Surprise Muffins

Reviewed: May 24, 2012

I followed the recipe closely, only using "soured" lactose-free milk and vegetable oil in place of the butter because I was feeding a child with a lactose sensitivity. I used a homemade strawberry freezer jam in these muffins. I did bake the muffins at 350* for 20 minutes, based on other reviews I'd read. For me, these were a mess. I had the same issue that another reviewer had--the jam bubbled through the muffin batter and made a mess all over my muffin tin and in the oven. I don't know what I did wrong but I'm not patient enough to try these again. Not only were these pretty much unedible, I had quite the mess to clean up after.

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Reviewer:

Sarah Jo

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Seattle, Washington, USA

Living In: Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania, USA

California Chicken Salad Tacos

Reviewed: May 23, 2012

I added some of my homemade taco seasoning to the "sauce" for the chicken. I made little bowls of chopped tomatoes, shredded sharp cheddar cheese, sliced olives, chopped onion and reduced fat sour cream to top the tacos. I did not eat mine in a tortilla, I ate mine over lettuce as a taco salad. We loved this meal. Quick and very tasty!

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Reviewer:

Sarah Jo

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Seattle, Washington, USA

Living In: Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania, USA

Old Fashioned Onion Rings

Reviewed: May 23, 2012

So delicious! I have no deep fryer, so I just used a deep pan. I used a mixture of panko crumbs and regular bread crumbs. Also added chilli powder, curry powder, onion powder, ginger, dried sweet basil, cumin, a tiny bit of nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Very flavorful, with a nice crunch! Would definitely make again and again.

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Reviewer:

psychedilemma

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Seattle, Washington, USA

Orange Chocolate Breakfast Drink

Reviewed: May 23, 2012

This was not good. I'm sorry.

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Reviewer:

Sarah Jo

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Seattle, Washington, USA

Living In: Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania, USA

Ultimate French Toast

Reviewed: May 23, 2012

I added two tablespoons more milk (I did use lactose-free milk, as my youngest boy has a milk allergy), upped the cinnamon to a half teaspoon and I added a splash of vanilla extract. I chose to use Wonder Texas Toast--what happened is I was able to make five pieces of french toast because the bread was quite a bit thicker than your average white bread. The kids loved it. NO leftovers.

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Reviewer:

Sarah Jo

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Seattle, Washington, USA

Living In: Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania, USA

Sweet Iced Tea

Reviewed: May 23, 2012

I used Truvia instead of Splenda. This was okay. Both my husband and I thought that this needed a few more tea bags and maybe less Truvia. When combining the Truvia with the lemonade concentrate, it was a little too sweet for us.

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Reviewer:

Sarah Jo

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Seattle, Washington, USA

Living In: Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania, USA

Real Strawberry Frosting

Reviewed: May 23, 2012

I really wanted that strawberry flavor to shine--what I did was add one teaspoon of strawberry extract and add an additional teaspoon of confectioners' sugar to make up for the additional liquid. I also added a dash of salt because Grandma taught me to always do so when making homemade frosting. This was FANTASTIC. It turned out like bakery frosting and the family kept eating the frosting off the cake.........and leaving the cake!

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Reviewer:

Sarah Jo

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Seattle, Washington, USA

Living In: Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania, USA

Herb and Garlic Dressing

Reviewed: May 23, 2012

I also used extra virgin olive oil instead of vegetable oil and I chose to use balsamic vinegar instead of plain vinegar. Because I am watching my sugar intake, I substituted one packet Truvia for the white sugar. I thought this was good but the spices (parsley, basil, celery seed, marjoram, pepper) needed to be doubled.

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Reviewer:

Sarah Jo

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Seattle, Washington, USA

Living In: Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania, USA

Pasta and Cauliflower

Reviewed: May 23, 2012

I did not steam my cauliflower. Instead, I tossed it with a little EVOO and some salt/fresh ground pepper and roasted it. I did increase the garlic by a few cloves, I upped the parmesan cheese and I threw in a little crushed red pepper flake. Not only was this quick to prepare, the boys thought it was very good--even my cauliflower hating husband.

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Reviewer:

Sarah Jo

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Seattle, Washington, USA

Living In: Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania, USA

Truly Delicious Brussels Sprouts

Reviewed: May 23, 2012

I upped both the butter and olive oil to tablespoons. I did saute these a little longer than the recipe asked for, only because mine were not quite ready after 45 seconds. Though my family was lukewarm about this, I loved it. What my family didn't want, I happily ate for them. VERY good. Next time, I think I might throw in some chopped shallots. I think that would make this dish even tastier!

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Reviewer:

Sarah Jo

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Seattle, Washington, USA

Living In: Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania, USA

Baked Potato Soup I

Reviewed: May 23, 2012

I saved some of the bacon grease from frying the bacon and sauteed some additional chopped fresh green onion and garlic before adding the butter and flour. Also, when I baked my potatoes, I drizzled them with EVOO and sprinkled them with steakhouse seasoning salt before baking. Because I did that, I cut back the salt I added to the soup. This soup is the perfect thickness but it really does need a little more seasoning aside from salt/pepper and the steakhouse seasoning salt I used on the potatoes.

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Reviewer:

Sarah Jo

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Seattle, Washington, USA

Living In: Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania, USA

Chicken and Rice Skillet with Broccoli

Reviewed: May 22, 2012

This was ok, but it was really bland. I used fresh garlic, chopped onion, salt, and pepper and it was still bland.

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Reviewer:

kellieann

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Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Manson, Washington, USA

Living In: Seattle, Washington, USA

Chicken Melt

Reviewed: May 22, 2012

Decent chicken melt recipe, though "sprinkling red wine" on chicken while its over open flame doesn't sound ok to me.. I did a quick toss with the herbs, wine and a little bit of olive oil with the chicken in a bowl before grilling. It did turn the chicken a grey purple, but that's what happens when you use red wine on white meat. Next time I'll use white wine instead to avoid the weird staining. I'll also use some mayo on the english muffins before hand to kinda give them some moisture and flavor. Decent, I'll make it again.

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Reviewer:

MariaTheSoaper

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Living In: Seattle, Washington, USA

Pizza Omelet

Reviewed: May 22, 2012

This was pretty good but next time I would leave the assembled omelet in the pan, covered with a lid for a few minutes so that the filling actually heats up enough to melt the cheese.

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Reviewer:

kellieann

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Manson, Washington, USA

Living In: Seattle, Washington, USA

Banana Banana Bread

Reviewed: May 22, 2012

I followed the directions but still found it dry and a bit rubbery. Would not make again.

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Reviewer:

Golightly

Living In: Seattle, Washington, USA

Hoppin' John

Reviewed: May 22, 2012

I liked this, it was fast and easy. It was a little too spicy for me so I'll cut down the red pepper next time. Added already cooked rice. Thanks!

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Reviewer:

CookingInSeattle

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Living In: Seattle, Washington, USA

Asian Beef with Snow Peas

Reviewed: May 22, 2012

Great recipe! I made just as written, except I substituted broccoli for the snow peas and I used flank steak. I really enjoyed the flavor of the sauce but would probably double it next time or maybe add some beef broth just to make the sauce go a little further. This was very easy to make.

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Reviewer:

alison.allen

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Mahtomedi, Minnesota, USA

Living In: Seattle, Washington, USA

Angela's Awesome Enchiladas

Reviewed: May 22, 2012

Really good! The sour cream sauce is so good. I will probably put a little bit less on the chicken next time because it was a little much but the flavor is awesome. Will also probably try to make my own enchilada sauce because the canned ones don't really do it for me. Otherwise this was amazing.

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Reviewer:

jenlynn0

Home Town: Seattle, Washington, USA

Living In: Encinitas, California, USA

World's Best Lasagna

Reviewed: May 22, 2012

My boyfriend loves Italian food and said this was better than the restaurants. I used fresh basil and a little extra garlic in the sauce. Fresh Parsley. Also used extra mozzarella because we love it extra cheesy. I don't know if I did something wrong because I had a lot of leftover sauce but it turned out great and I'm going to freeze the extra sauce for spaghetti or another lasagna (yes, I had about half leftover.)

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Reviewer:

jenlynn0

Home Town: Seattle, Washington, USA

Living In: Encinitas, California, USA

Orange Raisin Muffins

Reviewed: May 22, 2012

I used thawed frozen orange juice concentrate (NOT watered down) for more orange flavor. I also used soured lactose-free milk. I baked my muffins at 350 for just under 20 minutes. They smelled amazing and looked just like they should--I don't think there was enough liquid in this recipe, these turned out dry for me. I'd try these again but I'd add a quarter cup more of orange juice or so.

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