rachael ray

The past week and a half I have made 5 Rachael Ray recipes and have 1 more on the schedule for this week. I've also printed out 2 more to try maybe next week.

I have this newfound joy for Rachael Ray's stuff. We used to be die-hard Alton Brown fans (and still are), but I found that more often than not he liked including either hard-to-find ingredients or there was a lot to buy for one recipe. With needing to shop on a budget, but still wanting to cook good food for my boys, and ENJOY what I make (since I do really love to cook), I turned again to Rachael. I don't mind "slaving away" for up to an hour making something delish, so it's not that her recipes are often pretty easy to whip up. I've just found that they are quite yummy and don't cost a lot at the grocery.

Since I've had so much fun trying out some of her recipes, I thought I'd share them with you as well.

Mexican Lasagna - this was really easy and really tasty! Philip especially enjoyed it. I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into small pieces instead of ground chicken and omitted the corn for my love. I also just used the flour tortillas I had in the fridge and all worked out very yummily!

Crispy Chicken Cutlets with Basil-Parsley Sauce - very good. Definitely on the to-make-again stack. To me it is basically a chicken parm recipe (which is a staple at our house) without the tomato sauce. On the link it includes a recipe for Cheesy Risi e Bisi, which I kinda flubbed on and made white rice with parmesan.

Spicy Pork Roast with Rosemary Potatoes - I just realized this isn't RRay, but it was good anyhow. I had a pork roast, which I've never cooked before, and found this recipe. The sweet and sour sauce was a little strange, and we liked the taste of the pork without it better than with. Good to know.

Barbecued Chinese Chicken Lettuce Wraps - I made these for lunch yesterday. I don't often cook Asian, so it was a stretch, but I thought it sounded interesting. I left out the water chestnuts for Philip again, and used powdered ginger (since I already had it) instead of grating ginger root myself. All in all, it was really great. I haven't done lettuce wraps ever, so it was fun! Philip's first comment when he saw it on the table was, "Aww! It's so cute!" haha.. made me smile.

Fennel-Pepper Spaghetti - I saw her make this on her show last week and it completely intrigued me. The fennel seeds are supposed to give the illusion of sausage (smells like it!), and the heartiness of the peppers and onions gives a good texture with the noodles. We had this last night and I did again for lunch today. Fantastic! Philip thought it better as a side dish, but I thought it was a great change to your typical meat and tomato sauce. I will definitely be making this again.

On the to-make list:
The Only Pizza You'll Ever Want Again: Chicken, Sun Dried Tomato, Broccoli, Ricotta, Mozzarella and Basil - on the docket for this week! The broccoli is an interesting touch, but we'll see how it really tastes! I'll let you know.

Chicken Cacciatore Subs - anything on bread is yum

Mini Chicken Sausage Meatballs with Gnocchi and Tomato Sauce - my love has a love for gnocchi, so he's pumped about this one. I've never cooked gnocchi before (and I don't even know where to find it at the grocery!), so it'll be a fun one to try!