ONE-POT PASTA WITH CHICKEN

This comes from Spend With Pennies and it couldn't be better. I made half and used half of a 10 oz. box of thawed frozen spinach though that wasn't in the recipe. It sure gave it nice color. I also used her recipe for Italian seasoning and used about 1/4 t. more than the recipe called for. Instead of using diced tomatoes I pureed a can of fire roasted ones and used half. I like my pasta well done so my penne took almost 30 minutes to cook. I used just one boneless skinless chicken breast, which I baked in the oven and shredded and added to the pan after the pasta was finished. I didn't top this with cheese and put under the broiler.

I give this 5 stars.

CHOCOLATE PUDDING CAKE from Pretty.Simple.Sweet.

This comes from Pretty.Simple.Sweet. My only complaint is that the pudding part is very bitter from way too much cocoa powder. It only needed no more than half the amount called for but I stuck with the recipe and used the full amount. I shouldn't have and I'm ticked at myself. I've been making these cakes for 15 years and have had to adjust the amount of cocoa most of the time.

I used half the amount of vanilla and it was enough. The full recipe called for almost one tablespoon (2/3 of one, anyway.) I like the combination of both brown and white sugar in the pudding and for that reason alone I'll make this again. The amount of salt and cocoa in the cake was perfect and I added a pinch to the pudding mixture too since I always do. I put my piece of cake upside down in the bowl so you could see the pudding and I always eat it with vanilla ice cream.

I grade this an A- and not an A solely because of too much cocoa in the pudding.

IMPOSSIBLE PEACH PIE from Food.com

This comes from Food.com. I made this in a 9"/1 qt. pie dish and used two cans of peaches, not 3 cans in a 10" pie plate. I added 1/2 t. salt because the recipe called for none. I used half the amount of cinnamon and left out the nutmeg. I left off the streusel topping. This is very good but a little soft from the juice that cooked out of the peaches, I guess. I'd definitely make this again. I'm wondering if I could leave out some of the cream next time to make up for the juice in the peaches. 

I made this once before but used milk instead of cream (I used heavy cream this time) and it was a soft mess. The 1 c. cream and 2 cans Del Monte peaches for this cost $4.82.

I give this 5 stars.

ONE-POT CREAMY SUN-DRIED TOMATO PASTA

This comes from Budget Bytes. I just slightly less pasta, 7 oz./2 c. of penne, and a little less sun-dried tomatoes. I cooked some onion though onion's not in this recipe. I cooked some frozen broccoli in this and added a cooked and shredded boneless skinless chicken breast after the pasta had cooked. I omitted cream cheese and added a big pinch of salt and 1/4 t. pepper.

This is very good and I rate this an A.

COOKIES AND CREAM CUPCAKES from The First Year Blog

These are good and come from The First Year Blog. They're moist but not nearly as much as I was expecting, considering they have almost one cup of sour cream in them. In that way I'm disappointed. The Oreo crumbs don't really do anything flavorwise for the cake. I ground my Oreos finely. 3/4 c. equals 6 regular Oreos. It would have been nice had the author told us that. I added an extra 1/8 t. salt but they need more. I used 1/2 t. less vanilla because the cookies have some in them. I used this Wilton mini loaf pan and these liners and filled the cavities with a heaping 1/3 c. batter. This made about 3 c. of batter. They baked in 18 minutes. I didn't bake them at 400 degrees for 5 minutes then longer at 350. I preheated the oven to 400 then turned it down to 350 once I put them in. I made my own frosting for these and added 1/4 c. finely ground Oreos (2 cookies) to it and reduced the usual amount of vanilla extract since Oreos have some in them.

I give these 4 stars but I wouldn't make them again because I've made moister white cakes before that didn't use sour cream, which is an added expense. 

My white frosting (enough for 12 cupcakes/One 9"-10" cake): 1 3/4 c. powdered sugar (not weighed out), 2.5 tablespoons softened butter/margarine/spread, 2 tablespoons shortening, 1/2-3/4 t. pure vanilla extract, and milk or water, up to 2 tablespoons but start with just one. 

 

CLASSIC APPLE CRISP from Pinch of Yum

This is from Pinch of Yum. I used about 5-5 1/2 c. of apples, not 4 like the recipe said to use. I didn't add more sugar or flour but did add 1/4 t. salt, 1/2 t. cinnamon, and I used a 10"/2.5 qt. pan. It baked in 35 minutes. I accidentally left the baking soda out of the crumb topping. The author didn't say why it was used. I googled and found that it makes toppings crispier. This topping is very very crispy so it wasn't needed after all. I used tart Pink Lady apples and they're perfect, as is the topping. 

 I rate this 5 stars and I'd make again.

BACON LENTIL SOUP from She Wears Many Hats

This is a great recipe and it comes from She Wears Many Hats. I made half in a 3 qt. pot. I omitted bacon and the bay leaf. In place of a can of diced tomatoes, I pureed the tomatoes and used just 3/4 c. and used an extra 1 1/2 c. water to make up for the lack of liquid. I used chicken broth in place of vegetable broth. My greenish-brown lentils took 40 minutes to cook, not 1.5 hours like in the recipe.

I give this 5 stars. It couldn't have been any easier to make.

 

CORNMEAL JOHNNYCAKES from The Spruce Eats

This recipe is from The Spruce Eats. My batter was runny, worse than pancake batter and I did nothing wrong. I even added an 1/4 c. flour to thicken it but it didn't help much. I left out the sugar and added 1/4 t. chili powder, 1/8 t. cumin, 1/8 t. each onion and garlic powder, and about 1 t. dried parsley. I used 1/4 t. fine salt, not 1 t. kosher salt, but it needed a little more. I made a cheese sauce to drizzle on top using Monterey Jack cheese. I got ten. These taste great but I'm highly irritated that these turned out thin and so unlike the ones in the photo on the site an in the demonstration video. My batter was too runny yet someone left a comment on that recipe that they needed MORE milk, implying that there's was too thick. 

I can't rate these accurately, I don't think. I will make these again using just half the amount of milk, more salt and I'll add shredded cheddar cheese to the batter.

ORANGE SHERBET from The Kitchn

This comes from The Kitchn. I used store-bought Tropicana orange juice, the zest from two mandarin oranges, and only 1/4 t. vanilla extract. I added 1/8 t. fine salt which made this even better than it tasted before I added it. I used whole milk in place of 1/2 c. buttermilk. I omitted lemon juice. The recipe said to not use zest because theirs was bitter but mine wasn't. This took 20 minutes in my Hamilton Beach ice cream maker. 

Though very good and I'd make it again, it's a bit icy and not as creamy as I'd expected it to be since it has corn syrup in it. Maybe more is needed or more cream. I'm thinking instead of one cup of half and half, heavy cream is needed in its place. Not including the price of the two mandarin oranges I used since they were from a 3 lb. bag that I don't remember the price of, pre-tax this cost just $2.25 to make. EDIT- See last image for alternate version.

I give this 4 stars because it's not as creamy as I was lead to believe.

I made this a couple weeks later (see image below) using 1 c. of heavy cream instead of half and half, 2% milk in place of whole since it's what I had, and no lemon juice like last time, and the consistency is perfect, in my opinion. It's halfway between that of sherbet and ice cream, and it's easier to scoop than the sherbet was. It's not rock hard straight out of the freezer like the original sherbet was. 

While being whipped up in the ice cream maker it looks identical to the original recipe. It's creamier yet slightly icy in texture and this is the way I'll make it from now on. 

Not including the price of the two mandarin oranges I used since they were from a 3 lb. bag that I don't remember the price of, pre-tax this cost just $2.33 and it's all-natural!

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE OATMEAL CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES from Mel's Kitchen Café

This come from Mel's Kitchen Café and they're awful. The dough has zero flavor. Literally the only flavor comes from the chocolate chips. I made half and got 26 1 T. dough balls. I used 1/2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips. I doubled the vanilla and you can't even taste it. I used 1/8 t. more salt and it still needs more. Huge disappointment!

I grade these an F.
 

ONE-POT CHICKEN PARMESAN from The Chunky Chef

This comes from The Chunky Chef. I made half using rotini pasta. This took the whole jar of sauce, not half like it should have, plus more water than the recipe called for for half, probably 1 c. more. I omitted chicken. I've made many a one-pot pasta and this is the only one that tastes very starchy from the pasta cooking in the liquids.

Not sure how to grade this. The method gets an A but the amount of liquids gets an F. I wouldn't make this again.

FOOLPROOF BROWNIES from Biscuits and Burlap

These come from Biscuits and Burlap. Like the site says, these are both fudgy and cakelike, which I like. They're very moist. What I don't like is the very buttery taste so I won't be making these again. I made half in an 8"x2" pan and they took 21 minutes. I added 3/8 t. salt and the recipe called for none, and it could have used a little more. I also added 1 t. pure vanilla extract and the recipe called for none. I added a pourable chocolate frosting to it and topped it with 1/2 c. chopped pecans.

I grade these a B.