Recipes 2016: January

After completing my 100 Recipe Challenge last year, I wasn't sure that I would be eager to do another one right away. But I got my slow cooker for Christmas, and with our current church schedule, we have started having Slow Cooker Sundays.  So I'm at it again.  Instead of doing a separate list for this year, I'll be adding my favorite recipes to our master recipe list, and calling it good.  But so you have an idea of what's going on the list, here's what I made this month.

Our first Sunday meal was Sweet and Sour Sauce on Slow Cooker Ribs. A fabulous meal to break in the new slow cooker.  The meat was amazing and the sauce worked great. We bought a huge can of crushed pineapple (hence all the other pineapple recipes), and made a large batch of sauce, so we froze a lot of it.

Apple Chips - I had apples and was about to return a borrowed dehydrator.  I really need to make these more often, because we were given a dehydrator, and I ate them up fast. Great snack.

Had to use up the pineapple so I made Pineapple Pudding Whip, Pineapple Chicken Salad, Layered Lime Tiramisu (from Company's Coming: Mexican Made Easy), Sweet Carrot Salad, and Pineapple Meatballs (Company's Coming: Slow Cooker Meals).  Pudding was yummy, with a different texture. We made the tiramisu for a friend's birthday and would happily make it again (if you are interested in the recipe please ask).  The salads were alright, but didn't hit the spot for me - maybe in the summer.  The meatballs were okay, but not a favorite.

Greek Yogurt Pizza Crust - we make pizza often at our house, and since our breadmaker died, this is definitely going to be our go-to crust recipe.  Two ingredients (or technically four) is perfect.  And it is delicious. We made some slow cooker pulled pork and it was AMAZING on a pizza.

Almond Milk Pancakes - We found almond milk for cheap and bought a lot, so we were finding ways to use it.  I usually prefer French toast to pancakes, but these were delicious. We made them three times in one weekend.  The small batch is perfect for the three of us.

Avocado Lime Ice Cream - We just happened to have all the ingredients for this (we don't usually have fresh limes), so I was happy to try it out.  MUCH yummier than the plain avocado ice cream recipe from last year. I would happily make this again.  Aaron also made a huge batch of Raspberry Frozen Yogurt, but didn't follow a recipe or write any measurements down, but it included almond milk, greek yogurt, raspberries, and a little sugar.  It goes great with the lime.

Oatmeal Cookie Dough Frozen Yogurt - the first time in forever that I didn't have a banana in the freezer (or anywhere!) so I used an avocado instead and added extra honey.  Didn't turn out horrible, but not amazing either.  I'll eat what I made (with the addition of chocolate chips and coconut) but won't be making it again.

"Tasty" shares a bunch of quick videos with fun recipes on Facebook, and we've tried Apple Fritter Rings and Honey Garlic Chicken.  The apples were deliciously crunchy. Such a fun little dessert.  We enjoyed the chicken too, but I prefer potatoes and carrots with red meat. 

things to do with zucchini

I've always liked zucchini, but my mother-in-law had a garden this year so I got a LOT of it.  I've shredded some for the freezer, I've pureed some and added it to spaghetti sauce.  Here's a few other things I've done with zucchini this month.

Zucchini Boats - great to make with small zucchini.  Can be used for a whole meal or as a side.  Easy enough to change up the ingredients to suit your needs - add ground beef, mushrooms, etc.

Zucchini Chips - I've made these as chips (using small zucchini) and fries (with big to jumbo zucchini), dredging them in either milk or eggs.  Both work, both are tasty.

Zucchini Cobbler - I prepared the zucchini according to this recipe, but added my usual crisp blend for the top.  My husband loves apple crisp and gave a big thumbs up when he tried this.  And THEN I told him it was zucchini.  He was stunned.  This is now known as deceitful crisp at my house.  And this is awesome for large/jumbo zucchini because it uses so much up at once.

Zucchini Pizza - Yum Yum YUM!  Fabulous use for large zucchini (not too huge, or you get the soft spot in the middle with all the large seeds).  Tastes like regular pizza, but you don't feel so guilty eating a lot of it because there's no crust, just zucchini!  Definitely a favorite.

Zucchini Carrot Muffins - when given a lot of zucchini everyone's first thought is to make bread or muffins.  This was actually the last thing I tried (and they just came out of the oven).  I halved the sugar, and replaced the oil with more applesauce.  Very similar to the spiced carrot muffins I made last month, but with added pecans and raisins.  I'd make them again.  There are many other muffin recipes I'd like to try, so it's a good thing I've got a stash of shredded zucchini in the freezer.

June Cooking

After creating a dinner database (a big list of everything I like/would like to cook for dinner) planning meals has been less stressful.  And if I have a plan, dinner actually gets made.  The month of June has been quite successful.  Tried out some new recipes, some that will end up in the regular rotation.

Pizza Rolls - based off a cinnamon roll recipe, but instead of cinnamon and sugar in the middle, it's pizza sauce and meat, with cheese melted on top.  I had zero experience making cinnamon rolls, so they got a bit messy, but I'll get better when I make them again.

Zucchini Lasagna - Aaron doesn't like zucchini or lasagna, so I made this recipe while he was out of town.  A bit more time consuming than I'd usually like to spend on dinner, but it was delicious.  I didn't miss the lasagna noodles at all!  Next time I'd love to add spinach to the sauce.

Smashed Potatoes - Nice change from our usual potato wedges.  Good as a side.

Orange Muffins - Yummy! Yummy!  Made them one week and loved them so much that I made a double batch the next.  They freeze well.  Not at all healthy, since there is a full cup of melted butter in there, but light and fluffy and delicious.  I used Greek yogurt instead of sour cream and one cup of (freshly squeezed) orange juice instead of a half, so I cut the milk down to half cup.  And lots of zest.

Banana Peanut Butter Muffins - had to use the rest of the Greek yogurt before we leave town, so tried these.  Much heavier and rich than the orange ones, but still pretty good.  Not something I'd make super often, but they also freeze well.

Baked Broccoli - someone posted it on Facebook.  I'm not usually a fan of cooked broccoli, but I've made this multiple times throughout the month.  *Do not rinse the broccoli immediately before preparing.  Chop your broccoli and toss with minced garlic, olive oil, and a little salt and pepper.  Spread on a baking sheet and bake for 20-30 minutes at 375 degrees.  Easy and delicious!

And right now my husband is making a cherry cola BBQ sauce to go on some ribs for dinner tomorrow.  Should be interesting!

pizza night

In conjunction with Amanda's post with pizza crust and sauce recipes, here's how we do pizza night with friends:

We set out all the toppings in their own bowls. We make a whole bunch of little crusts about the size of your hand, and everyone makes their own mini-pizzas.

I make our sauce, which is posted here. Our toppings include the usual Americanized stuff like pepperoni and black olives. We have multiple kinds of cheese like motz, block Parm (not the stuff in the green can), and goat cheese. We have Italian sausage, Italian spiced pulled pork, olive oil, diced bell pepper, mushrooms, artichoke hearts, capers, dried herbs like oregano and basil ... we use the "Jamie Oliver's Italy" book to get ideas for topping combinations.

The missionaries LOVE pizza night!
(And yes, the one with the beard has permission to grow it - he has a skin condition that makes it difficult to shave cleanly.)

Homemade Pizza

My husband LOVES pizza! High end, take and bake, take out, frozen, you name it - he likes it (he even eats those Totinos party pizzas - ewww!!)

After much searching and experimenting I think we have finally found the best homemade pizza

Sauce: from recipezaar - we add 1teaspoon water and up the sugar to a full teaspoon

http://www.recipezaar.com/Ultimate-Pizza-Sauce-114392

seriously this sauce is amazing! you could spread it on a saltine and it would be a pretty good pizza :)

Crust: just tried it today:

http://www.recipepizza.com/doughs/pizza_dough.htm

I cooked it on a pizza stone (you can buy an unglazed tile and it would work just as well - cost about a buck vs the $40 for a "pizza stone")

Toppings: you can figure that out - put on whatever you like - my one suggestion, don't put on too much cheese - it is easy to think you have to cover it in cheese... it is ok/better to still be able to see some of the sauce, once everything melts it will cover the sauce anyway