Wrapping up the year....

I have to be honest, though organizing the recipes by week helped a lot, I made these recipes so randomly, I'm just going to list the last of them in one blog! There are just a few days left in this year, so I am behind! I'm going to blame it on that pesky hand surgery. There are 12 recipes I plan to make, so there will be one more post for this cookbook when I get to them!

Here are a few recipes I decided to cut from the list, because I either KNOW my family won't try it, or I have a better version already!

Veggie Ravioli
Veggie Lasagne
Chickpea Roast
Kidney Bean Kiev
Zucchini Salad
Souffled Cheesy Potatoes
Green Lentil Stirfry
Eggplant Gallette
Bulgar Pilou
Eggplant Salad

Now...the many recipes I have made since my last update!

Celery, Stilton, and Walnut Soup - Stinky and strange and no, thank you.

Baked Celery - Doesn't sound like something I'd eat, but it turns out, it's delicious! I hate the strings in celery, but since this was shoe-stringed, it was really delightful to eat! Miss K. has been very adventurous lately, and she enjoyed it too. No luck with the boys though.

Stuffed Mushrooms - I really wanted to like these, but I just couldn't. Just too much STUFF in the stuffing, not enough flavor. I've had some delicious mushrooms, and these were not. I didn't bother subjecting my poor family to these.

Grilled Fennel - This was good! It's winter, so I broiled them instead of throwing them on the grill, but they were still ok. The family are not interested in fennel, so no luck there, but they did like the red bell pepper. I liked the fresh, bright taste of the marinade!

Potato Fennel Medley - Again, the family picked around the fennel, but they liked the carrot and potato. I cooked my red onions, I'm NOT and onion person, I definitely don't like them raw!

Mixed bean stir-fry - My family loves green beans and sugar snap peas, but not tofu, so I decided to just leave the tofu out of this. I ended up putting them over some lemon-scented rice. They were a hit! The turmeric gave them a curried flavor, which my husband likes, so that helped.

Roasted Vegetables on Muffins - except...not on muffins. I served these with the Mixed bean stir-fry. I thought they were really good. B ate the peppers and zucchini without the sauce. The kids just ate the peppers. They were really missing out. 

Chickpea Casserole - This was tasty, like a light garbanzo bean stew. My family didn't eat any, but I have some in the freezer for my Vegan cousin, I'm hoping she likes it! She and I are talking about trying another book in 2012!

Beans in Lemon Herb Sauce - Another hit. Sort of. The green beans were all a hit. I'm the only one who ate the sauce! I ended up putting them over some spaghetti, very very good!

 Roasted pepper sandwiches - As is, I'm not a fan of this recipe. There just isn't much flavor. I think if you added a more flavorful cheese, or mustard or a vinaigrette, it might be better. They weren't bad, just plain. An odd thing happened when I made these though, my son decided he LOVES radishes! They have now become part of our regular trip to the farmers market.

Carrot Bake - I have made this recipe before, and I will make it again. It's like sweet and sour carrots. Everyone in my family are fine with raw carrots, but these are like a special treat!

Broccoli and Cauliflower Flan - Amazing!! Cauliflower is not a favorite at our dinner table, even though we all love broccoli, I can't seem to convince them that cauliflower is just white broccoli! Nonetheless, everyone ate these, and that is rare! If they hadn't, I would have been happy to finish them!

Baked Mac and Cheese - B really liked this. He loves pasta, and has requested I make this again. I thought it was a little plain, I ended up adding chili flakes to mine. The kids ate some, but they'd rather have plain spaghetti.

Sweet and Sour Eggplant - YUCK.

I tried making three recipes in one night. Here we have:

Veggie Burgers and Chips
Yogurt Salad
Broccoli and Cauliflower with Herb Sauce

There is a significant lack of Broccoli and burger on my plate. The chips were soooo good, everyone loved them. I decided to skip the bun so I could eat more potatoes! Instead I ate the veggie patty like a falafel with the yogurt salad. They were good, but nobody else wanted one. They did all want the broccoli though, and left me the cauliflower!

Beet Salad - Bren may love radishes, but he does NOT love beets. He spit them right back out, and B wouldn't even taste this. Their loss, K and I LOVED it! We made salads two nights in a row, she ate spinach, beets, and sprouts, I was shocked!

Scrambled tofu on toast - I thought they were ok, no one else wanted to try it. I've had better scrambled tofu, so I probably wouldn't use this recipe again.

Spinach Fritatta - This was good, again, K and I ate some, the boys did not. Here's a pic of it in the pan and flipped onto the plate. I wouldn't make this again though, there was so much butter, oil, cream, and cheese.

Whew! That's a lot!!! I rarely achieve my resolutions, but I am really close this year. I got a few new tools for the kitchen for Christmas, and I look forward to wrapping up this book and choosing another one!

Week 12 - recipe reviews

Avocado and Bean Salad
Avocado Soup
Baked Pasta
Pesto New Potatoes
Spinach and Pine Nut Pasta

MMMMMM. 5 for 5 this week! None of these recipes were particularly kid-friendly, but the adults liked them! Nothing really new or different this week, but delicious, none-the-less.

Avocado and Bean Salad - some yummy new textures mixed in to this salad, it was nice! B said the dressing was too tangy, but I liked it.

I did not think the avocado soup would be good. I thought it might be like drinking runny guacamole. Boy, was I WRONG!!! This soup was much more like Tortilla Soup, and it was delicious!!

Pesto Potatoes. I regularly forget how much I like Pesto Sauce, and these where a great reminder! New potatoes are so yummy, but I like them best when they are Spicy New Potatoes from Limericks!

Baked Pasta is Nice. Nothing fancy, but yummy, the eggs sneak in some protein, and the veggies make it a well-rounded meal. I don't usually put my sauce in the blender, but it was a fun (though messy) change.

Another pasta dish, Spinach and Pine Nut Pasta. This one B wouldn't touch. My family just refuses to like mushrooms! But I thought it was good.

Week 11- recipe review

Roasted Veggies on Muffins
Mushroom Souffles
Bulgar Stuffed Eggplants
Pasta with Zucchini Sauce
Eggplant Timbale

This week's recipes really stretched my untrained chef skills! There were a lot of great new techniques I would never have thought of using, and I was very nervous about my first soufflé! Although the family was not particularly impressed with my new-found skills, I thought everything was really delicious!

Roasted Veggies on Muffins - I have roasted vegetables before, but they were never this perfectly cooked or delicious! Add bread and cheese sauce, and how can you go wrong? My kids pulled them apart to eat them, but they ate the veggies and muffin, as did the Husband. They could have lived without the cheese sauce.

My first soufflé. I was nervous. It sounds like creme brûlée. Something you order when you are at a fancy restaurant, not something you whip up in your tiny kitchen on a random tuesday night. I was intimidated, but I had my trusty three-year-old sous chef to help! She whipped up some perfect egg whites!

My soufflé was light and fluffy and tasty! It was even puffier than this, but I forgot to take a picture, so it settled a bit. It really was so easy, I don't know why i was ever afraid. I think I'll be whipping the egg whites for all my egg dishes from now on!

Bulgar-stuffed Eggplants- Another new ingredient, but easy as couscous to work with! The pilaf was yummy. Stuffing it in the eggplant is pretty but unnecessary. When I make Stuffed bell peppers, my husband doesn't eat the Bell Pepper, and he didn't eat the eggplant. I'd make this again, but I'd just put it in a bowl as a side dish!

Pasta with Zucchini sauce was a success as well! B has been surprising me, I really didn't think he'd like this sauce, but he did! and it looked so pretty with the thin zucchini slices! Again, something I would never had thought to do, but it turned out nice.

I also peeled eggplant slices to wrap the baked pasta for Eggplant Timbale. As pretty as this was to look at, there was something about it that that just didn't work out right. It was definitely a texture thing, not a taste thing, but I don't think I'd make it again.

Week 8 Lentil Pate

I found this picture on my phone, It's the lentil Pate from week 8. It was not good, but I figured I'd add the picture, since I had it.

Week 10 - recipe reviews

Artichoke Soup
Jalousie
Artichoke Tart
Artichoke Stir Fry
Asparagus Puffs

Another good week for this cookbook!

Per the side note in the Book, I switched from Jerusalem Artichokes to Sweet Potatoes. I didn't care for  the orange flavor in the parsnip soup, but it was GREAT in this recipe! The kids didn't like it, B didn't taste it. But I'd eat it again!

The jalousie was tasty! I couldn't find puff Pastry, so I substituted Phillo Dough instead. The kids are on an asparagus kick, so they liked it too!

Artichoke Stir Fry. The taste was great, but no one was a fan of the texture of the Tofu. Despite ten years of being a dedicated vegetarian, I have to admit I'm not a fan either. I just eat it because I know it's good for me. The flavors in the recipe were good though.

Asparagus Puffs became an Asparagus Napoleon, as I still was unable to find some puff pastry. Very good, I liked the sweet potato in it, it added something different and fun. We are big sweet potato fans here, but I usually roast it into "Orange Fries" or into sweet potato casserole for Thanksgiving!

I don't have a picture of the Artichoke tart, but I made the crust the same day as the watercress tarts. That left the crust too thick, but they were still delicious!

Week 9 recipe reviews - redemption

Broccoli and Cauliflower Soup
Veggie Crepes
Veggies with Vermouth
Watercress Tartlettes
Veggie Pasta Nests
Cauliflower Bake

After a week of terrible recipes, I'm so happy that this week was full of deliciousness!! There was a lot of new ingredients and techniques, and I really enjoyed trying new things.

The soup was delicious. Admittedly, I am a huge soup fan, I make soup ALL the time. but I've never been about to make a creamy soup without it getting that curdled texture. Even if it tastes good, it's not appetizing. This one was different. It was creamy and delicious, and just needed a bit of salt and pepper. The husband and kids were not impressed, although Bren did love the broccoli.

The Vegetable Crepes were a hit with everyone though. The family wasn't sure about savory crepes at first,  but they "tried it, and then they liked it!" Thank you, Yo! Gabba Gabba, for the encouraging song.

Veggies with Vermouth was a slight dark spot in the week. I loved the "en papillote" technique, but not the flavor from the vermouth.

The Watercress Tartlettes became Spinach Tartlettes. They were very good, I think I made the crust too thick, but other than that, I look forward to eating them again. The family, not -so- much.

The pasta nests were cute, and tasty, but probably more work ( and more oily) than they need to be. They were a success with the whole family, and the kids especially liked slurping the spaghetti noodles.

I liked the Cauliflower Bake, but I'm the only cauliflower fan in this house. I tried to convince them that it was just white broccoli, but they were having none of it. B liked they potatoes and sauce.

Week 8 Recipe Review

Curried Parsnip Soup
Indian Spiced Potatoes
Spicy Peas and Spinach
Lentil and Rice Casserole
Lentil Pate
Lentil Croquettes

This was a rough week for recipes. I won't be making any of them again. Here's pictures of the Spiced Peas, the Parsnip Soup, and the Lentil and Rice casserole. This week I also discovered why chefs cook in Restaurants, and not in a little kitchen with two small children underfoot. I burned the casserole and the croquettes. Burning them didn't really affect the flavor, they were still yucky.

I realize nobody is really reading/following/commenting on this Blog, so I thought "ehh, I don't need to blog this stuff anymore." I have still been cooking through this cookbook...slowly, but surely. I have decided to go ahead and write about the rest of my experiences anyway! This is part of my New Year's resolution as much as the cooking part is, and I like going back to see my notes. If you have decided to read this, THANKS!

While I have struggled with liking most of the recipes, I have really learned a lot about technique and commitment. I am far behind, but I'm glad I'm still going! Anyway...Enough about me...here's the review of week 7

Fava Bean and Mint soup. The picture I took was BEAUTIFUL. Buuuuttt....It got lost when I upgraded my phone. It was ok. It needed a LOT of salt and pepper. Most of these recipes do. I probably won't make it again. 

The Greek Green Beans picture has been lost too. I have no idea why it is called greek Green Beans. It's not particularly greek. It's not Green. It doesn't call for Green Beans. It does have beans though, and was a yummy side dish. It would also be great blended, like hummus, for a dip.

Next, Onions A La Greque. this is the first time I've used shallots. They were OK, but I'm not an onion fan. So I don't really think I'll make this one again.

Hummus and Falafel....Always one of my favorite things to eat! These recipes were great, the Tatziki sauce was delicious, and I even fried the falafel without burning them. I used the recipe for the Herbed Pizza Dough again, to eat with the Hummus. I will ABSOLUTELY make this again!

Lastly, Olive, Pepper, & Cherry Tomato Pasta. This was a big hit! B and the kids liked it, and Brian said it was a great alternative to my usual Marinara or Meat Sauce. Unfortunately, This picture has been lost as well. 

Week 7 - Recipes

Fava Bean and Mint Soup
Hummus ( already made!)
Onions a la Greque
Falafel
Greek Beans
Olive, Pepper, and Tomato Pasta

Week 6 - the return from Hand Surgery!

Despite the difficulties of healing from another hand surgery, I am happy to have all the feeling back in my fingers! The week before surgery was a flurry of spring cleaning and making as many dinners as my freezer would hold. My goal of cooking through this Veggie cookbook has been on hold for many weeks, But I am happy to have made it through Week 6 + !

One recipe I did sneak in during my pre-surgery week was a simple Bean and Rice Burrito. B's Step-Grandma came from Mexico, and since we got engaged, he has asked me to learn to make beans like hers. I continue to fail that mission, and I had high hopes this recipe would help. No such luck, these started with sauteed onions and garlic before adding the beans and cheese. Not a hit.

Next was the Pepperonata. I snuck this one in a few weeks ago, it was delicious! My whole family likes the bright colors of sliced peppers, and usually prefer theirs raw. I was a little concerned that they wouldn't like them cooked as much as this recipe called for, but they ended up reminding me of noodles. B and the kids loved it! Pepper Pasta!

On Monday I made the Risotto Verde. I hunted down some Arborio Rice, but I forgot to pick up leeks, so I started this recipe with regular onions. I was a little intimidated to try something I'm used to seeing top chefs make, but it really was pretty easy. One near-mistake, I added a white cooking wine instead of a dry white wine, and it was a good thing I didn't add any salt! It was almost TOO salty! A regular top chef mistake! The fam loved it, and since I have an iron deficiency, I love any recipe I can sneak some spinach in to!

Tuesday I made Spanish Tomato Soup, along with the Hummus from week 7, and the pizza dough from a few weeks back. the bread is always a hit, and I put my hummus in the food processor and then in the blender, it was my smoothest hummus yet!  I also took the left over risotto and added some italian-spiced ground beef and some grape tomatoes. B liked the risotto better this way. That was great, because I usually get stuck eating all the leftovers!  The kids and I loved the Soup. My Grand parents came here from Russia, and traditionally we eat soup with ложка, wooden spoons, and I have some tiny ones for the kids. I had planned to save them, as they are special to me, but hey, whatever gets my kids eating healthy!

Last recipe for the week, Cashew Paella. I picked up some saffron threads while shopping for the arborio, and I was so thrilled to try this recipe! I spent a few weeks in Spain, and I fell in love with the food and the lifestyle. Again, I was nervous to make something new, but it turned out delicious! My one mistake...I missed the note at the end of the recipe that said to skip the tumeric if I was going to use the saffron, and so I used both. I also used green AND black olives. Yum.

Week 5 - Review

Fritters with Sweet & Sour sauce
Vegetable Dim Sum
Chop Suey
Sweet and Sour Tofu
Cantonese Stir Fry

Well, after my last fun experience with frying things at home, I decided against making the fritters! I did make the Sweet and Sour Sauce, and I used it for my Dim Sum, which was so fun to make! I put them in a bamboo basket and steamed them in my wok!

These were really yummy. I told my kiddos they were Veggie Presents, but they weren't convinced. You could fill them with pretty much anything, which I will no doubt try in the future!

The Chop Suey was a surprising hit with them though! Bren said " I totally LOVE this Chinese Spaghetti!" Which is especially surprising, since he has never liked pasta!

The next two meals did not turn out as well. I kept adding ingredients to the Sweet &Sour Tofu, but it still didn't taste as good as Toi's!

The Cantonese Stirfry had five spice, it was a very different taste, I didn't really care for it.