busymama Recipe Reviews (Pg. 1) - Allrecipes.com (18278869)

Simple Chicken Parmesan

Reviewed: Jan. 11, 2012

I thought this was great as did husband and two of the kids. The other two kids did not like it. We used jarred sauce for convenience. I followed the instructions otherwise except for: (1) marinated the chicken first in buttermilk (2) After sauteeing step, I skipped the wire rack step and just put it in a greased baking dish in a 450 oven for 5 minutes and (3) my way to get the chicken thin enough was to slice it when it was still partly frozen - it was very easy to slice 1/2" thick or less when still half frozen. I found that to be much easier than pounding it or than butterflying it when thawed.

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1 user found this review helpful

Chicken Cordon Bleu II

Reviewed: Sep. 28, 2011

Kid and parent friendly (3 of 4 picky kids liked it, and 1 ate it despite complaints - that's a big win around here). Made exactly as directed except that I subbed half and half for the whipping cream and didn't need to cook it 30 minutes (more like 20-22, I think, because I pounded it to just a little over 1/2 inch). Served with steamed broccoli and with linguine noodles. Not all the kids wanted the sauce, but they liked it fine without. I subtracted one star because the pounding of the chicken took me forever, probably only because the pieces I started with were enormous and still slightly frozen...hopefully that will work out easier and less messy next time)!

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2 users found this review helpful

Hearty Breakfast Cookies

Reviewed: Apr. 4, 2011

Great! Three out of our four young kids like them, and the grownups like them with their coffee. To adjust to our taste, we skipped the raisins and cinnamon and went with chocolate chips instead. To make them healthier, we used Smart Balance butter sticks, reduced the sugar to 1 cup and added 1/3 cup of ground flax. Yum. We like them both made with water and made with buttermilk.

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4 users found this review helpful

Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

Reviewed: Mar. 11, 2011

I cut the oil in half, used about 25% whole wheat flour, and threw in a few tablespoons of flaxseed. For yogurt, I used greek. They were good, moist, sweet, though I think I still prefer the mocha banana chocolate chip muffins on this site.

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6 users found this review helpful

Slow-Cooked Steak Fajitas

Reviewed: Jan. 3, 2011

Easy. And most of the family ate it, which is a huge success here. I used rotel with lime and cilantro for the tomatoes and skipped the jalapeno due to kids' palates. Total cook time was about 5 hours on low and 1 hour on high. Did the peppers and onions separately on the stove. Served with cheese, good salsa (fresh from Trader Joe's), and sour cream. My husband and I thought they were really good, and 3 of our 4 kids ate them. One, but of course, insisted on a tortilla and nothing but cheese inside. Her loss!

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5 users found this review helpful

Mom's Macaroni and Cheese

Reviewed: Jan. 2, 2011

Easy enough. I would not double up on the salt and pepper as some reviewers suggested. That was definitely too much. My kids wouldn't eat it and whined for boxed mac and cheese as always.

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2 users found this review helpful

Parmesan Chicken

Reviewed: Oct. 15, 2010

EASY and tasty. Served with side of pasta, salad, italian bread. Made extra and froze it before cooking (will bake it in casserole dish when thawed, probably, rather than pan frying).

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2 users found this review helpful

Ethiopian Cabbage Dish

Reviewed: Oct. 9, 2010

We love Ethiopian food, and this was one of the very first Ethiopian things I ever tried to make (we usually go to a restaurant for this kind of food)! This was easy and good, though for us, it had too many potatoes. I got the big baking kind and only used 3, and that was too much. The carrot and cabbage got lost in the dish. Maybe I should have used smaller potatoes. Next time I'll just use one big one instead of 3. Easy and yummy, though. I also made shiro to go with it, and we picked up injera and tibs from a local restaurant. Gotta figure out how to make the Ethiopian collard green dish next!

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3 users found this review helpful

Whole Wheat and Honey Pizza Dough

Reviewed: May 3, 2010

Healthy and tasty enough that I'll try it again, but the first time around, I wasn't impressed by the texture. I took the suggestion of other reviewers and had my bread machine mix the dough (on pizza dough cycle)which gave it some extra rise time. Maybe the machine overmixed it ? So next time I'll do it by hand and mix it just lightly. Other changesI made according to other reviews were: add a little olive oil to the dough. Bake at higher temp for shorter time - I used a preheated pizza stone at 425 degrees. Baked 3-4 minutes without topping and then 6-7 with toppings. It was pretty flat and dense. I'll try again but may be on the lookout for a recipe that uses whole wheat but has a better texture.

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1 user found this review helpful

Chicken Asparagus Roll-Ups

Reviewed: Apr. 30, 2010

It was only 3 stars as I made it , but I made two mistakes, so I'm giving in 4 stars because I think I could have made it better. One, I bought but forgot to use the provolone. And two, I only put the sauce and breadcrumbs on top. Definitely try to do it all the way around, and don't overcook (I thought mine was a little dry at 22 minutes). I'll try it again!

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Clone of a Cinnabon

Reviewed: Jan. 17, 2010

Fantastic. Tips I got from others that worked well: bake at only 350 (for 20-25 min). Bake in a glass dish lined with buttered parchment. As soon as you take them out of the oven, flip the pan over so the topping drips back onto the rolls.

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2 users found this review helpful

Playgroup Granola Bars

Reviewed: Jan. 11, 2010

Wanted to love these. I liked them better before they baked. Next time I'm going to bake them for the full time instead of for only 20 minutes as suggested by others. I think these would taste best crunchy. The crunchy edges were my favorite parts. The chewy parts seemed too cookie-like, and these are not a good cookie as they're not sweet enough for that as I made them, at least. Will try again and hope for better. My changes (based on other reviews) were: sub some rice krispies for some of the oats (definitely do this); cut back sugar to 1/2 cup; throw in a little flaxseed; subbed choc chips for raisins; left out cinnamon (didn't go well with choc chip version); cut salt back to 1/2 tsp; used corn syrup and peanut butter instead of honey. Next time I may put the sugar and salt back to the recipe suggestions and then back them for the full 30-35 minutes. I ate them but the kids weren't big fans (ages 5 and 6) this time around. Also, definitely line the pan with parchment. They were easy to remove.

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Gingerbread Scones

Reviewed: Jan. 11, 2010

Solidly good. Will definitely make again as they go so nicely with coffee. The only changes I made were to sub in half whole wheat flour and to sprinkle with cinnamon sugar instead of just sugar. A keeper.

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2 users found this review helpful

Home-Style Scalloped Potatoes

Reviewed: Dec. 20, 2009

This was just as expected. Perfect on a cold day. Made only a few small changes. I only had skim milk so I used 4 cups to be sure the sauce wouldn't be too thin. I also used 3 TBS cornstarch instead of 5 TBS flour as a thickener. And I layered in (and on top) a little shredded gruyere and cheddar. I boiled the potatoes for a few minutes first and then only had to bake for 45 minutes. Make sure to let it sit a good 10 minutes to thicken. Served with ham and corn (delicious when you mix them all together). Picky kids wouldn't eat it, but my husband and I loved it.

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3 users found this review helpful

Delicious Black Bean Burritos

Reviewed: Nov. 9, 2009

They were easy and not bad. I think there is potential for improvement with some experimenting. I need to take more time to read the helpful reviews on others before I try these again. This time, I made them according to the instructions with a few minor changes. I used Trader Joe's Cuban Black Beans. I skipped the salt. I added a cooked box of Goya spanish rice. I topped them with avocado. I think they would have been much too soupy without the rice. They were a bit too bland. Need to be kicked up a notch next time, but I'll try them again.

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Chiliquilla

Reviewed: Sep. 4, 2009

Average. Smelled better than it tasted. It was fine, but I wouldn't make it again. I followed the instruction exactly except that I left out the olives because my husband doesn't like them. I'd suggest adding some more spice with a hotter enchilda sauce and some pepper jack cheese like someone else suggested. I made it milder (per the recipe) in hopes that my 4 and 6 year olds might like it, but they wouldn't touch it.

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2 users found this review helpful

Scrumptious Strawberry Shortcake

Reviewed: Sep. 4, 2009

So good and so simple. Worth the effort (which really isn't much). I borrowed these ideas from other reviewers: 1) froze the sticks of butter and then grated them 2) left out cream of tartar and scaled back baking power to 3 tsp 3) used half and half instead of cream. might try 2% milk next time? 4) Formed into 12 balls which I gently pressed and then topped with a little sugar 5) Mixed a little sugar into my sliced berries. I've made it twice - once with homemade whipped cream and once with the kind in the can and while the homemade whipped cream was better, the other version was still scrumptious! I liked someone's idea of making a vanilla mascarpone cream and may try that next time.

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Zucchini-Chocolate Chip Muffins

Reviewed: Jun. 1, 2009

I don't think I'll make these again. I changed the recipe according to other reviewers' suggestions, but I don't think that was the problem as I often change the recipes to make them healthier in the same way that I altered this one. I subbed in half whole wheat flour, added a cup of shredded apple, cut back a little on the sugar and on the oil. I also added more chocolate chips - couldn't resist! We ate them all but it was slow going. They were nowhere near as good as the mocha banana chocolate chip muffins on this site (to which I make the same healthier changes). I'll go back to those instead. I think maybe I found the combination of zucchini, cinnamon, and chocolate to be a strange one ?

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Waffles I

Reviewed: Apr. 13, 2009

A great waffle recipe for us. It was easy and tasty. The kids liked it with a little syrup. My husband and I enjoyed them straight up - no butter or anything. We did, however, add some chocolate chips, so I'm sure that helped! The changes I made were minor and as follows: 1 cup whole wheat flour and 1 cup white flour; 1 tsp vanilla; 2 tbsp cinnamon sugar. Once the batter was in the belgian waffle maker, I sprinkled chocolate chips on top. I left them in a little extra long to get them crispier since that's how I like them.

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Rempel Family Meatloaf

Reviewed: Feb. 7, 2009

This is now my favorite meatloaf recipe. It was really easy and really tasty. My husband even asked about the recipe. It's nothing all that extraordinary....it's meatloaf....but it's a really good meatloaf and really simple to make. I made a few very minor changes to the recipe. I used 1 lb of ground bison (easy to find at the grocery store these days, and we prefer the taste of it plus it's better for you). I used white cheddar flavored cheez-its for the crackers. I used mainly just the big flakes and not all the powder from the onion soup mix. I subbed bbq sauce for ketchup. I made a glaze by mixing up a little bit extra of the bbq/steak sauce mixture and setting some aside before adding egg to the rest of it. The cheese I used happened to be a Mexican shredded mixture, but I don't think that was all that important. It took about 50 minutes to cook. Served with Julienne cut fries and corn and we gobbled it up. Well, not the 4 yr old and 6 yr old, but I didn't think they would - they're too picky, still!

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2 users found this review helpful