Trying New Recipes

Has it really been almost a month since I updated?? We have been super busy. I have some pictures to upload of the boys....though neither of them are good a posing for pictures these days! Maybe I will get to that in the next day or so. A few weeks back when I posted last, I mentioned that I wanted to try one new recipe per week this year. I have done it so far! Unfortunately they don't always turn out too well! But, I thought I would update since I said I would try to share the recipes (the ones we like anyway!)

Week 1 - Crockpot Refried Beans....these were good if you are looking for homemade refried beans. I used them to make bean & cheese burritos, to which John said "where's the meat?". So, we used the leftovers to make chicken burritos. This makes a ton of beans & I think I drained too much liquid. Overall a keeper if you don't want canned refried beans & they were super easy.

Week 2 - Three Cheese Garlic Chicken....failure! I needed to use whole wheat pasta & all I had was penne. This method calls for cooking the pasta in milk instead of water (to make it creamy) but the penne wasn't done when too much milk was evaporating. I think I will try again & use a quicker cooking variety of pasta.

Week 3 - Fresh Vegetable Penne...neither of us liked this. I thought it had too much pepper & John didn't like that the sauce was pureed butternut squash.

Week 4 - Whole Wheat Mac & Cheese. I thought this was pretty good. John was working late so he didn't try it since he didn't think it would reheat well. I actually used some quick cook pasta that I had on hand (they were the only elbow pasta I had & this was last minute). I'll have to try it again with whole wheat elbow pasta.

I also tried another new recipe during week 4. I bought an ecookbook that has healthier versions of favorite recipes. John & I love the no bake cookies that are made of chocolate, peanut butter & oatmeal (along with lots of sugar & butter). The cookbook said the healthier version was almost as good as the original. Not true. Not even close. We threw them away. Too bad....I really need a healthier version!

Week 5 - Chicken Divan. This was just ok. John's exact words were "Its not bad...but its not good either." It didn't have a lot of flavor. Maybe one day I will attempt it again & add some herbs & spices.

Week 6 - Sauteed Pork Medallions. Winner!! We loved this. I also made roasted honey gold potatoes (potato inspirations brand of potatoes). So good! John said this should become one of our regulars. Yay!

I now remember why I don't often attempt new recipes! Seven new recipes & only one that we love! This weekend I plan to try bread machine cinnamon rolls. I'll let you know how it goes!