March Recipes

One of my goals for 2011 was to try one new recipe a month. Check out the January recipes here and February recipes here. Turns out it wasn't such a hard goal to accomplish. Now that I've started finding new recipes, I can't stop!

Breakfast
Oatmeal Bake. (4 stars out of 5)
Shawn and I both really liked this. The real fan though? Samara...I've never seen her eat breakfast so quickly...I'd say it was just as quick (if not quicker) than pancakes!
1/2 cup oats
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp maple syrup
1/3 cup canned pumpkin or applesauce
1/3 cup milk or creamer
pinch of salt
Optional: raisins, walnuts, brown sugar for the top

Combine and pour into a small baking pan or 1-cup ramekin. Cook for 15 minutes at 375F. Then, set your oven to “high broil” for 3 more minutes (or simply just bake longer, but broiling gives it a nice crust).

Banana Bread (4 stars out of 5)
My blog friend Sarah recently blogged about her favorite banana bread recipe. I told her it sounded good but I could never cheat on my regular favorite because it is amazing and has taken me many years of trying numerous recipes to find just the right one. Well, she challenged me...so I just had to try it. And it is good. Really good. It's completely different than my usual though, definitely a lot spicier and a different texture.

Main Dishes
Crockpot Potato Bacon Soup. (4 stars out of 5)
I got this recipe from a different blog friend, also named Sarah, and it was delicious...very creamy and rich. I used real bacon and couldn't find cream of onion soup so I substituted it with cream of mushroom. It makes a lot, which is great because now I have 2 additional frozen meals in the freezer!

Chinese Basic Stir Fry Sauce. (2.5 stars out of 5)
I went to make a steak stir fry and realized I was all out of teriyaki sauce (my usual sauce for stir fry). Instead of going to the store, I decided it was a good excuse to try a new recipe. This was pretty good but a bit salty. Was it worth all the work compared to opening a jar of sauce? No.

Salmon with yogurt-ginger sauce (5 stars out of 5)
1 cup plain low-fat yogurt
2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp minced fresh ginger
1/2 tsp each ground cumin and coriander
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 salmon fillets
In shallow disk, whisk yogurt with spices. Reserve 1/4 cup. Pour remainder over salmon and refrigerate for 15 minutes. Grill turning once halfway through. Serve topped with 1/4 cup reserved yogurt sauce.
AMAZING. This was so simple and so tasty. I couldn't find any fresh coriander at the store so I used an extra 1/2 tsp of ground coriander. Loved it.

Chutney Chicken (4 stars out of 5)
Delicious and super easy to prepare. I didn't have fresh coriander so I substituted it with 1 teaspoon of ground coriander. I did use the sour cream but didn't add the peas. This would be a good recipe to double and freeze portions for later.

Sweet Mustard Glazed Ham (3.5 stars out of 5)
Very easy to prepare since it's a crockpot recipe. I liked the glaze and would recommend this recipe. I didn't give it more stars simply because I really like ham plain.

Quinoa Turkey Meatballs (4 stars out of 5) with Honey-Garlic Glaze (3.5 stars out of 5)
I love using ground turkey in place of ground beef for a change. And I super love quinoa. These were very aromatic. They were more like a falafel than a traditional meatball. The glaze was good but not really a match for the spices that were in the meatballs. I should have just followed the recommended suggestion of a pasta sauce.

Lentil and Sweet Potato Soup (4 stars out of 5)
Maybe not so much a Springtime soup but would be perfect for Fall or Winter. It had just a bit of a kick to it but not too overpowering. A good recipe to double and freeze portions for later.

Roasted Portobello and Prosciutto Lasagna (4 stars out of 5)
This was a lot of frigging work. So much prep work before you can combine all the separate layers to make the lasagna. It was really delicious but very rich and decadent. Not something you want to be stuck with leftovers for 2 additional nights...save it for when you have company over and serve with a salad!

D's Salsa Chicken (5 stars out of 5)
Package of chicken breasts (cut each breast into 3 pieces)
1 small jar of salsa
1 package of cream cheese
1/2 cup - 1 cup of water
Fry chicken until partially cooked. Add ingredients and simmer. You can make this on the stovetop or in the crockpot. Serve over rice. Mmmm...this was so creamy and good. I could eat the sauce by itself...I basically did, when we finished the chicken I just kept eating the sauce over rice.

Side Dishes
Thyme and Cheese Biscuits. (3 stars out of 5)
I was looking for something to go with my tasty cajun chicken caesar salad. I didn't feel like going to the store for good bread to make garlic bread, so instead came across this recipe. I didn't have fresh herbs, in fact, I only had dried thyme so I used 1.5 tsp instead. I ended up needing closer to 1 cup of milk. They were okay but really need salt added to the recipe. I'll try it next time and then would bump them up to a 4 star.

Cornmeal Muffins (5 stars out of 5)
I couldn't find my usual recipe and I thought cornmeal muffins would go great with the potato bacon soup (I was right). This recipe was the best I've tasted. The perfect amount of sweetness and the edges were deliciously crisp. Eat them warm with butter. The next day? Not so great...I warmed them but they were still a bit dry.

Italiano Cheddar Muffins (Pizza Muffins) (5 stars out of 5)
Incredibly good. Even recalling them right now, I just want to make more and eat them all.

Desserts
Puffed Wheat Squares (5 stars out of 5)
This is one of my all time favorite desserts. For a long time, if I ever got a treat from 7-11 or Macs, it was always one of the prepackaged puffed wheat squares. Oddly enough, I've never made them from scratch before. They turned out SO well. It took everything in my power to share with the rest of the family.

Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies (5 stars out of 5)
Out of desperation, I cooked these cookies...you see, we had nothing "junky" in the house and I was craving something sweet. We didn't even have chocolate chips which is our go-to sweet fix. I googled best oatmeal raisin cookie ever and came up with this recipe. And it really is. I've made quite a few over the years but this topped them all.

Vanilla Cupcakes (5 stars out of 5)
When Chelsey was visiting, we had a birthday celebration for her and her choice for dessert was vanilla cupcakes. These were amazing...definitely the best vanilla cupcakes I've ever made. Paired with this icing? SO SO close to the Va Va Vanilla at Crave Cupcakes (Sheena, take note!).