Pineapple Cucumber Lime Salad, Crockpot Chicken Gnocchi Soup, Glorious Baked Macaroni and Cheese, and Sauteed Carrots and Zucchini

I've been experimenting with the idea of just posting all the recipes once a week as opposed to every other day. Let me know what you think.

Friday, June 8th, 2018

Recipes:
Loco Moco, from our collection of recipes. If you'd like the recipe, just ask. It's really easy.
Pineapple Cucumber Lime Salad by Trish at Mom On Time Out.

If you've never tried Loco Moco, you should. I'd never heard of it until I married Dear Husband and it's the first dish he had ever cooked for me. I'm pretty sure the reason he cooked it for me was to teach me how to make it so he wouldn't have to cook again ;) (I love you, Babe). It's an delicious contemporary Hawaiian dish that consists a bed of white rice, topped with a hamburger patty, fried egg, and brown gravy. Upon first hearing what it was, I didn't think much of the combination but I was sold after Dear Husband made it for me. It really works together!

When Dear Husband requested it for our weekly meal plan, I latched onto the Hawaiian theme and it seemed the perfect opportunity to try this amazing Pineapple Cucumber Lime Salad. I can't think of pineapples without thinking about Hawaii. And I'm so glad I did! I've never like a salad more! Pineapple and cucumber tossed in fresh lime juice and zest and topped with cilantro, there will be nothing else that tastes more of sunshine and summer than this. Try it and you won't regret it...ever. So fresh. So delicious. I'm not usually a fruit person, but I could easily eat the entire bowl of this salad on my own. 5 enthusiastic Wooden Spoons.

So, the breakdown. Loco Moco cost $5.56 for the entire meal, and $1.39 per serving, at four servings. And it contains a mere 877 calories per serving. If you're concerned about your calorie count, you could make this with turkey burgers and brown rice at 709 calories per serving. Or if you'd really like to save calories, you could make this with black bean veggie burgers and quinoa and it'll only cost you 599 calories. But at the point it wouldn't really be Loco Moco anymore. The Pineapple Cucumber Lime Salad recipe cost $5.17 to make, and $0.86 per serving, at six servings. At it's a refreshing 83 calories per serving.

Sunday, June 10, 2018

Recipes:
Crockpot Chicken Gnocchi Soup from Lindsay at Pinch of Yum
Pretzel Bread Bowls from Melanie at Gather for Bread

When I was young, my mother used to ask us what meals we wanted as she wrote up the meal plan. Every summer I would list off my favorite soups and casseroles and my mom would tell me, "No, I'm not making soup or casseroles in the summer." And now I know why. I had selected this Crockpot Chicken Gnocchi Soup off my crockpot list and didn't think much of it being a soup. I just wanted something easy that I could throw in before going to church and then come home and have (half) a meal ready to go with minimal attention. But as we sat down to eat it, I suddenly realized why my mom was so opposed to soup in the summer. I broke out into a literal sweat while eating it. Lesson learned. Regardless of this summer mistake, I must say this soup was delicious and Dear Husband and I wiped the bowls clean with our pretzel rolls. This one is definitely a keeper. 5 Wooden Spoons.

I wanted to pair this soup with bread bowls, which is why I picked a crockpot soup. Minimal effort spent on the soup so I could work distraction free on the bread. These bread bowls were an interesting experiment. I'm not an experienced bread baker so this was a learning experience. I'm not sure if these were supposed to come out this small or if I messed up somewhere. Messing up somewhere is the most likely. I checked with a bread troubleshooting guide and based on the consistency of my dough I might've used too little flour or over-kneaded it, so there's a chance I didn't get the correct rise out of my bowls. Even with whatever mistake I made, they still tasted fantastic and were soft on the inside. Just a bit too small and flat to use as a bowl. I'd like to keep the recipe and just make rolls with it. Unless I figure what I did wrong and can get bowls out of this recipe. Either way, it was delicious and I'll make them again. 5 Wooden Spoons.

So, the not so great news with this breakdown. The cost of this soup it $16.70, at $1.67 per serving, at ten servings. This recipe does make a lot of soup. I guess if you were to cut it in half it's rather normal priced. Take it as you will. It's delicious. As for the calories, it has 388 per serving, at ten servings. Now, the good news with this breakdown. The cost of these bread bowls make up for the cost of the soup. The whole recipe cost $1.00, at about $0.13 per bowl/roll. Bread is absolutely worth making homemade. It saves so much money compared to what a grocery store bakery would charge you for the same thing. Anyway, the calorie count for these bowls are 378 per bowl.

Tuesday, June 12, 2018

Recipes:
Glorious Baked Macaroni and Cheese from Inez at Food Blahg
Sauteed Carrots and Zucchini from Lisa at Cooking with Curls

Once upon a time, when Dear Husband and I were dating we drove up to Columbia to go to Dave & Buster's for a night of fun. And there I tried their Ultimate Macaroni and Cheese. I loved it! Have you tried it? It really does live up to its name! Pasta tossed with a creamy cheese sauce, with chicken breast and bacon. I scoured Pinterest for a copycat recipe and by luck came upon this long abandoned food blog with a macaroni and cheese recipe that comes very close to Dave & Buster's. And thus my love affair with this recipe was born. I've made this several times so I've adapted the recipe to my own taste, including the omission of the mushrooms. I've also reduced the amount of gorgonzola cheese as it's not Dear Husband's favorite inclusion in this recipe. I have found that using cheese grated fresh off the block gives the sauce a creamier texture than using the pre-shredded cheese from the store. Anyway, this grown-up version might not be loved by children as the gorgonzola gives it a sharper, distinct flavor but adults might love it. If you wanted to make it healthier, you could leave out the chicken and bacon and toss it with some mixed vegetables. But that's up to you. I prefer my macaroni and cheese to be indulgent. 5 Wooden Spoons.

To pair with the macaroni and cheese, I chose this Sauteed Carrots and Zucchini recipe. I loved the flavor profile of the vegetables, sauteed in butter and olive oil, and tossed with salt, pepper, and thyme. The only thing I would change is the vegetable thickness. I cut both at about the same thickness but in hindsight, that was a mistake. The zucchini cooked much faster than the carrots. The next time I make this, I would cut the zucchini thicker and the carrots thinner so they finish cooking at the same time. 5 Wooden Spoons.

The breakdown. The cost of Glorious Baked Macaroni and Cheese is $12.22, at $1.53 per serving at eight servings. Now, you can't have a macaroni and cheese drowned in thick cheese sauce with chicken and bacon and it be low in calories. This bad boy clocks in at 659 calories per serving. Totally worth it, in my opinion. Now, the Sauteed Carrots and Zucchini makes up for it. It costs $1.61 for the whole recipe and $0.40 per serving, at four servings. And it has 110 calories per serving, most of that coming from the olive oil and butter. Also totally worth it.

Anyway, let me know if you like one weekly post of if you prefer a post for each meal. Much love, Hailee

Catch Up

I'm three days behind on my posts. I've been in a slump. Probably pregnancy related. All I want to do it lay on the couch, watch Netflix, and eat chocolate cake. I still cooked but I just couldn't bring myself to blog about if after. I know these posts take just moments to read but there's a lot that goes into the writing of each one. In fact, after working on this blog for the last few weeks, I really have to give mad props to food bloggers. I can't imagine the work that goes into creating new recipes, photographing the entire process, and writing step by step directions so that even the most novice cook can follow along. My recipe cards are written in my own cooking shorthand so if you're not an experienced cook whole steps that I just know to do are left out of the instructions. Anyway, I digress...

So, we'll start with Monday. As Mondays are typically FHE nights for Mormons I wanted to make some kind of yummy dessert for Kyle and I with the hopes it would serve as motivation to actually have FHE (it didn't...). When I was doing the menu plan I was craving something super chocolaty and so a recipe called Death By Chocolate Bundt Cake totally called my name.

And this Death By Chocolate Bundt Cake recipe can be found at Live Craft Eat. Now, when I clicked into the recipe to get the ingredients there was an initial sense of disappointment when I saw that it used a cake mix rather than an actual cake recipe, but I decided to try it anyway. And it was good. But, at the end of the day it was still a boxed cake. The addition of a pudding mix, sour cream, and chocolate chips gives it a density that the basic boxed mix doesn't have but it doesn't really boost the flavors that much. So if you like boxed cake, this isn't a bad recipe and it does improve the mix a bit. But because I've been doing so much from-scratch baking I felt a bit let down. Dear Husband, who isn't as selective with his tastes as me, loved it. 3 Wooden Spoons.

Oh, the breakdown, before I forget. The total cake cost $7.00 to make, and breaking it down into eight servings, it worked out to be $0.88 per serving. I didn't run the actual numbers on a homemade version but I suspect it would be cheaper to make. And like all good chocolate desserts, the calorie count is insane. 651 calories per serving. Definitely indulgent.

So, on to Tuesday.

I was cravin' Asian. So I made this Quick and Easy Chinese Noodle Soup from Erren's Kitchen with a side of Crispy Roasted Sugar Snap Peas from Cooking with K. I thoroughly enjoyed both of these recipes. I used more noodles than called for in the recipe, mostly because I was too lazy to pull out my food scale and weigh out four ounces, but come on...is there really such thing as too many noodles? Both recipes were super easy to follow and quick to make. I just love easy nights. Both have earned 5 Wooden Spoons. Oh, and to note, you can easily make this vegetarian by subbing out the chicken broth for vegetable broth and you make it vegan by using vegan friendly noodles.

Remember above when I said I was in a slump? Yeah, I didn't do the breakdown for this recipe but I'm hoping to get it done tomorrow as I have no cooking plans tomorrow. I can't imagine these two would be expensive or calorie dense. But we'll see. Keep you eye out if you're interested in that.

Now, today, Wednesday!

Today's new recipe were Baked Parmesan Zucchini. It was paired with my family's recipe for Lasagna, but since that's a recipe I've already been making for ages, it's not part of this blogging project. If you do want the lasagna recipe, hit me up, I'll be sure to give you a copy.

Anyway, these Zucchini sticks...I thought they were quite yummy. I think mine would need some extra time in the oven next time to get them a bit softer. And mine needed more salt and pepper, but that was on me for not using enough. Dear Husband wasn't as enthusiastic about them as me, but again, he's not a fan of vegetables. Oh, they come from Chungah at Damn Delicious. I'll go ahead and give you a heads up that I love so many recipes from Damn Delicious so it's going to be featured a lot. It's one of the few food blogs I know by name. So, with that in mind, it should be no surprise that this recipe gets a solid 5 Wooden Spoons. These would not only make a great side dish but would also make a nice, healthy appetizer.

And again, expect the breakdown tomorrow.

Anyway, phew, we're all caught up. Mostly. I'll get a crackin' on the breakdowns and post them tomorrow. I usually enjoy writing up the breakdowns as I'm always kind of blown away how cheap homemade food works out to be. I don't always *love* doing the calorie count, though. Hahaha. Anyway, please keep me up to date with your own cooking adventures, dear friends. Much love, Hailee

Pizza Quattro Formaggi

Fate is conspiring to keep me from writing this post. I’m probably being overly dramatic but judge for yourself. I opened my laptop an hour ago and, wouldn’t you know it, it needs to update right this very moment. I waited an hour but it’s still at 48% updated. Thanks, Windows, for your timely and efficient updates. Then I pulled out my wireless keyboard for my iPad mini and it was dead. Technology is so great and reliable. So now I’m typing this in a painfully slow, text style fashion on my iPad.

I’ve had a hankering for a real, Italian-style pizza, which is a shame as my favorite Italian pizzeria is a mere 4,689 miles away from where I am currently sitting. Not exactly a five minute jaunt down the road. American Italian-style pizza just isn’t the same as real Italian pizza and my area isn't known for its Italian food to begin with. And it had never really occurred to me to just make it myself, I don’t own a pizza oven (something I believed was crucial to good pizza) and the menu at my favorite pizzeria only lists “four cheese blend” under the description so I wasn’t even sure what cheeses to use in a traditional Italian-style Quattro Formaggi pizza even if I were to attempt it.

But pregnancy is a fickle mistress and she demanded a Quattro Formaggi pizza as soon as possible! And that’s why google is a good friend. The search results led me to a blog written by an American woman who has spent a long time living in Italy and perfecting traditional Italian recipes, written in English for those of us who don’t speak Italian. And she had a recipe for Quattro Formaggi pizza! It doesn't even require a pizza oven. Just a pizza stone. I can do that. Yay! I now knew what cheeses to use and she provided a basic pizza dough recipe for thin crust pizza. And behold, it is a thing of beauty.

Like any yeast bread, there is a bit of time spent making the dough. Now, I only cook every other day since it’s currently just the two of us and we have leftovers aplenty to keep us fed on my non-cooking days, so I opted to make the dough yesterday knowing it would simplify my Sunday greatly to have it ready to go. And it did! It only took me about thirty minutes to make the pizzas, not counting the time it takes the over to preheat to 525 degrees F. I didn’t even know my oven could go that high until today.

And I've only just realized that I've been blathering on and on about this amazing pizza and haven't linked you to the blog where I got the recipe, because it's delicious and totally worth your time! Deborah Mele is the fabulous women who runs Italian Food Forever. Check out her blog for this and other amazing Italian recipes.

Now, her recipe calls for a soft cheese, either Robiola or Stracchino, but I can tell you that my local Kroger doesn't carry either of those. Another google search linked me to this awesome website, Gourmet Sleuth, which will show you substitution ideas when you don't have the called-for ingredients. And the substitutions for Robiola and Stracchino were listed as cream cheese or mascarpone. For budgetary reasons I opted to use cream cheese since mascarpone is about three times more expensive than cream cheese. The other three cheeses for this pizza are mozzarella, Gorgonzola, and Parmesan. Yummy blend! Mozzarella and Parmesan are definitely budget friendly, but the Gorgonzola was a bit of a splurge.

Deborah's recipe also doesn't call for tomato sauce, and since I'm not a fan of tomatoes to begin with I opted to make it as directed. But I might put tomato sauce on it next time as I believe the pizzeria I loved did have a bit of sauce. Tomato sauce might add a bit more of a contrasting flavor to the cheeses.

Anyway, the breakdown. The pizza dough recipe made enough dough for four 12" pizzas, so half of the dough is wrapped and in the freezer for next time. The actual pizza recipe only calls for two balls of dough to make two 12" pizzas. The total cost of the meal was $6.00, with each pizza costing $3.00. I believe this technically makes this the most expensive recipe on this blog to date, but really that's not bad. You'll only want a slice or two because the calorie count on this definitely isn't low. Each slice, four slices per pizza as 12" isn't actually that big, works out to be 316 calories. And trust me, you can't just eat one slice.

The cheeses are what make this pizza pricey. The dough itself only cost $0.90 to make, and since I only used half today, that's only $0.45. Can you believe that? Since starting this project I'm constantly amazed how cheap it really is to make homemade foods. It's one of those things I knew in theory but now doing the math on it on a regular basis really drives the point home.

Anyway, I hope this has inspired you to try your hand at homemade pizza! It's certainly cheaper and tastier than delivery. Much love, Hailee

Smothered Pork Chops, Crack Broccoli, Baked Brown Rice, and Cinnamon Roll Pancakes

Yesterday was a busy day in the kitchen! Three different recipes for one meal. I wanted to start the weekend off with a bang.

For this super awesome meal I chose three recipes; two from my Pinterest boards and one from my cookbooks.

First, the pork chops. Meat tends to be the most expensive part of the meal so I've kind of adopted this habit where I only buy it when it's on sale and the rest of my meal plan is chosen based on meat free dishes. This week my local Kroger had thick, bone-in pork chops on sale. Yum! I'm a big fan of pork chops. Since I didn't have a specific pork chop recipe in mind for these bad boys I just selected the first pork chop recipe off my (now very long) list of recipes to try. And that recipe happened to be Smothered Pork Chops and it comes from the Cook This, Not That! Skinny Comfort Foods cookbook.

This recipe was delicious! It's all about yummy, thick cut pork chops cooked in a delightful sauce. I encountered a few hiccups along the way but the overall result was still mighty tasty. In fact, I'll be eating the leftovers tonight. When I cook meat on the stove top, sometimes I have a hard time telling when it's finished cooking. I purchased a meat thermometer to remedy this, but I'm not finding it helpful. The thermometer never showed my pork chops getting anywhere close to the correct pork temperature and yet I still ended up overcooking them a smidge. This is becoming a reoccurring theme. I also overcooked some chicken breasts on the stove top because the thermometer never came close to the correct temperature with those either. I thought my thermometer must be broken or miscalibrated, but after investigating it, it's not. It works just fine with oven or crock pot cooked meats. Maybe I'm using it wrong? I need to look into that.

Anyway, because I overcooked the pork chops a smidge I ended up also completely cooking the sauce into the pork chops as well. There wasn't any leftover to drizzle over the meat. Oh well. You live and learn, right? Despite my hiccups, which were my own fault, the recipe still came out fantastic and I will definitely be adding this one to my box. I just need to better learn to judge the doneness of meat. 5 Wooden Spoons.

And the breakdown. I've mentioned this in another post but this cookbook also gives you the calorie and price breakdown. The book says it costs $2.49 per serving and has 260 calories per serving. My total was $6.11 at $1.53 per serving (at four servings). I think mine came out cheaper because I really got a good deal on the pork chops. My calorie count came out to be 357 per serving, nearly one hundred more than the book claims. But really both are just meant to give you an idea.

The next recipe in this delicious weekend-starting feast is called Crack Broccoli and it comes from Laura who runs the blog A Beautiful Plate. This isn't just any roasted broccoli, mind you. Tossed in oil, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes it's roasted with sliced almonds until beautifully caramelized it's then sprinkled with lemon juice and cheese. What more could you ask for? Head on over there to get this recipe.

Now, to be honest, I was so busy obsessing over the pork chops I totally forgot to add the lemon juice and cheese at the end, but it was still really good broccoli. I imagine the next time I make this it will taste even better when I get the recipe right. This earns a solid 5 Wooden Spoons.

The total cost of this side dish came out to be $3.39, at $0.85 per serving, at four servings. It also has 221 calories per serving. A bit indulgent for a veggie recipe, but that comes from the oil. Totally worth it in my opinion.

The last dish in our meal was Baked Brown Rice. I'll admit I was a bit disappointed in this recipe. The photo on the blog looks mouth watering but the finished product came out quite bland. It comes from Nichole over at Real House Moms. Now, the great thing about a basic rice recipe like this is that it is basically a blank canvas. The method of cooking was fine so all I want to do is improve upon the flavors. Next time I would probably cook the rice in either a vegetable or chicken broth or stock. I'd also add the salt, pepper, and some addition herbs and spices (to be determined) in with the rice before it goes in the oven as opposed to after, which the original recipe calls for. If I wanted to convert this into a full meal as opposed to a side dish I'd probably also mix it in with some chicken and vegetables.

As is, the total cost of the recipe was an impressively low $1.48 for the whole dish! And that works out to be $0.37 per serving, at four servings. And the calorie count sits at 282. Not too shabby.

As is, I'd give it 3 Wooden Spoons, but I'll update you all with a review of my revised version at a later date.

Now, I apologize in advance. This morning I made Cinnamon Roll Pancakes for brunch but I didn't get a picture of them. The finished product didn't look much like the photo on the blog and thus didn't look appetizing. But, as they say, don't judge a book by its cover. They tasted great!

These pancakes come from Lori at Recipe Girl. Go over and take a look at her pancakes to see what you're getting into. Now these came out okay and tasty, but I'd change a few things the next time I make these. For starters, I'd use my own pancake batter recipe. The recipe she provides comes out quite runny and thus make thin pancakes. I prefer mile high fluffy pancakes, so I'll stick to my tried and true recipes. I would also make my cinnamon swirl mixture in advance. You're supposed to achieve a toothpaste consistency before cooking and mine, even in the fridge, took a few minutes longer than anticipated to get there. Also, my icing came out goopy looking. I'm not sure if that was bad technique on my part or just the recipe. Let's just assume it was me.

Though I originally pinned this recipe to my breakfast board, there is no way I'd make these again for breakfast. They are far too sweet and scrumptious to pass off as a breakfast item. These are most certainly a dessert. So I will make them again, don't get me wrong, but they will follow a meal instead of acting as the meal.

So the good news and the bad news. The good news is this recipe is super budget friendly, $2.07 for the entire meal, and just $0.52 per serving, at four servings. The bad news is this is a calorie bomb, working out to be 594 calories per serving. I'm glad I didn't do the math on this before I ate these, as I will admit I ate two servings this morning. Holy sugar high, Batman! But I'm also pregnant so I get a pass...this time... Anyway, 4 Wooden Spoons and it'll definitely earn a place in the dessert section of my box.

Anyway, have a great weekend my lovelies. Much love, Hailee

DIY Naked Wedding Cake

Eeek! I can't believe it! My dear little sister S is married! I'm so happy for her and her dear husband A. Congratulations, you two!

When she announced her decision to get married I jumped at the chance to make her wedding cake. There is almost nothing I love more than baking and cake decorating. Except, you know, the norms, like family and friends. And it's not too often I get to practice wedding cakes. It's too much cake for Dear Husband and I to eat on our own so it seems wasteful to make one just to practice.

I knew that a naked cake was the perfect cake for my dear sweet sister. It fits her sweet, easy going vibe. And they're so much easier to make than people think. This is a totally doable wedding DIY.

Now, I wish I had photographed the entire process but it didn't occur to me to turn this into a tutorial until after the wedding. There was so much to do for the wedding that my blog took a backseat. But, again, it's so simple to do that hopefully text instructions will suffice until I can get a photo tutorial made up for you guys.

I got the cake recipe, a chocolate layer cake, from the Betty Crocker Cookbook, found here at Amazon. I did scout out their website but they don't have the recipe available outside of the cookbook.

And I used the Betty Crocker Vanilla Buttercream recipe, available in the cookbook but, bonus! It's also available on the website! You can find the recipe here.

You'll also want three six-inch cake pans and three ten-inch pans. You can find those here.

Additionally you'll want some piping bags, dowel rods, cake circles (6" and 10"), and optionally but I believe to be worth it, baking strips, found here, here, here, and here. The simplicity of the icing means you don't have to use any decorating tips. You can accomplish this just by cutting the end off the piping bag. But that's your call to make.

And to decorate, you'll want real fruit and silk flowers of your choice. We used strawberries and raspberries. And some powdered sugar.

Step One: Preheat oven to three fifty degrees Fahrenheit. Make the cake batter according to the recipe, but quadruple the cake recipe. Yes, you read that correctly. Quadruple it. You might have to make it in two separate batches. If you're using a cake mix, purchase four mixes. Size the baking strips to the pan sizes. Generously grease the pans with butter and cocoa powder (you'd usually use flour but it leaves a white residue on the cake whereas cocoa powder blends right in to chocolate cake). Wet the cake strips and fit around the pans. Use two cups of batter for each one of the six-inch pans and six cups of batter for each one of the ten-inch pans. Bake the six-inch pans for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Bake the ten-inch pans 30-35 mins, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow cakes to cool in their pans for ten minutes on a wire rack, then remove the cakes from the pan to cool completely. The baking strips help keep the tops of the cake flat but you may have still have to trim the cake tops to get them completely flat.

Step Two: Make the icing according to the recipe. Again, you're going to have to quadruple the recipe.

Step Three: Fill an icing bag three quarters full. Dot a ten-inch cake round with icing and lay one ten-inch cake on the round. Pipe around the edge of the cake a series of dollops approximately the size of a half dollar coin. Fill in the remaining area of the cake with icing. Lay another ten-inch cake on top of that. Repeat the icing process. Lay the last ten-inch cake on top of that, but you won't be icing this layer as before. Center a six-inch cake round on the top of the ten-inch cake just to get an idea where it will sit. Cut four dowels to the height of the ten-inch cake tier and place them in a square shape under where the six-inch cake circle will sit (dowels give the layers stability). Use a few dots of icing under the cake circle and place it center on the ten-inch cakes. Add a few more dots of icing on the top of the cake circle and place a six-inch cake on top. Repeat the icing process from the ten-inch cakes. Repeat for the second layer.  Place the last six-inch cake on the top. Cut three dowels to the height of the six-inch tier and arrange them in a triangle shape. Ice the top of the last six-inch cake with half dollar sized dollops all over the top.

Step Four: If not already done so, place cake on cake stand. Arrange some fruit and flowers around the front side of the base of the cake. Use dots of icing on the ten-inch tier and arrange the fruit and flowers around the front side of the cake. Arrange fruit and flowers on the top of the cake, already iced from before. Dust cake with powdered sugar.

Viola! You did it! You just made your very own naked wedding cake! Someday I hope to update this post with a step by step photo tutorial that will make it much easier to see exactly what I did and how I did it. But for now this is what I've got. Good luck and much love, Hailee.

One Pot Cheeseburger Macaroni and Brown Butter Garlic Honey Carrots

Well, the wedding is over and I'm back home and getting back into the swing of things. Keep an eye out for my post about making my sister's wedding cake! It came out so lovely. Anyway...

Can I let you in on a little secret? I religiously meal plan every Tuesday and do my grocery shopping on Wednesdays. And every Sunday prior I have the same conversation with Dear Husband. It usually goes something like this:

Me: What meal do you want on this next week's menu?
Him: I don't know.
Me: Babe, you've got to help me out and pick at least one.
Him: Pasta.
Me: What kind of pasta?
Him: Spaghetti.
Me: We had spaghetti last week.
Him: Fine. Pasta.
Me: BABE!
Him: I don't know! What's on sale?
Me: *bangs head on table*

At some point after the banging of my head I was able to wrangle an answer out of Dear Husband. And this week he requested Hamburger Helper. Well, a copycat of Hamburger Helper. And that brings us to today's dinner: One Pot Cheeseburger Macaroni and Brown Butter Garlic Honey Carrots.

The main dish, the One Pot Cheeseburger Macaroni, comes from Holly over at Spend With Pennies. For me, this was just an okay recipe. But before you dismiss it I have a bit of a bias as I'm not a huge fan of Hamburger Helper and as this recipe tastes exactly like Hamburger Helper, it doesn't score high on my personal food-o-meter. But if you do like Hamburger Helper then this recipe is for you! Dear Husband really liked it and it's well reviewed on the Spend With Pennies website.

I vaguely recall my mom making Hamburger Helper early in my childhood but those boxed, processed meals were replaced with more home cooking as I got older. I don't remember if I liked it as a child or not. But I do remember that once in college I was feeling nostalgic and bought a box and wasn't a fan.

The breakdown is as follows: The total cost of the meal was $7.25. The cost of each serving was $1.81, at four servings. And there are 676 calories per serving. Because this one is a copycat recipe of something you can buy in the store, I also did the math for the original Hamburger Helper. And when you buy the box it works out to be $6.00 for the meal, and $1.50 per serving, at four servings. The nutrition label claims there are only 320 calories per serving, at five servings. I'm honestly not sure how they manage such witchcraft. Even if you use a really lean ground beef it still should end up in the five hundreds as far as calorie count goes. I can only think that they don't use real cheese, which is the second highest calorie contributor in the homemade version. Anyway, it doesn't really matter. If you want to save money and calories you're better of using the boxed version. But if you're trying to cut out the processed, chemical laden foods the homemade version is the way to go. I'd give this 3 Wooden Spoons, but keep in mind Dear Husband did rate it higher than I did.

Now for the side dish. I chose Brown Butter Garlic Honey Carrots from Bee at Rasa Malaysia. I adore this recipe. But I also adore carrots in general. In fact, this recipe earned a place in my recipe box a while ago. Garlic and butter are a match made in heaven and the honey adds just a touch of sweetness. These carrots come out perfectly every time I've made them. Dear Husband, who repeatedly voices his displeasure at the fact I include vegetables in his diet, likes these just fine. High praise by his standards, hahaha.

The breakdown of this recipe looks like this: The total cost to make this side dish is $1.67. And the cost per serving, at three servings: $0.56. Super budget friendly. The calorie count is estimated at 205, but honestly it might be less. The recipe calls for a quarter cup of butter to saute the carrots in, which I factored it the whole amount, but there was a decent amount of butter left in the pan so the actual calorie count might be lower. Anyway, not the worst calorie count for a veggie side dish.

Anyway my lovelies, continue on your own cooking adventures and let me know what you try. Much love, Hailee

Garlic Herb Pork Loin with Roasted Vegetables

I feel like a pork loin is one of those foods that feels time consuming to make and so I've put it off and put it off, always telling myself I'd try it eventually. And now that I've finally done it, it was deceptively easy to make. I had originally selected a pork loin recipe off my Pinterest list, but it turned out that recipe used a pre-brined/marinated pork loin, which didn't help me much since I had purchased a plain pork loin. So I made up my own recipe.

I'll share with you my basic process and eventually I'll make this again and pay attention to the actual amounts and write out a proper recipe for you. But I cook like I crochet. I just do my thing and don't write anything down as I'm doing it and then I can't remember exactly what I did.

Step One (The Night Before): My Kroger had pork loins on sale $1.69/lb and I was like, great! Let's try this! (Honestly, the '[insert food] was on sale so I decided to do a thing with it' is going to be a running motif throughout this blog, just fyi). I picked out the smallest pork loin they had since it's just the two of us, but the smallest pork loin was still nearly four pounds. The night before I intended to cook it, I brined it in heavily salted water with crushed garlic cloves, rosemary, thyme, and basil. Super easy. Cover the container and place in the refrigerator.

Step Two: Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. While the oven is warming up, remove the pork loin from the fridge. Rub both sides of the pork loin with olive oil, salt, pepper, rosemary, thyme, and basil. Place on a roasting rack in a roasting pan. Pour about two-two and a half cups of vegetable broth in the bottom of the roasting pan. Bake ten minutes. Turn the oven temperature down to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Cook pork loin twenty minutes per pound, so a four pound roast should cook eighty minutes. OR remove pork loin when it reaches desired internal temperature. Medium rare is 145-150 degrees F. Medium is 150-155 degrees F. Medium well is 155-160 degrees F. And well done is 160 degrees F.

Step Three: When pork loin has reached desired doneness, remove from oven and tent the pan with foil and let rest for at least ten minutes. Slice the pork loin and serve.

Optional Step Four: Strain the remaining broth/pan drippings into a large, glass measuring bowl/cup. I had one cup of broth/drippings left. In smallish saucepan over medium heat, melt two tablespoons of butter. Add two tablespoons of flour to the butter and whisk until smooth. Let cook for several minutes, whisking frequently. Add in the broth. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve gravy over meat and vegetables.

I also cooked vegetables in the same pan as my pork loin but they came out underdone, so this is something I will continue tinkering with. My plan is to toss the vegetables, baby red potatoes (quartered) and carrots (cut into chunks), in olive oil with salt, pepper, and herbs of choice and start the vegetables in the oven on a separate sheet pan before the pork loin. I'll have to experiment with the timing. Once again, eventually I'll get this recipe hammered out and written down properly so it's not just a vague set of directions.

Anyway, I've only ever attempted a pork loin once before and it came out so dry it scared me from trying to cook a pork loin again. But, after reading up on proper cooking techniques I settled on the above mentioned method and holy cow! The pork loin came out so tender and juicy I was paranoid I had actually undercooked it (despite my thermometer telling me otherwise) and that I was subjecting myself and Dear Husband to food poisoning. It's been four hours since we ate and so far no food poisoning symptoms. *fingers crossed*

When all was said and done, this was such a simple recipe to make and very little prep time involved. Also, a four pound pork loin can feed a lot a people. We'll have leftovers forever! But the point is, with its simplicity, it would make a great recipe for entertaining. I'm always on the lookout for recipes like that. I always want to invite people over but I never know what to cook so I just save myself the trouble and never entertain company.

As this is my own recipe I'm very biased and I give the pork loin a solid 5 Wooden Spoons rating. I wasn't able to get an accurate cost analysis and calorie count since I really just don't measure anything when I cook on my own. But maybe tomorrow I'll take another crack at guessing so I can update this post.

It'll probably be a week or so before my next post. My sweet baby sister is getting married so I will be a guest in my mother's kitchen and therefore my cooking exploits will temporarily be on hold. Though keep your eye out. I'm making her wedding cake and I'll share all the details on that! It's going to be so pretty! Much Love, Hailee

Luscious Creamy Spaghetti Carbonara and Blueberry Lemon Drizzle Cake

Can we just start today's post with a blanket statement? Spaghetti Carbonara is pretty much the greatest pasta dish under the sun. And I don't just mean when I make it. I mean, when I go to a good Italian restaurant I can count on Spaghetti Carbonara being the best, most reliable dish on the menu. Really, what's better than a thick, creamy sauce and bacon tossed with delicious al dente pasta? Nothing.

Now traditionally in Italy the sauce is literally just eggs, but other countries include a portion of heavy cream. I'm one of those people who likes the inclusion of cream. I've eaten the Italian version made with only egg and have even tried my hand at making that version but if the egg is applied and the pasta is too hot the egg will curdle/scramble instead of adhering as a smooth, creamy sauce. Including the cream helps prevents that and leaves you with a delicious, smooth pasta dish.

Also, traditional Carbonara uses guanciale, a bacon made from cured pork cheeks. I don't know about you but my local Kroger (or any other grocery store in the area) doesn't just happen to carry this. Pancetta is an excellent substitution, but let's be real. Normal bacon also works just fine.

In fact, I used normal grocery story bacon in this recipe. I didn't go to my usual Kroger when I went grocery shopping as I was already on the other side of town and even though I'm a creature of habit I didn't want to drive to the opposite side of town just to go to my normal Kroger. Needless to say I was completely turned around. I know my Kroger like the back of my hand but this other Kroger is arranged differently and I couldn't find the pancetta. And anyone who knows me knows I don't like to ask the employees for help as I have this weird thing about feeling like I'm inconveniencing them. Anyway...

I've actually made this recipe many times before. It comes from Danilo Alfaro over at The Spruce Eats and it's one of the first Pinterest recipes I'd ever tried. In fact, long before I decided to start this blog of my cooking exploits. It's already earned a place in my recipe box but I thought I still needed to include it on my master list of recipes to try. After all, the whole point is to introduce you to great recipes, too!

This recipe creates a perfect, creamy sauce with the perfect amount of bacon. I'm drooling again and I've already eaten a pretty good sized portion tonight. The recipe claims this only makes four servings but can I say as a pregnant pasta lover even I think four portions is going overboard? You could easily get six servings out of this. Maybe eight if you're using this as a side dish. But let's face it. Pasta is the main meal in our house. In fact, Dear Husband requests some sort of pasta weekly, with Carbonara being the most popular of all the requested pasta dishes.

So the breakdown of this recipe. The total cost of this meal was: $5.37. Each serving, at six servings was: $0.89! I think that makes it the cheapest recipe I've tried for this blog so far. Now the calorie count is a bit...rangy... Using my app I show 434 calories per serving but according to the Spruce Eats website it's 633 calories per serving. That's a pretty good difference. Not sure how they calculate. And to be honest I'm not sure how accurate my app is either. Either way you get an estimate.

The other recipe I tried today is the Blueberry Lemon Drizzle Cake. I intended to make this recipe on Monday for FHE but I was in such a hormonal, cranky mood that I didn't want to do anything, including trying to make this cake.

I'm glad I waited. It was worth waiting for. Look at it! But then again...it's a terrible picture. I'm really just at that point where I know with a good camera and a light box I could take decent pictures for this blog but I just can't justify it yet. So you guys will just have to make do with my crappy iPhone photos taken under terrible lighting.

This recipe comes Barry at Rock Recipes. Now I must admit I was skeptical. As a formerly picky eater I wouldn't eat any kind of dessert that included fruit, especially blueberries. I was (and still am) a die hard chocoholic and anything that wasn't chocolate was immediately suspect. Now as a mom-to-be I want to incorporate as much fruit into recipes (desserts or otherwise) as possible so my children don't take after my former picky habits.

I love that this recipe doesn't overdo it with sugar. Sometimes dessert recipes have nearly as much, or more, sugar than flour! This one doesn't. There's just enough sugar that, between that and the blueberries, gives it just enough sweetness. In the actual cake, that is. There is a lot of sugar in the icing. But if you're conscious of your sugar intake feel free to leave the icing off.

The recipe says it takes 40-45 minutes to bake in a 9x9 pan. I only had an 8x8 pan and mine needed an extra twenty five minutes to cook all the way through.

This cake was delicious! Perfectly moist. Perfectly sweet. And if picky me is saying that you know it must be a winner! Dear Husband liked it, too.

The breakdown. This cake cost me $5.87 to make and it works out to be $0.65 per serving, at nine servings. And it has approximately 339 calories per serving.

Anyway, I hope you're feeling inspired to try something new! Much Love, Hailee

Roasted Salmon with Lentils and Sauteed Asparagus with Garlic Butter & Parmesan and Strawberry Mocktails

Happy Mother's Day!

With a bun in the oven I consider myself two thirds of a mother this year. One third left to go before I get to hold this little guy in my arms for the first time! It's been such a chill, lovely day. All the mother's days in the future are going to be full of crying or laughing babies, burnt breakfasts in bed, macaroni necklaces, crayon drawn cards, and bouquets of backyard weed flowers. And I'm looking forward to each and every single one!

If you are wondering whether Dear Husband cooked my dinner the answer is no. We both collectively decided we wanted to keep the kitchen in one piece. It's better for all involved if I just cooked. But no worries. It's part of my life plan to teach Dear Husband how to cook more than just ramen and scrambled eggs.

Tonight I attempted three different recipes, all a smashing success. Unlike the fiasco last night. I chose to do Roasted Salmon with Lentils, with a side of Sauteed Asparagus with Garlic Butter and Parmesan, and a Strawberry Mocktail.

I'm definitely a food blogger newbie. My food photography skills have a long way to evolve.

Anyway, the first recipe, Roasted Salmon with Lentils, comes from a fun little cookbook called Cook This, Not That! Skinny Comfort Foods. The premise of this cookbook, if you've not heard of it before, is to provide lower calorie recipe alternatives to popular comfort foods. I've tried some of the recipes long before I started this blog all with great success. I'd recommend it!

Anyway, the salmon was delicious! It's glazed with a brown sugar and Dijon mustard sauce and is presented over a bed of lentils, carrots, onions, and garlic. I liked the lentils as well but I think I under-cooked them just a smidge. It was my very first time cooking lentils so I was uncertain what texture and consistency I was going for. But I doubt lentils were supposed to be al dente. Anyway, both myself and Dear Husband really liked it. 5 Wooden Spoons and it's earned a place in the box.

The recipe breakdown. Total cost of meal: $10.45. Cost per serving (at four servings): $2.62. Calories per serving: 354. Now, the book also lists the cost and calorie count. It lists $3.35 per serving and 440 calories per serving. Perhaps my salmon fillets were smaller or something. Either way, that should give you an approximate estimate as to what you'll pay and the calorie count.

Also, side note, this recipe can be totally pescetarian friendly if you substitute the chicken broth with vegetable broth.

Up next, as a side, Sauteed Asparagus with Garlic Butter and Parmesan. This awesome recipe comes from Elaina at The Rising Spoon. It's super easy and totally delicious! It's the perfect complimentary flavors for asparagus. Dear Husband rated it a ten on the vegetable scale, which is a big deal for him to rate this so highly considering how much he doesn't love vegetables. Check it out for an awesome side dish for your next meal. This also earns 5 Wooden Spoons and a place in the box.

The breakdown: Total cost of this side dish: $3.12. Cost per serving (at four servings): $0.78. Calories per serving: 118.

And last but not least is a Strawberry Mocktail. The weather here has been up in the nineties (welcome to the South) and our air conditioner is acting wonky so it hasn't exactly been cool in the house either. So what's the solution? A cool, refreshing strawberry mocktail! Just two ingredients!

It was based on a pin on Pinterest, but after checking out the pin, it linked to something else entirely. So I made up my own recipe. I used 1.25 liters of Sprite and the remaining good strawberries from the Strawberry Cucumber Spinach salad from two posts ago, approximately one third of a pound, pureed in a food processor. Mix the two together, and, bam, a super summer sweet treat! It was just the thing for a hot day! So yummy!

The breakdown. Total cost: $3.49. Total cost per serving (six smallish servings): $0.58. Calories per serving: 90.

All in all, I think this was a fantastic mother's day meal and I definitely look forward to making all of these recipes again in the future. Much love, Hailee

Tomato Broth with Angel Hair Pasta

I can only begin this post with: what the literal hell happened with this recipe?

I was really excited to tackle this recipe. Anyone who knows me knows how much I hate tomatoes but over the last few years I've been determined to overcome my picky habits. Tomatoes are one of the last big things on my list. I thought making a tomato broth soup with fresh tomatoes would be a good way to segue into tomato based foods. And in theory, it was a good idea. But take a look at my "soup."

Now take a look at how it was supposed to look. 

Notice anything...off...about my batch? Yeah, me too. I'm not really sure what went wrong. I have a very thorough recipe reading process. I read through all the directions when I select the recipe for my meal plan. Then, I sit down and read through all the directions again before I cooking. And then I consult the recipe as I cook. And to be honest, it's a really simple recipe. There should have been no room for screw ups. But alas, as you can see, there was. My soup just ended up being a pasta dish with a thin tomato sauce. 

I got the recipe from one of the cookbooks I've acquired over the years. It's called Pasta: 100 Everyday Recipes. Judging by how hard it was to find a link on Amazon I think it's fair to say it's not a popular cook book. And maybe it's because the recipes don't always yield correct results? 

Anyway, for the review. If I were reviewing solely on flavor profile it would a straight 5 Wooden Spoons. Even botched it still tasted delicious! Dear Husband even went back for seconds. But I also have to review how much the recipe actually worked. And, as you can see above, my results were nothing like to book. Nothing like soup. Even my broth, before the pasta was added, was nowhere near as red or thick as the pictured broth. So, in total, this recipe is probably worth 2 Wooden Spoons. 

That said, I'd like to keep tinkering around with the recipe and figure out how to get my Tomato Broth with Angel Hair Pasta to look exactly like the pictured version (not too hard, I imagine. Double the broth and keep the pasta amount the same). I did like the flavors so I'd like to add this to my recipe box eventually. But until I get it worked out, it doesn't make the box. 

So, the breakdown of this recipe. Total cost of the meal: $7.16. Total cost per serving (serves four): $1.79. I'm actually surprised it came out so cheap. One of the ingredients called for is saffron and, if you've never purchased saffron before, it's terribly expensive! The cheapest saffron at my grocery store was $12.99 for a bottle that contains maybe a tablespoon of saffron threads. Holy cow. Anyway, total calorie count per serving: 364. This meal is fully vegetarian, and if you use a vegan friendly pasta, there is no reason this can't be vegan too. 

I'll chalk this one up to experience. Until next time, my friend. Much love, Hailee

Strawberry Cucumber Spinach Salad and Sensational Chicken Carbonara

Oh wow! Look Mom, I'm blogging!

So how did this blog come about? Well, pull up a chair, my friends, and I'll tell you a story. One day, per usual, I was pinning away on Pinterest when it occurred to me that I've only tried a handful of the recipes I've pinned. And not only that I have a dozen or so cookbooks that I've hardly touched. I realized that I'm tired of making the same dozen or so dishes over and over again. It was simple. I'd simply jot a quick list of things to try cooking, and, over the course of a year I'd make all these dishes and expand my recipe box.

Yes, recipe box. I prefer my recipes handwritten on index cards filed away neatly in a box. I can't stand reading recipes on my tablet or laptop. Half the time my hands are gooped up while I'm in the middle of cooking and I don't want to touch my electronics with icky hands. But I digress.

It quickly became apparent that it would take *slightly* more than a year to work my way through my ever growing list. My first draft of the list, which only included main dishes, was 773 recipes long. If I made two recipes a week it would take seven and a half years to cook my way through that list. By the time I added in side dishes, breakfasts, breads, and desserts it's currently running 1,278 recipes long, and I'm not done sorting through my cookbooks yet. This is turning into a lifelong quest.

About halfway through writing the list I decided it would be fun to chronicle my adventures through my recipe-trying. And maybe it would provide motivation to keep working through my list so as not to give up and revert back to my same twelve-ish recipes.

As I cook my way through these recipes, I'll review them and let you know which ones are worth trying and which ones aren't. If I'm feeling really motivated, I'll even try to post the calorie count and cost of the dish. Hopefully you find this enlightening and inspire you to try something new!

The first recipes I selected and made today are the Strawberry Cucumber Spinach Salad and Sensational Chicken Carbonara.

The Strawberry Cucumber Spinach Salad comes from Marie at Yay For Food and I must say, this is a fabulous salad!

I apologize my food blogging photography skills are not up to the same level as all the other food blogs out there. I'm learning.

I'm not a huge salad eater, usually, but this year I'm determined to eat better. With our first little one on the way I want to establish healthy eating habits early so our kids will *hopefully* develop a wide and healthy palette.

Anyway, my Salad Pinterest board only had a half dozen recipes to choose from and Kroger had a great deal on strawberries this week ($2.98 for two pounds!) so this recipe was the obvious choice. It's definitely a keeper! This is a great way for someone like me to eat more salad; stuff it full of fruit. Besides yummy strawberries, cucumbers, and spinach it also has a fabulous apple cider vinaigrette along with feta and walnuts. It's everything a delicious salad should be! Dear Husband was less enthusiastic about my healthy eating vision but I finally coerced him into admitting it was good. That's a win in itself.

With this recipe I pretty much followed the recipe as it's written. I mean, it's a salad so there are only so many ways you can deviate. This recipe is great for all my vegetarian friends, too. The recipe says it serves four side dish servings but I think we'll get six out of our batch. I'd highly recommend this and it's earned a place in my box.

Breakdown of the recipe. Servings: 4. Total cost to make: $9.72. Price per serving: $2.43. Calories per serving 269-292 (my calorie tally came out slightly less than her calorie tally). I've decided to rate this as 5 Wooden Spoons, the highest rating I can bestow.

Next up, because a salad isn't a full dinner in my honest opinion (lunch maybe), I made Sensational Chicken Carbonara from Amber at Busy Creating Memories who adapted it from the Pioneer Woman's Bowtie Chicken Alfredo.

Now I feel it imperative to address the elephant in the recipe. It's called Sensational Chicken Carbonara but it is not, in fact, an actual carbonara. And as you can see, the Pioneer Woman got it right in the name; it's an Alfredo. Adding bacon to an Alfredo sauce does not a carbonara make.

So what is the difference, you might ask? Well, let's just take a quick jaunt down into Italian culinary history.

The very root of a carbonara dish is a pasta in a sauce composed of egg, a hard cheese of choice. pancetta, and pepper. It comes from Rome and is first mentioned in an Italian newspaper in 1950, and fun fact, was popularized due to food supplies brought in by US troops. Cream is a popular addition to the dish outside of Italy, and often in the US bacon is substituted for pancetta.

Alfredo is based off a dish called fettuccine al burro, which is a pasta tossed with parmesan and butter. It has evolved a bit to include cream and different variations include other ingredients. Fettuccine Al Burro dates back to the 15th century! Italians definitely know what they're doing with food.

Anyway, one can see from the ingredients list of Sensational Chicken Carbonara that it is definitely in the Alfredo family and not a carbonara.

But don't let that distract you! It's still a really good recipe. Al dente farfalle pasta tossed with a yummy alfredo sauce made from milk, cream, butter, and parmesan with pan grilled chicken and crumbly, crunchy bacon. Doesn't that just sound mouth watering?

I adjusted the recipe a smidge to suit my own taste. In addition to salting and peppering the chicken I also added poultry seasoning, which is a gift from God. Normally I would also brine my chicken but I totally spaced that today. I also omitted the peas. Dear Husband and I have an agreement that if there are peas in the pasta, he knows I'm mad at him (he doesn't like peas much). I didn't want him to think I was mad at him for any reason. I guess I could've substituted broccoli or something but that only just occurred to me now. How does that sound for next time, Babe?

So, the breakdown of the recipe. Servings: 6-8. Total cost to make: $10.88. Cost per serving (at six servings): $1.81. Calories per serving (at six servings) 455. I rate this at 4 Wooden Spoons and it has earned both enthusiastic praise from Dear Husband and a place in the box. But I'm going to re-christian it Chicken Bacon Alfredo.

All in all, this was a great start to my new food adventure! Check out both these recipes and try something new tomorrow! Much Love, Hailee