The last 2 weeks of food

Marinated Italian salad- this was okay, but definately not on the favorites list. It was fine the first time we ate it, but we quickly tired of it and I through the rest away last night. I doubt I'll ever make it again

Chicken Alfredo- I could feel my arteries clogging as I made this dish. The recipe claimed to make for 2, so I tripled it. we did NOT need to triple it. A little bit went a long way. I think it fed us all 2 or 3 times. It turned out a little more liquidy than we expected (is that even a word?). I'm not sure if I did something wrong, but we had expected it to be thicker. Jared thought it was good overall, so I may have to make it again even though I swore I wouldn't while I was adding all those fattening ingredients. The older girls seemed to enjoy it also.

Red Pepper Soup- Jared said this was "interesting" and a little too thick (did I do something wrong again?) This did not make the family favorite list. While lecturing Bella about keeping her comments to herself (disgusting was repeated more than once), I told the other girls that applied to them also. Xandy said "I am keeping my comments to myself". Jared asked if that meant she had comments. She replied "Yeah, but I can't tell them to you or I'll get in trouble!" I couldn't help but chuckle. Once again, I didn't think it was that bad. I seem to have opposite tastes than my family. I could do without all the cream though. The person who put together this cookbook really likes cream and sugar. Not very ideal for someone struggling to lose weight. Interestingly, this recipe was found in the Valentine: Dinner for two section. Jared said it should be called the "remain chaste valentines meal". After eating that soup with all the garlic and onion, he doesn't think there will be too much snuggling and kissing!

Stuffed Mushrooms- I LOVE stuffed mushrooms. That being said, this recipe was not one of my favorites. It was good, its hard to go wrong with me and mushrooms, but I've had some I like a lot better. I would make this and serve it to others, if I didn't have other ingredients on hand, but I would prefer some of the other kinds I've had.

Apple Torte and Harvest Hamburger Soup

I must say I was pleasantly surprised with the Harvest Hamburger Soup. After adding all the ingredients to my pot, I was unsure whether I'd like it or not. There seemed to be a pretty high ratio of potatoes in it. I don't like alot of potato chunks in my soup. It was pretty good though. The girls, Jared, and Jared's Mom all really liked it too. Jacob didn't eat much, but then again he never really eats anything.

The Bavarian Apple Torte was excellent. We thought the taste of the filling complimented the apples wonderfully. Our apples were juicy and tender. (Jenni- I wonder if the difference comes from using different types of apples. I used Fuji apples. I know some varieties don't bake as well as others) We also loved the way the almonds toasted on the top. Jared wasn't sure if he would like it or not, but it was a winner. This recipe will definately be made again. Both of the recipes have inspired Jared's mom to get the cookbook. She really enjoyed both dishes.

Lots of food. Little time to blog.

So...its been a while. The month of November flew by! We have made all of the dishes, even one several times, but have not been together with camera, computer, and blog technician. So where to start...

Pork and Baked Apples:

We loved the pork. It was so easy, and using the yogurt was a fantastic way to cut calories. In fact Martin used yogurt and crackers to bread his Parmesan Chicken. It turned out great as well. The Apples, we have made several times. I think we are coming to realize that with this cookbook, we just cut down on the sugar on pretty much every recipe. We cut back on the apples which made them just right. We really enjoyed this meal.

Squash Casserole and Applesauce Muffins

This has been one of our favorite recipes so far! We have made the squash casserole 4 times. It was even given a coveted spot on the Thanksgiving spread. Like all the other recipes, each time we made it, we cut back on the brown sugar. We actually really like it without any brown sugar at all. The first time we made this meal, it was our treat to host Terry and Joan and they loved our meal too! We had a great time. The applesauce muffins were excellent, and a great way to use our whole wheat flour (we have not ventured into making bread yet). Overall a great meal!

Hearty 6-hour stew and Pumpkin Bread

We should do more crockpot compatible recipes! We enjoyed being able to put this one in before church and coming home to a complete meal. We thought that it would be better with real onions instead of onion soup, but we still liked it. Martin made the pumpkin bread. He added way too many chocolate chips which in the end made it delightful! Any extra chocolate is fine with me. We really liked this meal.

Harvest Hamburger Soup and Bavarian Apple Torte

The soup was good. A great way to get in lots of veggies. I had never used consume before. What is it really? I'm afraid it made the soup a little greasy, but we enjoyed this warm entree. But it was super easy to just cut up all the veggies, open cans, and cook. The Apple torte was interesting--as Martin said. I have never had apple torte like this, so I'm not sure if it turned out as it was supposed to. The crust and fillings were of course very sugar heavy. I didn't leave out any ingredients though, cause, as I said, I had never had this before. Are the apples supposed to be a little dry? We both thought it would be better if they were more juicy. Maybe I baked it wrong or something. But, with that being said, sugar, cream cheese, vanilla, and fruit, still make a tasty combination.

YUM

Hello from Missouri.  I'm Elise Morrison (Jared's cousin's wife). Terra invited me to the group and we are so excited to have set menu plans for at least one day a week. :)

I made the beef stew on Sunday. I used ground beef, but it turned out heavenly. Usually a new recipe is met with such complements as, "We like when you cook things that we're used to," or "You really don't have to experiment in the kitchen."  Luckily, this one was a winner! SO GOOD! It was simple to make and we loved it.

Catch up!

Okay, so I've been a slacker when it comes to posting and taking pictures! I'm going to try to be better! Let's start back to the pork chops and sliced apples. We really liked the pork chops! It was very easy and I will be doing that one again. The apple slices were good, but if I'm going to take the time cutting the apples I would rather make apple crisp! The squash casserole has been my favorite dish so far! I LOVED it! Nick and Weston not so much. In fact Weston hardly touched it. I had to go to a couple stores to find the butternut squash. It was very easy. I even thought it tasted better the next day. I guess I will make it when Nick is gone on trips! The whole wheat muffins we thought were okay. But they were again very easy to make!

A Win/Lose week

The Whole-wheat Applesauce muffins were a HUGE hit. We even used homemade applesauce from the apples we had picked earlier this year. I made them before church for a morning snack. (A benefit of late church) The first batch was gone so quickly that I made a second batch after we got home. The squash casserole didn't go over as well. I really liked it, but the girls did not. Jared said it was tolerable but not a favorite. I once again had the advantage of getting sugar reduction tips from Jennie and Martin before I made my food. Maybe we should just automatically start reducing the sugar in recipes from this cookbook. These people really like their sugar! I'm not sure why my family didn't like this dish. It was very tasty! Oh well, I guess you win some and you lose some.

I'm not eating that

Those were the words out of Westons mouth when we finished putting the spider together. He thought that eating spider bread was so fun! We all really enjoyed this fun bread for the week of Halloween! I definitely will do this again for Halloween! But we had the same problem as you Marty and Jennie, too much for just the three of us! We will only use half of the bread that it calls for next time! That was a lot of bread! But FUN!
The Pumpkin Bisque was very interesting! Nick and I were not so sure what to expect. But we were pleasantly surprised! It was incredibly simple which I really liked! Nick agrees with Jared that it is not a great main dish. I'm not sure I will make this again. But it was fun to try!

Apples and Pork

The kids and I had picked a bunch of apples earlier in the month to make applesauce. I had made a couple batches but hadn't had the time to finish. This was a great way to use up some more of the apples that were becoming overripe. It was pretty quick and simple to put together. Personally, I wasn't a big fan. But then again, I'm pretty picky about my apples. I thought the topping/sauce was a too sugary. My family once again disagreed with my assessment. Everyone loved the apples. The girls were fighting over seconds before they even finished their first helpings. I've been trying to incorporate more fruits and vegetables into our meals and this is a great kid-friendly dish. (Although, I've yet to see apples served a way that my kids won't eat them.) It would also make a great after school snack or FHE refreshment. The girls were busy watching Twitches when I made it, but I think its something Katy and Xandy could make together without much help from me. They are getting to the age where they are asking to help cook and bake more often and like recipes they can do mostly without help.

I liked the idea of using yogurt to coat the pork instead of mayonnaise. I have a really good chicken recipe that is coated with a mix of mayonnaise and pesto. I think I'll try substituting the mayonnaise with yogurt for a healthy variation next time. Jared gave me the raised eyebrow look when he saw me spreading yogurt on the pork but in the end he liked it. I didn't realize that I didn't have any sage at home until I went to make it. Being as it was Sunday, we proceeded without the sage. I was going to borrow some from a friend until I realized it only called for 1/2 tsp. It hardly seemed worth the drive. I don't know how much of a difference the sage would've made, but we enjoyed the recipe just fine without it. I could see us making this recipe again. All of the ingredients are items we usually keep on hand, so it would make a great meal on those "what on earth should I make for dinner?" nights

Halloween Bites

Due to a week-end chalked full of chili cook-offs, dinner parties, and potlucks, I made last week-ends meal on Monday.
Pumpkin Bisque : This was incredibly fast and simple to make. I love that the only "cooking" part was sauteing the butter and onions. I'm not a big fan of cold soups, so I did warm it up before serving. I also had the advantage of talking to Jennie and Martin first so I decreased the sugar by half. I really liked it. Jared thought it was okay, but not as a main dish. The kids weren't big fans. I think it has potential to become a seasonal repeat. Who knows, it may even grow on the rest of the family.


Spider Bread: This makes a TON of bread, especially when you accidentally thaw a 5th loaf. I was disappointed that our store only carried the white bread and not the wheat. It actually took a long time for me to even find any bread period. I was relieved when I finally found two bags at the bottom of one of the freezer sections. The spider was relatively easy to form, although trying to arrange it so it fit on the pan was a little harder. I tried to use toothpicks to prop the legs up at an angle. The dough was too heavy for the toothpicks which caused the legs to keep falling. I drew again on the experience of Jennie and Martin and used foil cylinders to prop up the legs. Bella was fascinated watching it grow through the oven window while it cooked. The girls arrived home from school shortly after it came out were impressed with the spider. They were all anxious for it to cool so they could test the spider eggs. The eggs turned out to be the favorite part. A really neat Halloween themed treat. It would be neat to serve at any Halloween party or potluck. You could even cut a hole out of the body and put a dip in there.

Pumpkin Bisque and The monster SPIDER....

The pumpkin bisque was a super quick recipe, that was incredibly easy. The only cooking required was to saute the onions. I was done with the bisque, put it in the fridge and Martin was still working on the spider. When he had the spider in the oven, he asked: "do you still have to make the pumpkin soup?" I can say that this soup had a great pumpkin flavor. Unfortunately, I didn't like it because 1/2 cup of brown sugar made it way too sweet for my liking. It would have been great, had we reduced the sugar content to 1/4 cup. However, Martin liked it and ate all of it throughout the week. I really want to try this recipe again at a later date with less sugar.



SPIDER MONSTER BREAD is all I have to say. Martin made this incredible bread arachnoid. He did a wonderful job putting it all together. He even made a spider web on tin foil with honey and powdered sugar for the spider to relax on. Oh and he made it into a black widow by putting cayenne pepper in a diamond shape on the spider's back. You may ask why we call this the monster spider... It quite a funny story. We couldn't find wheat bread at the store, so we bought white bread dough. I wish I had had time to make our own bread dough. Maybe next time. Anyway, we used the allotted 4 loaves that it told us to use in the recipe. It didnt really register with us that it would actually really be 4 loaves of bread molded into a spider. Next time we make this, we are going to use probably 2 or less loaves. Anyway, Martin started molding the bread onto a cookie sheet. We should have realized then that this thing was going to be a monster, when half-way through the process of putting it together, it no longer fit on the cookies sheet. We ended up having to make tin foil extensions to the pizza stone, just so the legs would have somewhere to rest. It took 4 hands to get it into the oven. We think it probably doubled in size while it was baking. As you can see by the picture, it pretty much took up the entire oven rack. Then there were the eggs. Even more bread! We ate the eggs for dinner and had a huge spider on its spider web. It sure looked awesome though. And tasted great. Martin ate the cayenne pepper part. YUMMY MONSTER SPIDER BREAD!!!

Zucchini Soup and Zucchini Chocolate Cake!

This soup turned out great. We had a great time making it. We were kind of worried about what the flavor would be like, since zucchini really doesn't have much of a flavor. We ended up adding a little bit of roasted red pepper flakes to give it a little bit of a kick. It was ever so slight, but really tasty. It was nice to have somewhat of a lighter dinner (even though it had the half and half). We liked it with the bacon, and cheese. Needless to say, we didn't have much leftover.



I LOVE CHOCOLATE! This was definitely a delectable cake for our tastes. It was so great that we were actually getting some veggies in our cake too. I didn't want to make it in a sheet cake, so we made it into a bunt cake. I just dribbled the frosting down the sides. It didnt' turn out very pretty. It was very moist. Unfortunately, it is just the 2 of us, so we ate the whole thing in about a weeks time. I had a friend make this a couple of weeks ago for a potluck. She made it with 1/2 the sugar, whole wheat flour, applesauce instead of butter, etc. Maybe we should have made it that way for a few less calories. Oh well, it turned out to be pretty tasty. We liked it!

Zucchini, zucchini, and more Zucchini

When Jared discovered the menu for this week, he was less than pleased. He hovered in the kitchen throwing skeptical glances my way. I was tempted to boot him out, but he was using unloading and loading the dishes as his cover for spying on me, so I let him play his little game. He could throw all the comments and glances he wanted, as long as the dishes continued to get done. Besides, I have four kids and am becoming a master at tuning my family out.

I started by baking the cake before church. The girls were helping me since they are really into cooking and baking. When it was time to add the zucchini, I slyly sent them up to get dressed. I had added the zucchini to the batter when I had to stop to take care of something else. They foiled my plan when they got dressed quicker than normal and came down before I had poured the batter into the pans. "Ew, gross, mom put worms in the cake!" (Points goes to whoever correctly guesses who that came from) The cakes baked, and were cooling when we left for church, forgetting all about the "worms" in the cake.

When we got back, I set to work on the zucchini soup. Jared's skeptism did not damper my mood. I was thrilled. I love zucchini and was excited for a healthy soup. Jared was still hovering nearby when I pulled the blender out. At this point, his face turned to pure panic. [One time Jared's mom tried a cold broccoli recipe in the blender. As Jared tells the story, his Dad sat down, took one look at the food in the blender, refused to taste even a bite, stood back up and asked "who's coming to get hamburgers with me?". Jared is now very wary of anything green in a blender. ] Since it was Sunday, I was relieved to know that he couldn't go get fast food.


Guess the girls weren't the only ones forgetting things though, I had forgotten that this soup called for half and half, cheese, and sourcream. So much for healthy soup, hello heart attack in a bowl. The addition of these ingredients greatly calmed Jared's anxiety. He let out a breathe of relief. "Now, that looks more like something I could eat" he announced.

The soup was good, but nothing spectacular. In fact, the girls thought it was the broccoli soup we had the week before. Although, its nice to have a recipe to use up the zucchini from the garden. Not that we had any this year though. Most of my plants died over my 2 1/2 week vacation.

I frosted the cake with the frosting recipe recommended in the book. It turned out more like a glaze though. That would have been fine if I had listened and made a 9x13 inch cake. But, I had made two 8 inch cakes instead and it was a challenge to frost the cake with that frosting. I'm not really a fan of the taste of most frostings either. It wasn't bad, I just wasn't real fond of it. I really liked the cake itself though. It was very moist and I loved knowing I was sneaking more veggies in our food. Jared told Xandy there was zucchini in cake just like there had been in her soup. She was convinced he was lying and said that would be disgusting and this cake wasn't disgusting. Katy replied "haven't you ever heard of zucchini bread before? Thats good, and it has zucchini in it."

Better Late than Never

So last week's meal was great. The broccoli soup was really tasty. That is the same recipe that I learned from my mom. I pureed the broccoli and chicken broth before adding it to the white sauce. I'd be interested in the other recipes that y'all have that are better. I love broccoli soup, so I am open for new ways to make it! I think Martin even liked the soup, when covered with tons of cheese and eaten in a yummy soup bowl.

Martin made the dip. I have had it before. It is pretty sweet. We had some fresh apples from the Buchkovich's backyard that were delicious. Overall, a very yummy Sunday meal!

My pictures I took of the finished products were worthless, so no pictures! I finally got around to making the green beans and pepper. Like you Terra, I had about 5 different things going on last night and didn't allow the green beans to cook long enough so they were not as tender as they need to be so it was hard to enjoy. But I would like to try this recipe again and make sure it get cooked long enough.
I have had the apples and dip many times before. Easy as can be, and VERY sugary, but a fun fall treat!
The broccoli chowder soup turned out great. Very easy! I have a broccoli soup recipe very similar to this one and Nick and I both agree that we like it better then the one from this book. And it's even easier!

week 2

Apples and Dip

Our church gets out a 2:30 so its usually 3pm until we get home. The kids don't give me very long to produce some form of food before an uprising breaks out. Anticipating that they wouldn't be able to hold out for the soup, I prepared this first for a snack. Its quick, simple, and very kid friendly. The apples were completely gone in just a few seconds. The dip is loaded with sugar and added to the sugar in apples it can be a sugar overload. We did NOT have dessert later on. I figured the dip was enough for one night. That was met with a few complaints, but they are looking forward to finishing off the dip tonight with the apples we picked this morning.

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

I have the recipe for Panera's Broccoli Cheddar Soup, and while it is very delicious it is pretty involved. This recipe was surprisingly good for how simple it is. Although, I must confess I had a little mishap. I stopped stirring the milk mixture while waiting for it to boil and sat down at the computer for just a little second. The little second turned into lots of little seconds and little minutes. When I finally remembered what I was supposed to be doing, it was pretty stinky. I dumped it down the drain and started over. This time I had to glue my feet in front of the stove. I kept finding myself walking away to do something else and had to keep reminding myself to stay put. Darn multi-tasking habits!! The second batch was perfect!! I served it with warm croissant rolls and enjoyed the leftovers for lunch today. I doubled the recipe and froze half of it for a quick dinner another night.

Green Beans and Peppers

SO GOOD! Terra, we did end up using the butter. The debate in our house was whether or not to use the olive oil. Martin wanted to do the recipe just as it was written, so we used butter. But next time we will use the olive oil. We used extra onions, but the flavor was amazing just with the salt and pepper. We were expecting to need to put in some garlic or something extra for flavor, but the peppers and onion really made them so good. I like to steam the beans enough to still be crunchy. They were so delicious, and again so easy! Hopefully we can get to the farmer's market to buy some more green beans this fall and make them again.

Pumpkin Roll

This was so much fun! I will agree with y'all in saying that making a pumpkin roll was intimidating. It turned out great though, and really was easier than I thought. We actually doubled the recipe because we were having more people for dinner than we expected. We made a small one and a larger one. Half of the small one was gone the day that we made it. We decided not to add the nuts to the recipe because we don't like them as much. We also used parchment paper instead of wax paper because that is what we had. We had absolutely no problems with the cake sticking to it. (Maybe a suggestion for the future) We would like to try it again, but maybe with a little less cream cheese filling. This is a yummy pumpkin dessert that tastes like fall!!! A definate new favorite in our house.

Pumpkin rolls and greenbeans

Since we were home all day today, I decided to be a little daring with the main dish also. I made a roasted chicken with apple sausage stuffing. I had it all ready to go before the first session of conference started and was going to cook it during the second session. I forgot to put it in the oven though so we didn't get to eat until late. We actually ate the dessert first and I forgot to take a picture. There was only one piece left when I went back. I'll have to do better with the camera next week. Here's my review of the recipes.....

Pumpkin roll:
I too was intimidated by the infamous cake roll. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was. I didn't even start mine until 10pm Saturday night but was still in bed at a decent time. I did have a little trouble getting the wax paper off at first. In my rush to get to bed, I didn't let it cool completely before frosting so it didn't roll as perfectly as it could've. It was a big hit with everyone. I want to try some other jelly rolls now. I used to be so impressed when people brought a pumpkin roll to an event. Now that I know how simple it is, I'll have to make them when I need to take a dessert. Elegant look without much work! The only remaining piece. Left-over desserts are rare in this house of vultures!




Greanbeans and Peppers:
I was amazed at how many greenbeans it takes to get 2 lbs! But overall it was good. Nothing super special, but a nice variation from my typical greenbeans and almond slivers. I'm a HUGE fan of fresh greenbeans so I love any excuse to buy and make them and the kids love red peppers. I used olive oil instead of butter to saute the green onions, and I didn't add any butter at the end like suggested. I did sprinkle with fresh ground pepper and sea salt. Did anyone add butter? I wondered if it really makes a big difference. I usually try to make the healthiest alternative but wonder if I'm missing out on taste in the process. This recipe used kid friendly vegetables so thats always a plus. We had already eaten when I took this picture. The recipe made more than enough for my family of 6.

This one's a keeper!

I have always been intimidated by cake rolls, so I was surprised at how easy this was. And it was delicious!! I just knew I was going to mess it up some how. I got a little worried when it came time to remove the cooked cake from the wax paper and it didn't come off very smooth. But with a little time it came right off without too much damage. We all gave it a thumbs up! Now we just need to go run a few miles!!


I have to apologise for not doing the green bean side dish. My store didn't have green beans so I ran to my produce market and it was closed(that is what I get for being a procrastinator! So I will be sure to do it this next weekend!