Recipes: Week 23

 Hello folks! I'm trying this week to get things ready for my Wednesday Recipe Reviews post ahead of time, instead of being late! Since I did not keep a good written record of all the recipes I have made over the past few months, I am just going to be putting them up in the order they are in my photo folder. So, I can't guarantee that the next few posts will contain a wide variety of each of the food groups! To start this week's recipes, we have...

Breakfast Burritos

This recipe is actually my very own made-up recipe that I just threw together a lot for freezer food. I would make a large batch, freeze them, and then pack them in Jason's lunch. When Jason's parents visited a few years ago, I was making a batch and his mom wrote down the recipe. She then included it in Jason's cookbook that she put together for him. When I made this recipe, I did fudge a little bit and used bacon instead of sausage, and added salt and pepper. (Just using what I had on hand!)

The Honest Review: Jason LOVES breakfast burritos, and I quite enjoy them, too. Little Pumpkin doesn't like eggs, so....she hasn't given this recipe a good try yet. When I used to make and freeze these breakfast burritos, Jason would eat them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner some days. He really does like them! I do think that they are better with sausage, but the bacon worked out OK. Another alteration to the recipe that I do is to add shredded cheddar cheese, and some salsa, when putting the burritos together. It just adds that finishing touch to the recipe! The burritos really do freeze well, and are easy to eat on the road, too, so it's a handy food to have in the freezer. This recipe is staying in our collection.

Mom's Buttermilk Biscuits

Here is another one of my old, cut-out, Taste of Home recipes. A few months ago, when I was going through the recipes, I read the authors description of the recipe on the front and happened to notice their name. As it turns out, she lived in Laramie, WY and I am certain I have met the lady! How crazy is that? Anyways, I was excited to try this new recipe to see if it could top my biscuit recipe from last week.

The Honest Review: Sad to say, I was a little bit disappointed with this recipe. The biscuits did not turn out light and fluffy for me. They were a bit dry and crumbly, dense, and just did not impress me. We all ate them, but we all agreed that they were not as good as last week's biscuits. This recipe is tossed from our collection.

Barbecued Hamburger

This recipe comes from my personal cookbook; as you can see there's an additional handwritten note on there. I believe this recipe was always used for Sloppy Joes when I was a kid. And, I think having Sloppy Joes was a bit of a treat at home! Any time I have mentioned making Sloppy Joes to Jason, he always scrunches up his nose and says he never really liked them as a kid; that he had to eat them too much. (Which is kind of funny, because his Mom says she hardly ever made Sloppy Joes!) I honestly didn't figure Jason would like this recipe, because it contains ingredients that he is opposed to: catsup, vinegar, and mustard. I went ahead and made my old-fashioned Sloppy Joes anyway, and added the optional Pork and Beans because that's the way we had it at home.

The Honest Review: I really enjoy this recipe, especially with my home-made hamburger buns! And, Little Pumpkin ate it well, too. Jason said it was "OK," but remarked again that he doesn't really care for Sloppy Joes. I think he did have the suggestion to leave out the Pork and Beans, as he thought that made it a bit weird. Since he wasn't strictly opposed to the recipe, I will probably try it again without them. And, since the rest of us enjoyed the recipe, I'm keeping it! This recipe is staying in our collection.

Burrito Casserole

This is another recipe from Jason's cookbook. Jason said he didn't really remember having this as a kid, but that he is getting up there in years and his memory doesn't work very well! Ha! Since we like burritos, I thought the idea of the recipe might work out. I do believe that I bought a package of taco seasoning for this recipe instead of using my home-made taco seasoning mix.

[caption id="attachment_427" align="aligncenter" width="667"] (It did not turn out very picturesque.)[/caption]

The Honest Review: This recipe did not turn out like I thought it might. While it didn't taste bad, it didn't taste....like anything, really. It also turned out a bit soggy, or soupy, which I don't think was quite right. We all ate it, but Jason said it would be fine to not make this recipe again. But, if I did make it again, to try adding more flavor, and try rolling it into burritos before baking instead of layering it. He later added, "I'm not really a casserole person; maybe just make regular burritos." This recipe is tossed from our collection.

Kool-Aid Icicles

Jason was so excited at the idea of sharing popsicles with Little Pumpkin this summer, and wanted me to buy some every time I went grocery shopping. I tried making some other popsicle recipes that did not impress him at all, and I finally got out the popsicle recipe from my youth. These are pretty much the only popsicles I ever remember eating as a kid. And they were a treat! When I went to make them, Jason picked out Black Cherry for the flavor (blech! I don't really care for black cherry flavor). And, I was a bit shocked at how much sugar it required. However, in trying to make Jason some home-made popsicles that he might like, and to continue trying recipes, I made them per the recipe.

The Honest Review: Jason said that these were much more palatable than the previous popsicles I had made! He and Little Pumpkin quite enjoyed them together. I tried them and was surprised that the Black Cherry flavor wasn't as bad as I remembered. Considering the ingredients in this recipe, I don't think I will make them a lot. I would still like to find a healthier, home-made option that Jason will enjoy. But, for a treat, I do like this recipe. This recipe is staying in our collection.

Even though Jason said that these home-made popsicles were good, they just weren't the same as the orange creamsicle popsicle that he loved as a kid. And, could I please just buy some orange creamsicle popsicles! He eventually found, and bought, a giant box of orange creamsicle popsicles, but he said they weren't the same brand and kind that he remembered from his childhood. He still enjoyed them to the fullest, though!

Well, that wraps up this week's recipes from earlier this summer! It appears that we had a lot of burrito-type foods during this time. What is your favorite type of burrito? Or, would you rather have Sloppy Joes?