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.

from oceanspray.com

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. :)

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.

from luluthebaker.blogspot.com

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.

Brown Sugar and Balsalmic Glazed Pork Loin - Review

This recipe was pretty good. It looks pretty in the picture. See?

from candcmarriagefactory.com

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! :)

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.

from allrecipes.com

 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.

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.

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.

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.

from sissistersstuff.com

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.

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.

from ourbestbites.com

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.

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.

from familyfun.go.com

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.

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.

from morganmoore.typepad.com/one_more_moore

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.

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.

from bunsinmyoven.com

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.

Pumpkin Waffles & Cinnamon Syrup - Review

This recipe is awesome. Of course it is - breakfast for dinner is always a winner. The cinnamon syrup is AMAZING. It is very easy to make too.

from theidearoom.net

***A tip: Make the syrup BEFORE you start the waffles. Then your waffles aren't waiting and getting cold while the syrup finishes.***

As far as the pumpkin in the waffles goes, I get a can of pumpkin, and then measure out as many 1/2 cup sized blobs as I can and freeze them (and label the bag). That is how much we love these. And then the pumpkin left over doesn't go to waste - you can know you are set for the next few rounds of making these, or other pumpkin-y things.

The cinnamon syrup is fantastic. The only change I make is that it is a bit too thick for me, so I cut the flour down to about 1, maybe 1 1/2 T. Yes, that is up to half of the amount, but it's a bit gloppy for me at the full amount. Also, I have not had a good experience with trying to keep the syrup for longer than a couple of days in the fridge.

We top this with whipped cream as well, and eat scrambled eggs w/ ham. Yum. :)

Family Rating: *****
My Rating: *****
Cost: $
Difficulty: Easy.

Chicken Curry in a Hurry - Review

This recipe came from a friend's blog (who, I would like to mention, makes some fabulous stuff - including tasty food). We had tried it a few years ago, and somehow messed it up (I think we used sweetened coconut milk, if such a thing exists) so it was a little sweet. We pulled the recipe out again a few weeks ago and have made it twice since then. It is delicious, and very easy.

from madebymichelle.blogspot.com

It is especially easy if you prepare it estilo Kat....which was learned via my mother-in-law. She has food preparation days where she will do things like cook up a bunch of beef to freeze it in baggies, or will can things, or make freezer jam. I do not can or freezer jam (though I do enjoy it), BUT I have learned the joys of pre-cooking and freezing meat. I get my meat when I can find it on a deal, and then have a little prep day for that meat or meats. I do the ground beef and freeze it in baggies (usually 3/4 to 1 pound worth), and I also will take my chicken breasts, boil them forever (remember: germaphobe), and then cut them into pieces and put about a pound's worth in a baggie. Makes dinner EASY.

Like I mentioned before, it is really important to make sure your coconut milk is unsweetened. Also, we have made this recipe as written before, and it is wonderful, but tonight when I made it I realized I had neglected to check the recipe carefully and I didn't have tomato paste or spinach. Oops. So I substituted a couple of tablespoons of ketchup for the tomato flavor (I figured the tomato paste was being used more to flavor than to thicken things up), and I threw in some frozen peas for the veggie kick. I'm not sure if peas are curry-blasphemy or not, but it was really good. I am happy with the recipe either way.

Family Rating: ****
My Rating: ****
Cost: $ (it actually may end up being a touch over $5, depending on your chicken prices)
Difficulty: Easy. The only thing to chop is an onion and the chicken, and the rest you just throw in and cook.

Greatest Granola - Review

One of my friends posted this recipe for granola, and it is our favorite. It is SO-O-O good. Good enough to get my husband to eat breakfast whenever we make it, which is not a normal thing for him. Usually if he eats breakfast, he eats leftovers instead of breakfast food (gross), so this is huge.

from 320sycamoreblog.com

It's one of those recipes that is good enough to give away, but then you think that maybe you'll try a little.....and then you realize that you CAN'T give it away because you NEED it. So if you plan on giving some away, make sure you have enough of the ingredients for at least a double batch. :)

We don't put nuts in ours because we have a nut-averse child, and it still is fantastic. I add the full 2 tablespoons of cinnamon because I love how full the flavor is. We have also discovered ground flax, which the kids don't notice and handle better than flax seeds. Wheat germ is also a good stealthy add-in, as mentioned in the recipe.

Also, I shared this with my mom and she mentioned that it worked better for her to mix the dry ingredients together first, then add the rest because then you get a more consistent texture. I tried that this last time and it was great. But even the throw-it-all-in-at-once granola is great too. We love it.

Family Rating: *****
My Rating: *****
Cost: $
Difficulty: Easy. You put stuff in a bowl, mix, and bake. A'int no thang.

Tofu Stir Fry - Review

One of my good friends passed along some vegetarian recipes that her family loves, and one of them was for a Tofu Stir Fry. I have never in my life felt inclined to try tofu, but since we have been starting this vegetarian thing I have felt strangely liberated to try new and strange things. Like compressed bean curd (which is what tofu is). I bought the tofu last week from Sprouts (only $.99 - crazy!) and it sat in our fridge, with my husband giving me funny looks and asking what "that" was for. I told him we were going to have tofu stir fry. Bless his good-natured heart, he just nodded and said, "Okay" and went about his business. Good husband. :)

This was all that was left when we were done. For days, the kids begged for tofu. I'm telling you - this is a good recipe.

I modified the recipe that my friend gave me because I realized that a lot of the fresh veggies that needed to be chopped up were ones that I typically buy frozen at the store (sugar snap pea stir fry veggies), so I just opted to toss a bag of frozen veggies in, added some extra frozen broccoli, and called the veggies good.

It wasn't too hard to throw together - especially after I "lazy-ified" it. The only trick was with the tofu. It isn't hard to do, you just have to plan to give yourself some extra time (30 minutes) to press out the liquid in the tofu.

As a side note, awesomely enough, there are some packages of tofu with Po in it from Kung Fu Panda. Po eats tofu kids. Just sayin'. And, yes, the "Dragon Warrior" eating tofu was definitely part of my sales pitch to the kids. And it worked really well.

Back to the tofu: Take the tofu out of the packaging and cut it in half. You only need half of a block of tofu. Cut it into pieces to fry up (I tried to imagine what cut up chicken would look like and tried to cut accordingly), BUT before you chuck it in the pan, you have to actually press some of the storage liquid (water? soy liquid?) out of it. My friend said to put it inbetween layers of cookie sheets and paper towels (cookie sheet, paper towels, tofu, paper towels, cookie sheets) and then put heavy stuff on top of the pile to help press the liquid out. I was in the middle of using one of my cookie sheets, so I just made a cutting board, paper towel and tofu sandwich, the same order. I used two layers of very absorbant paper towels on each side, and they were SOAKED by the time it had been pressed for about 30 minutes (the minimum recommended time).

Other than the tofu pressing (which is NOT hard), everything is pretty much just chucking stuff in and smelling all of the good smells.

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:
- 1 bag frozen stir fry veggies
- 3 T. peanut oil
- 1/2 pkg. extra firm tofu
- 2 cloves garlic (or, if you are like me, use 1 tsp. of refrigerated pre-minced garlic)
- 1-2 T. sugar
- 2-3 T. soy sauce

Directions
- Heat the peanut oil in a pan
- Add the garlic and let cook for 10-15 seconds
- Toss in your veggies and tofu (I forgot to put the tofu in until later. Still turned out great)
- Add the sugar (I used 5 tsp. and it was perfect for us)
- Add the soy sauce
- Cook until everything is nicely browned

That is IT. It is really easy with the frozen veggies. My husband commented that it is the best-flavored stir fry that has come out of this house (and we have tried to tweak our flavors on our own stir fry - I would have to agree with him). My boys wanted to eat dinner with chopsticks (no problem!) and commented over and over again about how much they loved the tofu, and actually asked for seconds of the tofu. Weird. And awesome. The texture of the tofu was still softer than meat (Maybe because I didn't have enough layers of paper towels to press out the fluid? Maybe because it is bean curd?), but it still browns to look just like cooked meat. It is strangely cool. And I love that I don't need to be paranoid about making sure it is cooked as thoroughly as chicken and wondering if I'm giving my family food poisoning by not cooking things well enough. Go vegetarian! This is definitely one to repeat.

Family Rating: ****
My Rating: *****
Cost: $ (under $5 with the tofu and frozen veggies - would probably be more if you cut up fresh veggies)
Difficulty: Easy. The only thing is remembering to allow time to get the tofu ready.

Easy Baked Manicotti - Review

This recipe from Kraft foods is so delicious. And easy. And delicious. And vegetarian too. :)

from kraftfoods.com

All of my kids will eat it (even the picky little one), and it's kind of fun to fill up the ziploc bag with the filling, snip the corner, and fill the cooked manicotti shells. I fill one side as far as I can, then flip it over and fill the rest of it in from the other side. This was my first exposure that I can remember to ricotta cheese, and I love it. It has such a good texture and gives it a good flavor without feeling too "dairy". I also will line the bottom of my baking dish with tin foil to make for easy cleanup afterward.

Family Rating: *****
My Rating: *****
Cost: $$ (due to the cheeses - probably around $7)
Difficulty: Easy. Multiple steps, but they are not time-sensitive, and there is no chopping involved.

Bulgur Wheat with Dried Craisins - Review

I found some Bulgur Wheat at the store and thought it seemed like a healthy thing to try, and found this recipe to use it in. SOOOO good. Our first intro to bulgur wheat in our house and ALL of the kids ate it and wanted more. We make it when we have the Sage Pork Chops.

from allrecipes.com

We doubled the recipe, and that was a good size for our family. Again, I would highly recommend. Very easy, and very tasty.

Family Review: *****
My Review: *****
Cost: $
Difficulty: Easy

Breakfast Potatoes - Review

On my quest for a good breakfast potatoes recipe, I found this one from Our Best Bites. It was genius. I had tried to make them "from scratch" before, and been frustrated when the potatoes took forever to cook, or looked like they just absorbed oil, but were still hard. BUT, this one is a two-step process. A smart one.

from ourbestbites.com

After cutting up the potatoes, you BOIL them for five minutes to get them on the road to softened up. Then you put them in the skillet and finish what I had been trying to do unsuccessfully before. And they are very good.

Two modifications that we make: 1) We use more than four small-ish potatoes. They are good enough that we definitely eat more than that and would love to have some left over. 2) I'm not sure how anyone can endure 10 dashes of Tabasco sauce, unless they meant drops and not "small arm flicks worth". I did about five of what I would call dashes on one side, then flipped over and did two on the other side, and we were definitely feeling the heat. I can't imagine what 10 on one side and "to taste" on the other side could mean. I think about three would be perfect for our family.

We make ours in an electric skillet too. Watch the onions once you put the potatoes in. They can get a little crispy.

Other than the "heat" factor and the fact that the recipe doesn't make nearly enough - it is awesome. We've made it a couple of times and will do it whenever we have our "breakfast" nights, which is every weekish or two. So good!

Family Rating: ****
My Rating: *****
Cost: $
Difficulty: Easy. Especially since it doesn't need much babysitting. Super delicious.

Prize-Winning Meatloaf - Review

This meatloaf recipe is the one that I grew up with. It is perfect. And it is made with oats instead of crackers or whatever people put in their meatloaf, so it's even healthier. Right? I think the picture on the website does not do the flavor justice. Neither can any picture I take when it's done here. It is so good though. And very easy.

from quakeroats.com

Make sure you use a leaner beef, or you'll have your meatloaf swimming in a pool of fat. Or, I suppose you could bake and then drain it, but you may have issues with it falling apart. We usually use 93% lean because, oddly enough, our local store prices it cheaper than even the 80% lean. Go figure. Also, we always substitute 3/4 c. tomato sauce and 1/4 c. water for the tomato juice, since we usually have tomato sauce on hand. And if you are using dried onion flakes, you need about 1 tablespoon of onion flakes instead of the 1/4 c. chopped real onion.

Pure beefy yumminess.

Family Rating: ****
My Rating: *****
Cost: $$ (will be near $5 or just over - just depending on your beef prices)
Difficulty: Easy. Mix a bunch of stuff together, put it in a pan, let it cook.

Sage Pork Chops - Review

We had some pork chops in the fridge, and luckily I remembered this recipe that we had tried a few months ago. I remembered that we had all liked it, but it had been awhile so I hoped that I had remembered correctly. Oh yes. These are AMAZING. Seriously. And easy. Especially considering how delicious they turn out.

from allrecipes.com

I'm not sure that the picture does it justice. The recipe originally calls for salt, but I think you would probably have a heart attack if you actually put salt on them. Seriously. I had read reviews of people putting in the 1 tsp. garlic powder instead of the salt, and I think that is a good change. They have PLENTY of flavor from the other spices. Also, I subbed chicken bouillon for the beef bouillon since that is what we usually have on hand. And I had three good-sized boneless pork chops on hand instead of the six bone-in chops called for and the recipe worked perfectly.

One reviewer had suggested to make a gravy to go with the pork chops. This sounds scary, but it really isn't. Step 1: mix 2 T. corn starch with 2 T. water in a small cup. Step 2: after you take the pork chops out of your skillet, you just pour the corn starch mixture into the fluid that is left in the skillet, turn the heat on a bit, and stir until it is thickened. Easy, AWESOME gravy.

And thankfully I remembered right - my family loved this one. Everyone kept talking about it all dinner long. Except for the youngest, who is selectively picky. I had written down that SHE actually ate this last time. Not this time, though. The older two were gushing about it, though.

Family Rating: ****
My Rating: *****
Cost: $ (which is shocking for how good they are)
Difficulty: Easy. Nothing to cut up, and the only tricky thing is making sure you flip the pork chops over when your timer goes off so you don't burn anything, but that's not bad.

Sausage-Rice Creole - Review

I had found a bunch of rolls of sausage on a great deal, and decided I needed to start finding ways to use some of it. So I found this recipe for dinner. It was really, really good. And not hard at all. One skillet cooking - that's my style. And it was on the Jimmy Dean website. I've learned from my mother that recipes on the sides of boxes or backs of bags or on company websites are fairly reliable. It's part of their sales pitch - why would they tell you to do something disgusting with their product?

from jimmydean.com

The modifications I made to this recipe: it calls for 1 tsp. of black pepper. I stared at that for a second and thought, "That is a LOT of pepper". So I cut it down to 1/2 tsp. I was right - even with it cut in half, it still had plenty of kick. I left the Cajun seasoning at 1 tsp. and thought it was fine. Both of my boys shoveled it down, but didn't have seconds due to spiciness. I also only had a 14oz. can of tomatoes, so I just diced some Roma tomatoes to make up the 14oz. difference (about 3.5 cups) and threw in a little extra chicken broth and water to make up for whatever bit of water may have been in the can. I love the internet - you can look up "substitutions" and work your way around a lot of problems. We also didn't have green onions on hand, but I'm sure they would have been delicious.

I LOVED chopping the onion and pepper for the recipe, and thinking about how my family would actually eat them because they were sneaky vegetables. And they did. And that is awesome. This also did not use any extra fats (like cream of whatever soups), other than what did not drain from the sausage, so that is a plus.

Family Rating: ****
My Rating: ****
Cost: $
Difficulty: Easy, only cooking up sausage & cutting up two vegetables.