NEW COOKBOOK!!!!!!!

Thanks to my wonderful grandma I got a new fantastic cookbook for Christmas! This is the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook and it's very nice. It's got great information for people just starting out, like ME that may  need a little extra help along the way. Also, it contains some much more traditional recipes than Rachel Ray called for. I had my good friends Scott and Liz over for dinner to kick off my first recipe from my new cookbook. Liz chose the recipe so all I had to do was execute it, sounds easy enough right!
Well let me start off with before dinner... I worked that morning, which means off by 3pm so a 6:30 dinner time should have allowed me plenty of time for trial and error! Should have. Well work had a sale going on and had some supposedly great shoes and I was in desperate need of new shoes so I went to check it out. I found some that I really liked and of course they didn't have my size but they have a store about 3 mins from the hospital so Tasha and I headed there after work...no luck. They did tell me, well actually the lady wouldn't make the call for me because she figured that the St. Matthews store would be too busy to call at that moment but when we left I called and they answered right away and informed me that they had the shoe I wanted in my size! So Tasha and I thought we'd have plenty of time to run over there, which the GPS estimated at 12 minutes away. What I forgot is that Tasha and I are cursed when it comes to crossing the bridge! Without fail we always end up in crazy traffic jams and this day was no exception. Of course there was a wreck on the bridge and we were at a point where there was no turning around and just sat for about an hour without moving an inch. This state cop was trying to work his way through the traffic and boy was he mean! He was yelling at people with his megaphone thingy and not being very kind! But we did finally make it across and I got the shoes that are supposed to be so great for your feet! This is obviously a side tangent, and a long one at that but let me finish with I wore the shoes, the 138 dollar shoes and my feet hurt so bad afterwords that I could barely stand! I'm gonna give them some time because you can't take them back and they were too expensive not to wear so I'll try to update you about those later too.
Anyway, on to the cooking part! Well by the time I got home I was afraid I was going to be behind! Fortunately Scott and Liz are so nice that I knew not to panic. Of course, they did happen to come through the door right at the time I was having a crisis! The dish I made was penne pasta, with a creamy herbed sauce and I added broccoli and chicken to the dish. My sauces have usually turned out ok but they are still tricky sometimes because you need the right heat to get the right consistency. It said to heat basil and garlic on high for 30 seconds, well news flash after 30 seconds the burner isn't just automatically low heat instead of high even if you turn it down so needless to say the basil and garlic were burning like crazy and smelling bad! Not that I'm familiar with this substance but the burning basil reminded me of the smell of pot which freaked me out because I was having the worship leader and his wife over, and they let me watch their children and I didn't want them thinking that smell was me!!!! hahaha jk Anyway, the main base of the sauce was cream cheese so of course I added the cream cheese right before I realized everything was burning!!!!!!!! So I was in a panic trying to get the smoke and smell of pot to go away, and the creams cheese out before it burned.
And this is the exact time the Lee's got to my house...I'm sure they were really excited to eat now! haha
I managed to save the cream cheese and start over with the basil and garlic. The sauce turned out, although I thought the cheese taste was a little strong. It also contained cottage cheese. I love cheese (not cottage cheese though) but the sauce was kinda weird to me. Liz, if you're reading this is news to you but: the day after the recipe my mom asked me where the leftover cream cheese was. I said, there wasn't any left over the recipe called for the 8 oz package...my mom said, uhh the recipe called for half the 8 oz package! hahah so maybe that was why it tasted too cheesy to me! It probably didn't make a huge difference but it could have just tipped it over the edge for me. Anyway, I liked it much better than I liked any of my previous Rachel Ray dishes. Scott and Liz both said they liked it although I don't think they would have told me if they didn't so don't put too much weight on their responses. :)

But, best part: I did get to wear my new apron from Italy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(This pic is not from this night, it is from Italy but it's my new apron with my name on it! :)

Turkey Noodle Casserole (with chicken)

The next recipe on the menu was Turkey Noodle Casserole...I'm just not a fan of turkey although I probably wouldn't be able to tell that much, nevertheless I opted to use chicken. Here's the thing about making subsitutions, and with other ingredients as well: some of the ingredients used are really hard to mesaure! It said to use a package of ground turkey (about 1 1/3lbs) but I used a rotissere chicken which doesn't come measured for you like that so it kinda became a guessing game. Another thing, the egg noddles...when I bought them they came in a 2lb package and I've used them for other recipes. Now I only needed 1/2lb which I would have been able to distinguish if the package were just opened but how do I know how much 1/2 of a lb of egg noodles is...I mean, I could weight a container, then add the noodles and subtract the weight of the container until I thought there was 1/2 but that seems a little extreme! I'm not so crazy that I measure everything perfectly but since I'm just starting this adventure I'm not too sure what is the right amount. Another thing I hate, a lot of times it just says salt this, or pepper that, or put some thyme...well how much??? I've decided that less is more! I don't use too much seasoning after learning the hard way! And if it's not salty enough for your taste, add more salt after its been cooked but I prefer to keep my sodium levels down! :)
Ok back this this specific recipe. The mixture (that is what Rachel called it) called for onion, chicken (well turkey), bacon which I omitted!, seasonings, and then dry white wine, chicken stock, and heavy cream. My mom said there was probably more chicken in there than 1 1/3 lbs so I could go a little heavy on some of the other ingredients so I did that...the wine was the first thing I put in and then all of a sudden ALL I could smell was wine! I added the stock and cream but when I did a taste test ALL I could taste was wine! (I don't like DRY wine!) I'm sure it was mostly in my head but once I had it in my head all I could smell and taste was the wine and I wasn't a fan! So then it became somewhat of a science experiment....more heavy cream went in, and then more heavy cream and then more chicken stock and then MORE chicken stock!!!! and then more nutmeg and then more garlic powder and then more thyme! hahahahaha Finally it got to the point where I could taste more than just the wine, but it was still all I smelled. When all was said and done after adding the baby swiss to the top and then bread crumbs and sticking in in the oven for a bit, it turned out pretty good. The cheese helped with some of the wine flavor that I thought overwhelmed it....my mom said that she really liked it though, even before I added all the extra cream and chicken stock and spices. I have learned that alcohol doesn't always taste the best but people drink it for other reasons...so why would you want to put this in your food! The alcohol cooks out and you're only left with the flavor which isn't good so it ruins your dish and then you don't even end up with a buzz! That is the silliest thing I've ever heard! Next time one of the dishes calls for wine, I will use it sparingly!
The dish turned out to be I'd say a 7/10 though. And it was pretty easy to make! (I'm a fan of anything that has egg noodles involved though, so this score may be partial but I think the love for egg noodles and the hate for dry wine balance out so it's fair.

Mega Meatball Pizza

Some people have already suggested that maybe I'm not doing the right cookbook, I'm really starting to agree! I should have done a bit more research before choosing a cookbook. To be honest, I liked the title and the idea that each dish was a different dinner meal. I also liked that it seemed like they would be simple, not too complex for a beginner like me...and the deciding factor was that the bookstore was closing and they asked me to leave and it was the best one I had found so far. The thing about this cookbook though is it seems to take simple ideas and give you a different way to do it but I don't know the original way to do it. For instance, the goulash was NOT a traditional recipe for goulash and I want the regular way to do it... the mac and cheese all were different variations which was cool but what about good ole regular mac and cheese...now this mega meatball pizza.
It was good but not the typical pizza. First of all, it calls for store bought crust. I know I said I wanted simple but not that. So, it said bake the crust a little and while that is happening you make the top of the pizza...which was hamburger meat, tomato PASTE, onion and that was mostly it. Then after it was baked some you put that concoction on top, top it with cheese, and put it back in the oven til the cheese is done. Well, problem number 1 was that the crust only needed to be baked for 6-10 mins per the package directions so I definitely didn't need to do any prebaking. This just meant that the crust was a little too done. It wasn't burnt but it was pretty darn crispy. Also, there's no actual pizza sauce on this pizza. The tomato paste is really thick so it didn't have a "saucyness" to it. Overall, I ate it and liked it, but where's the normal pizza!!!!
This dinner also came with a side dish...Zesty Italian Popcorn.
It was popcorn and then you mix up a buttery sauce to go over it which was butter, oregano, crushed pepper and maybe one other thing. Well, I didn't care for it at all! It wasn't so disgusting that I had to spit it out, but just didn't see the point. First off, I can only handle so much popcorn before I can feel it just sitting in my stomach, definitely a snack food NOT something for dinner. The stuff that was over it was kind of overwhelming also. It didn't cover much of the popcorn, it only hit a few pieces but when you did get a piece with the sauce on it it was kinda overwhelming, especially taking a bite of a crushed red pepper!
So this whole meal gets a 6/10...this seems to be the average score. Not awful but not great. I want great! I want some regular stuff too! I'm gonna get my grandmas goulash recipe and try that one instead of Rachels!

This doesn't have to do with my little project but it does have to do with food so I figure this is a relevant place to talk about it. My study group wanted to have a little end of the semester dinner because we bonded as a group and won't all have classes again like this semester. They chose BD Mongolian Grill...if you know me at all you would know that I was not thrilled about this choice. I tried to talk them into Italian food but it was a no go. I decided to be adventurous and try it. The way it works is you get a bowl, pile in any meat you want, any noodles you want, any vegetables you want...all raw. Then you choose a sauce to go over it and keep that separate. There are grillers over a huge grill, you give them your bowl and they grill it then add the sauce so you get your very own personal stir fry. My bowl consisted of: chicken, noodles (normal noodles like spiral ones that you would find in a pasta salad), onion, and green peppers and I chose a teriyaki sauce. Kept it pretty simple! It wasn't very good though :( I don't know if it was the teriyaki sauce or what. The chicken was ok, I could eat it but the problem is I didn't put that much chicken in my bowl! The noodles with a teriyaki sauce was awful! The onions were ok, but who wants to just eat a bowl of onions, and then green peppers were cut kinda big so I don't know if they cooked all the way or what but just not a fan. I knew that I probably wouldn't be crazy about it though. I could have eaten more chicken with the teriyaki but I didn't want to pay to get a second bowl for something that was just ok. It was only 2 dollars for another bowl but it just didnt seem worth it to me. Here's the worst part about the whole thing: My bill was $22 just for myself!!!! (gratuity was included because of a large party) So it was $22 for food that I didn't like and when I left I was STARVING!!!! Hahah but it was fun and good company. I'm really gonna miss my study group! They helped keep me motivated to study and were really fun to get to know! Next time, I WILL BE PICKING THE RESTAURANT THOUGH!!! :)
P.s. I've heard other people that didn't care for the food their either so it might not be my pickiness, although that is probably a large factor.

Last Macaroni!

It's been awhile since I've made any more recipes because I was really busy getting ready to go out of town for Thanksgiving and then I was out of town for a few days. First I'll catch everyone up about Thanksgiving. Well I woke up to get everything ready for PA on Wednesday before Thanksgiving with a pretty nasty cough. My head was stuffy, my throat was sore, and I couldn't quit coughing up a lung. I was pretty useless for the 9.5 hour car ride...which is usually 7.5 hours by the way. We hit a lot of traffic in Cincinnati, which almost made it tempting just to turn around! So my poor mom had to drive pretty much the whole way! I drove like the last hour since I was able to sleep for a lot of the ride. So, also because of my cough I didn't help too much with the Thanksgiving meal because I didn't want to share my sickness withe everyone. I did make one contribution though...I made a strawberry salad that I've been wanting to make! I got the recipe from Heather who brings it to church events and it's delicious! It was a pretty good hit too! It turned out great and everyone loved it!!!! The worst part, you have to chill it over night and I'm not good at stuff like that because I always want to eat it right away!
Then there was Thanksgiving which was wonderful!!!!! It involves 2 of my very favorite foods...stuffing and broccoli casserole! YUM!!!! Thanksgiving was GREAT! Being home with family was GREAT! The next day we went to this odd little restaurant for dinner. I have to confess I was NOT thrilled about it before I even got there. My gramma was telling some of the menu options and it sounded kinda weird. My mom however was excited because they had gyros. Anyway, we pull up and it's this little hole in the wall that I wasn't convinced had electricity and running water! But I decided to suck it up and go in. Ordered a philly cheesesteak sandwich which was pretty delicious! I ate the whole thing. Then we left and about 15 minutes later the sickness hit! As if I hadn't had enough from the cold already! I realized that something I ate hadn't agreed with me. I was up all night getting sick! Then the next day found out that my cousin and her friend who both also ordered the philly cheesesteak had also been getting sick. Looks like a small case of food poisoning! YUCK! So after being sick all night and getting absolutely NO sleep, it was time to get up and drive back home! I wasn't getting sick anymore but I was really weak and exhausted from no sleep, and very leery to eat anything. My poor mom had to do all the driving again! She probably thinks I'm the biggest faker ever just to get out of driving but I promise I was sick. It was pretty awful, I much rather would have been feeling good and helped drive.
Anyway I'm back to my normal self and back to the routine of work and school! Next week is finals and then I'm free for a bit!!!!
Ok, now recipe business!
I made another one of the macaroni dishes. This one used white sharp cheddar and added ground beef and red peppers. It was supposed to be a tex mex macaroni dish. It was good, I like ground beef in anything and I love cheese but I wouldn't call it tex mex. It was mostly just mac and cheese with meat in it haha. It was good though, like macaroni and cheese would be. It's more a side dish item though and not a full dinner and since it's just really a side dish I'm not sure if all the work is worth it. It's not a lot of work but it does require a lot of pots to be dirtied. One pot to cook the noodles, one skillet to brown the meet and red pepper and then one pot for the sauce! Plus whatever stirring utensils and plate/bowls to serve it! Sheesh! Luckily my mom did the dishes!.....Wow, writing this post sure does make me appreciate my mom!!!!
I'm glad the macaroni dishes are finished! I'm ready to move on to bigger and better things!!!! Stay tuned to see what's next, cause I'm not really sure what the next one is, but I'm excited!

Recipe #5 Gouda???

Made another mac and cheese...this one with cauliflower (yuck!) and smoked gouda cheese...never heard of it or tasted it! I left the cauliflower in big enough chunks that I could pick around. Now smoked gouda I'd never heard of or tasted so I made myself be adventurous. Ok I'm not a complete moron but the cheese was harder to use than I thought it would be! First I undid the packaging, it was a circular cheese so I was expecting a red or blue casing around the cheese but there wasn't anything. I at first thought there was some kind of casing so I tried to remove it...no luck. Then I figured I guess this is just the cheese but it was a weird color and consistency. I knew it wasn't right but I couldn't quite figure it out. It wouldn't shred so finally I just cut a piece of it off and realized what was going on. My first thought of a casing was correct but they used wax that was the same color as the cheese! Now why would they do that! I know why, just to throw off newby's like me! It was a yellow cheese so I got a small piece, had a cup of grape juice on stand by just in case, and tasted it. It wasn't bad. My mom and Liz can be the judges of the dish though, I only tasted a bit of it. I'd eat it again though, picking around the cauliflower of course.
It's off to Pennsylvania tomorrow for Thanksgiving so I probably won't be cooking from the cookbook much the next few days. I am excited to try this Straberry pretzel dish that my friend Heather gave me the recipe for. I'm making that for a dessert at Thanksgiving so I'll let you know how it goes! Hopefully it turns out as yummy as Heathers does!

Recipe #4

Mac and Cheddar with Broccoli
This recipe is pretty straight forward. This was my first official "sauce" I've made from scratch and I have to say it turned out nicely. I used WAY less spices than called for though which was a good call! It called for dijon mustard which was a nice touch to the cheese sauce...it was quite delicious!
So Rachel says that the serving size is for 4 people and it was just me and my mom, and I've noticed her portion size must be HUGE because I could serve 8 with the recipes I've been cooking. So this time I cut everything in half since it's just me and my mom but still what should have been 2 servings was more like 4-6!
The next few recipes coming up are also variations of mac and cheese which I'm not too excited about but I'm committed to this project. Although I do have a confession, I plan to skip the last mac and cheese dish. Its a smoky chipotle mac and cheese with a lot of hot spices and some kind of hot sausage also, not a fan of hot food. Tomorrow I plan to make the next 2 dishes...mac and smoked gouda with cauliflower...I don't like cauliflower and I'm pretty sure I won't like gouda cheese but I'm at least gonna try the noodles with the cheese and then give it to my mom and Liz to try. For me, I'll make this tex mex mac and cheedar so well see out of all of these which turns out the best. My vote is for #1 but you never know, I could be immensely suprised. The mac and cheedar with broccoli gets a 7/10. It was good, and the mustard in the sauce I really liked, but I just love Velveeta shells and cheese so I'm not sure that the extra work is worth it haha.
Tomorrow should be more entertaining. I knew this would be a boring dish to cook, eat, and write about...sorry guys.

Recipe #3 Goulash

I was excited for Goulash because I love it when my gramma or mom make it so I was hoping to be successful. I was so excited that I invited Shelly and her kids over to try this one. Of course I added toy story macaroni and cheese and grapes to the menu for the kiddos. So here's the sad part...the Goulsh was not good :(
I know Rachel is not a measurer so maybe she just guessed on how much spices she uses but it was WAY over seasoned. I'm the beginninger so I just followed Rachels directions. Next time I would use about 1/4 of the spices!!!! lol It wasn't spicy, hot or anything it was just overwhelmed with extra flavor that made it worse not better. The other big problem, this Goulash recipe did NOT call for tomatos or tomato sauce...I would have rather had a traditional goulash that I'm used to and then it would have been much better. It wasn't horrible, I ate it but it wasn't goulash...I'd give it a 6/10 because it has potential...with less spices and adding some tomato sauce.

 At least the night wasn't a total bust though because I had great company. The kids are always entertaining and tonight was no exception! The kids played dress up with my cowboy hat and boots, also my moms army boots and hat...and then just about every other pair of boots I have haha. It was very fun and very cute.