Oven Roasted Asparagus

Ingredients:

1 bunch thing asparagus spears, trimmed

3 T. olive oil

1 1/2 T. Parmesan cheese

1 clove garlic, minced

1 t. sea salt *

1/2 t. ground black pepper

* I didn't have sea salt so I used kosher salt

Recipe:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

2. Place the asparagus in a mixing bowl, and drizzle with olive oil. Toss to coat the spears, then sprinkle with the remaining ingredients. Arrange the asparagus on a baking sheet in a single layer.

3. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until tender. If desired, sprinkle with lemon juice just before serving.

Rating: 3 of 5

I actually thought this was a pretty good recipe. The only downer is that I wasn't paying attention to how the "tenderness" was coming along and over cooked. Rather than nice tender asparagus we enjoyed asparagus french fries. Pretty good still. I'd probably choose this recipe over the Garlicky Roasted Asparagus recipe.

Source: AllRecipes, http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/oven-roasted-asparagus/detail.aspx

Buttery Soft Pretzels

Ingredients:

4 t. active dry yeast

1 t. white sugar

1 1/4 c. warm water

5 c. all-purpose flour

1/2 c. white sugar

1 1/2 t. salt

2 T. vegetable oil

1/2 c. baking soda

4 c. hot water

1/4 c. kosher salt

Recipe:

1. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 t. sugar in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.

2. In a large bowl, mix together flour, 1/2 c. sugar, and salt. Make a well in the center; add yeast mixture and oil. Mix and form into a dough. If the mixture is dry, add 1 or 2 T. water. Knead until smooth, about 7-8 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl; place the dough in the bowl and trun to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

3. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a large bowl, dissolve baking soda in hot water. Lightly grease a baking sheet.

4. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a rope and twist into a pretzel shape. Dip each pretzel into the baking soda solution and place on prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle with kosher salt.

5. Bake in the preheated oven for 8 minutes or until browned.

Rating: 2.5 of 5

This really isn't a bad recipe, I just didn't like how dense the bread turned out to be. A little bit of a disappointment after I thought I was going to be getting soft, fluffy pretzels.

Source: AllRecipes, pg. 292

Pork Barbacoa Quesadillas

Ingredients:

Tortillas

cheddar cheese, shredded

Pork Barbacoa ~ Cafe Rio Style

Recipe:

1. If you're using Costco's uncooked tortillas, then cook them first.

2. Between 2 tortillas, sprinkle cheese and pork.

3. Cook in a pan on medium heat until cheese is melted.

Rating: 4.5 of 5

Seriously, best quesadillas behind Eduardo's steak quesadilla. The sweet juices from the pork are perfect with the cheese. Pretty good with sour cream, but even better with Cafe Rio's house dressing. The only problem with this recipe is that I have to wait until the next time I make the pork :(

Roast Beef and Gravy

Ingredients:

1 3-lb boneless beef chuck roast

2 10.75-oz cans condensed cream of mushroom soup, undiluted *

1/3 c. sherry, wine, or beef broth **

1 envelope onion soup mix

* I don't like cream of mushroom so I used cream of chicken.

** Seeing as I don't drink alcohol, I usually don't cook with it either. I used beef broth.

Recipe:

1. Cut roast in half; place in a slow cooker. In a bowl, combine the remaining ingredients; pour over roast. Cover and cook on low for 8-9 hours or until meat in tender.

Rating: 3.5 of 5

I actually really liked this recipe. Talk about easy. You get the main dish plus gravy at once. Love it! Definitely will be making this again. I liked the flavoring of this recipe too. It wasn't so powerful that I couldn't taste the meat, but not so weak that I felt like it wasn't doing anything. Did that makes sense? I dunno. I liked it!

Source: AllRecipes, iPhone app

Alienated Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients:

2 c. fresh blueberries

1/4 c. all-purpose flour

2 c. all-purpose flour

4 t. baking powder

1 t. salt

1/4 c. margarine

1 1/2 c. white sugar

2 eggs

1 t. vanilla extract

1 c. milk

Recipe:

1. Preheat over to 375 degrees. Grease muffin tins, or line cups with paper liners.

2. Sprinkle 1/4 c. flour over blueberries, and stir to coat berries thoroughly. (This step helps prevent the fruit from sinking with baking)

3. In a small bowl, whisk together 2 c. flour, baking powder, and salt.

4. In a large bowl, cream margarine, and gradually mix in sugar. Beat eggs, and stir into creamed mixture along with vanilla. Stir in milk alternately with flour mixture, mixing well after each addition. Fold in berries. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full with batter.

5. Bake for 25 minutes.

Rating: 2 of 5

Honestly, I think these muffins should be called blueberry cupcakes. The batter bakes into a really fluffy moist bread. More like cupcakes rather than muffins. Also, these don't freeze well at all. I really like the Breakfast Muffin recipe much better.

Source: AllRecipes iPad app

Breakfast Muffins

Ingredients:

1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour

1/3 c. white sugar

2 1/2 t. baking powder

1/2 t. salt

3/4 c. milk

1 egg

1/3 c. butter, melted

1-2 t. vanilla *

1 c. fresh blueberries or other fruit, or chocolate chips (rinse and coat with flour to prevent sinking while cooking) **

*I added the vanilla to this recipe and I think it makes a subtle, but important difference.

** I really like loaded muffins so I add 2 c. of blueberries or whatever other fruit.

Recipe:

1. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

2. Add milk, egg, butter, and vanilla; mix until ingredients are moistened, do not overbeat.

3. Stir in fresh fruit. Spoon batter into 12 greased muffin cups.

4. Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes, or until tops spring back when lightly touched.

Rating: 4 of 5

This is my favorite muffin recipe so far. Quick and easy. Little mess and tasty. And they freeze great! Daniel loves blueberry muffins so this is the perfect breakfast and snack for him!

Source: AllRecipes.com

Garlic Chicken with Artichokes

No picture! Sorry!

Ingredients:

12 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 c. chopped onion

1 T. olive oil or cooking oil

1 8-9 oz. package frozen artichoke hearts

1 red sweet pepper, cut into strips

1/2 c. chicken broth

1 T. quick-cooking tapioca

2 t. dried rosemary, crushed

1 t. finely shredded lemon peel

1/2 t. black pepper

1 1/2 lb. skinless, boneless chicken breast halves or thighs

4 c. hot cooked brown rice

Recipe:

1. In a small skillet cook garlic and onion in hot oil over medium heat, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes or until tender. In a 4-qt crockery cooker combine the garlic mixture, frozen artichoke hearts, sweet pepper, chicken broth, tapioca, rosemary, lemon peel, and black pepper. Add chicken; spoon some of the garlic mixture over chicken.

2. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 6-7 hours or 3-3.5 hours on high. Serve with rice.

Rating: 3 of 5

This isn't a terrible recipe at all. I liked it, but I felt there was a certain something missing. Like....it needed more spice or something. Somewhat of a bland dish. Super easy though. I love crockpot meals. This recipe does make the chicken super tender, so I ended up kind of shredding it as a pulled in out of the crockpot. I would probably make this again.

Source: Better Homes and Gardens, p. 239