Olive Garden Chicken and Gnocchi Soup

From 

Www.copykat.com/2010/02/28/olive-garden-chicken-and-gnocchi-soup/

This was delicious!! Very much like the Olive Garden version. 

I will definitely make this again but will make it a little less thick - it's a very hearty soup.

Hoisin Chicken Udon Noodles

From

Www.jocooks.com/main-courses/poultry-main-courses/hoisin-chicken-udon-noodles/

Was not a big fan of this one. I made it when I was the only one home. I'm a big hoisin fan and love udon noodles. I just found this to be way way too salty.

I would not make this again.

Fluffy Pancakes

Found this recipe on Facebook and had to try it out.

I'm too lazy to type it out so here are the screenshots:

I am the only one who tried them but since I rarely eat pancakes , I can't really comment on the taste. They tasted like a pancake. They were however very fluffy.

Irish Hills Cupcakes

From Pioneer Woman:

Thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2014/03/Irish-hills-cupcakes/

Mine are definitely not as pretty as hers were but they were absolutely divine. They were so good that as soon as the first batch was eaten, I made more so that I could bring them to work. So so delicious!!! 

Swedish Meatballs

From All Recipes:

Allrecipes.com/recipe/chef-johns-swedish-meatballs/

I was having a huge craving for meatballs and this recipe came up on google with lots of good reviews

Sadly we all just thought it was "meh" and did not provide the flavor we were looking for.  Maybe we should have had them with lingonberry sauce. 

Cheddar Corn Chowder

This recipe is from the Best of Bridge and can be found here: www.food.com/recipe/cheddar-corn-chowder-177704

This came together really quickly and easily.  Best of all, the whole family liked it which makes it a keeper.

Eat more Bars

From Best of Bridge

I found it reposted here:

Www.recipelink.com/msgbrd/board_0/2000/APR/49441.html

3/4 cup honey

1 cup peanut butter

10 reg size marshmallows

1 cup Choc chips

1 cup peanuts

3 cups Rice Krispies

In a large pot Bring honey and peanut butter to a boil over medium heat. Stir constantly.

Add marshmallows and chocolate chips, stirring until melted.

Remove from heat and stir in peanut and Rice Krispies. Press into a 9x13 pan. Cool.

These are simply amazing. I brought them to Christmas and they were a huge hit!

Even Skelly got into them....

French Dip Sandwiches

As adapted from April 2014 Food Network Magazine

French Dip Sandwiches

3 scallions

2 tsp fresh thyme (I used dried)

1 clove garlic crushed (I used more - minced from a jar)

Kosher salt and ground pepper

1/4 tsp celery seeds

1/4 tsp ground allspice 

1 - 2.5 pound beef eye round roast, fat trimmed

2 carrots sliced 1 inch thick

2 T Worcestershire sauce

1 cube beef bouillon

6-8 kaiser rolls

Horseradish or spicy mustard for serving

Pulse scallions, thyme, garlic, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp pepper, celery seeds and allspice to make a paste. Pierce the roast all over with a paring knife. Rub the paste into the meat. Tie the roast with kitchen twine so it keeps its shape.

Spread carrots in a slow cooker. Put roast on top. Insert thermometer into roast's center so you can read it through the glass. 

Combine 1.5 cups water, Worcestershire sauce and bouillon cube in microwave safe bowl. Microwave 2-4 minutes until hot. Add to slow cooker. Cover and cook on low until meat is 120-130 degrees for medium rare, about 2 hours.  Transfer meat to a cutting board and cover with foil - rest 15min. Skim excess fat from liquid.

Slice meat thinly. Spoon liquid onto cut sides of bun, sandwich with meat and serve with mustard or horseradish. Serve more liquid for dipping.

The kids were away when i made this.  Husband of Cheerios and I both felt the same about this. It smelled great and tasted boooooooring. Very disappointing.

We will not make this again.

Tuscan Bean Soup

The From the soup sisters cookbook and as seen here:

Www.soupsisters.org/recipe/1.27.2011_Karen McSherry.pdf

This was really good...

You will have to take my word for it because I'm the only one who tried it. This was the 4th recipe from this cookbook that I've tried and the first one I really loved. I will make this again.

Mini Deep Dish Pizzas

From the blog:

Damndelicious.net/2014/08/30/mini-deep-dish-pizzas

Tortillas

Pizza sauce

Shredded mozzarella

Grated Parmesan 

Pepperoni sticks

You can read the link to get the gritty details but basically cut out circles of tortilla to fit into a muffin pan - however any you want to make. Fit them into the muffin tin, squirt or spoon in 1 T of pizza sauce, cover with some Parmesan and mozzarella cheeses and then top with 3-4 mini pepperoni slices. Bake at 425 for 10-12 min or until cheese is melted.

I've already made this twice and froze them- taking out what I need for lunches. Mr Picky - age 10 and Miss Almost Vegetarian - age 6 both really like them.

Glazed Lemon Zucchini Bread

From the Lil' Luna blog here:
http://lilluna.com/glazed-lemon-zucchini-bread/

And cut and pasted here for convenience:

Ingredients

• 2 cups cake flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1 1/3 cups sugar
• 2 TB lemon juice
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• zest of 1 lemon
• 1 cup grated zucchini
Glaze ingredients:
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2 TB lemon juice
• 1 TB milk
• 
  

Instructions

1. Mix flour, salt and baking powder in a medium bowl and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, beat eggs. Then add oil and sugar until well blended. Add lemon juice, buttermilk, lemon zest to this mixture and blend all together.
3. Fold in zucchini until it is mixed well.
4. Add dry mixture to the wet mixture and blend all together until well combined.
5. Pour batter into greased 9x5 loaf pan.
6. Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes.
7. While still warm, make glaze and spoon over the bread. Let the glaze set up before cutting and serving.

Once again I forgot to take photos of the bread, but visit the blog above because she posted many great photos of it.

This was AMAAAAZING!  So so so so good!  Husband-of-Cheerios agreed and thought that I should not have brought any to work.  I had to bring some to work though - how else would I get a proper rating?  I'm just going to have to make some again.  Not too soon though because this is DANGEROUSLY tasty and should only be made rarely or to entice cheating during weight loss contests.

I did bring some to work, put it anonymously in the lunch room with a bunch of post-it notes and received the following reviews:

* I'm personally not a big lemon fan - but these are phenomenal! Not too sweet, the icing compliments it so well.  And I'm a sweet person but I love how these can be eaten a lot and it's not too sweet!  Great work & Thank you!
* So Yummy!
* Excellent flavor!  The lemon flavor is delicious and the zucchini taste is very subtle & not overwhelming.  Not overly sweet!
* What's with the zucchini?  Maybe raspberries?  You made me eat veggies!  Very good!
* Very deliciously moist and sweet
* Oh my! This was amazing!  The icing on top was the perfect finishing touch! Thank you so much!
* Excellent texture, spot on sweetness & acidity.  Well done.
* Delicious - love the taste of lemon here!
* So good!

Spicy Peanut Noodles with Ground Pork and Shredded Vegetables

From Fine Cooking Magazine and on their website here:
http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/spicy-peanut-noodles-ground-pork-shredded-vegetables.aspx

Cut and paste here for convenience:

• Kosher salt
• 1/2 lb. dried 1/4-inch-wide rice noodles (pad thai noodles)
• 1 Tbs. Asian sesame oil
• 3/4 lb. lean ground pork
• 1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter, preferably natural
• 1/4 cup seasoned rice vinegar
• 1-1/2 Tbs. fish sauce
• 1 or 2 jalapeños, stemmed and finely chopped (seeded, if desired)
• 2 medium carrots (about 6 oz.), grated
• 2 large yellow squash or zucchini (about 1 lb.), grated
• 2/3 cup coarsely chopped fresh mint
• Lime wedges, for serving

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the rice noodles and cook, stirring often, until just tender, about 5 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold running water; leave to drain in a colander.

Meanwhile, heat 2 tsp. of the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the pork and ½ tsp. salt and cook, stirring to break up the meat, until just cooked through, 4 to 8 minutes; set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk the peanut butter, vinegar, fish sauce, the remaining 1 tsp. oil, and 3 Tbs. warm water until smooth. Add the drained noodles, pork, jalapeños, carrots, squash, and all but 2 Tbs. of the mint and toss gently. Garnish with the remaining mint, and serve at room temperature with the lime wedges on the side.

I was veeeerrrryyyy proud of myself on this one.  I found rice noodles!!  I bought fish sauce!! I even bought jalapenos!  Could not wait to try this one!

Mr Picky and Miss Almost Vegetarian were at their grandparents the night we had this so it was a perfect night to make this!

It was a dismal failure.  Both Husband-of-Cheerios and I thought this tasted just terrible.  It tasted like peanut butter on top of noodles.  It overpowered every other flavor in the dish.  I do love peanut butter, on toast, on bread, in desserts and I love peanut sauce....but this just wasn't good.  Maybe I did something wrong.  Either way, we will not make this recipe again.

Chocolate Zucchini Banana Muffins

I can't believe it - I forgot to take a photo of this one!!

This came from the blog Grumpys Honeybunch
http://www.grumpyshoneybunch.com/2009/08/chocolate-banana-zucchini-muffins.html?
but was originally from All Recipes
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Chocolate-Zucchini-Muffins/Detail.aspx

Cut and pasted here for convenience:
Chocolate Banana Zucchini Muffin
adapted from allrecipes.com (per the advise of one reviewer)

3 eggs
2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup oil
2 mashed bananas
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups grated zucchini
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease or line two 12 cup muffin tins.

In a large bowl beat the eggs. Beat in the sugar, oil and banana. Add the cocoa, vanilla, zucchini and stir well.

Stir in the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and cardamom. Mix until just moist.

Pour batter into prepared muffin tins filling 2/3 of the way full. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Cool.


I thought these were pretty good.  My biggest pet peeve with these is that they look just like chocolate cupcakes and so I was constantly expecting more of a cake taste with threw me off completely.  Husband of Cheerios thought they were good but would be great slathered with icing.  Both kids had them in their lunches and thought they were good but needed icing.  It didn't matter that I explained that muffins don't have icing on them.  It's a mental thing.  Try baking these - they are great muffins and only so - so at being a cupcake.  I won't make these again - I don't think.  It's too confusing for my brain.  :)

I brought the rest to work and put them in the lunch room anonymously with some post-it notes.  Here are the comments that I received: 
* Delicious! I don't usually like zucchini but it's perfect with the chocolate! Thank you!
* Super tasty! Well done!  A bit more dense than chocolate zucchini I've had in the past.  
* It was amazing! Loved the taste and it had the perfect amount of sweetness. Thank you!
* The zucchini adds a half Christmas-y feel to the muffin.  A great fall snack as it denotes the change of seasons.

Blueberry Buckle

As posted by Anna Olson on the food network website:  http://www.foodnetwork.ca/recipe/blueberry-buckle/2573/

I raised an eyebrow when she said "scrape the batter into the pan and smooth out" but its true.  The batter is very very thick!

 

This was really tasty but I was expecting it to taste sweeter somehow.  It was also just a little dry.  Husband of Cheerios said the same thing.  I brought it to work - into the lunch room with the comment jar again.  Fun!  Was anyone be brave enough to say something like "it's not sweet enough" or "it's dry"?  

Here were the comments:

** "Nice! Not too sweet! Topping was awesome - cake a little dry :)   "

** "Yummy!  The bottom of the cake wasn't as moist as the top.  The blueberries were great though!"

** "The buckle was sliced kinda thin - only 2 bites per slice."

** "Tastes great!"

** "Best comments will come from the RM team.  Sadly we missed the opportunity to try the cake!  For best results, please deliver next cake directly to 3-91.  Thanks."

All in all, it was good but didn't make me foam at the mouth so I think I'll let this one pass next time.

Tasty Lettuce Wraps

As posted on Food Network:

Www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/almost-famous-chicken-lettuce-wraps-recipe.html

This was in a magazine I read earlier this spring and have saved it for when I was all by myself!

I added peanuts because they just taste good. I adored the spicy dipping sauce (4T hoisen mixed with 1/2 tsp hot chili sauce). The chicken mix was good but just a little bland. I will make this again but would add....something to give it more zip. For the leftovers I just mixed the spicy dipping sauce into the chicken mix and it was excellent!

Sausage and Panko Pasta

From Rachel ray magazine and also posted on the website:

www.rachelraymag.com/recipe/sausage--panko-pasta

This was pretty good. Mr Picky was less than impressed and even Miss Vegetarian picked at hers. I don't remember leaving the table with any distinct impression other than that it was ok. Husband of Cheerios liked it but said he prefers pasta to have more of a sauce. 

Leek, Corn and Pepper Chowder

I couldn't find a place online where this soup recipe was posted except for a snapshot on google books so I won't repeat it here. It is from the book Soup Sisters.

I found, just like the last soup recipe from this book that the soup was ok but not amazing. It definitely needs...something... But I couldn't tell you what that something is. I won't make this soup again but I will try another recipe from the book once fall comes. I know that somewhere in this book will be a soup to knock my socks off!!

No one but me tasted this soup and so there are no second opinions to consider here. :)

Old Fashioned Banana Cake

From the Barefoot Contessa on the Food Network website:  http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/old-fashioned-banana-cake-recipe.html

Cut and pasted for convenience below:

Ingredients
3 very ripe bananas, mashed
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Grated zest of 1 orange
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts (optional)
Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe follows)
Walnut halves, for decorating (optional)

Cream Cheese Frosting:
6 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar (1/2 pound)

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9 by 2-inch round cake pan.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the bananas, granulated sugar, and brown sugar on low speed until combined. With the mixer still on low, add the oil, eggs, sour cream, vanilla, and orange zest. Mix until smooth.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer on low, add the dry ingredients and mix just until combined. Stir in the chopped walnuts, if using. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 45 to 50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes, turn out onto a cooling rack, and cool completely.

Spread the frosting thickly on the top of the cake and decorate with walnut halves, if using.

Cream Cheese Frosting:
Mix the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on low speed until just combined. Don't whip! Add the sugar and mix until smooth. Yield: frosting for one 9-inch cake.

This cake was pretty tasty.  To me, it was banana bread with cream cheese icing.  As I prefer carrot cake with icing and banana bread plain, I won't make this again.  

However, I took this cake to work and left it in the lunch room with a note - asking people to leave their feedback comments in a jar.  The problem was, I had it in my office for an hour before it hit the lunch room...and my team ate 75% of it.  LOL.  

There were 3 comments left behind:

"Om nom nom!"

"OMG!! Love this cake!  I'm going to have a second piece when no one is looking!"

"I was too late.  :(   "

The comment jar in the lunch room was just fun.  I am going to do that again...  :)

Carrot, Leek and Rice soup

From the soup sisters cookbook and also can be seen here:

Www.soupsisters.org/recipe/4.27.11_elizabeth%20baird.pdf

I ate this for lunch three days in a row. I thought it was ok but didn't love it. It also upset my stomach each day.  No one else tried this soup. Without rave reviews from me, I won't make this again.

Moms soft raisin cookies

This is one of the recipes that I've been hoarding without trying for at least a decade...

Originally from Taste of Home cookies...

2 cups raisins

1 cup water

1 cup shortening 

1 3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs lightly beaten

1 tsp vanilla

3 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Combine raisins and water in a small saucepan, bring to a boil. Cook for 3 min. Remove from heat and let cool - do not drain.

In a large bowl, cream shortening until light and fluffy . Gradually add sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. Combine dry ingredients; gradually add to creamed mixture and blend thoroughly. Stir in nuts and raisins.

Drop by teaspoonful 2 inches apart on greased baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 12-14 minutes or until set. Cool on wire racks.

And now... The review. This recipe should have a caution on it - SO SO ADDICTIVE!!!!! These are delicious. I brought them to work and no one could eat just one. A very risky recipe to make if watching your diet but the best recipe ever if trying to please a crowd.