Week Four - ITALIAN!

I am VERY VERY excited about this week!!

Red Pepper Soup
Tomato and Olive Bruschetta
Veggie Calzones
Spinach Gnocchi
(Veggie) Pepperoni Pizzas

All the Dough from scratch, too!

And we may be having dinner guests to share with!

Week three-ish

I'm really looking forward to this week's recipes! It's Italian week!!

Last week I just caught up on some recipes I'd missed. We were still all sick, but I managed to squeeze in Some Veggie Jambalya and a Brown Rice Au gratin.

Unfortunately for these recipes, I also made tomato Basil Pasta. that was the big hit for my family. Even Bren preferred the pasta, and he NEVER likes pasta.

The Rice Au Gratin gave me some good ideas as far as grating zucchini and carrots into my rice to help sneak it in, but other than that, I wouldn't make it again. As for the Jambalya, I liked the spice, but it really wasn't much different from a lot of veggie soups I've made.  Neither of these recipes will be added to my keepers file.

The last recipe from this week was Eggplant Timbale. But I kept forgetting to buy eggplant. It'll move to some future week!

Week Three Review

This week, we are all sick. I still managed to cook on two nights though, so I made multiple recipes, and did some catch up on the recipes I missed the first week!

Monday I made spicy potato and lemon casserole. The kids liked the carrots! Not so good when there are so many other ingredients.  B didn't eat the turnips. I also made the curried cauliflower and spinach. It was yummy, I loved the mustard seed, but I was the only one who ate this. I don't think either of these recipes were good enough to make again, but I will be keeping mustard seeds in my pantry from now on!

Tonight was a LOT of prep, but I'd say it was worth it! 

I made Corn Chowder, Veggie Enchiladas, and Crispy Potato Skins! The corn chowder was delicious. B, the non-soup eater, even ate it! One thing I need to find is a better melting cheese. I had shredded Mexican blend in the fridge, and in both my gratin and my soup it has taken on a "curdled" quality. Strange texture, but still tasty.

Veggie enchiladas were great too. One of my husbands favorite dishes is stuffed bell peppers. He said if I added the veggie crumbles to the enchiladas, they'd be better than my stuffed Bells! That's good news! 

The crispy potato skins were fun to make. I'm not sure I'd make the bean salad or fruit slaw with them again though. B said veggie crumbles and cheese, the kids dipped their bare skins in ketchup and mustard. In their dreams, every food is a French Fry! This recipe is great for an appetizer bar, where everyone could make their own! No pics, I finished these off with some buffalo sauce and feta! 

A crazy weekend means I probably won't cook again until Monday. I'll be finishing up the recipes from this week!

Week Two Review

Last week was "indian" week.  My house still smells like curry.

First I made Dahl soup. Very good! I told the kids the lentils were round rice, and I ended up serving it over basmati rice. B is not a soup person, so his went over rice too, and he liked it! 

Next, I burned the oil for my bhajis and samosas!!! Well, just hit it's smoke point, I guess. After I cleared the house of smoke, I made my samosas and bhajis, and they were really good! But I think I'm not one for Frying at home. I'll leave that for "special treat" foods when we go out!

This was not my best week in the kitchen, but I'm not completely discouraged! I did have a friend over, we made breakfast for lunch and I made the potato pepper hash again. That is a perfect recipe with eggs and some veggie sausages!