A bunch of recipe recaps with links to printable recipes

I'm sick again. It has made for a long week -- a week which is mostly a blur in my mind. I did some work, I cooked some food, I cleaned the house and laundry; Nate was home sometimes; my toddler screamed at me a whole bunch. I guess it was really just like any other week, except for the part where I stopped to blow my nose every so often and had to take naps.

Because it was such an uneventful week, I thought I might take this opportunity to share some Recipe Recaps instead. But then I remembered how long it takes to write the recaps. So here's a list of some of our dinners from the last six weeks, with links to print-ready recipes where available (and a few notes... or... maybe a lot of notes, now that I'm done writing them! Ha.):


Broccoli Chicken Casserole on Penne: I actually made this with rotini noodles instead of penne, but it was still great. Nate says... more salt. I disagree. But that debate is eternal and applies to all of our meals.

Pesto-Stuffed Chicken Breasts: I've made this recipe twice so far and been disappointed both times. It sounds good and seems like it would be good, but the chicken comes out dry and you actually get very little of the pesto flavoring. I'm going to have to think about how to "fix" this recipe because I think it could be amazing, with a little help.

Chicken Biscuit Pot Pie (<<< title links to my printable version, but the original recipe comes from Kimmy's Bake Shop): This recipe is delicious and comforting. I love it. I've used 1% milk where it calls for milk. In the biscuit ingredients, I use 4 Tb butter (not six) and I've never added the scallions (green onions). If you're really in a hurry, you could get a bag of frozen mixed veggies instead -- that's the more modern approach to most pot-pie making.

Chicken Divan (on rice): From the Better Homes and Garden cookbook, 90s version. A classic dish in my family, although I make it with a few tweaks to my mom's recipe (because my (newer) copy of the BHG cookbook told me to). We call it Divine Divan.

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup: Original recipe calls for turkey but I made it with shredded chicken. It's good.

Chicken and Rice Casserole: I think this recipe is perfect just the way it is.

Thai Peanut Chicken (with Broccoli and Quinoa): From "Quinoa 365", but use peanuts instead of cashews. An excellent dish.

Tofu Pad Thai: This is my own recipe, a mix of a Martha Stewart recipe I tried and the shrimp pad Thai recipe in the "Pasta Revolution" cookbook. Note that the recipe is written for me/us, so it has some funny and distinctive notes. If you don't like tofu, you could substitute chicken or shrimp, or maybe even pork.

Tofu Mushroom Stroganoff: This is my very own recipe, and it's good.

Stuffed Bell Peppers, Southwestern Style (stuffing pictured above; peppers pictured below): Good. I recommend. I don't like traditional stuffed bell pepper recipes -- it calls for too much pepper, in my opinion. So I cut the peppers in half, thoroughly pre-cook the halves, lay them in a glass baking dish, and pile the stuffing on top of them. I also hate to see the pepper tops go so completely to waste, so I cut out the edible bits and cook them up in the stuffing.

Loaded Baked Potatoes (black bean and corn): The salsa you choose will really define how the recipe tastes. I also recommend using more cheese than it calls for.

Mexican Lasagna: I felt like the tomatoes in this recipe made it very watery. Next time I'll try adding a can of tomato paste to thicken things up, and maybe let it cook down a bit more.

Veggie Quesadillas: My own original recipe. And very good.

Black Bean Enchiladas in Pumpkin Sauce: The sauce was too watery and too spicy, and didn't really taste anything like pumpkin (not that it needed to, per say). I'd say use half a jalapeno, and reduce the water to 1-1.5 cups. The tortillas are a pain to work with; if you heat them a little in the microwave they are more flexible. But for us, they just fell apart in the watery mess of the sauce. The resulting dinner was mushy and almost unpalatable. Conclusion: The recipe needs work.

Black Bean and Quinoa Burgers (<<< links to my printable recipe, but is originally from Kimmy's Bake Shop): Original recipe calls for rice. I used quinoa because it was handy and it cooks faster. I put beef bullion in the quinoa while it was cooking to add more flavor. The homemade buns are great. I baked mine until they were just done, then toasted them in the toaster oven. Perfect. I also used the bun recipe for the other version of the quinoa burgers, listed next...

Quinoa Burgers: The original recipe is for mini burgers, but I bumped them up to full size. It makes 10 burgers if you use 1/3 cup of the mix for each burger. The proportions are excellent. I used one carrot, and Monterrey Jack cheese on top. The avocado is a must. I recommend mixing in the quinoa when it's still hot, I think it made them stick together better.

Chickpea and Corn Burgers (on homemade buns): Okay, I confess, there was a two-week period when I got a bit obsessed with different ways to make burgers. And I'm not done experimenting, just giving my family a break. These burgers I threw together using themes I saw in the quinoa and black bean burger recipes. They were unfortunately a bit dry and didn't stay together well; I need to work on that.

Quinoa and Bean Chili: Instead of using 6 cups of white beans, I tried it with 3 cups of cooked quinoa, 1.5 cups of garbanzo beans (chickpeas), and I added 1 cup of corn. It's mild a bit bland. It definitely needs the cheese and avocado. Nate says it needs the sour cream. (I don't like sour cream, so I couldn't say.) It's better with chips, too.

Quinoa "Mac" n Cheese: Good. Surprisingly good. I used 5oz of fresh spinach and it was a good balance. Could fry up some garlic with the spinach. Could reduce the cheese to 6oz. I used a couple teaspoons of chicken bullion while the quinoa was cooking and it definitely improved the overall flavor. Yes to the dash of salt. I don't know that I could taste the nutmeg.

Mulligatawny: This soup was okay. Good flavor, but lacking in substance. You could easily double the lentils, maybe even triple. I'd also suggest cutting up at least one more carrot, and adding it with the lentils, after you blend/puree the rest of the soup. Nate says this would be better as a side soup, not a main course. I might be inclined to agree with him, but I won't acquiesce until I've tried it again with tweaks.

Tikka Masala (pictured below; we ate it on rice): I didn't especially like this recipe. I thought the proportions were unbalanced; it had too much tomato. Next time I'd go with maybe half as much tomato...? And I'd try adding chickpeas.

Moroccan Tagine (pictured below): I used raisins instead of apricots, orange instead of lemon. I liked the carrots, but thought they could have been cooked more.

Lasagna Bites: Don't believe the recipe -- rolling out your own "wonton" wrappers takes some muscle and is very difficult if a screaming toddler is yanking on your pant legs. I didn't use vegan ricotta, just the regular stuff. Actually, I can't even remember what all I put in these things. But they were yummy.

Beef and Mushroom Lasagna: This is based on the classic Campbell's recipe and requires a can of cream of mushroom. Yes, I know how we feel about that. I'm sorry. But it's delicious.

Goulash (with veggies): This makes a lot of food. I used 1.5lbs of beef and probably an extra 1/4 to 1/2 cup of noodles. The ratios still seemed fine to me.

Bachelor Beef Stew: From "Slow Cooker Revolution." Just a basic slow-cooked beef stew, nothing special or interesting to report. Throw some beef, baby carrots, chopped potatoes and diced onion in a slow cooker with beef broth and a bit of seasonings. Low heat. Eight hours later, nom.

Lentil Stew (with sausage): Hearty winter comfort food. Filling and tasty. Nate discovered this recipe.

Broccoli Beef: We've been asked for this recipe a few times. It's one of Nate's specialties. I think it's okay, but I don't ask him to make it very often.

Cabbage Soup: Gosh, isn't this one of those recipes that everyone just magically knows how to make? No seriously. Apparently it is. But I had to make Nate write it down for me because I don't ever remember having cabbage soup when we were growing up, even though it is some kind of American classic/staple.

Pork and Ramen Soup with Spinach (slow cooker): This recipe comes out of "Slow Cooker Revolution." It's good, not great. Always comes out a little watery and bland.

Tofu and Eggplant on Noodles (pictured below): I thought this recipe was horrible. Nate said it was fine. My mom said it was fine. But I will never, ever make it again. I think it's the eggplant -- we never get along in recipes -- and the hefty dose of lime. Yuck, lime.

Now for the SWEET TREATS...

Chocolate Hazelnut Biscotti (<<< links to my printable recipe, but originally comes from Kimmy's Bake Shop): Kimmy mailed me some of these in March, when I was sick. Bless her. They were amazing. As soon as I got better, I made them for myself. The result was delicious, but the instructions needed a little help because I had no idea what I was doing the first time around. I've made them twice now.

Banana Cake with Vanilla Bean Frosting: I hate it when recipes tell you to turn down the temperature because you're using a glass dish. Yes, the food is more likely to burn in glass at a high temp, but it also takes a bazillion years longer to cook if you turn down the temp. And this cake took a million billion gazillion years to cook all the way through, and it still burned. I had to cut off the crust. It was tasty, but it was a pain. I don't know what the answer is, except maybe that I should buy a metal dish or two.

Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Cookies: I've made these a couple of times, using the "from scratch" instructions. You can't really taste the cream cheese flavor, but it adds richness to the cookies that make them heavenly. Milk vs. dark chips? The jury is still out. I tried it both ways. I like the dark because I like dark chips in cookies, but the milk weren't bad.

Raspberry Crumb Breakfast Bars: Good but frustrating. The raspberry makes the bars mushy in the middle. You could pre-cook the crust even more to help prevent this, but then it will burn on the second round of cooking. I don't have a good solution yet. Maybe try mixing the raspberry mix with the topping? That's what I will try next time. Also, I didn't think one pound of raspberries was sufficient; I'd use at least 20oz, maybe even 24oz (1.5 lbs).