Recipe Reviews! Week 1

I have been working on a recipe project for a couple of weeks now. The project hasn't stalled and been stuffed away on a shelf, which is an accomplishment! As a result of my recipe project, I am now making a wider variety of recipes for our daily meals than before. And, I thought maybe I should share my recipes and reviews with you guys. (Actually, it should be "our" reviews, as Jason is supposed to give me his honest opinion of each recipe.)

Part of this recipe project is to clear out the recipes that we really don't care for. (I'm hoping to do a post, soon, of how this recipe project was instigated....) My goal is to do a "Recipe Reviews" post once a week. So, if you're interested in keeping up with my cooking, and our thoughts on how it tastes, if you check back next Wednesday, there should be a new "Recipe Reviews" post waiting for you!

First, a few disclaimers on my cooking and recipes:

• I am not trying to offend any of the recipe authors with my reviews.
• I'm trying very hard to stick to the recipes, and not make substitutions, or additions, until after we have tried the real deal.
• Some of the recipes are meant to feed an army; in those cases I will usually make a half recipe, or freeze the leftovers for later.
• I am trying to take photos of the finished product, but don't always succeed. (Definitely didn't this week!)
• My food rarely looks like food from a magazine; if you're looking for pretty foods, go see my sister, Miriam.

This week's recipes began with...

Braised Pork Chops with Cabbage and Apple

I honestly have no idea where this recipe came from. I thought Jason had printed it off the internet at some point, but he denies ever seeing it before. I questioned the recipe when
I saw that the only seasoning required was Thyme. But, I followed the recipe exactly. And, we ate it. 

The Honest Review: It wasn't bad, per se, but the pork was bland, the cabbage and juice was very vinegar-y, and Jason doesn't like tangy, vinegar-y flavors (or cabbage). (The excess cabbage was the only part that got thrown away; we ate everything else.) This recipe is tossed from our collection.

Chicken Casserole

This recipe comes out of my family cookbook collection. I found these two recipes to be identical, save for the ingredient amounts varying a little. I kind of took the average of the differing amounts when I made it. I did use turkey meat instead of chicken, because that's what I had.

The Honest Review: Jason and Pumpkin liked it; I thought it was a little salty, "soupy," and just not quite what I was expecting. I did cover it with foil to bake, even though the recipe doesn't say to. But, I have this fear of things drying out in the oven. Maybe I did wrong, and that is why there was so much liquid making it seem "soupy." I will combine the recipes to one page, and make note of the salty/soupy issues. This recipe will stay in our collection at this time.

Pizza

This is Jason's all-time favorite food, and recipe! We have made it many times over, and Jason is the expert chef for this recipe. His preferred toppings are sausage and green peppers. I like a wide variety of toppings, but he pretty much just sticks with his sausage and green peppers.

The Honest Review: We all LOVE this pizza! The crust is delicious, and the sauce -Jason always adds a little more oregano to taste- the sauce is the perfect blend of spices! This recipe is staying in our collection.

Chow Mein

I grew up eating this recipe as a kid, but don't remember if I really liked it a lot, or just ate it because that's what we had for dinner. Jason has only ever had Chow Mein in a restaurant; never home-made. I have to say, after becoming familiar with, and making, Chinese and Thai dishes, I really questioned this recipe. It was nowhere similar to that style of stir-fry dish. I did deviate from my plan and added carrots.

The Honest Review: It was ok; Jason said it looked like beef stew. We tried it true to the recipe, then we added spices at our plates (ginger, garlic, salt, pepper, sesame seeds, crushed red chili flakes, etc.). It tasted good, and wasn't really bland; but, it just wasn't what we would expect from Chow Mein. (Sorry, Mom!) We will be looking to try new Chow Mein recipes, or make up our own. This recipe is tossed from our collection.

Oven Roasted Vegetables

I have had this before a long time ago, and had forgotten I had the recipe! I made it to go with the grilled lobster and steak that Jason made for post-Valentine's day. The vegetables I used were: zucchini, yellow squash, bell peppers, onions, and mushrooms. My one deviation was not using Tabasco Sauce, but homemade hot sauce from my sister.

The Honest Review: It is SO GOOD!!!! We all loved it, Pumpkin included! I could just eat a big bowl of that for a meal. If you're making the full recipe, note that you will need to use multiple cookie sheets/pans to roast with. I only made a 1/4 recipe. I would like to try adding potatoes to the mix sometime. This recipe is staying in our collection.

Pumpkin Bars

This was one of Jason's favorite desserts when he was a kid. He's been asking me to make it for quite a while now (at least a year or two).

The Honest Review: Very delicious, and a very moist bar. I did cut the recipe in half because I didn't have a pan big enough to bake it in (and we didn't need to eat that much!). The pan I did bake it in still may not have been big enough, as the finished product was more "cake" height than "bar" height. I did add 1/2 tsp of milk to the icing, as it was super sticky and I wanted to be able to spread it fairly easily. This recipe is staying in our collection.

I hope you have enjoyed this first "Recipe Review"! I'm excited to share more recipes with you next Wednesday!