I used to be the queen of convenience foods (the Freezer Queen?). All I needed was a box and a microwave and I was good to go.
But then something changed (or maybe the Food Network rubbed off on me). One day, I no longer wanted to eat ingredients like “maltodextrin” and “canthaxanthin,” not to mention a bunch of preservatives and too much salt and fat. Things like “ammonium phosphatides” and “sucroglycerides” just didn’t sound tasty to me anymore.
So I found some recipes online and started … cooking.
And I actually liked it.
Yes, there are some downsides. Sometimes I cook too much (and eat too much). And I really wish I’d had to take home ec in school so I would have known how much sugar to use when my measuring cup didn’t have the exact marking for the amount I needed (I didn’t want to risk putting in too much or too little so I found that the measurement equaled 16 teaspoons – which I faithfully scooped out, 16 times. Sigh.).
But the feeling of accomplishment you get when you follow a recipe and actually create something good and tasty is priceless. And it’s also nice when you find a new recipe and know that you have all or most of the ingredients it calls for already in your kitchen.
Here are four of the recipes I’ve tried recently, and my reviews. They’re all on the Taste of Home website, which has a ton of recipes that usually aren’t too complicated or expensive to prepare (perfect for a newbie like me, and maybe you too):
Honey-Mustard Potatoes
http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Honey-Mustard-Potatoes
These turned out great! I used small white potatoes instead of red, but they were still very good. And I bought green onions for the first time ever because of this recipe. Did you know green onions cost about $1 for 2 bundles at the grocery store and are wrapped together with a sticker that includes a UPC code (so you don’t have to worry about weighing produce and annoying the people behind you in line)? See, told ya I was a newb.
Italian Bow-Tie Bake
http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Italian-Bow-Tie-Bake
This couldn’t have been much easier to make and it was so good. Only four ingredients are required, too, and you can try using whole-grain pasta to make it even healthier. This is amazing.
Golden Chicken Nuggets
http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Golden-Chicken-Nuggets
These…didn’t turn out so great. (And the original recipe didn’t have a photo with it so I used a photo from a similar recipe.) I tried to make my own Italian seasoning to bread these with because I haven’t been able to find bottled Italian seasoning in a store, and it just didn’t taste good. I found an Italian seasoning recipe online and made it but I didn’t have any marjoram — I don’t know if that made a huge difference or not but the breading came out too herb-y and without a lot of good flavor. But this also could have been because I used too much breading. Anyway, sweet and sour sauce didn’t even save these nuggets, unfortunately.
Raspberry Coffee Cake
http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Raspberry-Coffee-Cake-3
This. Was. Awesome!
I think this was the first cake I ever made from scratch and it came out really well, even though I didn’t soften the butter before I combined it with the other ingredients (after dealing with a lumpy mixture, I finally just microwaved the batter a little) and I didn’t make the glaze for the top, just to cut out some sugar. This is a really moist, delicious cake that I’m sure I’ll make again sometime. Even if you don’t like raspberries, I’m sure you could try blueberries, blackberries or pretty much any other fruit.
So that’s been my excursion out of the freezer aisle and into the frying pan. I’m proud to say that my last couple of trips to the grocery aisle have involved no purchases of frozen items — well, except ice cream, because I’m not perfect.
If you attempt any of the recipes above, or know of any more quick, easy dinners for me to try, please let me know!
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