...not for the timid taste buds! It had a great kick to it but not so much that it made our noses run.

I always have a problem making home-made cheese sauce and it never turns out thick enough. I think that if there would have been a little less milk or chicken stock in the sauce that it would have been a little thicker. I ended up using about 3/4 of the cheese sauce along with the chorizo and tomatoes to be mixed with the macaroni. Matt had a great idea to use the rest of the cheese sauce as a dip later on, so I'll end up freezing it for that purpose. Matt actually agreed to eat this as leftovers for lunch tomorrow, and I'll freeze the rest of the macaroni for maybe a Saturday lunch sometime.

A note on the chorizo, the recipe calls for a chorizo with casings that you would remove and dice, but I've only ever been able to find ground chorizo sausage which melts in the pan almost into a sauce. It turned out great in the recipe so I'm not complaining. If you've seen the other kind locally, drop me a note so I know where to look!

One other thing to mention - although I won't list an entire recipe on my blog (again, due to copyright rules), I'm pretty sure that you would be able to find these recipes on the Food Network website or Rachael Ray's website. Or, you could just go get the cookbook :)!

Mandy Rae

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Night 2

Recipe 332

Bacon-Wrapped Meatloaf Patties with Pan Gravy and Sour Cream-Tomato Smashed Potatoes

Matt rating ***

Ingredients used:

Red-skinned potatoes

Ground beef

Plain bread crumbs

Milk

Egg

Grill seasoning

Ground allspice

Tomato paste

Onion

Bacon

EVOO

Unsalted butter

Sour cream

S&P

Tomatoes

Flour

Chicken stock

Spicy brown mustard

Worcestershire sauce

Flat-leaf parsley

Although this recipe called for what seems like a lot of ingredients, I happened to have all of them on hand. It was a pretty easy meal to make but took longer than 30 minutes, but that was due in part to going back and forth from a fussy baby to the kitchen.

Matt gave the meal three stars saying it was "average". He said the tomatoes in the smashed potatoes took away from the meal (but that is because he hates tomatoes), but that the bacon made up for it. I will give him credit though because he didn't pick out one tomato! He said the meat loaf patties alone wouldn't have been as good without the bacon. All in all, we would consider this recipe a keeper! I would rate this meal with three and a half stars...just a little better than average. But hey, it's still better than fast food, and we have leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

Mandy Rae

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Night 1

Recipe 294

Chicken No. 14,754-Chicken Bustard (in Basil-Mustard Sauce)

Matt rating ****

So I was able to start tonight as we have a sick baby in the house and were unable to attend the family dinner we were supposed to go to. Right after church I headed to the local Sunflower Market to get my produce and stuff to make salad to go along with tonight's dinner.

I chose tonight's meal based on the fact that I got a 5 pound package of chicken when I went grocery shopping yesterday. Because of copyright rules I won't post the entire recipe here, but I'll note the ingredients used.

Chicken

Thyme

Lemon

S&P

EVOO (If you are a Rachael Ray fan you know what this term is!)

Chicken stock

Dijon mustard

Sour cream

Onion

Garlic

Pesto

Basil (fresh from my garden!)

This meal was very simple to make and turned out delicious. The mustard and lemon flavors were dominate and were so good paired with the chicken. I placed the chicken on a bed of egg noodles (not in the recipe) and topped with the sauce. I added a simple salad of red leaf lettuce (on sale at the Sunflower Market for 88 cents!) and a lemon vinaigrette to compliment the lemon and thyme flavors in the sauce. Matt and I both thought this was a great recipe and definitely a keeper!

I will post a "Matt rating" for every recipe, with a possible five stars(*****). Keep in mind that Matt is a very picky eater so I will note my agreement or disagreement as necessary ;-)

Not sure what's for dinner tomorrow night, although I have a feeling it will call for ground beef, since I picked up four pounds of it yesterday! I guess I'd better get back to my kitchen and freeze all the extra meat I bought!

Mandy Rae

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365: No Repeats!

Thank you so much for visiting my blog! I have been inspired by a movie called Julie/Julia (which I admit at this point I've only seen the previews for) to attempt to go through Rachael Ray's entire cookbook titled "365: No Repeats". Now that I am a stay at home mom, we are cutting corners every way we can to save money. One area that will be drastically affected is our naughty eating out habit, which we got into almost a year ago when I got pregnant and was too tired, sick, or on bed rest to cook. I've been a Rachael Ray fan for years and have 5 or 6 of her cookbooks. She took me from making pre-packaged frozen lasagna to homemade goodness in 3o minutes per meal! I have her knife set, pots and pans, and even her tongs. I'm not an obsessed fan by any means, but her cooking style suits me perfectly.

My husband, Matt, has agreed to try everything I make, which is a huge thing for him since he has the taste buds of a child and has rules like "I won't eat anything that swims, is a fungus, or is squishy". This makes dinner time difficult when I haven't been able to cook with tomatoes, mushrooms, or seafood! He seems to be as excited about this as I am though and I'm sure will be a good sport (he may even acquire a taste for things that he doesn't think he likes!).

I've done most of my grocery shopping this morning to get my "staple items" that Rachael recommends. I'm going to hold off until Monday before I get any produce though since that will be my official start date. The picture you see is my pantry which I've completely cleaned out and rearranged. Having it look so nice and neat inspires me to cook! I don't want to wait until Monday but we're having dinner with friends tonight and tomorrow night, so I guess I'll have to be patient. I'll post a picture of my fridge when I get the produce on Monday, and will try to post a picture of every meal I make.

I'm not going to kid myself into thinking that I can go 365 days straight without a break for going out to dinner with friends or going on vacation, but I do plan on going through the entire cookbook. Please follow me on this journey to see how long it takes to get through it!