Tasty Thursday

     I had pretty good success with my new recipes last week, particularly the chicken pot pie and the chocolate chip cookie dough cupcakes. Here are the full reviews:

Chicken Pot Pie with Cheddar Crust: A+

This was the best chicken pot pie that I have ever eaten. The crust was really great and not too hard to make either. The only problem I had with it was that my food processor bowl was too small for all the dough so I had to make half and then the other half. I left out the mushrooms and parsley from the pot pie and it was delicious. I highly recommend this recipe.

Man Rating: Tim gave this an A++. He says that I can now make this every other day. I am tempted. 

Country Fried Steak: A-

This meal was good, if you like this kind of food. My gravy turned out really well. It wasn’t my favorite meal of all time, but I’m pretty sure Tim was happy with it. And it definitely sticks to your ribs. And butt. And thighs. And...well you get the picture.

Man Rating: A

Perfect Pot Roast: B+

This was a good recipe, but just nothing that I haven’t already had before. I didn’t find it to be any better than any other pot roast I’ve ever had. 

Man Rating: A+

And here is what we're eating this week:

Thursday: Taco salads. I make my own taco salads using Mission Sun-dried Tomato Basil tortillas, which I bake over an upside down Pyrex bowl to make the shell. Then I fill it with ground taco meat that I cooked with chopped onions and black beans. And then I top it with lettuce, salsa, guacamole, etc. The shell is so good and not too unhealthy since I bake it. 

Friday: Peach BBQ chicken. I am finally going to use up the rest of the sauce from the Peach Whiskey Barbecue chicken that I made the other week. We will have it with some type of side vegetables depending on what appeals to me at the store. 

Saturday: Italian pie. This is a Publix Apron's recipe that my mom recommended. It looks really good and comfort-foody. And I love casseroles. Especially ones that we can eat for more than one night. I'm going to make some alterations to the recipe, like leaving out the pimentos and salami. And I'm going to use a blend of Italian sausage and ground beef instead of the ground beef/pork mixture. We'll have it with a nice side salad. 

Sunday: Homemade pizza. I will be attempting to make my own pizza dough using a recipe I found on Pioneer Woman Cooks. The reason I will be attempting this is because our grocery store does not sell pizza dough in the bakery and Tim and I both don't like the Boboli premade pizza crusts (plus they are expensive). The dough uses flour, salt, yeast, olive oil, and water and sounds pretty simple. I'm not sure what I will be topping it with, but I have some Italian sausage in the freezer so that will probably be part of it.

Monday: Leftover Italian pie. Because it will make plenty for us to eat for both a lunch or two and a couple dinners and I just love nights when I can reheat something and not dirty up my kitchen too much. I love cooking, but I hate cleaning the kitchen. Ironic, I know. I seriously would rather clean the bathroom over cleaning the kitchen. 

Tuesday: Chicken piccata. This is a Pioneer Woman recipe. I've made it before and it is delicious. Give me a sauce with lemon, white wine, and cream and I am there! And here's a secret. This isn't really chicken piccata because there are no capers in it. Don't ask me what capers are. I just know that I don't like them and I do like this. End of story. 

Wednesday: Island pork chops with sweet potato fries and sauteed spinach. This recipe is one from the P90X workout diet. And it does not taste like it should be part of any "diet." It is the most flavorful and delicious pork recipe that I make. It actually calls for a pork tenderloin, but because I have pork chops in the freezer, I will be using those instead. Here is the recipe, because you should make it. Even if you hate pork. Even if pork and you are mortal enemies. Actually, make it especially if you hate pork. Because you will love this recipe. And I'm all about being a peacemaker.