Monday
Steak Tips with Caramelized Onions and Grilled Red Potato Packets with Pesto Ranch Sauce
Overall, I’d say everything was good, but could use a few tweaks in my opinion. We liked the steak tips, but I thought the marinade had too much A-1 sauce and the flavor was a little overpowering. The recipe also makes way more marinade than you need and it’s kind of a waste of ingredients. I could have halved the recipe and still had plenty. I love caramelized/grilled onions, so I thought those were amazing and could have eaten the whole pan. Also, as you can tell in the picture, I accidently cut my steak pieces a little too small, but they still cooked up well. I would consider making these again, but with the marinade changes listed above and I’d cut my steak into larger pieces as instructed.
The potatoes were good and I loved the idea of cooking them in foil packets on the grill, but they were too oily. Butter + olive oil + oil from the pesto was way too much. However, I did love the foil packet method and I would definitely cook potatoes this way again. It’s nice that you don’t have to dirty any pots or pans. Other than that, the flavor was pretty good (although next time I would try different ingredient/spices combinations) and I loved the crispy ones stuck to the foil. Oh, and as you can tell from the picture, I forgot to add the chives. I chopped them up, but just forgot to sprinkle them on…oops! Overall, I’d say everything was good, but could use a few tweaks in my opinion. We liked the steak tips, but I thought the marinade had too much A-1 sauce and the flavor was a little overpowering. The recipe also makes way more marinade than you need and it’s kind of a waste of ingredients. I could have halved the recipe and still had plenty. I love caramelized/grilled onions, so I thought those were amazing and could have eaten the whole pan. Also, as you can tell in the picture, I accidently cut my steak pieces a little too small, but they still cooked up well. I would consider making these again, but with the marinade changes listed above and I’d cut my steak into larger pieces as instructed.
Tuesday
Creamy Shrimp Enchiladas with Cilantro Lime Rice and Pinto Beans
Let’s start with the enchiladas – they were good, but really rich. I don’t think you could eat more than two without feeling sick. That being said, the two I ate were really good. I really liked the shrimp mixture and would definitely make that again. I think next time I’d use the shrimp mixture from this recipe and top it with the creamy salsa verde from thisSkinny Taste recipe.
Let’s start with the enchiladas – they were good, but really rich. I don’t think you could eat more than two without feeling sick. That being said, the two I ate were really good. I really liked the shrimp mixture and would definitely make that again. I think next time I’d use the shrimp mixture from this recipe and top it with the creamy salsa verde from thisSkinny Taste recipe.
I’ve never ate at Café Rio, so I don’t know if this rice tastes similar or not, but it was tasty and paired well with the enchiladas.
Ugh, now let’s talk about the beans. They were definitely the biggest disappointment for the week. The 20-minute cooking time is WAY off. My beans definitely weren’t soft enough after 20 minutes, so I cooked them another 20 minutes, but they were still kind of crunchy. By then I had to move on and finish dinner if we wanted to eat at a reasonable time, so I let them sit for an hour as instructed, but still no. I ended up just throwing out the whole pot of beans. Next time I’ll just cook them in the crockpot like I usually do.
Wednesday
Thursday
I think everyone has their own version of this recipe. I'm partial to my version Crunchy Asian Slaw, but since this was new recipe week, I decided to try a different one. I have to say, this version is really good. I really liked the buttery, seasoned ramen noodles. The dressing is really good too. It's similar to the one I make except this recipe calls for red wine vinegar and I usually use apple cider vinegar. I'm definitely going to take a few ideas from this recipe and incorporate them into my own.
Sunday
I know the picture doesn't look that appetizing, but this casserole is seriously delicious! My boyfriend and I ate almost half of the 9x13 pan by ourselves in one sitting. I followed the recipe exactly as directed except I ended up making gravy from the sausage grease using this recipe instead of using package gravy mix.
Appetizer
It's cheesecake so of course it's delicious! I love the golden Oreo crust! It might be my new go-to cheesecake crust. You could also skip the crumbled Oreos and just make strawberry cheesecake. That would be delicious too! Yum!
Has anyone else tried a recipe they've pinned? Leave any recommendations in the comments section - I'm always looking for new dishes!
You can see these pins and other food related pins here
Wednesday
Stuffed Jalapeno Popper Bacon Cheeseburger with Waffle Fries
These burgers were seriously tasty! Next time I think I’d crumble the bacon and add it to the cream cheese-jalapeno mixture instead of putting it on top of the burger. And I think I’d add lettuce and tomato too, but those are the only changes I’d make. I really love the idea of stuffed burgers and I loved the ranch avocado sauce. Mmmm, definitely a tasty burger! The waffle fries are just Alexia seasoned waffle fries. I didn’t make those – I just baked them according to the directions.
Thursday
Thai Chicken Skewers with Peanut Sauce and Crunchy Asian Slaw
The chicken skewers were good, but they tasted just like every other marinated chicken recipe. That's not necessarily a bad thing and like I said, they were good, just not standout chicken skewers. As far as the peanut sauce goes, at first I didn't like it, but it grew on me after a few bites.
The chicken skewers were good, but they tasted just like every other marinated chicken recipe. That's not necessarily a bad thing and like I said, they were good, just not standout chicken skewers. As far as the peanut sauce goes, at first I didn't like it, but it grew on me after a few bites.
I think everyone has their own version of this recipe. I'm partial to my version Crunchy Asian Slaw, but since this was new recipe week, I decided to try a different one. I have to say, this version is really good. I really liked the buttery, seasoned ramen noodles. The dressing is really good too. It's similar to the one I make except this recipe calls for red wine vinegar and I usually use apple cider vinegar. I'm definitely going to take a few ideas from this recipe and incorporate them into my own.
Sunday
Broiled Salmon and Roasted Garlic Cream Noodles withCrispy Cauliflower + Toasted Pine Nuts
We still have a lot of salmon left from our Alaska trip, so I've been trying to find new recipes and tips for cooking it. I usually bake it (375 degrees for 15-18 minutes), but I liked the broil method from this recipe. I'll definitely cook it that way again. We also really liked the roasted garlic cream noodles. Although next time I'd use shell pasta because I don't really like regular spaghetti noodles (I know, I'm weird). Oh, and if you want to save a few bucks, you could leave off the pine nuts. They are good, but they don't make or break the dish.
Breakfast
Country Gravy Breakfast Casserole
We still have a lot of salmon left from our Alaska trip, so I've been trying to find new recipes and tips for cooking it. I usually bake it (375 degrees for 15-18 minutes), but I liked the broil method from this recipe. I'll definitely cook it that way again. We also really liked the roasted garlic cream noodles. Although next time I'd use shell pasta because I don't really like regular spaghetti noodles (I know, I'm weird). Oh, and if you want to save a few bucks, you could leave off the pine nuts. They are good, but they don't make or break the dish.
Breakfast
Country Gravy Breakfast Casserole
Appetizer
This was really good! I ended up taking the leftovers for lunch one day – yes, I ate chips and dip for lunch. It wasn’t spicy at all, so next time I think I’d add a couple more jalapenos because I think this would be really good with a little kick, but it’s definitely not necessary if you don’t like heat.
Dessert
Golden Oreo Strawberry Cheesecake Bars
Dessert
Golden Oreo Strawberry Cheesecake Bars
It's cheesecake so of course it's delicious! I love the golden Oreo crust! It might be my new go-to cheesecake crust. You could also skip the crumbled Oreos and just make strawberry cheesecake. That would be delicious too! Yum!
Has anyone else tried a recipe they've pinned? Leave any recommendations in the comments section - I'm always looking for new dishes!
You can see these pins and other food related pins here
You can read previous Pinterest Recipe Week reviews here
