June 21 to 28, I was sick.

This last week kind of got away on me.  I got sick - like influenza sick. Fever, chills, weak (whiney), going to bed before my kids, and cuddling with my bestie NyQuil.

Let's see if I can recap the week, because I did make a few things.

Monday, I think, the hubby and I had salad for lunch, with toasted english muffins topped with a mix of mashed avocado and goat cheese. That was SO TASTY.  While not technically a recipe, it was so good.

Then I slept a lot, coughed a lot, and complained a lot.

During those days, I let my 12 year old loose on my pinterest boards for inspiration. This morning, Saturday, I made his first request - lemon meringue french toast. I found a few recipes, and tweaked them to our own needs/preferences.

I started with a loaf of french bread, the sliced one. I just can't slice my bread that pretty and that evenly. I took about 2/3 of the loaf for this.

Soaked the bread in:
1.5 cups milk
4 eggs

cooked it on my griddle, lightly sprayed with oil.

Then I put all the pieces, single layer, into two pans. Overtop, I drizzled 1/3 cup of sugar, mixed with 1/4 cup of lemon juice.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350, and start your meringue. I whipped the equivalent of about 5 egg whites with a 1/2 tsp of cream of tartar until very firm. Add some meringue topping to each piece of french toast, and bake for about 12 minutes until slightly browned.

Tasty! And really, not that time consuming. Even my non-French Toast fan liked it. Also easy because you don't need anything else to top it, and I served it with some sliced strawberries.

June 20 - creamsicles!

I made creamsicles.  Sort of.

1 cup orange juice concentrate
1 cup coconut milk (full fat)
2 tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla

mix and freeze in popsicle forms. These were tasty, and the kids mostly liked them. Sure, they aren't quite as good as the neon ones from the store, but not a bad combo, and they aren't rock hard either.

June 19

This was delicious. Just delicious.  And my kids all liked parts of it, if not the whole combination.

http://www.fitsugar.com/Recipe-Cucumber-Avocado-Caprese-Salad-9540465

June 18 - Kale fail

I've tried serving kale a few different ways.  None of them have gone over well, with any of us.

I think Jim Gaffigan says it well:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcI7jgkwdCM

That said, I made these tonight
http://www.onceuponacuttingboard.com/2014/04/sweet-potatoes-with-ricotta-kale.html?m=1
The ricotta/goat cheese combo?  Really nice with the sweet potatoes. Almost makes up for the kale. Almost.

Tuesday, June 17

Tonight, I went simple and frugal.  spaghetti chill.

This was easy and delicious!  It was not fast, in that I let it simmer for two hours. As for adding the spaghetti, I cooked it for about 3 minutes in boiling water, then drained and added it to the chili for about 20 minutes.  Everyone liked it.

http://lilluna.com/spaghetti-chili/

Monday, June 16 - day off

Yes, I skipped a day.

Since I have done more than one recipe in a day earlier in the month, I figure I'm ok, right?

My son and I volunteered at the Food Bank today, and that did inspire me to make a frugal meal for tomorrow. There was some really great food items being packed into the hampers we were putting together. Very encouraging to see not just junk in there - and that was just the non-perishables.

I do know that most food banks can do more with money donations than food donations - that money goes further.  Support your local food bank today!

Sunday, June 15, Father's day!

I asked the hubby what he wanted for supper on Father's Day.  He said something simple.

I made this Balsamic Roasted Pork Loin. It was nice. Not spectacular, but it's roast pork loin.

http://www.the-girl-who-ate-everything.com/2013/04/balsamic-roasted-pork-loin.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+blogspot/ofLCo+(The+Girl+Who+Ate+Everything)

Saturday, June 14

Tomato Avocado Feta dip.  Pure awesomeness.

Kids didn't like it, but then there was more for the grownups!

http://asunshinyday.com/avocado-tomato-feta-dip/

Friday June 13

My family, especially my oldest child (age 12) loves salmon. I was at Costco the other day, and they had whole salmon at a great price. So I bought one, and thought I'd bbq it.

Friday the 13th hit, and my salmon loving son didn't like it.  Probably because it was work to eat it, you know, taking out a few bones.  Yeah, bit of a fail.  Oh well, the potatoes I roasted on the bbq went over well.

http://figandpepper.com/entrees/fish/whole-bbq-salmon-with-lemon-and-dill-sauce/

June 12

We had a Greek night. I made this meatloaf, minus the bread crumbs
http://greek.food.com/recipe/greek-meatloaf-278119

There were no leftovers. Win!

June 11

Bacon wrapped, cheese stuffed hot dogs.

Baked at 400, 20-25 minutes, not bbq'ed.  Thank goodness, what a mess.

A delicious, greasy mess.

June 10 - I'm a keener!

I made 3, count em, *3* recipes today.

First off, I started with this as my side dish.
http://www.food.com/recipe/budget-bytes-summer-vegetable-tian-513872
Very tasty. Simple too. Although, I'd have baked it a touch longer and added more garlic.

Second, I made "carrot fries". Just very thin sliced carrots, tossed with olive oil and salt. Kids loved them, but next time, I'd do them thinner.  Might need to look at buying a mandolin slicer, as rounds would be easy and fun.

Thirdly, I switched up a crockpot recipe into being a non-crockpot recipe. I know that I'm a huge crockpot fan, but given that I worked today, and was scrambling for a main dish, this was just as easy to do in the oven.
http://momswithcrockpots.com/2012/01/sour-cream-and-bacon-crockpot-chicken/
I actually did a lot of altering on this one. I cut back the soup to one can (because really, that was more than enough), then I used real bacon bits instead of bacon. Then I baked it with the rest of supper at 400, for about 40 minutes. It was really tasty!

All in all, tonight's dishes were "make again, when you get to them" kind of dishes. No home runs.

June 9

Yesterday's recipe was this corn and bacon pie.
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Corn-and-Bacon-Pie-241369

I used a store bought crust - actually 2, because it made enough to fill two. Thankfully I was prepared by reading the comments. I used some dried onions, and different cheese. It was very tasty, and 4 out of 5 of us liked it.  The dog was drooling while it baked as well. I'd make this again.  Served it with a green salad and roasted cauliflower and broccoli.

June 8

Made this last night:
http://thehealthyfoodie.com/broccoli-apple-and-almond-salad/

I skipped the olives, cause, ew. I also skipped the raisins, because those aren't a huge hit around here.

So…well, it was ok. I'm glad I skipped the raisins, because even with cutting back a bit on the dates, this was a SWEET salad. I think it also would have been better had I just used raw broccoli not steamed, and let it marinade in the dressing longer.

My kids were "meh" about it, but the hubby and I thought it was ok, but it probably won't go into the summer rotation.

June 5, 6, 7

Confession - I didn't do anything new on the 5th. But doing two new ones in one day, more than once counts, right?  Right??

June 6, back on the bandwagon. I made Caesar Chicken Tortellini
http://www.lifesambrosia.com/2010/12/caesar-chicken-tortellini-recipe.html
This got great thumbs from the whole family. It was both fast AND easy. Win/win.

June 7 - another two for one!
I was going to start our day with a rhubarb strawberry french toast, but we were out of milk last night.  By the time my hubby got home with more milk, I was over the idea, and just made pancakes with rhubarb strawberry compote instead.

Today was warm and sunny, and the PERFECT day for this drink:
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/sarasota-lemonade/
Very tasty.  Now, since there were only two of us drinking wine, I halved the recipe, and turned the rest of the lemonade concentrate into a "Cooler" for the kids with sprite. Delicious, and we all enjoyed a pre-dinner "cocktail" in the sunshine.

For supper, I made this.
http://damndelicious.net/2014/04/09/one-pan-mexican-quinoa/
I ended up increasing a couple of amounts, like quinoa and tomatoes, so it was too big to do in my cast iron skillet. I made it in a large saucepan.  Since I had some leftover chill lime shredded pork from the other night, I tossed some in right near the end of cooking.

Wow. My family, my quinoa dis-liking family, all had SECONDS.  Every single one of them.  I call that a win. It was tasty, fresh, fast, and simple. I shredded some cheese and had some sour cream out for those who wanted it, but wow, they ATE QUINOA!

If I wanted any proof that this was a successful month, that was it, right there.

June 4

Today, I made two new recipes.

Broccoli Bites
http://www.staceysnacksonline.com/2011/01/broccoli-bites-for-kids.html

These were tasty.  I needed longer than it called for to bake them, but I did make them bigger. Could have used some more flavour - maybe garlic? They were good with caesar dressing for dip.

Paleo Granola
http://www.paleocupboard.com/granola.html

I have a paleo pumpkin granola I make rather often, this one is a bit different. There is lots of flexibility with a paleo granola, and this is TASTY.  Yum.  I only had slivered almonds, so I bulked up the mix with more almonds, pumpkin seeds, and coconut. I don't think anyone else in my family will eat this though, so it's ALL MINE (insert evil laugh here).

Day 3, 2 more recipes!

Another day, 2 new recipes!

First off, my crock pot love is well known, so today's crock pot recipe was actually made in the crock pot. I bought some pork loin at a great price at Costco the other day, so wanted to use some of it. This recipe fit the bill:
http://eat-drink-love.com/2012/04/slow-cooker-chili-lime-pulled-pork-tacos/

It was, well, ok. Not as much flavour as I expected. Just fine as pulled pork for tacos.

I also decided to make this:
http://www.justapinch.com/recipes/crisp-cucumber-salsa.html

While on a long distance phone call, I got all the items diced by hand, mixed it, and let it sit.
The opinion from the family was that it was too bland.  Needed more salt and jalepeno, at a minimum. A nice, fresh change from regular tomato-based salsa.

Day 2, recipe #2

Yes, I'm a keener on the beginning of a challenge. I'll own that.

I also said that I wouldn't alter recipes. Apparently, I can't NOT alter them. *palmsmack

http://www.momables.com/cheesy-italian-tortellini-in-the-crockpot/

This is supper.  Sort of.  I altered the recipe to make it a non-crockpot recipe (yes, I did, shocking I know!)

I cooked the sausage with the mushrooms, added a 28oz can of tomatoes, minced garlic, basil, and oregano. Then stirred in the sauce and tortellini.  I'm going to bake it for about an hour at 350, and add some grated parmesan to the mozzarella.

I can't help it, when you see a simple improvement to a recipe, how can you NOT do it?!?

Edited to add - reviews. This was a winner.  My children even commented on how the mushrooms were really good, and 2 out of 3 kids mostly hate mushrooms. I was told I should make this again.

Day 2 - Almond Quinoa breakfast

http://thehealthyapple.com/2013/08/26/gluten-free-almond-quinoa-breakfast/

I like quinoa.  I am, apparently, alone in my family.

I keep trying quinoa recipes on them though.  This morning, this one was all mine. I cut it in half, and used coconut milk, and used thawed frozen strawberries instead of cranberries.

Very tasty. The hubby tried it, despite it being two things he doesn't like - quinoa for breakfast, and pudding. That's a texture he can't get behind.

I might make it again, but maybe not.

Day 1 - Chickpea salad with lemon and dill

The recipe and source:
http://www.inspiredtaste.net/19298/fresh-chickpea-salad-recipe-with-lemon-and-dill/

We were having a church bbq event last night, and I wanted to take something I would eat, and would travel easily. This fit.

I followed the recipe to the letter, except I only had dried dill.

It was very tasty, and went over well at the bbq. I kept a small amount out of the container that came with us, so I've got some for the family to try tonight, so we will see how they like it tonight at supper.

Edited to add review: This went over ok. There was consensus that garlic would have been a good addition.

one month challenge!

The last couple of days, I have stumbled upon some blogs that were inspired by pinterest. Women making various things - food, crafts, decorating ideas, that they pinned.  I got an idea to try something similar.

I'm going to attempt a month of new recipes.  For the most part, I'm going for healthy(ish) recipes. One of the blogs I read was not so healthy, and some of the recipes were really terrible sounding (fruity pebbles as a variation of rice krispie squares anyone?).  One of the members of our family is type 1 diabetic, and we count carbs, so a lot of cake type things would be far too many carbs. However, with summer approaching, and fresh - and more local! - produce filling shelves, it's a great time to try some new recipes.

My plan is to try a new recipe daily, and hopefully stick close to the recipe as written…which is NOT my regular MO. I tend to start improvising right away. I'll review the recipe, and family (or other) response to it, and I really hope I can keep it up for the month of June!