Reviews

I still need to plan my menu since coming home from vacation, but I wanted to get on and post some reviews before I forgot to do it. If you remember, my husband is on another low-carb kick...fun times! But, I do get Mondays where he goes out of town, so we can carb out.

Sunday's recipes were Flank Steak with red wine vinegar and greens and Baked Stuffed Tomatoes. I used buffalo tenderloins instead of flank steak because that's what we have. Everyone loved the steak and the greens. The tomatoes got mixed reviews though, and mostly bad. I don't think I'll be making them again, but it was nice to do something different.

The Lasagna on Monday was spectacular, if I do say so myself. It better be, with as many good reviews as it got! And it made a ton. I actually had enough to make an additional small pan. I can't wait to eat it again! And I'm sure it will be even better after it has been setting, letting the flavors meld together. I didn't get a picture of it the day I made it, but here is a picture of some I had as leftovers the next day.

Tuesday’s Broccoli Beef was good too. It is difficult to use buffalo for stir-fry because it tends to get tough, but I didn’t think it was too bad. There weren’t any left-overs, so that is always a good sign!

The surprise of the week was Wednesday’s Cauliflower “Mac” and Cheese with Kielbasa. Everyone in the family had a disgusted look on their face when I said what it was, but even my mac&cheese experts thought it was good. I do have to admit that I didn’t measure the mustard, and I personally thought it was a little overbearing, but my kids who say they don’t like mustard gobbled it up, so I guess it wasn’t too bad. I forgot to take a picture of it though. The Key West Crab Cakes with Mustard Sauce on Thursday (I actually ended up making it a week later due to different scheduling issues) was not so popular. Actually, I didn’t even try it because I was going to a birthday party that night (good planning since I’m not a sea food fan anyway), but from what I heard, it all went into the trash as soon as I left. One of the kids had a friend over that night and she said she liked it, but she was the only one. It could be because I used imitation crab instead of real crab (I wasn’t going to fork out all that money for the real stuff, and I’m glad I didn’t), but I thought it looked and smelled like cat puke.

Uncle Al's Sausage and Peppers Casserole on Friday was good, but I think if I were to make it again, I would pre-cook the sausage and drain the grease because it was it was way too greasy. But other than that, it tasted really good. I’m glad I made the onions big so the anti-onion hubsters could easily pick them out.

Finally, I had a bonus recipe! I was getting sick, and our whole family swears by my chicken noodle soup when they are sick. Well, my husband didn’t want the carbs from the noodles, so I just made chicken soup, but it was still good and once again, there were no leftovers. A friend asked for the recipe, so I did the best I could: I started with cooking cubed chicken breasts in a little olive oil. I added about 2 heaping tablespoons of minced garlic, some chili powder, Italian seasoning, and onion powder (onions would work, but I didn't feel like chopping them). I added a can of diced tomatoes with garlic, a can of green beans (drained), and some baby carrots. Add water and chicken bullion as needed to fill the pot. Boil until the carrots are soft.

So, those were my meals for last week. Now I need to come up with some new low-carb ideas…my husband gained everything back on our vacation that he had lost before…*sigh* The good thing is that my husband has been starting to brag a little to his friends about my “recipe experiment thing,” so I think he is mostly happy with what I’ve been making!