Pasta Bolognese ***** (Teressa)

What a great dinner this was. But really hard to say. Bologna? Bolognaeess.... Bologna ease? who knows? Not me. The one thing that I did different. The recipe (on page 216 of Cook this not that) calls for Ground Turkey, Ground Pork and Ground Sirloin. Well I couldn't find any thing other than pork sausage so we used more sirloin instead. And the onions made me cry a bunch! But it was very yummy..... I did get done eating and thought I couldn't taste the milk that is in it. Well then it dawned on me I forgot to add the milk. Woops.

There was also a big conversaion between Tray and I about weather or not Turkey should be ground or should be stuffed. After all that we finally ate.

Here is what my critics say....
Keneson- Can we have this every night!
Corrina its good
Amanda- these noodles are huge! Its okay
Emma- Its good can I have more bread
Tracy- It is really really good
ME- I liked it. I can't wait to try the left overs. YUM....

This is one to try for sure.

3-2-1-.... Lets Cook!!!!

Penne Genovese **** {RILEY LIKED IT!!!!} (Erin)

Can a recipe-reliant sister make a meal with only a brief mention and tiny picture from her favorite cookbook? YES, she can! Seriously, there are only 9 words about this recipe in Cook This, Not That! I still managed to make it (with adding a few twists of my own), AND it was tasty!

Since this recipe specifically written in the cookbook, I can tell you how I made it without angering the copyright gods. :) The cookbook mentions penne, grilled shrimp, cherry tomatoes, and basil pesto. I used whole wheat penne, sauted shrimp, roasted cherry tomatoes, basil pesto, and sauteed spinach.

I have never eaten whole wheat pasta. It didn't have a different flavor, but the texture was different...a bit more bite to it. Jase liked it, and the girls didn't seem to notice a difference. I couldn't decide. I didn't dislike it, and I will continue to use it since it is so much better for us.

I decided to roast the cherry tomatoes. I drizzled about 1 T. of olive oil, kosher salt, and pepper onto the tomatoes and stuck them in the oven at 425 degrees until the skin popped. I ended up peeling off the skin, which took little effort. I put another T. of olive oil in my skillet. There I sauteed some chopped garlic, shrimp, spinach leaves, and the peeled tomatoes. When the shrimp were cooked, I added the penne and basil pesto. Finally, I let Madeline grate some parmesan cheese over the top.

Madeline - Liked this a lot. She loves shrimp. She ate her whole serving and asked for seconds.

Riley - Actually ate this!!! I fixed her something different but still slipped her a few bites in between bites of her dinner. I think she liked this better than what I made her!

Jase - Liked this a lot. He isn't a big shrimp eater and did mention it would be better with chicken.

I liked this. Again, the pasta was strange, but the flavor of the meal was good.

Shrimp - had on hand

Penne - $1.29

Garlic - had on hand

Olive Oil - had on hand

Spinach - $1.49

Tomatoes - $3.49

Pesto - had on hand

Three, Two, One, "Start Cookin'!"

Chicken Panini with Smashed Potatoes ***** (Erin)

YUM, YUM, YUM!!! Everyone loved this recipe...except Riley. :) I will forever make sandwiches differently thanks to this recipe.

If you don't have a George Foreman grill, go get one. They aren't terribly expensive, and they are SO SO versatile! I used mine as a panini press. I didn't use any non-stick spray, oil, or butter on my bread, and our sandwiches came out perfectly toasty on the outside and deliciously melty on the inside!

I had a hard time finding some of the ingredients for this recipe. I planned on making homemade pesto using the recipe on Page 303 of Cook This, Not That! However, Dillons only had one teeny, tiny package of basil. It was not going to be nearly enough. My second thought was to use store-bought pesto that I thought you could find in the deli area (near the specialty cheese). They had sun-dried tomato pesto (lots of calories in that) and artichoke pesto (Jase wouldn't touch that), but I couldn't find basil pesto there. I finally stumbled upon it with the spaghetti sauces of all places. I also struggled to find roasted red peppers. I thought surely they would be with the canned vegetables. I found all different typed of artichokes (sliced, whole, marinated), pimentos, sun-dried tomatoes, and hearts of palm...but NO roasted red peppers. Who organized this store? Where did I finally find the roasted red peppers you might be asking? Where else...near the salad dressing. Apparently the shelf designer didn't think they were vegetables. ;) Finally, I couldn't find baby Yukon gold potatoes. They only had the larger ones. I settled for baby white potatoes. They still worked for the smashed potato recipe, but I think the Yukons would have had a more buttery flavor. Try those instead if you can find them! I used whole grain honey wheat bread (just a plain 'ole loaf) and rotisserie chicken because I forgot to get chicken out of the freezer.

Overall this dish was delish. It will be one I duplicate again soon!!! YUM!

Madeline said with her mouth full: "I would give this recipe 5 stars!"

Jase didn't talk much...he was too busy eating. He loved this and wants me to make it again!

Riley ate a few bites of chicken and a bite or two of potato.

I LOVED it! It still doesn't beat the pot stickers as my favorite dish, but it comes close!

Rotisserie chicken - $4.99

Bread - $2.79

Roasted Red Peppers - $3.49 (have more than half the jar left)

Basil Pesto - $3.99 (only used 4-5 T.)

Fresh Mozzarella Cheese - $3.99 (still have half left)

Potatoes - $1.79

Garlic - had on hand

Olive Oil - had on hand

Rosemary - had on hand

Three, Two, One, "Start Cookin'!"

Honey Mustard Salmon with Roasted Parmesan Asparagus **** (Erin)

Me Cooking Salmon - Round 2: So, I made ginger, butter salmon a few weeks ago. It was okay. I decided to make salmon again since it is so good for me. I made it while Riley was sleeping because I knew she wouldn't want any of it. I also have never made asparagus. I can easily count on one hand the number of times I've eaten it. This cookbook has definitely blown my cooking repertoire WIDE open!

So, this was good. I really liked this salmon recipe a lot better than the first I made. The sauce was yummy, and I am not usually a honey mustard eater. Also, the asparagus was good...really good! I didn't cook it quite long enough. I would have liked it a tad more tender. It was an easy recipe that took no time to prepare and cook. It only dirtied 2 pans...Jase liked that!

Madeline did not like the salmon...not sure if it was the sauce or the salmon. She somewhat liked the asparagus.

Jase thought this was really good. It's so good for us, that we'll both eat it more often. He liked the texture of the salmon.

I liked it all...yummy!

Some of my receipts have disappeared. I know the salmon was $3.50 from Wal-Mart. I haven't seen it nearly that affordable anywhere else. I couldn't tell you how much everything else was. I basically only had to buy the salmon, honey, asparagus, and a lemon. I had everything else on hand.

This is on pages 232 and 301 of Cook This, Not That! Three, Two One, "Start Cookin'!"

Roast Pork Loin Prochetta-Style and Smahed Potatoes ***** (Teressa)

Where shall I begin? First for those of you that have the Cook this Not That these are on pages 264 and 294... for those of you who don't have this book... WHAT are you waiting for... go now and get it... I will wait..... ....... ....



Okay so lets get to the nitty gritty. Keneson and I made the "rub" for the meat. So it was super easy! Orange zest, Rosemary, and fennel seeds. It doesn't sound like much but what a PUNCH of flavor. This recipe called for the meat to be served over Great Northern beans. We did not eat it this way. After Keneson and I rubbed the meat down we let it sit for 4 hours before we cooked it. I think that made a huge difference. The picture in the book shows a brown sauce over the meat. I suggest that you use the juices from the pan





Now for the potatoes. It calls for Yukon gold potatoes. I am a russet potato eater most of the time. And our stores didn't carry the small ones like it called for either. So I used the gold ones and just cut them into quarters. After we boiled them and fried them like it said. We put cheese on it and stuck it in the oven while the meat rested. Mostly so it would melt the cheese....
The critic said this....
Tracy.- You seasoned this perfectly! It is so good that orange isn't over powerful at all.
Emma- I like the potatoes, but not the meat.
Corrina - Peeled the skin off the potatoes but wants to have this every night for the rest of her life. (a little dramatic I think)
Keneson- I did really good making this hun Tees?
Amanda- I really like the potatoes, and the meat was super juicy. It was good.
ME- I loved the flavor of the meat, wow it was really good. The potatoes I think I will put more cheese on them next time. It was SO good.... (I think I have said that about all of them so far.)
I will totally make this again.

Grilled Cheese with Apples and Bacon and Homemade Potato Chips (Erin) ****.5

****.5 = 4 1/2 stars...how do you do half an asterisk?

You won't go wrong with this recipe that may sound a little strange! The picture looks really crumby (meaning having lots of crumbs...not yucky) because I couldn't wait to take a bite. I hurried to take a bit and try out this strange sounding combo...then I remembered I needed to take a picture. Oops!

This picture does not do the sandwich justice. So, I guess I'm asking you to take a risk and try this even though it sounds weird and doesn't look as fabulous as it tastes. The apples added such a different taste to the sandwich...so yummy! The homemade potato chips came out a bit weird just because I didn't cut the potatoes as uniformly in width as I had hoped. Some came out crunchy and others just soft.

• Madeline liked the meal. I had to make her stop eating the chips. She is in bed, so you don't get a direct quote. I'm sure you're as disappointed as she will be when she realizes I didn't wait for her. :)
• Riley LOVED her dinner...of course it was nothing that we ate. :)
• Jason LOVED the chips. He said they were his favorite thing I've made from the cookbook so far. (SERIOUSLY?!? You ate the pot stickers, didn't you?!?)
• I liked it all...especially the sandwich! I will make the chips again (I don't think Jase will give me a choice), but I will add some of the offered flavor combinations in the future to spice them up a bit. I will definitely make the sandwich again too, but I will use sliced cheese instead of shredded cheese...I like how sliced cheese "glues" the sandwich together.

Butter - on hand

Bread - $3.45

Dijon Mustard - on hand

Cheese - $1.96

Apple - $.78

Bacon - $4.79

Potatoes - $1.49

Olive Oil - on hand

MAKE THESE RECIPES!! THEY ARE YUMMY!! (Pages 130 and 298 in Cook This, Not That!)

Three, Two, One, "Start Cookin'!"

My chicken soup... by Teressa ****

I did not set off any fire alarms like Erin did. (sorry I am posting at work so no photos of my yummy soup.) It was super duper easy!!!! I, like Erin, love thick soups. This one is a little to brothy for me. I think next time I will add some tomato soup to it. We didn't use the 1TBS of chipotle I used about 1/2TBS. Not because we don't like the flavor but because most of the people in my house don't like hot stuff.

To make my corn strips I cut a stack of them with the pizza cutter and then tossed them with some olive oil. (which is not called for on the recipe.) The recipe just says to cut them in to strips and toast in oven. I also didn't like the soggy-ness of the strips after they set in the soup. So next time I think I will put them on the side. ( I am a "on the side kind of girl anyway")

Also I added avocado to the top of mine. I love guacamole but not to wild about avocados. They got warm in the soup and made it really creamy... then the lime juice on top ..... WOW! Again the only one who used the avocados.

Here is what my critics said...
Tracy- WOW this is really good.....
Amanda- this is good.
Emma- this is good but do I have to eat this stuff? (everything but the chicken)
Keneson. Didn't like it at all. He decided to not eat
Corrina - its okay
ME- Wow you guys should really try it with the avocados... it makes it yummy and I want more of the strips..... it is really good....