New Recipe No. 5 - Hopping John

This recipe is really for a main dish, but I chose to make it a side dish.  It's traditionally a dish enjoyed when welcoming the new year, but I figured - why not? :)

It was good, but it wasn't the easiest dish to fix.  I like quick dishes and this one was certainly not that.  Plus, I had a little trouble with the rice because I just couldn't seem to keep enough liquid in the pan for it to cook.  So, that itself took much longer than it should have.  If I make this dish again, I think I'll use minute rice. (When I was growing up, one thing my mom always told me that she could in no way, no how, make biscuits.  That's how I am with rice.  If it's not minute rice or some type of flavored rice mix, I can't make it turn out right.)

I didn't use a Dutch oven as the recipe suggests.  I wonder if that would have made a difference with the rice...

I do recommend this recipe - especially if you're not rice-challenged like me! :)

Enjoy!



(Click Recipe Card to Enlarge)

I couldn't find this recipe online.  It's from my Southern Living: 30 Years of Our Best Recipes cookbook.

What I Learned:

I would prefer this as a main dish.

I cannot cook rice.  Oh wait, I already knew that!

New Recipe No. 4 - Fettuccine Alfredo with Chicken

We have Fettuccine Alfredo pretty often.  It's kind of my go-to meal when I've failed to lay something out of the freezer.  But the Alfredo has always been from a jar.  So, when I found this recipe for an Alfredo sauce that sounded pretty easy to make, I thought I'd give it a try.

And I'm glad to say, it was yummy!  It wasn't very difficult to make and it tasted much better than what you buy in a jar at the grocery store.  So here's another recipe that's won my family's thumbs up!

http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/fettuccine-alfredo-chicken-111228.aspx

I doubled the recipe and didn't use regular 'ol chicken broth.  I already had it in the pantry and really needed to use it.  (I wonder if I had used the low-sodium stuff if I would have felt like it needed salt when I tasted it?)

Things I Learned:

• 'Fettuccine' is one I will NEVER learn who to spell.
• Homemade sauce isn't as difficult to make as I thought - not with this recipe, anyway!

New Recipe No. 3 - Baked Chicken Breasts

So, I had a pack of chicken breasts thawed and ready for dinner and as luck would have it, the grill was out of gas.  William and I prefer our chicken grilled - especially when it's white meat.  So, I found myself in a little dilemma.  And what do I do when I find myself in a dilemma?  I do an Internet search. :)

I knew I wanted to bake the chicken, and when I found this recipe, I thought I'd give it a try.  It's very simple, and it was really good.  We enjoyed our chicken with a side of honey mustard.  And yes, I did alter the recipe a bit, but only because the chicken breast I had came from some well-endowed chickens and I didn't think the amount of breading the recipe called for would cover them.  So, I doubled the bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese, and I added some pepper and garlic powder too.

This recipe made it safely into my "will cook again" pile.  Enjoy!

New Recipe No. 2 - Sausage-Stuffed Pasta Shells

Yum-o!

I had a box of jumbo pasta shells in the cabinet and wanted to use them up.  I'm sure when I bought them I had a different recipe in mind, but since I didn't know where that recipe was, I searched for a new one online.  I knew it needed to include some type of meat.  William's not much of a vegetarian.  And I knew I didn't want spinach in it.  And this is what I found...

Sausage-Stuffed Pasta Shells from pillsbury.com...

I'm confident this will be a new family favorite as everyone seemed to really enjoy it.  I did deviate from the recipe just a bit.  I didn't want to pay for Italian sausage, so I picked up an ordinary roll of mild breakfast sausage and then seasoned the heck out of it - basil, garlic powder, oregano, onion powder, pretty much anything that seemed appropriate for Italian fare.  I also added extra seasoning to the tomato sauce.  And if, no when, I make it again, I'll double the sausage and cheese mixture because I ended up with too many shells and not enough stuffing.

William has already asked when we'll have this dish again.  It was delicious!

Things I Learned: 

• I need to make more stuffing for the next round of shells - and there will be another round!
• I LOVE one-dish meals.

New Recipe No. 1 - Slow Cooker Mac & Cheese

Like I've already said, I usually plan my meals out a month at a time and make one big trip to the grocery store.  And I usually plan those meals based on what's currently on sale at the grocery stores.  Now, that's not to say we don't have to run out for milk and bread throughout the month, but the "big" stuff, I try to get all at once.  And I'm trying to figure out a new routine that might allow me to go grocery shopping alone.  Doesn't that sound nice?  (Don't get me wrong, I LOVE being with my kids - but the two of them in the grocery store...well, I can't even describe how challenging that can sometimes be!  And to be honest, throwing William into the mix doesn't always help.)

Today* I tried a new slow cooker mac and cheese recipe.  We don't eat a lot of mac and cheese - not as much as Andrew (my 4-year-old) would like.  And that's part of the reason - I don't want him to gorge himself in it, and I admit I sometimes have a hard time telling him he can't have seconds.  He thinks his mommy is the best cook ever and I love it!

But, back to the new recipe for this week.  It wasn't good.  Andrew ate it.  And William said it was okay.  But I didn't care for it at all.  And since I didn't like it, I didn't even try to feed it to Megan (my 1-year-old).  So, I won't be sharing that recipe with you, nor will I be adding it to my cookbook collection.  It looked yummy...

...but, it wasn't.  I'm not sure what new recipe I'll try next week.  I imagine it will require a trip to the store, and since it looks like I'll be snowed in for a while, I'm not so sure I'll be able to go on an ingredient run.  But, we'll see!

*This post has been moved from my "family blog" and was originally posted on January 18, 2011.

Things I Learned 

• I'm not a fan of cheddar cheese.  I like it in it's original form but it seems to take on a new taste when it's melted and I don't like it.
• My green slow cooker photographs blue.  Interesting... 

Welcome!

Here's some quick info about me and this blog...

I'm a college graduate who stays at home with my kids.  It's not exactly where I thought my life would lead me, but I love it.  I have two beautiful children - a four year old boy and a one year old girl.  My husband is a (somewhat) picky eater who works crazy hours that often require me to plan ahead, prepare a quick meal, and be inventive.  I plan my meals out a month at a time so that I only have to make one "big" trip to the grocery store.  And as I plan the meals, I often feel like I prepare the same meals over and over.  So, I decided to challenge myself to try at least one new recipe a week - 52 new recipes for the year!  And I hope to find some really great new recipes that will allow me to stop repeating meals so often.  Wish me luck!