NEW RECIPES

For the last several months, I had been using recipes from the Menus 4 Moms website. I really enjoyed these--the recipes were inexpensive, easy, and tasty. After several months, though, they seemed to get a little repetitive. (For example, EVERY Friday is pizza night.) So, I purchased a couple of new cookbooks that I have been cooking from the last several weeks: Southern Living's Busy Moms Weeknight Favorites and Rachael Ray's Just in Time. (I also have a new Lighthouse Cookbook, but when I look at it, it makes me miss someone I love very much :( so I haven't been able to use it yet. I don't want to cry, so I won't elaborate anymore. You all know the story anyway.)

Anyway, I thought I'd give you a run down of what I have tried.

From the Southern Living book:

Sloppy Joe Squares. Ok. Don't need to make them again.

Cheeseburger Meat Loaf. Ok. Had a whole jar of chili sauce on top, which was gross. Would be better with modifications, but I just like my own family meatloaf better.

Pork Loin Chops with Cinnamon Apples. The pork chops were quite good, but the apples were quite nasty.

Barbecue Muffins. Ehhh. So-so. Wouldn't make again. (This was like sloppy joe meat placed in a Grands biscuit that had been molded into a muffin cup.)

Beef Lombardi. This was a lasagna type of dish made with egg noodles. Eben liked it, but I'd rather just have lasagna.

Roasted Chicken and Pesto Panini. This was interesting. Not bad, but don't think I'd make it again.

Chicken Thighs with Thyme and Lemon. These were good. I would do this one again.

Superfast Salisbury Steak. I loved this! It was great warmed up, too. The rest of the family didn't care for it so much, so I won't be having it often. I think my brother would like it, though, so maybe I'll make it for family lunch some Sunday.

From Rachael Ray: All of these were pretty much a bust. It's very interesting with Rachael Ray recipes. The recipes are quick (if you are good at chopping veggies), but they are usually very expensive to cook. I also sometimes have a hard time finding ingredients. For example, this week I needed to buy gnocchi. I was supposed to buy the fresh, refrigerated kind, but I couldn't find that, or shelf-stable ones, or frozen ones. I bought pierogi instead, and I hope that will work. The recipes that I tried and didn't like are Saltimbocca Burgers (ground turkey with proscuitto di Parma and Italian Fontina (very expensive--I used Swiss cheese instead); Chicken Parm Soup (a tomato-based broth with chicken breast--eaten over toasted semolina bread with melted cheese on top); Pasta Shells with Pancetta, Peas & Shrimp; and tonight was Mac and Cheese Lorraine (gemelli pasta, onions carmelized in white wine, Swiss cheese, and bacon). Eben liked this until he found an onion.

After all this, I feel like a pretty bad cook. With few exceptions, I haven't cooked a good meal in a couple of weeks. I think I'm going back to Menus 4 Moms for a while, or just stick with my ole favorites. (I do like to try some new flavors once in a while, but it seems that out of a whole Rachael Ray cookbook, I might only find 2 recipes that I would cook a second time around.)

I did find one recipe that I really, really liked, and I am going to give it to you here, because I think it is so good. It is from the Southern Living cookbook referenced above.

Bacon-Wrapped Chicken Thighs: Arrange 8 bacon slices on paper towels on a microwave-safe plate. Top with a paper towel. Microwave on high for 1 minute, or just until bacon is limp and heated through. Do not fully cook bacon. Preheat oven to 350 deg. Combine 1 cup cornmeal with 1 teaspoon paprika, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper. Dredge 8 boneless skinless chicken thighs in this mixture. Wrap each thigh with a piece of bacon. Place chicken on a lightly greasted rack in a broiler pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes to 1 hour. This was yummy!