Soft and Chewy M&M Cookies

From Recipezaar



Ingredients:
brown sugar
shortening
sugar
eggs
vanilla
flour
salt
baking soda
M&Ms

Comments:
Well I think I may have found my stock M&M cookie recipe. After my last attempt I was hoping for the best. They really are chewy and I used mini M&Ms and dumped in probably twice the amount called for in the recipe. Woo! We'll see how they hold up in the container while they last.

Lime Chicken Tacos

From Taste of Home



Ingredients:
boneless, skinless chicken breasts
lime juice
chili powder
corn
salsa
tortillas
shredded cheese
sour cream

Comments:
I followed this recipe as it was written, which, if you read this blog with any regularity, you know is quite rare. I even put the full 3 tablespoons of chili powder in. And you know what? It wasn't really even that hot. I was relieved. It definitely has some kick but I think that's more attributable to the salsa than the chili powder. Overall, great flavor and totally simple to make (although you may note that Adam rolled his up like a burrito or something rather than a taco...)

Toasted Butter Pecan Cake

From Taste of Home February/March 2008



Ingredients:
butter
chopped pecans
sugar
eggs
vanilla
flour
baking powder
salt
milk
cream cheese
confectioners' sugar

Comments:
I don't usually bake anything more complicated than drop cookies. But Adam spotted this in the magazine and so I tried to make it. It's fairly basic and simple until you get to the whole frosting thing. I don't have a turn table and I couldn't remember where I'd put my lazy susan since it didn't fit in the cabinets so I ended up just using the cake container. I also didn't have a spatula so I used a butter knife. Gah. I admit it wasn't the best result, you can totally tell the cake layers slid out of alignment, and I could have used some more frosting between the layers. Oh well. It still tasted just fine. Perhaps I'll invest in some more appropriate cake-making supplies before my next attempt.

Oven-Baked Chicken Parmesan

From a Ragu recipe card that I think I picked up at the grocery store at some point.



Ingredients:
boneless, skinless chicken breasts
egg
breadcrumbs (Italian seasoned)
jar of prefab pasta sauce
shredded mozzarelle

Comments:
I think I actually followed this recipe! It's so easy: bread the chicken, bake it until it's almost done, add the sauce and cheese, put back in the oven until the cheese is melted, the end. And it tastes great. I made some cheesy garlic toast (yay for Pepperidge Farm!) to go along with it. I'm still kind of wondering why it's called "chicken parmesan" when there's no parmesan in it... Hmm.

Carbonara Pasta Frittata

From Everyday with Rachael Ray, March 2008



Ingredients:
linguine
eggs
milk
Salt & pepper
EVOO
pancetta (used bacon)
garlic
parsley
pecorino-romano cheese (used parm)

Comments:
Did a little swapping out on this recipe too but it turned out just fine. It's pretty easy to make and tastes wonderful. This was our "Valentine's Day" meal Thursday evening. How romantic. Ha. The leftovers reheat well and almost taste better than the original day did. I love that!

Jerk Pork Cheeseburgers (with Green Apple Slaw)

From Everyday with Rachael Ray, March 2008



Ingredients:
maple syrup
jerk seasoning
ground pork (I used turkey)
bacon
cheddar cheese (I left this off of mine, which is pictured above)
kaiser rolls

Comments:
I modified this recipe a teensy bit because I didn't make the apple slaw part of the burger. It just sounded gross. I also swapped out the pork for ground turkey that I already had in the freezer. I tend to make all burgers too small for their buns so that's why it looks kind of small. It was a little spicy, but still eatable. I had leftovers for lunch at work the next day and was glad I sit near the water cooler though. :)

Pretzel-Crusted Chicken Fingers

From Everyday with Rachael Ray, March 2008



Ingredients:
pretzels
thyme
eggs
zucchini
boneless, skinless chicken breasts
vegetable oil

Comments:
This recipe is very similar to Rachael's Pretzel-Crusted Chicken Breasts that we first experienced in her 365 cookbook. This time instead of using whole breasts, it's chicken fingers. Easier, if you ask me, since they cook faster and don't require any pounding. This recipe also has zucchini being encrusted and pan fried but I had problems with getting the pretzel to stick to my satisfaction so I ended up just steaming it. Also, I left out the cheddar-mustard dipping sauce since we know from experience that we don't dig it much.

Adventures in Ice Cream Making

So, over the past month I've been playing around with the ice cream maker I got for Christmas. It took some trial and error, but I think I may have found our best recipe.

You may recall my first attempt, the peanut butter cup ice cream. While it was ok, it wasn't really what I wanted.

My second try was a raspberry ice cream using a recipe from the Cuisinart booklet included with the machine.



It was ok, Adam ate it all, but it still had a strange taste that I'm attributing to the vanilla. The texture also wasn't quite right.

My third try was a chocolate frozen yogurt, also from the Cuisinart cookbook.



After I'd made it and gave it a taste I remembered why I don't like frozen yogurt. It has a weird, tangy aftertaste and, once again, too much vanilla. We ended up tossing it all.

So I decided to branch out and scour the internet for better recipes. I found one for frozen custard. Since I could eat Culver's every day I thought perhaps this was the solution. While it takes about 45 minutes to make the custard, another hour to cool it, another 30 minutes to freeze it, and yet another couple hours to get it hard enough to eat, it's definitely worth it. Being a little vanilla shy, I only added a splash rather than the tablespoon (!) it called for and it seems ok. I might put even less next time since it's still a little overbearing in the background.



This great recipe is from About.com

Lasagna Casserole

From Rachael Ray's cookbook, Just in Time



Ingredients:
campagnelle
EVOO
ground beef
carrot
onion
garlic
salt & pepper
crushed tomatoes
chicken stock
basil
parsley
ricotta cheese
parm cheese

Comments:
While I thought this turned out well and tasted just fine, Adam wasn't too much a fan. He never seems to like dishes that are casserole-y or combine lots of textures. He's also one of those people who eat their food in sections: first the burger, then the fries. I am more of the alternating between foods kind so perhaps this is why I don't mind my whole meal dumped together in a dish. In any case, I might try and spice it up a little more next time. It was a little bland after the initial few bites.

Mac & Cheese Lorraine

From Rachael Ray's cookbook, Just in Time



Ingredients:
gemelli (obviously I used your standard elbow noodles)
bacon
EVOO
onions
white wine (swapped out for chicken stock again)
butter
flour
chicken stock
whole milk
pepper
gruyere cheese (used cheddar instead)
dijon mustard

Comments:
This turned out so well even though I fudged the recipe in a few places. My one additional change for the next time I make it would be to go easy on the onions. The recipe calls for two but I might use just one next time. It can get overpowering, that onion smell and taste. Other than that, a total success.

Crab-Stuffed Shells

From Rachael Ray's cookbook, Just in Time



Ingredients:
pasta shells
EVOO
shallots
garlic
red pepper flakes
thyme
sherry (I subbed chicken stock)
chicken stock
crushed tomatoes
pepper
crabmeat
ricotta cheese
parm cheese
orange zest
lemon zest
parsley
butter
almonds

Comments:
I altered this recipe a bit as well as noted above along with scrapping the tomato sauce and almonds that go over the shells. I just made the filling, stuffed the shells, and popped them in the oven for a bit. This is what Adam wanted. They aren't too hard to make if you can get past the "smooshing the shells while trying to stuff them" phase. And Adam ate them all up so they must have been ok. :)