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Wednesday, November 27, 2013

'Tis a gift to be simple...

A couple of times a month, I will be sharing new recipes I have tried as part of our meal plan.  Yet again, we have had another month full of successful new recipes (several we will be repeating on future meal plans).  I'll be posting our December meal plan soon, so check back to find out what other new yummy things we'll be trying next month as well as what old favorites we are bringing back for a second round.  Remember, I also repin the pins for all of the recipes I try through Pinterest on my board "I Made This" so make sure you are following!


Chicken Tortilla Bake - I pinned this recipe a while back because it reminded me of a dish I had at a potluck once.  I didn't know who brought it so I couldn't ask for the recipe. After trying this recipe, I'm pretty sure this was the one, but I have to say I think my tastes may have changed a bit.  Or maybe the person who brought the dish to the potluck had a secret ingredient or two they added.  Because, I didn't really like this that much.  It was a simple enough recipe to make, but it was just kind of blah to eat.  The only thing I think I may try before I abandon this all together is to use tortilla chips instead of cut up corn tortillas. This may affect bake time, but I guess it is worth a shot.  Looks like I need to go hunt down that random stranger about their tortilla bake and what made it so good.


Buffalo Pork Chops - I pinned this recipe assuming it was going to just be a "man-pleasing" meal and that my husband would love it and I would just tolerate it.  Instead?  I LOVED IT.  (He loved it too, of course.  It is meat smothered in buffalo sauce...what's not to love?)  We used Frank's Red Hot Wing Sauce (our favorite) and served it alongside some Alfredo pasta and steamed asparagus.  It was perfect and better yet?  It was SUPER easy.  We will definitely be making this one again.

Crock Pot Lemon Chicken - I had initially planned on making a different recipe, but when I went back to look at my pin on my "I Made This" board, I realized we actually didn't like it the first time we had it.  Whoops.  So, instead, I went looking for a different recipe and stumbled upon this one.  I have to admit, it wasn't our favorite.  The flavor of the broth is great (as indicated in the recipe), but the potatoes come out bland (I would definitely recommend doing a bit of a seasoning rub on them as well as the chicken).  I also cooked this on high for 3 hours (though you can also do a slow and low cook with this recipe instead) and I fear it may have dried out the chicken a bit.  (I was also using a brand of chicken breasts I don't really like all that much, serves me right for trying to change things up...)  Overall, I think I was just disappointed by this recipe.  The smell of all of the seasonings and lemon and garlic when you're putting the dish together is intoxicating, but for us, the recipe just fell sort of flat.

Chipotle Grilled Steak with Lime Butter - We had to abandon a couple of our meals this month due to other engagements, and this was one of them.  Bummer because it looked great and though I'm rarely a steak eater, I was excited to give this one a try.  It is definitely going onto our December menu.  So check that out when I share it!



Cheese Bacon Beer Soup - The name alone should tell you why I pinned this recipe.  Cheese?  Good.  Bacon?  Good. Beer?  GOOD.  In fact, it looked almost too good to be true and so I was positive the recipe was going to fall flat of my expectations.  WRONG.  It was, quite simply, the perfect food.  Admittedly, with an entire stick of butter, bacon,   cheese, and half & half, this recipe falls very far from the healthy category.  And that also probably contributes to the fact that it tastes like HEAVEN.  Everyone in our family loved this.  I cut down on the cayenne pepper by a lot (recipe recommends 2 tsp., I did a little less than 1 tsp.) and served it with some freshly sliced chives on top.  Oh and bread.  Because you're gonna want to mop up all of the delicious cheesy goodness.  Such a great recipe and SO simple.  We will absolutely have this again.  Maybe not next month (given the decadence), but for sure we will be having it in the future.  WOW.

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Any good recipes?  I'm looking forward to December and needing some inspiration!  Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving.  I know I will...I was greeted by this yesterday:

Welcome home.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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