McCrearyacres Recipe Reviews (Pg. 1) - Allrecipes.com (10824445)

Fasoliyyeh Bi Z-Zayt (Syrian Green Beans with Olive Oil)

Reviewed: Apr. 13, 2012

Made these for dinner the other night & the reviews were split. Half of us loved it and the other half would have to pass. Since I'm reviewing, I get to pick the stars--but I will say that it could have used a bit more seasoning--the softness of the green beans (and I let it go quite a bit per the description of "authentic") and I liked that. The olive oil flavored the beans nicely, but I think there needed to be some sort of counter point--maybe the garlic going in sooner or some other herb to complement the cilantro. I'll definitely make this again--even as it is written, though.

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Mongolian Beef and Spring Onions

Reviewed: Apr. 13, 2012

If this could be 8 more stars I would give this recipe double that! This is delicious. My husband has actually requested this as often as I want to make it for the family!

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Barbecued Lima Beans

Reviewed: Apr. 13, 2012

My oldest daughter & I love lima beans so we chose this for our sidedish with last night's dinner. Overall taste was really good, but I just wish there was a little more sauce--I thought the beans were a teeny bit dry as the recipe turned out--but my daughter loved it as is.

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Sesame Pasta Chicken Salad

Reviewed: Apr. 13, 2012

My teenage daughter was craving a chicken salad to take for her lunch & this fit the bill perfectly. Held up well through a few days in the fridge so she could enjoy it more than once too!

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Exquisite Pizza Sauce

Reviewed: Feb. 13, 2012

This has been my go-to sauce since I found it on here a while ago--absolutely delicious! Even used it this last time (with about an extra cup of water) as the sauce for a pizza casserole dish I found on another blog-site. YUM!

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Roast Sticky Chicken-Rotisserie Style

Reviewed: Feb. 13, 2012

WoW! What a chicken recipe! First what we loved about it: #1 amazingly moist (Even the breasts) #2 tasty tasty tasty #3 Easier than you can imagine! Only have 2 tiny downsides-#1 spice rub was enough for one chicken (glad I wasn't making two or I would have run out with chicken-goop fingers). #2 skin was like leather--next time I'd like to work on that so that we could enjoy that decadent treat.

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Armenian Rice Pilaf

Reviewed: Jan. 1, 2012

If I could just rate the taste of this dish vs. the whole "dish experience" this would be 8 stars. BUT the calculations for number of servings is ridiculously wrong--I fed 8 people off of this recipe (as a side) as written and if the leftovers are any indication--we'll be eating this for the next 39 years. We at spicy Korean tacos as our main course & needed something to off-set the heat--this is the perfect recipe. Don't expect this to be anything more than it is--rice, vermicelli & chicken stock. It will be mild tasting, but a very great side dish (but I strongly suggest not taking the serving size mentioned in the recipe as a good estimate).

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Hawaiian Chicken I

Reviewed: Nov. 23, 2011

Great flavors in this dish. From the reviews of others I knew I was going to bake this recipe, but I misread the instructions and did not marinate the chicken. Instead, I punctured the chicken with a fork, poured the Teriyaki sauce over and baked it that way. Added cayenne, garlic powder & cornstarch to the sauce--great idea! Pineapple on top of the chicken the last 15 minutes made it perfect. Great dish--even though I can't follow directions!

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Roasted Fan-Shaped Potatoes

Reviewed: Nov. 13, 2011

These really were a delicious addition to our meal last night. Opted to not add the bread crumbs because it just seemed weird. Without them, this was a perfect combination of flavors that ran along the lines of oven-roasted potatoes & Potatoes Anna--use the dowls as mentioned by other reviewers--made the job of cutting them a breeze.

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Bolognese Stuffed Bell Peppers

Reviewed: Nov. 9, 2011

If there was the option for adding more stars, I'd do it for this recipe--delicious! I did heed the comments made by other reviewers about how much "sauce" the original recipe made and upped everything a touch (for example I used 3/4 # of ground beef and 1/2 c. heavy cream...). Also followed my instincts & other's suggestions to par boil the peppers first-good idea. I added a liberal sprinkle of shredded mozzarella on top with the parmesan just because that's what my mom always used to do. I also added in a couple cloves of minced garlic & about a 1/4 c. of finely diced onion because I thought I read it in the recipe (it's not) but it was delicious anyway. The only tiny compaint I might have is that the pancetta wasn't crispy--I figured it wouldn't be, but wanted to not mess with the recipe too much on the first time out. Next time I'm going to crisp it up first, remove it from the pan. Use the little bit of grease instead of olive oil to saute the vegetables & then stir it in just before stuffing the peppers. Paired it (like mom always did) with homemade mashed potatoes and we had one heck of a dinner!

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Tacos in Pasta Shells

Reviewed: Oct. 27, 2011

This is a really good recipe. I didn't think any of the individual components sounded nasty, but was a bit leery about mixing them all together--but it worked out even better than I hoped for. On another note, this freezes like a dream. Had leftovers the first time I made it and popped them into the freezer. Had them a month later on one of those "I don't want to cook" nights and the only addition I made was to add a few more crushed Doritos on top for fresh crunch! Exactly as delicious as the first time--even with cream cheese inside!

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Cajun Seafood Pasta

Reviewed: Oct. 26, 2011

There is great taste in this recipe but the sauce needs work. When I read the instructions I was not quite sure that 2 cups of heavy cream, once reduced, would be enough to cover an entire box of fetuccini--and it wasn't. And then when I added the seafood the barely working sauce fell apart--became too liquidy. Next time I'm going to use chicken stock & cornstarch to make an actual sauce--then that recipe will be a 6-star meal!

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Pumpkin Pancakes

Reviewed: Oct. 16, 2011

After reading the reviews of others, I upped the spices. The taste was not as dynamic as I thought it would be and the texture was a little too cake-like for our tastes.

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Beer and Brown Sugar Steak Marinade

Reviewed: Oct. 16, 2011

Okay marinade, but it didn't impart as much flavor or tenderness and I had hoped. Not horrible, but not good enough for me to use again.

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Kitchen Sink Salad Dressing

Reviewed: Oct. 16, 2011

Pretty good salad dressing--we love salads & love most any kind of dressing, but I'm always on the hunt for a new one to try. We thought the proportions of mayo, vinegar etc. were just right.

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Taqueria Style Tacos - Carne Asada

Reviewed: Oct. 7, 2011

We ate these last night for dinner until we had to roll ourselves away from the table! Delicious & just like the $1 tacos we get every Saturday from the Hispanic family at the Farmer's Market--but don't tell her! Mine were marinated overnight & I'll definitely do that every time. My only tiny complaint was that my meat was chewy (but that's not the recipe's fault). Maybe next Saturday I'll ask her how she gets hers so tender; then we'll have the perfect tacos! I didn't want to individually fry each corn tortilla & I didn't want to microwave like one reviewer had suggested, so I just wrapped them in tin foil & let them hang out in the warmed oven until dinner--definitely my "go-to" way from now on. Try these, you will LOVE them!

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Cucumber Sunomono

Reviewed: Oct. 2, 2011

This tastes just like the cucumber salad we've had in Sushi restaurants. Delicious, easy to make & very light tasting. Can't tell you how it is the next day, because it was devoured at dinner last night!

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Simple Savory Quinoa

Reviewed: Sep. 13, 2011

This is a really good recipe. I cubed the carrots & actually liked the veggies on the softer side (in response to the reviewer who suggested not pre-sauteeing the vegetables). Level of turmeric was just right & the lime juice added a nice brightness right at the end. I'm hoping no one eats the leftovers so I can have them for lunch today!

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Popcorn Cake I

Reviewed: Sep. 6, 2011

Pretty good snack-according to my husband & kids!

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Cheesy Baked Grits

Reviewed: Aug. 18, 2011

I love grits & my kids hate them, so I am constantly trying new recipes to entice them towards my way of thinking. This is the closest I've come to getting them to "like" grits. Really good flavor, not too runny (one of their previous complaints) & the baking adds a nice crunchy golden brown topping. My only downside to the recipe is that the liquid amounts (for the grits I used) was off. I had to add about a 1/2 cup more liquid (I used chicken stock) to make them creamy enough so that the baking didn't dry them out.

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