Date: November 9, 2018
Recipe: https://hostthetoast.com/french-onion-beef-stroganoff/
Time to table: I don’t remember, but it used caramelized onions, so certainly over an hour.
Servings: Enough for dinner and some leftovers.
Modifications: None!
Erin: Like
Ben: Love
Kids: They ate it.
Notes: For some reason our cheese did not melt up as nicely as in the source recipe’s pic, we’ll just have to try it again! The caramelized onions really put this dish over the top for me.
Date: January 2, 2019
Recipe:
Curry paste: https://pinchofyum.com/easy-homemade-yellow-curry-paste
Kind of used this as the basis for the recipe: https://pinchofyum.com/thai-yellow-chicken-curry-with-potatoes
Time to table: About an hour total including chopping and prep – could have been sped up if I went faster though.
Servings: 5 adults I think. We have leftovers after feeding our family of 5.
Modifications: I used the basic idea of the curry – chop and saute an onion in oil, add chicken, add curry paste and cook for awhile. Then instead of potatoes, I used broccoli. I also made mine a bit soupier than the recipe and added an additional can of chicken broth (just water with better than bouillion mixed in). Then realized we had some spinach that didn’t have a use planned for it, so threw that in there at the endtoo.
Erin: Love
Ben: Like-Love?
Kids: Meh, they ate it. It wasn’t met with outright disgust so I’ll call that a win. I let Annie have it without rice. They all thought it was ‘spicy’ aka contained flavor. This prompted a very long discussion with Annie about the difference between spicy heat and flavor.
Notes: We’ve had this curry paste in the freezer for a super long time, need to use it up! This is always an easy, healthy meal and I’m not sure why we don’t make it more often.
Date: November 17th, 2018
Recipe: https://pinchofyum.com/garlic-butter-mushroom-risotto
Time to table: About 15-20 minutes of chopping time, 30 minutes of cook time
Servings: I increased it a bit from the original recipe, ours would have served at least 8 adults
Modifications: I added an onion because I don’t know why you wouldn’t have one here. I also put some of the mushrooms in while cooking the risotto. I added the onion to the pot first, then the garlic, then mushrooms. Once those were cooked, added the rice and then the white wine (I always use vermouth for risotto), and then proceeded with the broth/stirring steps until it was done. Then I did the butter, garlic, and the rest of the mushrooms with the spinach and topped with that.
Erin: Love
Ben: Like
Kids: They hate rice. I don’t get it either. They all tried one bite and proclaimed it disgusting, even though I gave them just the plain risotto without the mushrooms and spinach. WHATEVER CHILDREN.
Notes: I really loved this and it was a great side dish for pork. Would also work with steak, or on it’s own. I am very proud of myself for finally enjoying mushrooms (although I still chop them very small because I don’t like the huge hunks)
Date: October 28th, 2018
Recipe: https://pinchofyum.com/instant-pot-beef-stew
Time to table: Her estimates are always insanely off. I think it took probably 20 minutes to prep (depends on how fast you chop), and over an hour total in the instant pot including coming to pressure and cooking, and resting. I didn’t do the oven step because the oven was occupied.
Servings: Would be 2 dinners for our family
Modifications: I added more veggies than it called for by a bit, used a can of tomato sauce (instead of juice) and maybe a can of broth. The recipe as written sounds dicey with the low amount of liquid but I shouldn’t have messed with it quite so much because ours got pretty soupy. I did thicken it with the cornstarch slurry and simmered a bit at the end and the consistency was pretty good. I also added some garlic powder and pepper and I think it could benefit from some additional spices during cooking too.
Erin: Like (but I liked this one better – the beef was kind of tough, and I prefer it to get really tender)
Ben: Like
Kids: Surprisingly pretty okay with it.
Notes: This was decent, but my main issue was the tenderness of the beef. I think maybe giving it like 10 more minutes at high pressure would have helped. Definitely liked it with potatoes, and without would not feel like a complete meal to me.
Also, we keep just not posting the recipes we make, and then I forget if we’ve made them… trying to be better about it!
Date: Many times
Recipe: The only recipe I have was from this picture (from my mother-in-law), which I always have a hard time finding, so I needed to type it out! (This was the first or second day of Luke potty training so not great memories!! But what a cute little Luke!)
Time to table: maybe 20 minutes
Servings: Perfect amount for our family of five.
Ingredients:
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar
pinch of salt
2 cups milk (+ 2 egg yolks)
A little vanilla
1/2 stick of butter melted
2 egg whites, whipped
Directions:
Erin: Love
Ben: Tolerates but prefers pancakes
Luke: Love
Annie: Meh?
Charlie: Love
I have a WaringPro waffle maker, which I love, but it is huge and a bit cumbersome to store (we keep ours in the laundry room because we don’t have a lot of storage in the kitchen) – I couldn’t find it on amazon anymore so it may be discontinued, but anyway. It’s great!
Date: Many, many times.
Recipe: https://www.geniuskitchen.com/recipe/the-simple-but-perfect-pancake-103599
Time to table: 15 minutes prep, and then you eat while you cook
Servings: Perfect amount for our family of five.
Modifications: Four tablespoons of butter. 1 1/2 cups of milk to make the pancakes thinner. I’m pasting the recipe in its entirety here in case the source site ever goes away:
Ingredients:
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 tablespoons butter, melted
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3⁄4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar
Directions:
Erin: Like (I think she likes waffles or french toast better)
Ben & Kids: LOVE
Date: September 10th, 2018
Recipe: https://thegirlonbloor.com/sheet-pan-honey-dijon-chicken/
Time to table: Maybe 40 minutes total, 20 prep, 20-25 baking time
Servings: Served 3 adults, 3 kids with leftovers
Modifications: Modified the veggies to what we had, did not measure so I had a lot more veggies. I used a carrot, sweet potato, red pepper and broccoli.
Erin: Like
Ben: Like
Kids: They were fine, although there were some issues with the veggies. They all have their ridiculous preferences (Annie only likes steamed broccoli and raw celery and carrots unless it’s in soup, Charlie doesn’t like peppers, Luke also only likes broccoli and raw carrots and snap peas) but they suffered through it…
Notes: This was pretty decent but could have used more mustard flavor. I didn’t top it wth extra honey dijon so I think I should have for myself at least. We also had a baguette with this meal.
Date: July 8th, 2018
Time to table: About an hour but 40 minutes is inactive baking time
Servings: 8×8 pan of thick egg bake – we’ll probably get about 8 servings out of this.
Modifications: My sausage was likely full of nitrates as it was purchased from Target. I did not use “avocado oil spray”, and instead used Pam butter spray. Shredded cheddar on top instead of slices. I baked in an 8×8 pan, not 9×13, so mine was much thicker and took 40 minutes to bake.
Erin: Like
Ben: Like
Notes: We’re trying to not eat carbs in the morning and need something fast that I can just heat up. This fits the bill!
Date: July 7th, 2018
Recipe: http://www.goodlifeeats.com/baked-eggs-with-kale-and-sausage/
Time to table: 25 minutes total. 10 minutes prep, 15 minutes baking.
Servings: I trimmed this down to 4 eggs and used a 9×9 pan for breakfast for Erin and I. She saved half of hers for tomorrow.
Modifications: We used regular kale chopped up instead of baby kale and heavy cream.
Erin: Like
Ben: Like
Kids: LOL, no
Notes: This was a great no-carb breakfast and a change from the usual fried/scrambled eggs we’ve been having. Should do less than 15 minutes baking in our oven because the yolks were completely cooked through.
Date: January 21st
Recipe: https://pinchofyum.com/instant-pot-korean-beef-tacos
Sauce: https://pinchofyum.com/yum-yum-sauce
Time to table: An hour in the instant pot for the beef, the rest of the toppings can easily be prepared while the beef is cooking.
Servings: We bought a 4lb pack of sirloin steaks from Costco, so we had a lot of leftover beef, enough for yum-yum bowls for Erin and I one night, and then another night of tacos for everyone.
Modifications: Nothing, really.
Erin: Love
Ben: Love
Kids: They’re taco fans, so this one did pretty well.
Notes: Making extra beef was a great idea as the leftovers are fantastic, and the yum-yum sauce lasts awhile too (and I think the sauce really makes the dish).
