2013 Recipe Recaps

It’s been an experimental year in the kitchen.  I am very happy to have seen this 30/30 item through to completion.  I can honestly say that I have a bit more confidence in the kitchen and that I am inspired to continue to try new things.

2013 Recipe Highlight Reel:

Personal Favorites

Shrimp Tacos with Corn Salsa

This meal was very easy to prepare and very tasty.   It’s a summery, light meal that will hit the spot when you are craving tacos with a little flair.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

This is my new favorite pie!  I hadn’t had it before, but I’ll have it every chance I get now!

Highly Rated by Hubs

It is safe to say that Hubs benefited significantly from all of the past kitchen experiments.  Below are some of his favorites in no particular order.  
 

Cornbread and Beef Skillet Pie

 Stuffed Zucchini Boats

Fried Green Tomatoes

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Scalloped Potatoes

Worst Clean Up

Egg Bites

Although simple to prepare, and easy to eat these little guys were a pain to clean up after.  I soaked my mini muffin tin for a few days, tried a few different scrub pads, and still have dried egg all over my mini muffin tin.

Most Left Overs

Vegetable Soup with Barley

Crock pot meals are so easy to put together.  This one, however, seemed to never end.  I’m pretty sure we ate this for a solid 3 days before we moved the remainder to the freezer where it still resides waiting for the right moment to reheat.

Best Crowd Pleaser

Potato Salad

Although I have yet to blog about it (oops!), I hosted my entire family for a meal to celebrate several family milestones.  Hubs and I grilled up shish kabobs and I prepared my first ever potato salad.  It’s a summer crowd staple.

Most Rewarding

Fried Green Tomatoes & Green Tomato Pizza

There’s something so authentic to eating the food you grow for yourself.  Our little raised veggie bed garden had quite the tomato yield.  We’re already planning to expand our veggie garden next season for more yummy harvest!

Took the Longest

Scalloped Potatoes with Ham

One night after work I decided I would make this for dinner.  Several hours later we sat down to eat dinner.  Plan ahead for this one.  It’s probably more of a weekend meal.  It takes time to bake potatoes!

Biggest Failure

Kaposztas Kocka / Hungarian Noodles with Cabbage

I’m ¼ Hungarian and I have only ever had Hungarian food a handful of times.  I enjoy a particular noodle dish that I thought I would try to recreate.  Unfortunately, this was just all wrong all over.  I think you need to have homemade noodles to start with and a Hungarian native to guide you through the rest.  The recipe sounded so easy.  I think I’ll stick to ordering this out.

The complete list of recipes tried:

1. Chicken Tortilla Soup
2. Cornbread and Beef Skillet Pie
3. Ratatouille
4. Quiche
5. Pasta with Shrimp and Eggplant
6. Salmon with pesto
7. Tortilla & Black Bean Pie
8. Stuffed Zucchini Boats
9. Strawberry Banana Smoothies
10. Egg Bites
11. Crispy Quinoa Burgers
12. Buffalo Chicken Quinoa Salad
13. Tomato and Feta Toasts
14. Spicy Shrimp Sliders
15. Potato Salad
16. Shrimp Tacos with Corn Salsa
17. Fried Green Tomatoes
18. Green Tomato Pizza
19. Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
20. Homemade Spaghetti Sauce
21. Scalloped Potatoes & Ham
22. Vegetable Soup with Barley
23. Kaposztas Kocka / Hungarian Noodles with Cabbage
24. Roasted Shrimp with Spaghetti Squash
25. Summer Squash Casserole
26. Shrimp with Potatoes & Feta
27. Shepherd’s Pie

Cheers to 2014 and continuing to try new things!