Every once in a while I like to go on a bender. A cooking bender that is. This is where I spend days trying new recipes or going all out for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Summer is also getting closer and that is when my husband and I enter our busy season. Busy, as in, “Holy Toledo what’s for supper tonight?” busy. The last couple of years have seen us scrambling, eating lacklustre meals pulled together at the last second (i.e. cereal) or eating out (which I hate). This year is shaping up to be our busiest yet at Best Tools for Schools and I have vowed that our menu will be different.
I love food. I always have, and I get that love from my mother and grandmother who believed that a restaurant meal could never touch a home cooked meal made with love. You don’t have to love cooking though to appreciate good food. As long as you can follow a recipe you can eat better and cheaper by eating at home. I spend my spare time surfing Martha Stewart and Allrecipes. I worship at the altar of the Barefoot Contessa and my Fine Cooking magazines have prime real estate on my bookcase. So just in case you don’t feel like investing the time to find the good recipes, I’m happy to do it for you. The recipes below represent my lastest cooking bender from last Wednesday to Mother’s Day.
Weeknight Bolognese - This is a Barefoot Contessa recipe and I tripled it and froze enough for 5 extra meals and we had it Wednesday night for dinner. This is one of the best Bolognese sauces I've ever had. I give all that red wine the credit.
Fish Burgers with Lemon Aioli - This is one of the easiest meals ever and totally economical. I bought a pound of haddock for $6.99 and served it with a side salad. Dinner was under $15 for a family of four. It was also divine.
World’s Best Lasagna - I found this recipe on Allrecipes and with a title like that it better live up to it. It had 5400 reviews and a 5 star rating. I tripled this recipe and froze four 8x8 pans for us and one 9x12 pan for when we have company. We also had a pan that night and I can honestly say it really is the World’s Best Lasagna.
Actually Delicious Turkey Burgers - I made these after I finished with the lasagna and froze them immediately. We’ll pull these out for fast meals on the BBQ this summer.
Chocolate Frozen Yogurt - We have an ice cream maker and it’s right up there with our bread machine for most favorite appliance.
Fast Raspberry Scones - We had these for breakfast Saturday, but I routinely make them through the week for the girls too. You can also use blueberries. When making through the week, I pre-measure all the dry stuff in the food processor the night before so there’s less to do in the morning.
Grilled Cheese - What? Not every meal can be gourmet, even when I’m on a bender. After this meal we volunteered at the Food Bank for two hours. A small reminder to be ever grateful for our blessings.
Peach Jam Glazed Shrimp with Spicy Peanut Butter Dip - When shrimp goes on sale I stock my freezer. This is one of our favorite recipes to make. Serve on a bed of rice and I roasted carrots for the side.
Blueberry Cream Cheese French Toast - I actually assembled my Mother’s Day breakfast the night before. I’m not really that anal but I did want to try this recipe. I’m glad I did. Yum.
Strawberry Peach Smoothie - Another hit. Serve with Blueberry French Toast.
Quick Beef Bourguignonne - I’ve made Beef Bourguignonne the “hard” way and it is totally worth the effort. This recipe though is super easy and totally delicious. Roast some baby potatoes, carrots and turnip to serve with it.
If you have a question about any of the recipes, leave it for me in the comments. Now I need to go decide what to have for dinner tonight. Maybe this?
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