New Recipes

So I signed up for e-meals about a month ago since Totsy had a deal where I got a year subscription for 1/2 off.  It is quite wonderful! I love having the menu planned for me and then the grocery list made as well.  Let me tell you, it pretty much rocks.  Now yes, there are some things I don't really care for, but I want to try most of them.  I've tried some new things (I still don't like fish) and it has been fun.  Plus, in some way, it forces me to actually cook and get out of my rut...especially with side dishes.  Well, I want to share some of the recipes that have been huge hits that even Claire loves.  And really this is just some, we've liked a lot of the recipes.  My additions/changes are in red.

These first three I did a bit of a change.  Instead of doing your regular baked or boiled chicken breasts as called for in the recipes, I bought a rotisserie chicken that was already cooked and seasoned.  It was probably about 5 lbs or so.  And I just split it up amongst the three recipes.  It was so delicious!

Okay, so the changes I made.  As I said, I used a rotisserie chicken. I also used Bisquick dumpling recipe instead of the frozen dumplings (I wasn't so pressed for time that I couldn't mix up the Bisquick and milk, plus, it's something I always have on hand and it's super easy).  I also felt that I wanted veggies in the mix so I added 3 handfuls of baby carrots and chopped them up.  I also added some dried onion.  I would have done fresh, but I didn't have any cause I made the decision while making it.  I would love to give you a measurement here, but I just did it so it looked like it would be good.  The consensus was that this meal was AMAZING! It's totally a keeper and an easy stand-in for a fish recipe on the menu.

These two both had the rotisserie chicken and one other major change: I used bacon instead of artichokes. I'm sure they would have been delicious with artichokes, but I couldn't find any marinated artichoke hearts at Target or the commissary and those are the stores I went to.  But the bacon was a fabulous substitute because it makes everything amazing! Also, where it calls for minced garlic, I used fresh garlic and just guesstimated how many cloves.  I think I did 1 clove per Tablespoon.  Maybe more because we like garlic here.  These were so good.  I was excited for lunch for the leftovers!

 This was I followed pretty much spot on, I did add 1/2 an onion though.  I cut it cup into small pieces and put it over the tomato before the olive oil and vinegar.  I didn't do the Parmesan crisps either.  We just did our trusty grilled cheese cause that sounded more filling.

I followed this recipe spot on.  It was really good! However, next time, I will use a yellow onion because I think the flavor would be better.  We ended up leaving the onions in the pan and not eating them with the chicken because it was too strong.  Also, with the sweet potato and carrot puree, I would boil the carrots for about 10 minutes in the broth, then add the sweet potatoes and bake.  The sweet potatoes were soft before the carrots so it was a bit uneven (but that didn't bother Claire, she would have eaten the entire thing).

So there you go.  My adventures in trying new things and cooking well rounded meals.  We've really enjoyed it and I think it's perfect for Claire's approaching stage of uber pickiness.  Maybe this will keep her from being super picky or at least confirm what she likes (and hopefully it stays good food and not just chicken nuggets...which, she's picky about those anyway).  I hope you enjoy and can try something new yourself.