I have started a new food blog with my sister Jen and my sister-in-law Kate that is the newest & best version of what we have to offer. Jen & Kate are amazing and we all have our own styles and different preferences - it has made for some great recipe sharing. Come check us out at eggrollsandsauce.com and let us know what you think!
Kat :)
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Oatmeal Cranberry Chocolate Chunk Cookies - Review
These cookies have a back-story. Which is funny because this is the first time I have personally ever made them. This is kind of a public confession too, so maybe I'll feel better about it. Maybe.
Back in 2000, I was a freshman at college. There was a recipe contest at the cafeteria, and any recipe that was entered gave you a free milkshake. Who can resist that? I mean really? BUT, as a freshman in dorms that did not have a kitchen, I also did not have recipes on hand. But I did have a bag of crasins. Which had a recipe on the back for white chocolate chip crasin cookies of sorts. So I scribbled that down and handed it in. Free shake! Wahoo! BUT, I did not credit Ocean Spray with the recipe. Nor did I credit anyone else. I actually am not sure whether I felt bad or not for not crediting the source, or if it even crossed my mind that I was not being honest. I'm sure there was a part of me that felt bad, but if there was it got washed down with my free shake.
(Aside here: I would like to think that generally I am a very honest person. I give change back if I received wrong change. I pay for things that were accidentally given to me, even when I wouldn't be required to pay for them. I claim things on my taxes that would probably go unnoticed. Etc. Just to get that out in the open - I am not a chronic liar.)
I had actually completely forgotten about this experience until two months later when I was walking through the cafeteria one day and a friend from high school came up to me and said, "Kat! Your mom's cookies are so good!" I gave him a blank stare and tried to figure out what he was talking about, and where he had gotten my mom's cookies from. I asked him what he was talking about and he said that they had a big plate of crasin white chocolate chip cookies in the cafeteria that said "Kat Thomas's Mom's recipe" near them. I about died. Partially because I had forgotten about the recipe, and was pretty sure that I had not given my mom the credit for the recipe (though she does have some very tasty cookie recipes of her own), and partially because this guy was the type of person that you would never tell a lie to, and I felt like I had basically lied to him by the fact that he was happily munching down on a cookie that he was sure was one that I had grown up eating. I honestly cannot remember whether I cleared the air of that one with him, or if I was just too shocked to know what to do....at any rate, I felt terrible. I had lied for a shake. A shake that I could have purchased with my own dining money. Maybe I'll need to go donate some money to my college cafeteria or something........
Twelve years later, I found this recipe and decided that it was time to finally try one of "my mom's" famous cookies. And they were good. I prefer real chocolate to white chocolate, but they were good. And now I know what I have been missing all of these years..... :)
Family Rating: ***** (my youngest kept stealing them off of the counter - winner there)
My Rating: ***1/2
Cost: $
Difficulty: Easy. It's a cookie. :)
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| from oceanspray.com |
(Aside here: I would like to think that generally I am a very honest person. I give change back if I received wrong change. I pay for things that were accidentally given to me, even when I wouldn't be required to pay for them. I claim things on my taxes that would probably go unnoticed. Etc. Just to get that out in the open - I am not a chronic liar.)
I had actually completely forgotten about this experience until two months later when I was walking through the cafeteria one day and a friend from high school came up to me and said, "Kat! Your mom's cookies are so good!" I gave him a blank stare and tried to figure out what he was talking about, and where he had gotten my mom's cookies from. I asked him what he was talking about and he said that they had a big plate of crasin white chocolate chip cookies in the cafeteria that said "Kat Thomas's Mom's recipe" near them. I about died. Partially because I had forgotten about the recipe, and was pretty sure that I had not given my mom the credit for the recipe (though she does have some very tasty cookie recipes of her own), and partially because this guy was the type of person that you would never tell a lie to, and I felt like I had basically lied to him by the fact that he was happily munching down on a cookie that he was sure was one that I had grown up eating. I honestly cannot remember whether I cleared the air of that one with him, or if I was just too shocked to know what to do....at any rate, I felt terrible. I had lied for a shake. A shake that I could have purchased with my own dining money. Maybe I'll need to go donate some money to my college cafeteria or something........
Twelve years later, I found this recipe and decided that it was time to finally try one of "my mom's" famous cookies. And they were good. I prefer real chocolate to white chocolate, but they were good. And now I know what I have been missing all of these years..... :)
Family Rating: ***** (my youngest kept stealing them off of the counter - winner there)
My Rating: ***1/2
Cost: $
Difficulty: Easy. It's a cookie. :)
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Carmelitas - Review
These little bad boys are delicious. And dangerous. Yum. I described this to my kids as an oatmeal cookie sandwich. But stuffed with chocolate and caramel. This has safely made it on our family favorite list. I doubled the recipe to make a 9x13 pan so we could give some away. They are fairly rich, so a little goes a long way. I took some to the office ladies at my son's school and told them what they were, then left to go help in the classroom for a bit. When I got back the lady at the front stopped me and said that she needed to write down what they were called because they were so good, and she wanted to remember what they were.
Yeah, they are super delicious. And the side pieces were some of the best because the caramel got a little crispy on the sides - YUM. Here's how ours turned out:
Well, at least how the little piece I was eating turned out. That was a good size for a piece. Yep, they are rich and yummy. I had to get the kids to help me unwrap the caramels because I have little patience for that, and they were more than happy to help. Many hands makes light work. And sometimes gets a caramel as a reward at the end. :)
Family Rating: *****
My Rating: *****
Cost: $$ (if you do the 9x13 size - once you factor in the caramels, chocolate, and other stuff)
Difficulty: Easy. The hardest part is waiting for the caramels to melt in the pot.
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| from luluthebaker.blogspot.com |
Well, at least how the little piece I was eating turned out. That was a good size for a piece. Yep, they are rich and yummy. I had to get the kids to help me unwrap the caramels because I have little patience for that, and they were more than happy to help. Many hands makes light work. And sometimes gets a caramel as a reward at the end. :)
Family Rating: *****
My Rating: *****
Cost: $$ (if you do the 9x13 size - once you factor in the caramels, chocolate, and other stuff)
Difficulty: Easy. The hardest part is waiting for the caramels to melt in the pot.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Brown Sugar and Balsalmic Glazed Pork Loin - Review
This recipe was pretty good. It looks pretty in the picture. See?
It was easy to make, and tasty. Not my absolute favorite ever, but pretty good. The pork loin was tender and good, everyone ate it pretty well, but none of us were wild about the sauce. The flavor combination seemed a little off. Here is how ours turned out:
I put the glaze over the top twice during the last hour, but thought I would hold off on drizzling it all over the final product in case the kids weren't happy with the sauce. The kids ate the "non sauce" meat great, but didn't really eat well when the sauce was on. Again, the meat flavor was very, very good. I would recommend this recipe to try, but it won't probably make it on a normal rotation here since we have a couple of other pork recipes that I like better.
Family Rating: ****
My Rating: ***
Cost: $ (depending on your price of pork)
Difficulty: Easy - we love crock pot meals! :)
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| from candcmarriagefactory.com |
Family Rating: ****
My Rating: ***
Cost: $ (depending on your price of pork)
Difficulty: Easy - we love crock pot meals! :)
Monday, February 20, 2012
Chicken Enchiladas with Green Chili and Sour Cream Sauce - Review
THESE little beauties were excellent. I usually order enchiladas with green sauce of sorts when I go to Mexican restaurants, and these did not disappoint. I actually liked them a lot better than a lot of the restaurant variety because I could use good chicken inside, not the fatty kind that they often will serve.
They were fairly straightforward to make - the worst part by far was shredding the cooked chicken, though I did see that some people will cook their chicken, and then while it is warm put it in their Kitchen Aid with the paddle attachment, let 'er rip and then the paddle will shred the chicken. When I get such a machine, I'll have to try it. Shredding meat is not my favorite task.
My 7-year old said that he wanted to help make them, and he did great. The directions were very easy to follow. Here is how ours turned out:
We had two requests for this for a birthday dinner, so I think they were a hit! I personally preferred them on day #2, but the boys all liked them better on the first day. We still horked them down, at any rate. This is definitely going into our family favorites. One of my favorite things about these enchiladas is that it doesn't use cream of chicken soup - it has more of a "fresh" flavor.
Family Rating: ****
My Rating: *****
Cost: $$ (closer to the $5 end than the $10 end)
Difficulty: Moderate - you have to make a "roux" and shred the chicken, so it's a little bit more labor-intensive than dumping stuff into a pot. Still not too bad, though.
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| from sissistersstuff.com |
My 7-year old said that he wanted to help make them, and he did great. The directions were very easy to follow. Here is how ours turned out:
Family Rating: ****
My Rating: *****
Cost: $$ (closer to the $5 end than the $10 end)
Difficulty: Moderate - you have to make a "roux" and shred the chicken, so it's a little bit more labor-intensive than dumping stuff into a pot. Still not too bad, though.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Lasagna Toss - Review
This recipe is a family favorite. It is SUPER easy, and very yummy. It is definitely much easier than real lasagna. It may actually be easier than real spaghetti too because you don't have to drain off boiling hot water. You literally just dump a bunch of stuff in, let it cook, and VOILA! - dinner. *That is, if you have your beef pre-cooked. If not, it takes a little more time.
The one thing I would have to say is that the picture from the website is deceptive. DO NOT use a pan that barely will have enough capacity to keep the lasagna juice inside. I made that mistake the first time I made it and it was a MESS. So, I use a bigger pot. It still works the same to cook everything, it just doesn't look as pretty when you take pictures of it.
See? This is after I'd started serving everyone up for dinner. Looks like lasagna!
Four of five happily devour it - good enough for me!
Family Rating: ****
My Rating: ****
Cost: $$ (again, depending on price of beef - should be near-ish to $5)
Difficulty: Easy. Hardest thing is cooking up the beef, which is pretty standard.
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| from allrecipes.com |
Four of five happily devour it - good enough for me!
Family Rating: ****
My Rating: ****
Cost: $$ (again, depending on price of beef - should be near-ish to $5)
Difficulty: Easy. Hardest thing is cooking up the beef, which is pretty standard.
Monday, February 13, 2012
Tomato-Basil Parmesan Soup - Review
This soup was AMAZINGLY good. And vegetarian. Mwa ha ha. I realized that as my husband was asking what was in it - hoping it had some kind of meat in it. When I told him what was in it he said, "So, it's basically like a drink?" I told him to sit down and eat his dinner. And he loved it. And then sneakily fixed himself an egg roll afterward. And a peanut butter sandwich. We're working on the vegetarian night here still, apparently. :)
This was not too bad to make, except at the end it calls for making a roux. That is basically mixing a fat with flour to make something to thicken your dish up. For this recipe, you melt 1/2 cup butter, then pour in 1/2 cup flour, and whisk for 5-7 minutes. When you are done, you have an unimpressive runny mixture. Ta da! BUT, when you add in the hot soup, crazy things happen. I have actually never seen something react that quickly, so be prepared. When you dump in the first cup of soup, it will IMMEDIATELY thicken up. It's crazy. Get that all stirred together, then add the other three cups at once, and stir. It will amazingly enough still be thick. Then you dump that all back into the crock pot and stir, then add the remaining ingredients. Not too hard.
This soup smelled SO good when it was cooking, and it had a really good flavor. My kids were a little "eh" about it - the 7-year old ate a serving of it and was done. The 4-year old decided that it looked unappetizing and he didn't want to eat it. We have a family rule (that we learned from a much wiser family) that you have to eat as many bites of a dinner as you are old, so he had to eat four bites of it. He actually liked it, but it was admitting defeat at that point, and he wasn't quite willing to do that.
I would probably eat this daily if it was an option. I almost had some after breakfast today. And I don't typically eat "dinner-y" things early in the day. I thought it was THAT good.
Family Rating: ***1/2
My Rating: *****
Cost: $ (all veggies!)
Difficulty: Moderate - due to the veggie chopping and the roux making. Not quite "dump it all in the crockpot and forget about it", but it wasn't too bad to make either.
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| from 365daysofcrockpot.com |
This soup smelled SO good when it was cooking, and it had a really good flavor. My kids were a little "eh" about it - the 7-year old ate a serving of it and was done. The 4-year old decided that it looked unappetizing and he didn't want to eat it. We have a family rule (that we learned from a much wiser family) that you have to eat as many bites of a dinner as you are old, so he had to eat four bites of it. He actually liked it, but it was admitting defeat at that point, and he wasn't quite willing to do that.
I would probably eat this daily if it was an option. I almost had some after breakfast today. And I don't typically eat "dinner-y" things early in the day. I thought it was THAT good.
Family Rating: ***1/2
My Rating: *****
Cost: $ (all veggies!)
Difficulty: Moderate - due to the veggie chopping and the roux making. Not quite "dump it all in the crockpot and forget about it", but it wasn't too bad to make either.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
BEST Bakers - Really. Truly.
You can use this as a side. As a main dish. Be vegetarian. Be meatatarian. Whatever. It is the beloved BAKER.
My 4-year old; however, will not eat potatoes. We have the best potato soup recipe ever, and he will not eat potatoes. He won't eat the potatoes in stew. BUT, he will eat these bakers. Because they are awesome. Skin and all.
We found these because my husband and I were having a debate as to whether you can cook the potatoes straight in the oven without wrapping them in foil, or if they needed to be foil-wrapped in the oven. We were out of foil. Thankfully I lost that debate by finding the recipe linked above.
The process takes a little more work than normal bakers, but not too bad. You scrub and poke the potatoes as usual, BUT instead of just leaving it at that and baking them, you rub them in oil and put coarse salt on them. It does not take much oil - just enough for the salt to stick - and I usually will flake a bunch of the salt off of the skin after baking. The salt and oil make all of the difference in the world. The skin becomes a part of the flavor of the meal instead of something you just discard, or feel guilty for discarding because it is supposed to be so vitamin-packed.
Here is what my oven prep looks like for this:
The potatoes will go on the top rack, but your potatoes are also covered in flaky salt and oil, which will make a mess in your oven. So, before I put my potatoes in I will take a cookie sheet, line it with foil (keeps you from having to clean up the cookie sheet - just throw away the foil when you are all done) and put it on the lower rack. Done. Then you can have easy clean up for your tasty bakers.
Of course, my kids kept telling me that I needed to take a picture of their bakers once they were loaded and ready to be eaten - and I didn't do it. But the bakers were all eaten and enjoyed. We like to put ham, chili (homemade - that's for another post), broccoli, cheese & other veggies.
Family Rating: *****
My Rating: *****
Cost: $ (Potatoes are CHEAP!)
Difficulty: Easy. Clean, Poke, Dip, Roll & Bake.
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| from whatscookingamerica.net |
My 4-year old; however, will not eat potatoes. We have the best potato soup recipe ever, and he will not eat potatoes. He won't eat the potatoes in stew. BUT, he will eat these bakers. Because they are awesome. Skin and all.
We found these because my husband and I were having a debate as to whether you can cook the potatoes straight in the oven without wrapping them in foil, or if they needed to be foil-wrapped in the oven. We were out of foil. Thankfully I lost that debate by finding the recipe linked above.
The process takes a little more work than normal bakers, but not too bad. You scrub and poke the potatoes as usual, BUT instead of just leaving it at that and baking them, you rub them in oil and put coarse salt on them. It does not take much oil - just enough for the salt to stick - and I usually will flake a bunch of the salt off of the skin after baking. The salt and oil make all of the difference in the world. The skin becomes a part of the flavor of the meal instead of something you just discard, or feel guilty for discarding because it is supposed to be so vitamin-packed.
Here is what my oven prep looks like for this:
The potatoes will go on the top rack, but your potatoes are also covered in flaky salt and oil, which will make a mess in your oven. So, before I put my potatoes in I will take a cookie sheet, line it with foil (keeps you from having to clean up the cookie sheet - just throw away the foil when you are all done) and put it on the lower rack. Done. Then you can have easy clean up for your tasty bakers.
Of course, my kids kept telling me that I needed to take a picture of their bakers once they were loaded and ready to be eaten - and I didn't do it. But the bakers were all eaten and enjoyed. We like to put ham, chili (homemade - that's for another post), broccoli, cheese & other veggies.
Family Rating: *****
My Rating: *****
Cost: $ (Potatoes are CHEAP!)
Difficulty: Easy. Clean, Poke, Dip, Roll & Bake.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Cookie Dough Brownies - Review
These are just wrong. In a good way. My sister called me yesterday and said something to the effect of, "Curses to you and your food blog!" She'd seen the link on the sidebar and tried them too. They are good. SUPER rich (or, as my sister put it, "intense"), but VERY good.
Since these are done in layers, and you need to let each layer cool/set up before dumping the next layer on - prepare for these to take some time. Again, I am a very impatient person and tend to underestimate how long something will take me to make. So, warning - it will take time. Not hard, just time.
These are rich enough to enjoy, and to want to share with others. You can seriously eat four of them and feel like you have had a good experience, and then share some with friends. We gave a good-sized plate to each of my boys' teachers. One of them stopped me this morning to say that she is not a brownie person, but LOVED them, and wanted the recipe.
The one change I made from the recipe was that I made it all with margarine instead of butter. After the super-rich experience of the BYU mint brownies (which I still liked slightly better than these), I thought I would try and help a bit. They turned out great. One difference from my brownies and the brownies in the lovely photo above is that my layers were not quite so equal looking. The brownies were more thick and the cookie dough layer was a bit smaller. I thought that was a good thing - more cookie dough flavor would have been overkill, I think.
See? Not a pretty picture, but the brownies turned out a lot thicker.
Family Rating: *****
My Rating: ****
Cost: $ (esp. with margarine)
Difficulty: Easy - you just have to mentally prepare for each layer as far as time goes.
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| from sissistersstuff.com |
These are rich enough to enjoy, and to want to share with others. You can seriously eat four of them and feel like you have had a good experience, and then share some with friends. We gave a good-sized plate to each of my boys' teachers. One of them stopped me this morning to say that she is not a brownie person, but LOVED them, and wanted the recipe.
The one change I made from the recipe was that I made it all with margarine instead of butter. After the super-rich experience of the BYU mint brownies (which I still liked slightly better than these), I thought I would try and help a bit. They turned out great. One difference from my brownies and the brownies in the lovely photo above is that my layers were not quite so equal looking. The brownies were more thick and the cookie dough layer was a bit smaller. I thought that was a good thing - more cookie dough flavor would have been overkill, I think.
Family Rating: *****
My Rating: ****
Cost: $ (esp. with margarine)
Difficulty: Easy - you just have to mentally prepare for each layer as far as time goes.
Monday, February 6, 2012
Sunday Beef Stew - Review
This is another recipe from Our Best Bites - a stew. It had a lot of similar characteristics to our "normal" stew here, but had a few differences as well.
It has quite a bit of celery, which was nice since we got THREE HEADS OF CELERY with our Bountiful Basket this week (my kids usually turn their nose up to celery unless it is disguised in something - no ants on a log here....), and I appreciated that it seemed to have a lot of stuff cut up in it, like a good stew should.
The concerns I had were that it turned out a little thinner than I usually like my stew (it was more like a "stoup" - a soup-y stew). Also, it wasn't very salty. The recipe actually does not call for salt at all. I know there is beef bullion and tomato soup, both of which have "salt content", but it wasn't enough for us. All of us kept having to add salt to get it to where we liked it. I know salt is essential to good flavor, but I can't remember the last time when I added salt to something. Usually I am taking it out of things (like the frittatas). So the next time we make it, I'd add some salt. Not much (a teaspoon?), but something to get it a little closer to helping to bring out the good flavors of the stew.
My husband graciously took a picture of his leftovers since I had forgotten to take one of the original - thanks J. :)
Overall, though, it was tasty. I would definitely try this one again. The boys all gobbled it up, and that always makes me a happy mom. :)
Family Rating: ****
My Rating: ***1/2
Cost: $$
Difficulty: Easy - just chopping veggies and chucking stuff in a crockpot.
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| from ourbestbites.com |
The concerns I had were that it turned out a little thinner than I usually like my stew (it was more like a "stoup" - a soup-y stew). Also, it wasn't very salty. The recipe actually does not call for salt at all. I know there is beef bullion and tomato soup, both of which have "salt content", but it wasn't enough for us. All of us kept having to add salt to get it to where we liked it. I know salt is essential to good flavor, but I can't remember the last time when I added salt to something. Usually I am taking it out of things (like the frittatas). So the next time we make it, I'd add some salt. Not much (a teaspoon?), but something to get it a little closer to helping to bring out the good flavors of the stew.
My husband graciously took a picture of his leftovers since I had forgotten to take one of the original - thanks J. :)
Overall, though, it was tasty. I would definitely try this one again. The boys all gobbled it up, and that always makes me a happy mom. :)
Family Rating: ****
My Rating: ***1/2
Cost: $$
Difficulty: Easy - just chopping veggies and chucking stuff in a crockpot.
Friday, February 3, 2012
Mini Frittatas - Review
These were fairly easy, and good. The work is all in whisking eggs, cutting up veggies, shredding cheese, or dicing ham (or cooking sausage, if desired). Not too bad. It was a little fancier way of eating basically scrambled eggs, or an omelet.
We put in cheese, green peppers, ham & sausage. They turned out great. Actually, I was expecting them to look all nice and flat and pretty like in the picture, but when I went to check on them in the oven, I saw something more like this (but bigger - they'd settled a little at this point):
Seriously, I had "Also Sprach Zarathustra" (think 2001: A Space Odyssey) spring right into my head. They looked a little out of control, but they eventually flattened out nicely. I'm wondering if part of this was because I used milk instead of half and half. ?
Overall, they were tasty. All agreed they were better than scrambled eggs, but I would leave out the salt next time. Especially with the ham and the sausage, they were plenty salty as it was.
Family Rating: ****
My Rating: ****
Cost: $
Difficulty: Easy.
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| from familyfun.go.com |
Seriously, I had "Also Sprach Zarathustra" (think 2001: A Space Odyssey) spring right into my head. They looked a little out of control, but they eventually flattened out nicely. I'm wondering if part of this was because I used milk instead of half and half. ?
Overall, they were tasty. All agreed they were better than scrambled eggs, but I would leave out the salt next time. Especially with the ham and the sausage, they were plenty salty as it was.
Family Rating: ****
My Rating: ****
Cost: $
Difficulty: Easy.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Peanut Butter Bars - Review
Anything with peanut butter and chocolate automatically gets vaulted to the top of my favorite things in the world. These peanut butter bars (scroll down the post a bit until you find them) were very, very easy to make. They are no-bake. As in you don't have to bake them. You melt things in the microwave. Then you mix stuff. Then you pour into a pan. Then you wait while it sits in the refrigerator. Awesome.
Here is how ours turned out:
They actually looked the same as the ones pictured above. I'm just afraid to cut more to put in a picture because, as you can see, we (I) have made quite a dent in these in the past few hours. (cough).
We all agreed that these were tasty. They surely did not taste just like Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (which is what someone had said, so my hopes were all high), BUT, they are very easy to make, and, as you can gather from the picture, we weren't rejecting them at all. More like inhaling them.
Family Rating: *****
My Rating: ****
Cost: $
Difficulty: Easy....Melt. Mix. Dump. Melt. Mix. Dump.
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| from morganmoore.typepad.com/one_more_moore |
We all agreed that these were tasty. They surely did not taste just like Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (which is what someone had said, so my hopes were all high), BUT, they are very easy to make, and, as you can gather from the picture, we weren't rejecting them at all. More like inhaling them.
Family Rating: *****
My Rating: ****
Cost: $
Difficulty: Easy....Melt. Mix. Dump. Melt. Mix. Dump.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Battle of Cream of Chicken Soup - Reviews
I was making a dish tonight that needed Cream of Chicken soup. I have started to make my Cream of Chicken soup lately instead of using canned because then I know everything that is in it, and it is actually cheaper (and generally tastes better) than using the canned mystery soup. Now, if someone were to give me canned soup, I would happily eat it, but I don't mind making it either.
I had run across another recipe that had used more flour in it, and thought that I would try to find it online. I couldn't find anything like what I'd seen before, so I tried this one that I actually found in several different places and it had gotten great reviews everywhere. I must have messed something up, because I thought it was not so good at all. I've looked over the recipe over and over again, and I can't see what I omitted, so maybe whatever people are making with the soup lends well to that recipe. It tasted like flour to me, and really, the flour to liquid ratio seemed really high. As soon as I dumped the flour/milk mixture into everything that had heated up on the stove, it pretty much instantly coagulated and I had a hard time getting all of the lumps out. Probably my error since so many people love it, but I wouldn't try it again. My rating is 1 star here. This recipe makes the equivalent of 2 cans, in case you try it.
This is the recipe that I typically use. I like it because it has a good flavor, but it doesn't thicken up as much as I would love for it to thicken up. It really works well as a general soup substitute, though, since there really isn't anything seasoning it other than the chicken stock (which I use chicken bullion and water instead). I would probably give this one a 4 star rating, but maybe try and put some more flour in it. My cream of chicken soup did not turn out as thick as is pictured below, but again, it is still tasty. This recipe makes the equivalent of 1 can.
One that looks like a good "meet in the middle" recipe is here. It has more flour than my typical recipe so hopefully it should be thicker, but has more liquid than the one that I tried today so hopefully it shouldn't be too thick. I also like that it doesn't have a bunch of seasonings in it already - I had to throw out the sauce for the dinner tonight because the seasonings from the soup didn't go with the curry needed for the recipe. This recipe makes the equivalent of 4 cans, and apparently the cream of chicken soup is freezable, so some people have made it and used what they needed, then put the rest in the freezer. Hmm.
I had run across another recipe that had used more flour in it, and thought that I would try to find it online. I couldn't find anything like what I'd seen before, so I tried this one that I actually found in several different places and it had gotten great reviews everywhere. I must have messed something up, because I thought it was not so good at all. I've looked over the recipe over and over again, and I can't see what I omitted, so maybe whatever people are making with the soup lends well to that recipe. It tasted like flour to me, and really, the flour to liquid ratio seemed really high. As soon as I dumped the flour/milk mixture into everything that had heated up on the stove, it pretty much instantly coagulated and I had a hard time getting all of the lumps out. Probably my error since so many people love it, but I wouldn't try it again. My rating is 1 star here. This recipe makes the equivalent of 2 cans, in case you try it.
This is the recipe that I typically use. I like it because it has a good flavor, but it doesn't thicken up as much as I would love for it to thicken up. It really works well as a general soup substitute, though, since there really isn't anything seasoning it other than the chicken stock (which I use chicken bullion and water instead). I would probably give this one a 4 star rating, but maybe try and put some more flour in it. My cream of chicken soup did not turn out as thick as is pictured below, but again, it is still tasty. This recipe makes the equivalent of 1 can.
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| from bunsinmyoven.com |
Ratatouille - Review
My oldest son had a great idea a couple of weeks ago - to EAT Ratatouille while we watched Pixar's "Ratatouille". So, I found a recipe and decided to try it out this weekend.
That was amazingly delicious. Like, surprisingly delicious. We had never eaten eggplant before (tofu and eggplant BOTH for the first time in the same week?!), and I was a little nervous about that. The eggplant gets chopped up and you basically cook it in olive oil and garlic until it softens up. Then you put the eggplant in the bottom of a baking dish, and start layering more veggies on top. After each layer, you sprinkle grated parmesan and salt (I used kosher salt). Then you bake it. The concept isn't hard, but it is a lot of slicing. And the result was SOO good.
First layer - eggplant, then sprinkled with parmesan and kosher salt
Finished product.
My husband had given strange looks about eating a veggie casserole for dinner (which is what it basically is), but he was happily surprised at the result. Our consensus was that it was fantastic, but you probably want to use it as a side dish. We also learned that my oldest son may be allergic to eggplant because as he was happily scarfing it down, he stopped and said that his throat was feeling strange. Eggplant and sesame seeds. Interesting potential allergies.
I had also (of course) forgotten to chop onion and put an onion layer on it, so I sauteed some onions in a bit of vegetable oil on the stove just as the Ratatouille was finishing up in the oven. The onions, to me, were one of the key flavor ingredients so I'm glad that I did that.
Family Rating: **** (my 4-year old actually gave it a thumbs up too)
My Rating: ****
Cost: $ (depending on your price of vegetables)
Difficulty: Medium. Lots of slicing. Plan on it taking longer than the 15 minutes to prepare that it lists in the recipe to prepare the dish.
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| from allrecipes.com |
My husband had given strange looks about eating a veggie casserole for dinner (which is what it basically is), but he was happily surprised at the result. Our consensus was that it was fantastic, but you probably want to use it as a side dish. We also learned that my oldest son may be allergic to eggplant because as he was happily scarfing it down, he stopped and said that his throat was feeling strange. Eggplant and sesame seeds. Interesting potential allergies.
I had also (of course) forgotten to chop onion and put an onion layer on it, so I sauteed some onions in a bit of vegetable oil on the stove just as the Ratatouille was finishing up in the oven. The onions, to me, were one of the key flavor ingredients so I'm glad that I did that.
Family Rating: **** (my 4-year old actually gave it a thumbs up too)
My Rating: ****
Cost: $ (depending on your price of vegetables)
Difficulty: Medium. Lots of slicing. Plan on it taking longer than the 15 minutes to prepare that it lists in the recipe to prepare the dish.
Saturday, January 28, 2012
BYU Mint Brownies - Review
Holy cow. That is all I can say about these brownies. YUM. And super rich. And yum.
This author got the recipe from BYU dining, and switched one thing - she changed the margarine from the original recipe to butter. Of course, I didn't actually READ her comments until the end, so I made them with butter. Next time I would just do the margarine. That makes them quite a bit cheaper to make.
The mint frosting is fantastic, and the brownie itself is a nice, thick (but moist), delicious brownie. As I was making these (and grumbling because you have to make THREE layers) I had thought that maybe you could just do a box mix with these frostings and be good to go. No way - you need a brownie that can stand on its own two feet with these super rich frostings.
I made the frosting (both the mint from the recipe and this chocolate frosting) just after I put the brownies in the oven. That is when I had time to do it, so I got it done and just left the frosting out on the counter while the brownies cooked & cooled.
Two notes:
1) When you are making the brownies, DO NOT try the cocoa and butter mixture in the beginning. It is so gross. I knew it would be awful because there is no sugar in the beginning, and yet I still had to try it. Don't do it. Butter and bitter chocolate is not tasty at all.
2) The freezer is your friend. If you don't use your freezer, these will be a gooey mess. I stuck the brownies in the freezer to cool them down faster (yes, I am impatient). Then once they were cooled, I put the mint frosting layer on. THEN YOU FREEZE AGAIN. If you don't, the chocolate layer will be hard to get on. If you do, it is so easy. Then I stuck it in the freezer again once the chocolate frosting was on to make it easier to cut. Two layers of frosting can be a bit gooey.
Other note here too: One brownie is PLENTY. I promise. I eat sugar like it is my job, and my subconscious kept telling me to get at least two brownies because I usually eat two (or the whole pan), but I seriously couldn't do it. These are great to give away because you make a huge pan, and they are impressively delicious, but there is no way you can possibly eat more than a few.
My 7-year old is reading over my shoulder and said that he eats chocolate like it's his job too. Apparently that is hereditary. :)
Family Rating: ***** (emphatically)
My Rating: *****
Cost: $ (especially if you use the margarine instead of the butter - and maybe it wouldn't be so rich....)
Difficulty: Medium. Mostly because you have to make three layers, but those three layers are so worth it.
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| from the-girl-who-ate-everything.com |
The mint frosting is fantastic, and the brownie itself is a nice, thick (but moist), delicious brownie. As I was making these (and grumbling because you have to make THREE layers) I had thought that maybe you could just do a box mix with these frostings and be good to go. No way - you need a brownie that can stand on its own two feet with these super rich frostings.
I made the frosting (both the mint from the recipe and this chocolate frosting) just after I put the brownies in the oven. That is when I had time to do it, so I got it done and just left the frosting out on the counter while the brownies cooked & cooled.
Two notes:
1) When you are making the brownies, DO NOT try the cocoa and butter mixture in the beginning. It is so gross. I knew it would be awful because there is no sugar in the beginning, and yet I still had to try it. Don't do it. Butter and bitter chocolate is not tasty at all.
2) The freezer is your friend. If you don't use your freezer, these will be a gooey mess. I stuck the brownies in the freezer to cool them down faster (yes, I am impatient). Then once they were cooled, I put the mint frosting layer on. THEN YOU FREEZE AGAIN. If you don't, the chocolate layer will be hard to get on. If you do, it is so easy. Then I stuck it in the freezer again once the chocolate frosting was on to make it easier to cut. Two layers of frosting can be a bit gooey.
Other note here too: One brownie is PLENTY. I promise. I eat sugar like it is my job, and my subconscious kept telling me to get at least two brownies because I usually eat two (or the whole pan), but I seriously couldn't do it. These are great to give away because you make a huge pan, and they are impressively delicious, but there is no way you can possibly eat more than a few.
My 7-year old is reading over my shoulder and said that he eats chocolate like it's his job too. Apparently that is hereditary. :)
Family Rating: ***** (emphatically)
My Rating: *****
Cost: $ (especially if you use the margarine instead of the butter - and maybe it wouldn't be so rich....)
Difficulty: Medium. Mostly because you have to make three layers, but those three layers are so worth it.
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