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I gave this only 4 stars because I think this is a good jumping-off recipe. To suit our tastes, I halved the recipe and made the following adjustments - for cream sauce I sauted 3/4 of good sized onion in LOTS of butter before adding flour; used equal portions milk and 1/2 and 1/2; and added garlic powder and onion powder; cooked until thickened. I made one layer potatoes and dusted with garlic and onion powder, followed with good amount frozen peas and leftover baked ham, covering all with half of cream sauce. Topped off with second layer of potatoes and remaining 1/4 onion (sliced)and the rest of the cream sauce. Baked in 8x8 pan at 350 degrees for 60 minutes. Reminded me of what my Mother used make when I was a kid. Yummy. I would give MY version 5 stars!! HA! D-LISH!!!

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Restaurant Style Beef and Broccoli

Reviewed: Oct. 18, 2009

OK... if you don't like people who don't follow the recipe, yet review it anyway - then don't read any further! I followed the cooking instructions, but I didn't have some of the ingredients, so I substituted, using what I had on hand. I didn't have oyster sauce or sherry, so I used hoisin and extra amounts of soy sauce, and I substituted brown sugar for the white - just because. Instead of fresh, I used powdered ginger, onion, and garlic, which I added to the marinade. I marinated the meat for 2 hours, which was good - but overnight would be better. I used the Normandy frozen veggie blend (broccoli, cauliflower, carrots) from Sam's and added a large sweet onion. I don't measure anything - just guesstimate, dump, and taste-test until it suits me. It turned out very tasty! I'll make this version as written when I have all the ingredients - but, I'll be doing my own version again too! If this one is half as good as mine, I'll be happy happy!

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114 users found this review helpful

Zucchini Casserole

Reviewed: Oct. 1, 2009

The only reason for the 4 star rating is because I used this recipe as a starting point, then did my own thing to make it suitable to our taste. I sauted zucchini, yellow squash, onions, and mushrooms, then mixed all the veggies with seasoned croutons and diced fresh tomatoes. I decreased the grated parmesan to 2 Tbsp. and added a handfull of shredded mozzerella to the mayo and egg mixture. It was yummy, yummy, yummy!! I would never have thought to use mayo and egg as a sauce - but it was really wonderful in the casserole. I'll be making this again... I may try adding green onions next time.

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Korean BBQ Chicken Marinade

Reviewed: May 25, 2009

I really liked this recipe... at first I thought it tasted a lot like teriyaki, but the more I ate, it seemed very reminiscent of Bourbon Chicken (which I love!) I made two exceptions to the recipe, the first was marinating my chicken for 24 hours instead of 4 hours, and the second was using mild sweet chili sauce instead of hot chili paste. When I got ready to bake the chicken, I made more marinade and basted the chicken several times during cooking. I was very pleased with the outcome. However, today I made chicken salad with the leftover chicken adding pecans, celery, crushed pineapple, green onions, with a sweet-ish dressing of pineapple juice, sugar, and mayo, and it was absolutley wonderful!! Yum Yum Yum!!! I think the leftover chicken had a better, more enhanced flavor than the fresh cooked. I will make this marinade again, but next time, I think I'll add a little vanilla extract to really make it taste more like my favorite Bourbon Chicken.

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'Chinese Buffet' Green Beans

Reviewed: May 20, 2008

Thank you Roweena!!!! Loved this recipe! For years, my family also made a Bee-line for the green beans at the Chinese Buffet - we could have made a meal on the beans alone. Now, I can make them simply and easily right at home any time I want. I used haricot vert green beans found at Sam's, and I did blanch them in boiling water for 3 minutes before sauting them. I was also unsure of the oyster sauce, so I cut back a bit on that, but next time, I'll use the full amount the recipe calls for... so good, so good!

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33 users found this review helpful

Creamed Spinach

Reviewed: Jan. 14, 2008

I LOVE creamed spinach, and this is not bad recipe for a basic start. I like that is was quick and easy and used frozen spinach. However, I like more 'sauce' on my creamed spinach and the flavor was just shy of being 'really good' - and I even added a small amount of dried chopped onions. I will make this again, but will make more sauce and try additions to ramp-up the flavor - more garlic, sauted onions, maybe bacon... guess it'll have to be a work in progress!

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17 users found this review helpful