sirlion salad and grilled cheese- Summer 2008 ed

The Grilled steak and vegetable salad


Flavor-ful grilled cheese (the fresh basil made it SO good)

These were both yummy. The only change I would make (and did put it back on grill after the photo) is to grill the meat for three more minutes.I also made the Farmers' Market Squash Saute (sorry no photo) and it was very good but you could half it for two people. I made the Santa Fe grilled chicken salad wrap for a picnic and they turned out well. I am not a big fan of ranch so I make a Mexican dressing (cafe rio)that I put on it and it was so simple and good. Ok, last one- I made the 5-minute southwest layered salad but i used my dressing with it, added avocado and again ... Yummy!

Soft & Chewy Chocolate-Peanut Butter Cookies

These cookies are so yummy, and super easy to make. You can find the recipe on page 35, of the Spring 2008 magazine. They definitely get 5 stars. One thing though, the recipe said it makes 3.5 dozen. I think that is not accurate, unless they make the cookies very small. I made normal size cookies and there were about 1.5-2 dozen.

Lemon-Cream Cheese Cupcakes

The picture on the cover of the Spring Issue sold me on these cupcakes! These were super easy and fast to make and tasted delicious! I made them between conference sessions and then frosted them after the afternoon session. The recipe made 24 of them--way too many for a family of two--so Kent and I took them around to our neighbors and others to share them. Since it is Erica and Peter's anniversary tomorrow I saved some for them too! I used yellow sugar crystals to decorate the tops of the cupcakes.

Easy Shepherd's Pie

Well, here is my Easy Shepherd's Pie I made for the challenge. I made it AFTER our late church on Sunday, so it really is quick and easy. I will have to admit that I did make a mistake though! I had scanned the recipe quickly on Saturday evening to make sure I had all the ingredients and then just started making it on Sunday without really looking....meaning browning the hamburger with the onion and garlic. Well...there is NO onion in it and you mince the garlic up and add it RAW to the potatoes! hahahaha If I made this again--and I know I will--I would still do it the same mistake way! I did buy a packet of Herbed Gravy to use (McCormick in support of Kent's work) and I 'riced' the potatoes to make them really creamy. I would definitely make this again!

Slow Cooker Orange-BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches

The picture from the magazine..

The picture from our dinner!

Okay, this was quite possibly the world's easiest recipe. Not a challenge at all, and we both really liked it. The only thing I would do differently is that for some reason the recipe tells you to use a WHOLE BOTTLE of BBQ sauce. I didn't, but I used quite a bit, and there was too much sauce. Also, it wasn't super orangey - so cut back on the sauce and add more orange juice, I would say. And, it tells you to cook it on low for 8-9 hours. This thing was so done by five hours on low that when I touched it lightly with a fork, it fell apart. If I hadn't come home during lunch to check on it, all the sugars in the sauce would have eventually burned and ruined it. So, if you plan to eat at five, start it at noon or one o' clock. And I didn't even buy the 3lb piece of meat - since it's just me and Pete. I got one that was just over 2 lbs and it still made plenty for leftovers.

But anyway, it was good and easy. I'd make it again.

yuck!

I made the one pan roasted pork supper and it was gross. I read the comments on the Kraft website and can just say ditto to those who didn't like the dish. First of all the stuffing was soggy. Second the meat was kinda dry. Third, the meat needed more flavor and finally, the potatoes didn't do it for me. The flavor was OK but I would agree w/ everyone else and instead of using Catalina dressing, use Italian.

Pretty Yummy!

We made the one pot cheesy chicken cattachatorie(yeah totally spelled wrong) and it was surprisingly good! I had no expectations since it was made with a box of mac and cheese (I'm not really a fan) but it was really tasty. The only change we would make (OK Joel suggests) is using the white cheddar mac and cheese rather than regular. I agree that would be very yummy. I will definitely make this again. you could make a more healthy version if you used a whole wheat pasts and a hard cheese of your choice. Oh, the other change I will make it NO onions, but I don't like raw onions and they still have some crunch to it. So next time I won't put them in, but other than that I was surprised by how good and super easy it was.