lilamonster Recipe Reviews (Pg. 1) - Allrecipes.com (18155133)

Portobello Penne Pasta Casserole

Reviewed: Mar. 15, 2012

This was really, really good! The only changes I made were to mix Portobella mushrooms and regular because it's what I had on hand. Also did a 1:1 ratio of flour and butter because that's what I have always done with cream sauces (so 2 tblsp butter, 2 tblsp flour). I also added about 1/2 cup additional milk (to my halved version of the recipe) to make more of a sauce. I made more pasta, because half a box didn't seem to make sense for an 8 serving recipe, 4 oz of pasta certainly wouldn't serve 4 people. I will definitely make this as written again, but I also can't wait to try out other cheeses (feta and smoked provolone come to mind) as well as different pastas. If you are even thinking about making this - DO IT! You won't be sorry.

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Cheese Soup with Broccoli

Reviewed: Jan. 28, 2012

I was looking for a Broccoli Cheese soup recipe that doesn't call for 'processed cheese food' and they don't seem to exist. A few reviewers have done this soup with cheddar, so I gave it a try - there is NO REASON to use PCF in this recipe! I made it as written, using chicken bouillon as the broth, 2 cups 2% milk, and 2 cups half and half, and about 3/4 lb grated extra sharp cheddar cheese. I only used about 1/4 of an onion because my husband doesn't like them. While I personally would have liked more onion, I DO think that 4x as much would be too much, so you may want to scale back the onion a bit. I also added a bit of fresh garlic to the onion/butter mix. Prepared the soup as instructed. My 6 year old and my 2 year old both had 2 servings. Even my husband who wasn't going to eat it (because of the above mentioned onion) had 2 huge bowls! For my 2 year old, I used a blender to chop up the veggies so she wouldn't notice them. After her first bite, she atarted clapping and saying 'Yay!' - now that's a good review!Next time I make this, I think I will blend half of the soup just to eliminate some of the chunks of broccoli. I can't wait to make this with chicken, crab, smoked cheddar... the possibilities are endless! I went ahead and gave this 5 stars, because even though I don't think the recipe is perfect, you SHOULD try it if you are looking for a great Broccoli Cheese soup, and add what your family loves to make it perfect for you :-)

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BREAKSTONE'S Creamy Layered Enchilada Bake

Reviewed: Jan. 7, 2012

This recipe rates at least 4 stars based on the versatility - I made some changes to this dish, because I wanted to make it for dinner, but didn't have all of the ingredients on hand. I didn't use the Italian seasoning (honestly can't see why you would need to), I made the 10 min enchilada sauce from this site because I think enchiladas should have ench sauce, and made the dish as follows: followed directions as written, but when it came time to add the ingredients to the beef, I skipped the Italian seasoning, skipped the taco seasoning (didn't have it) and added 1/4 cup of the ench sauce instead, plus remaining ingredients. I lined the baking dish with foil, and quartered the tortillas. I put some ench sauce in the botton of the pan, placed tortillas with the corners in the corners of the pan and then filled in the rest, layered meat, skipped the sour cream (we prefer it on top after cooking) layered cheese, next layer of tortillas, meat, then enchilada sauce, last layer of cheese. Covered and baked as written. It was super tastey!

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Cake Pops

Reviewed: Dec. 9, 2011

My husband (who will eat just about anything that resembles cake) was really excited to make these to take to work as a Holiday treat. He made four ahead of time as an after dinner treat for our daughter, and decided not to make the rest - his exact words were "The doughnut holes make them gross, they don't taste anything like cake pops."

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Mushrooms with a Soy Sauce Glaze

Reviewed: Sep. 17, 2011

One word - Awesome! Made this tonight, and I am done looking for a sauteed mushroom recipe. Next time, I'll add onions just for fun. So good!

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Beef or Chicken Marinade

Reviewed: Jun. 19, 2011

We used this on chicken tonight -really enjoyed it. Didn't use ginger, used olive oil instead of vegetable, will definitely make this again.

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Sister Schubert's® Sloppy Joes

Reviewed: Jun. 10, 2011

Very good recipe - we'll be using this from now on. I usually buy BBQ sauce for my Sloppy Joes, but I had already browned the beef when I realized that we were out. I left out all the veggies, and just used this for the 'sauce' portion of the recipe. I used the called for amount of prepared mustard instead of dry, and it worked out fine. I don't think I'll be buying BBQ sauce for Joes again! Cut the recipes to 4 servings, and I mixed everything for the sauce in a bowl and then pour it over the browned meat.

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Sweet Dinner Rolls

Reviewed: Aug. 24, 2010

I was able to make these dairy free, and they still tasted great, and that is a 5 star in my book! I used vanilla almond milk and non-dairy, soy free 'butter', and half wheat flour. They came out a little dense, but that was probably my fault as I was making these while juggling a 4 month old and a sick 5 year old. I will do these again, but proof the yeast first in the bread machine and see if I can get them fluffy. Even if I can't, I will keep making them because the flavor was great. and with a little 'butter' melted on them... yum!

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To Die For Blueberry Muffins

Reviewed: Aug. 20, 2010

This recipe probably rates 4.5 stars because it is very easy to make your own. I have had to eliminate dairy from my diet for my 4 month old daughter, and so I used vanilla almond milk instead of milk, and half veg oil and half olive oil, and skipped the crumb topping because of the butter. The taste came out great, but it only made 10 small muffins, so I don't think it would make 8 large muffins as written. They were also a little dense, but I may have over mixed, so I will make them again soon, and update. Thank you for the great recipe, I was so happy to find a muffin recipe that I could easily make dairy free!

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Best Bread Machine Bread

Reviewed: Aug. 20, 2010

This bread was really great! My 4 mo old daughter has a dairy sensitivity, and so I am having to prepare my own everything, and this bread hit the spot. I subbed olive oil for vegetable oil, and added 1/2 tsp salt based on other reviews. I then baked in the oven instead of the bread machine (because I have never made a good loaf cooked in the machine). The taste is wonderful, it will make perfect sandwiches and toast. I am planning to make a cinnamon loaf today, by adding cinnamon sugar at the end of the dough cycle when you normally add nuts and things. I am so happy to have a dairy free bread that is SO easy to make! Thank you for the great recipe!

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Roasted New Red Potatoes

Reviewed: Aug. 15, 2010

My family really enjoyed these, I really enjoyed the simplicity! The potatoes definitely have to be cut smaller than in half, I quartered some, and for larger potatoes, I cut them into 6 pieces. In my opinion, there was a little too much pepper, and I will reduce the amount next time. I stirred these a couple of times during cooking to brown them on all sides, and probably cooked a little longer than 30 min. I not only reheated these for lunch the next day, but on the third day, I chopped them up small and reheated them to have for breakfast - yum!

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Marie's Easy Slow Cooker Pot Roast

Reviewed: Jun. 13, 2010

This recipe is quick and easy to put together. I used a can of beef broth and 1c of red wine instead of water. Don't skimp on the slow cooking by cooking on high - I've been doing that for the last year when making roast, and we really haven't been enjoying it. I decided to give it the full 8 hours on low today, and it was melt-in-your-mouth tender! I won't try to rush the cooking any more. Great recipe, thanks!

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Bread Machine Rolls

Reviewed: Jun. 13, 2010

This roll recipe is super easy and tastes great! I ended up making these with a fussy 6 wk old baby in one hand while I measured out the ingredients into the bread machine with the other, and I still didn't manage to mess them up!! ;-) I made changes based on other reviews as follows: fresh milk, not powdered, so added an additional 1/4c flour, subbed 1/2c wheat flour for reg. Brushed with butter out of the oven instead of egg wash. I didn't find them too sweet, so I wouldn't decrease the sugar. To serve these with something like roast, in the future I will make 18 smaller rolls. Due to the previously mentioned fussy baby, I made 12, 6 lovely round rolls, and 6 odd shaped rolls that were the product of cutting the 2nd half of dough into 6 'equal' pieces and throwing them on the pan to rise. Again, they all turned out soft on the inside and brown on the outside. Given my experience with this tonight, I would call this recipe fool proof for sure!

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French Baguettes

Reviewed: Jan. 20, 2010

Great recipe! I didn't brush with the egg, but rather baked with a pan of water in the lower oven rack, and then basted with a little butter when it came out of the oven. I do think that the recipe needs more flour (I had to add about 1/4c, and it still wasn't enough - the bread was really sticky coming out of the bread machine) and also, I should have known that I would need more yeast (I live in Colorado) but I used the recipe amount, and had ugly, flat french bread. It still tasted great though, and I plan to fix my errors next time - there will be a next time!

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Lasagna Roll Ups

Reviewed: Jan. 20, 2010

I gave this 4 stars because I LOVE the idea of the rolled up lasagna vs the layers! I think as written, the filling is a little too plain for my taste, it seemed to need a little 'something'. Also, I think that the noodles need to be closer to fully cooked before you roll them. I cooked mine a minute longer than recipe stated, and they were still not quite done in the finished dish. I will, however, use this recipe/idea as my base for lasagna from now on. I can't wait to add meat and veggies to the filling to spice it up a bit. Filling and rolling was easy!

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Garlic Dill New Potatoes

Reviewed: Jan. 18, 2010

These were pretty good - probably more like 3.5 stars. I cooked mine in the crock pot on low for several hours as I have never had much luck with steaming potatoes, but I will say that even then, the flavor was not very strong. I would imagine that just tossing the potatoes in the dill and butter right before serving would leave a little something missing in the taste department. I will make these again, but always in the crockpot, and I will play with the flavors a bit.

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Fajita Marinade I

Reviewed: Jan. 2, 2010

We really enjoyed this! I skipped the water, and doubled the olive oil - skipped the cayenne as we had none on hand, and added just a bit of chili powder.

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Cheese Fondue

Reviewed: Dec. 30, 2009

It's not often that I disagree with a recipe so highly rated, but this just didn't work for me. I gave it three stars, because I didn't go with the super high quality cheeses (didn't want to spend the $$ if the recipe wasn't good) but the recipe also doesn't call for high quality, so... If I had been rating it based on the taste that I achieved - 2 stars. The proportion of wine to cheese was off in my case. I used the stated amounts of both, and had to keep adding wine to try and stop it from becoming one big clump. Also, since DH isn't a huge cheese guy, I only used swiss, and so I really had to add salt at the end (I don't normally salt anything). I also went with the three star rating because DH has never had fondue before, and said it wasn't bad. As someone who loves fondue, I thought it was so-so, and way to thick. I may try this again with different cheeses, but for now, I'm feeling disappointed in the end result.

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Bread Machine Bagels

Reviewed: Dec. 30, 2009

The most important part of my review is that the water/flour ratio is what I would consider way off for a bread recipe. I had to add at least an additional 1/4c of water, if not a bit more to get the right consistency. ALSO, they were really, really hard to remove from the pan after baking, and I lost about 1/2 of each bagel, and am soaking pans as we speak. That said, the flavor of these was right on for me. They taste fresh and wonderful. However, they texture was not quite right, and was probably my fault. I let them rise for about an hour after shaping per other reviews, and then they were 1. hard to get from the pan to the water, and 2. They had and airy, breadlike consistency, not heavy like a store-bought bagel. I brushed them with melted butter, and sprinkled half with cinnamon suger as requested by my 4 year old, and the other half with Romano cheese and a tiny bit of garlic salt. I have eaten two of those in the hour since they came out of the oven, and they are really awsome! I will be making these again soon (tomorrow, maybe?), and will follow the recipe (except to use butter instead of egg for the wash) and see if they have better texture. This recipe was so fast and simple, you could make these every day, and play with the toppings. Yum! Thanks for the great recipe!

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Aunt Teen's Creamy Chocolate Fudge

Reviewed: Dec. 20, 2009

I was so excited to try this fudge, but I just threw away 2 bags of chocolate chips, evaporated milk, sugar...So disappointed. I followed the recipe, and even read through a ton of reviews to avoid any issues. Since I don't have a candy thermometer, I cooked it for 7 min instead of 5, stirring constantly, removed from heat and added the chocolate chips and what I got was an instant hard crumbly mess. I could't even stir it to incorporate the chips. I would honestly be too afraid to waste my time on this recipe again...

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