One of my new goals for 2015 is to try a new recipe every week. If I can keep up with that, I'll have 52 new recipes under my belt in the year. What fun!
Now that the kids are getting older, they are more interested in helping in the kitchen, and that makes me like cooking so much more. If I'm not alone, I'm more willing to take the time to experiment and savor the process of cooking. Otherwise it can feel kind of like a chore.
Another inspiration are two new cookbooks I received in November and December last year (affiliate links):
I've been following the 100 Days of Real Food blog for over a year and love it! The recipes are simple and family friendly (usually meaning quick cleanup).
Smitten Kitchen is new to me, and it feel so classy and fancy to be learning some more artsy cooking skills (let's just say that my presentation skills are limited to using toothpicks to connect fruits together in kid-enticing ways).
So how have January's recipes turned out?
1. Southwest chicken breasts, recipe from Parade magazine (basically pan fry chicken breasts and add a jar of salsa, a can of black beans, frozen corn, and some spices and mix up).
VERDICT: **** (4 asterisks out of a possible 5). We'll be making these again: simple, quick and delicious!
2. Basic guacamole in the blender
VERDICT: **** Easy to make (a little harder to clean), nice taste.
3. Molasses cookies (a local variation to what is on the back of the molasses jar)
VERDICT: **** We were out of butter but wanted cookies, so I found a recipe in an area cookbook that didn't need any. We all loved these cookies, even the kids to my surprise (who I thought would demand chocolate!).
4. Oops, I got sick and didn't manage a fourth recipe in January. Hopefully I'll catch up in February.
p.s. I have a friend who's also embarking on a New Recipe Every week challenge, and she's blogging about it at Something New (to Cook). I can't wait to
I'd love to hear about recipes you love. Please share your favorites in the comments or the Desert Survivor Facebook page.
I might have to steal that Southwest Chicken Recipe. It looks like any easy meal to put together at the end of a busy day.
ReplyDeleteThe Southwest chicken is actually a great crockpot recipe! Don't worry about pan frying the chicken since you'll put it together when it's frozen, just throw all the ingredients in the crockpot. We add a little cream cheese at the end sometimes. I've been doing the crockpot version for years and Alyshia even took a crockpot to school to make her own ;)
ReplyDeleteGood! I need new ideas too. I really like chicken, so I woud Ike to experiment more with that. I did make Elk fried steak the other night. It was great!
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