Spacewoman Spiff Recipe Reviews (Pg. 1) - Allrecipes.com (10985064)

Winter Leek and Potato Soup

Reviewed: May 18, 2012

Simple and excellent! I only made a few minor changes. I used 1.5 times the half and half and cheese, and I used the Mexican cheese blend from Costco, since that's what I had on hand. Otherwise, I followed the recipe exactly, and it had the perfect texture and flavor. Very nice.

Was this review helpful? [ YES ]
0 users found this review helpful

Coconut Oatmeal Cookies II

Reviewed: Mar. 15, 2012

I'm only giving this four stars, because I made substantial changes. I wanted it to be a bit more healthy. I omitted the white sugar, as per other reviewers, and I cut the brown sugar down to 1/2 cup. I also replaced 1/3 of the all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour and used dark chocolate chips. They turned out great. The second time I made them, I decided to use just 1/2 cup of Splenda brown sugar mix and replace all of the flour with whole wheat. They also turned out very tasty like this, however since most of the calories come from fat, using Splenda only saved me about 14 calories. For this reason, I probably won't do it again. The third time I made them, I used 1/2 cup of regular brown sugar, all whole wheat flour, and I replaced the butter with mashed banana. This cut down on the calories hugely, but they just weren't as nice. The banana was a bit too strong and made the texture slightly rubbery. I may try this again but only replace half of the butter with banana. Otherwise, I'll stick to 1/2 cup brown sugar, no white sugar and all whole wheat flour.

Was this review helpful? [ YES ]
1 user found this review helpful

MMMMM... Brownies

Reviewed: Mar. 15, 2012

These brownies were great! I followed another reviewer's advice and added some extra flour-coated chocolate chips. They were rich and scrumptious.

Was this review helpful? [ YES ]
0 users found this review helpful

Curried Shrimp Au Gratin

Reviewed: Jan. 8, 2012

My four year old loved it! I didn't have any celery or onion, so I just put the milk in a saucepan, added the curry powder, flour, half the salt, 1/2 tsp celery salt and 1/2 tsp onion powder, and brought it to a boil, stirring constantly with a wisk. I also added a bit extra cheese both in the sauce and on top, probably 1/2 cup extra in total. I prepared the rest as described, though I cut my shrimp into smaller pieces. Makes a good family meal.

Was this review helpful? [ YES ]
4 users found this review helpful

Sam's Famous Carrot Cake

Reviewed: Jan. 8, 2012

Excellent recipe! I only made a couple minor changes to suit my tastes. I'm not big on raisins and/or nuts in my food, so I omitted the raisins. I included the walnuts, but I ground them up with a mortar and pestle so there weren't any chunks. I used two round cake pans for a two-layer cake and baked them for 50 minutes, as per another review, which was perfect. I frosted it with the Cream Cheese Frosting II from this site that others recommended (with one extra cup of sugar in the recipe and one extra tsp vanilla). It was fantastic! The chef in the family loved it, and I overheard my father-in-law say to my mother-in-law that it's probably the best carrot cake he's ever had! I'll definitely be making this one again.

Was this review helpful? [ YES ]
3 users found this review helpful

Traditional Macaroni and Cheese

Reviewed: Jun. 18, 2011

I'm giving this four stars, because it's a very good base and would have been good without my modifications, but they were substantial changes and I do think they brought it to a new level (though I have not made the recipe without the modifications). I used a bit more salt, doubled the pepper and used a tbsp of Dijon mustard, since i didn't have mustard powder. I used 1 1/2 cups white cheddar and 1 1/2 cups mozzarella. I also added 1/4 tsp of hot chilli powder, one small can of diced green chilis and 1/2 cup sour cream. My changes made for a yummy, moderately spicy twist on traditional mac and cheese that the whole family loved.

Was this review helpful? [ YES ]
1 user found this review helpful

Chicken And Apple Curry

Reviewed: Jun. 10, 2010

That was AWESOME! Ok, I made a number of changes (haven't tried it yet without the changes), but I doubt my result varied much in quality from the original recipe. I didn't bake it; I just cooked it in a large saucepan. I cubed 3 small apples and diced two medium-sized onions and sauteed them in the butter with 2 tsp minced garlic (I didn't have any fresh garlic on hand). I cut two large chicken breasts into one-inch cubes and added them to the pan. Before the chicken sealed, I added 1 1/2 tbsp curry powder and about 1 tsp garam masala. Once the chicken was sealed, I added the broth, milk and then slowly sprinkled in the flour. Finally, I added about 1 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper. I let it simmer for awhile, and it thickened a lot, so I added probably about another 1/2 cup of milk. I was also busy doing other things, so I just turned it down to low and let it simmer very lightly for about 1/2 hour or 45 minutes. I served it over basmati rice. This is definitely a keeper. Yum!

Was this review helpful? [ YES ]
9 users found this review helpful

Simple Scones

Reviewed: Jun. 20, 2009

Lemon blueberry heaven! I made this recipe as lemon blueberry scones with some minor changes. I only noticed when I went to add the sour cream that I didn't have enough, so I used 1/4 cup of sour cream and 1/4 cup of homemade buttermilk (whole milk + a squirt of lemon juice). I added 1 tsp of lemon peel to the dry mixture and 1/2 tsp of lemon extract to the wet mixture. I replaced the raisins with 3/4 cup of frozen blueberries. Instead of topping them with sugar, I made a lemon glaze with 3/4 cup of confectioner's sugar and 1 1/2 tbsp of lemon juice. They were SUPERB! I had a couple guests over for coffee, and we ate them all. They raved about them and asked for the recipe. I think I'm going to make another batch tomorrow! This will definitely replace my previous lemon blueberry scone recipe.

Was this review helpful? [ YES ]
2 users found this review helpful

Chocolate Chip Bran Muffins

Reviewed: May 18, 2009

These were excellent, though I made substantial substitutions and changes. I gave the recipe five stars even though I didn't follow it exactly, because it still takes a good base recipe to work well with lots of substitutions. I halved the original recipe and made mini-muffins instead of full-sized ones. I ended up with 3 1/2 dozen minis. I didn't have any bran flakes cereal, so instead of the 2 1/4 cups of bran flakes the half recipe called for, I used 1 1/2 cups of natural wheat bran. I didn't have any buttermilk and also was a bit short on milk, so for the 1 cup of buttermilk I used 3/4 cup of regular milk with 1 tbsp of lemon juice, and I topped it off with 1/4 cup of soy milk. Someone had mentioned that they were a bit crumbly, so I added 1/4 cup of Applesauce. The mixture still looked a bit dry, so I added 2 more heaped tbsp on top of that. I also added 1 tsp of vanilla and increased the chocolate chips from 1/2 cup to 2/3 cup. They turned out great!

Was this review helpful? [ YES ]
14 users found this review helpful

Oatmeal Pancakes II

Reviewed: Jan. 1, 2008

I love this recipe! So does my husband. I was looking for a recipe that might recreate the wonderful oatmeal pancakes I had at a Redwood City, CA restaurant, and I actually like these even more. This is my new favorite pancake recipe!

Was this review helpful? [ YES ]
2 users found this review helpful