Recipe Reviews! Week 6

Wow. This week's recipes were a definite trial and error batch. And, I'll just say right now, I did not get very many photos of the actual food. Let's get started. This week's recipes included...

Greek Frittata

Several years ago, I cut this recipe out of the Natural Grocers sales paper, but never tried it until this week. I have only had frittatas in
Australia, so I was excited to finally make this!

The Honest Review: I was surprised at how relatively easy it was to make, and it smelled soooo good! And it was very tasty! Jason and I both really liked it, but Little Pumpkin, who doesn't like eggs, did not. It is not a heavy, dense dish, and I literally kept going back for seconds until I made myself stop. The flavors were just that good! This recipe is staying in our collection.

Alterations: I would like to try adding mushrooms into this recipe, and Jason requested adding sausage or bacon. (He doesn't appreciate the no-meat thing as much as I do.)

Cooked Oatmeal

I previously posted my recipe for Baked Oatmeal in Week 3 (here), and I thought I'd share my recipe for cooked oatmeal, too. I just follow the stove top recipe on whatever quick oats container I have, and make a few additions. Little Pumpkin and I alternate eating the cooked and baked oatmeals for breakfast throughout the week.

The Honest Review: Jason has stated that he doesn't like oatmeal many times, but he commented that this smelled really good. So I convinced him to try it. He said that the flavors were good, but it's the "squishy texture" of cooked oatmeal that he doesn't like. Pumpkin and I love our oatmeal (and I hated oatmeal as a kid), and will eat it for any meal, not just breakfast. This recipe is staying in our collection.

Alterations: For a 3-servings batch, I add random amounts (about 1/2-3/4 cup) of chopped apple, or dried fruits (craisins and apples in this batch) in with the water while it is coming to a boil. Along with the oatmeal and salt, I add 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon and 1/2 tablespoon of brown sugar.

Baked Liver

This recipe has a back-story. Jason refuses to even try liver. I have made liver a few times that it tasted really good, and I'm not opposed to eating organ meats. When we went to visit Jason's grandparents, they gave us their extra beef liver from somewhere, and Grandma mailed me this recipe to try.

(I don't know how to make cooked liver look attractive, so no photo here.)

The Honest Review: Jason refused to try it. Pumpkin tried it, but chose not to eat it. I actually thought it was one of the better cooked liver methods I have had, but I didn't like it enough to say it was great. This cooking method, though, doesn't make the liver tough and dry. The bay leaf and thyme flavors with liver was different for me, and not what I prefer. Since I'm the only one that eats liver, and I didn't absolutely love it, this recipe is tossed from our collection.
(I have one more package of liver in the freezer- look for my next liver recipe sometime in the future!)

New England Boiled Dinner

So, do you remember that corned beef brisket that I bought on sale by mistake in Week 4? I must confess that I purchased two of them; one a flat cut, and one a point cut. Since I had the point cut left, and it was not really fit to make into anything other than corned beef, I dug out all my recipes that take corned beef and asked Jason pick one to make. He chose this one from my Better Homes & Gardens cookbook. The only thing I did differently was omitting the parsnips/rutabaga; I didn't have any, and didn't want to go buy them. (I actually don't know what parsnips and rutabaga look, or taste, like!)

The Honest Review: I remember having a similar dish as a kid, and was expecting it to taste good. I was disappointed. The flavors were mediocre at best, and did not carry over into the vegetables. Jason was not keen on the idea of corned beef and cabbage anyways, and said he'd rather not eat it again. (I'm getting to eat all the leftovers by myself this week!) Little Pumpkin refused to eat any of it, which is really odd for her. But, she also has a nasty cold this week, and has been refusing to eat things she normally eats. Anyways, none of us really liked this recipe. This recipe is tossed from our collection.

Barbecued Steak

In an effort to make a new recipe, yet make something people would eat, I chose this one. I ended up having to be gone while it was baking, so I told Jason it was supposed to come out when it was "fork tender."

(Sorry! I did not get a photo of this dish.)

The Honest Review: It was fair. I thought the barbecue sauce turned out well, but Jason wasn't sure about it. (I have yet to make a barbecue sauce that he likes.) He couldn't articulate what was wrong with it, and he didn't say it was bad; it just wasn't great. The meat was a bit tough- not fork tender -which could be a baking error, or the meat (not the best beef we have had). Pumpkin ate this one ok, but not as well as she normally eats food. I'm still considering the recipe just for the sauce since Jason didn't absolutely dislike it. But, I think this recipe is tossed from our collection.

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Bites

I'm not sure how we came to have this recipe, but it was on my list to try this week.

The Honest Review: These were delicious! And so easy to make! Jason and Little Pumpkin whole-heartedly approved, which I was a little surprised since it is a "healthy-crunchy-granola" recipe. I really liked that they were not super sweet. In fact, they don't really taste sweet at all, but they taste good! (The lack of sweet taste could also be influenced by the type of nut butter and chocolate chips you use.) I would highly recommend trying this recipe. This recipe is staying in our collection.

I hope you enjoyed my recipe trials, and errors, this week. If you need something to look forward to- I will be doing a special Recipe Reviews post next week: Comparing Monster Cookie recipes to determine which one we like the best!

If you like cookies, make sure to look for next Wednesday's post!