Pinterest Recipe Project: Post #1

One of my favorite wedding gifts was a cookbook given to me by my sister-in-law Lorri. The title: Six Ingredients or Less. It was right up my alley. What could beat the delicious 5-ingredient Tamale Casserole (canned tamales, salsa, corn chips, cheese and sour cream) for ease and tastiness? Perhaps only the 4-Ingredient Vegetable Soup (tomato juice, Veg-all, salt and pepper)…delicious!

With so much extra time on my hands presently, I have been trying to flex my culinary muscles and have been endeavoring to make delicious meals for my family. I am not naturally a creative cook but with my new addiction to Pinterest, I have meal inspiration aplenty! I can happily report that with only one epic failure (the Best Pork Chops You’ll Ever Taste…well they are not!) amidst a plethora of successes, it is a worthwhile endeavor indeed. I have many more to try, but here are just a few of my “two-thumbs up” creations:

Peanut Butter S’more Bars – delicious! A few more ingredients than I usually attempt, but well worth the effort. I did a recipe and a half, because of course I didn’t think an 8x8” pan would be enough for my power-eating family. But suffice it to say, they are very, very rich and a small portion is all one needs.

Easy Cheesy Zucchini Bake – this one made my son-in-law nervous, but even he admitted it was quite tasty. Who among us has not experienced the summer dilemma of what to do with the never-ending supply of zucchini? Well, this was certainly an easy cheesy solution for a handful of them.

New Orleans Red Beans and Rice – June Cleaver surely knew what andouille sausage is, but Grandma Jody did not. I must say however, a nice Hillshire Farms Polska Kielbasa worked just fine. My husband loved this dish, it’s got quite a kick. It will definitely be added to the regular rotation.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars – my daughter requested these for her birthday. They were amazing! Definitely worthy of their role as a birthday tribute. Again, a few more ingredients than usual, but pretty manageable nonetheless. One bit of advice worth noting: if you don’t own a mixer or a whisk for the cheesecake layer it can be quite a trick achieving the smooth texture you might desire. It was still perfectly tasty even with a few lumps. Next on my to-do list…add a few more kitchen gadgets to my pitiful stock.

Pizza Balls – made this one as an appetizer for a birthday party. Next time I will make one small change and use the smaller size biscuits. They were really yummy but a little high on the bread to cheese/pepperoni ratio. Really easy too which always ups my enjoyment of the cooking process.

DIY Taco Bell Mexican Pizza – I was so excited when I found this recipe. It is by far my favorite Taco Bell item. I substituted corn tortillas for the flour ones called for in the recipe, because of course, this was what was in my refrigerator. They were really good, an improvement on the original even. And a final plus, I was able to make them with ground turkey and fat-free refried beans, which I know seems almost pointless when you are talking fried tortillas and lots of cheese, but it certainly shaved off a few needless calories and allowed me to pat myself on the back for my attempt at healthy cooking.

This about sums it up thus far, although I plan to continue my quest. Stay tuned for Chipotle Chicken Taco Salad, Balsamic & Parmesan Roasted Cauliflower, Carrot & Zucchini Bars, and Bourbon Chicken…or whatever else strikes my fancy between now and then.