Recipes Tried In November – Round 4

 

November Recipes.

I still can’t believe that I have completed the process of making 26 “new to me” recipes.

Only 4 more days to go!

I was talking to my mom the other day and I told her that I thought I would crush my November Challenge. Her response was, “and do you know why?”. My reply was, “because I don’t like to lose?”

We had a good laugh about this fact. She reminded me that I was the reason that all of the grandkids are told “you know the rules right?” when playing board games with her. To which they respond “no throwing a fit if you lose”. I’m not really sure what her definition of a fit is, but she reminded me that if I was losing, in say Monopoly, it was very obvious that I wasn’t happy when I gruffly said: “here then, take my money!”

I promise that I’ve learned a lot about losing gracefully since then.

However, I don’t want to lose against myself.

So I’m hoping to continue crushing my monthly “year of 40” challenges.

But you came here for the recipes!

If you missed earlier rounds you can find them at these links: Week 1, Week 2, Week 3.

As before, the recipes are linked to where I’ve saved them on Pinterest and I’ll share any substitutions that I made and what I thought of the outcome.

Here we go!

November 20th.

Butternut Squash Smoothie.

The one thing about making a new recipe a day is that quite often there are remaining ingredients…fresh herbs, fruits, vegetables…

I’m not a fan of food waste (even though I waste way more than I should) so I was looking for a smoothie to use up some butternut squash puree that I had. I suppose some people might just eat the puree. I just can’t do the baby food thing. Maybe if my teens were still babies… anyway!

I don’t have a “scoop” in my protein powder, so I used 2 Tbsp Organic Rice Protein Powder and my milk of choice, as usual, was Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk.

I still expected this to have the potential to be something that I would gag down. Instead, I found it surprisingly tasty and will likely make it again.

Assessment: Surprising Win!

November 21st.

Banana Almond Flax Smoothie.

My banana wasn’t frozen, but I added more ice. As the commenter on the pin stated, this had a milky consistency. I had made this smoothie in a single serving blender cup. Normally, I would have transferred it to the larger blender and added more ice to get the consistency that I prefer. I needed to get dinner started (still have to feed the hubby and teens even if it’s not a new recipe), so I chose to drink it as is. I don’t like milk. Even when the milk isn’t cow’s milk, I don’t like milky consistencies. I finished it, but not without trying not to feel grossed out.

Assessment: Add more ice and try again.

November 22nd.

Creamy Feta Dip.

This was the day that Big Mr had his wisdom teeth removed. I was also prepping some things for Thanksgiving, so I needed an easy snack. Since I didn’t realize that I did indeed have a lemon, I used a squeeze lemon and dried lemon peel. Then, I served it with pita chips. Two of my kids asked if somebody had been sick in the house. When they discovered it was this dip, they refused to try it. I didn’t think it smelled awful. It tasted pretty good. Mostly the hubby ate it.

Assessment: I may look for other versions…but I also may not.

November 23rd.

Herbed Nut Roast and Mushroom Gravy.

My sister-in-law was doing all of the traditional cooking for Thanksgiving. I know…I’m so lucky! I made some pies but wanted to bring something different as well. As luck would have it, this recipe came across in my emails. One of the people that would be at Thanksgiving Dinner is a vegetarian, plus I would like to try to incorporate more vegetarian meals into my life. This nut loaf is actually vegan.

I could not find cremini mushrooms at my grocery store, so I substituted baby Bella. I also didn’t have fresh sage and substituted dry. In the gravy, there weren’t dried porcini mushrooms, but I did find a Bistro Blend which contained oyster, shiitake, porcini, and black trumpet.

This was a time-consuming recipe. When I went to put the mix into the loaf pan, it looked too dry to me. I did not have time to have anything go wrong, and it was a pricy recipe to create as well. I added enough water to have it stick together (probably less than 1/2 cup). The loaf held together when I transferred it to a serving platter at dinner.

The gravy threatened to do me in. It was no fault of its own. When I went to sprinkle in some pepper, the larger opening popped open and poured into the pan. That’s what I get using the measuring pepper instead of the pepper shaker. I took paper towels and blotted out the pepper that wasn’t covering mushrooms, dabbed the mushrooms… took a deep breath, put the tears back into their bay, and carried on.

The loaf was okay. I ate its leftovers. It was not my preference for foods. The gravy…Ahhmazing. I ate it on a baked potato after I ran out of the loaf.

Assessment: I won’t be making the loaf again, but the gravy may become a new regular.

November 24th.

Lemon Garlic Zucchini Noodles.

I’ve been wanting a spiralizer for ages. I decided to purchase a cheap one to see if I would actually use it before considering the possibility of getting the Kitchen-Aid attachment for my stand mixer. This was the first chance that I’ve had to try it out. I considered an avocado pesto recipe, but I was missing a few ingredients.

This was hands down one of my favorite recipes….maybe one of my favorite recipes of the month. Proving that sometimes simple is the best.

Assessment: Major Win!

November 25th.

Healthy Shamrock Shake.

The recipe was more of a jumping off point. I used unsweetened vanilla almond milk instead of coconut milk. Then, I added 1 Tbsp of coconut oil, just in case it needed some coconut taste. I probably would have used coconut sugar, but I had already added the maple syrup and vanilla extract so I didn’t want it any sweeter. The amount of mint called for wasn’t clear to me. I was trying to use up the mint I had remaining before it went bad. I probably would have used more, but I just prefer my minty items on the more minty side. It was creamy and tasted pretty good.

Assessment: Keep tweaking.

November 26th.

Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole.

This was so good but so rich! In the future, I’d half the recipe and bake in a smaller dish and serve it with a salad.

Assessment: I wouldn’t make this on a weekly basis, but I would make it again.

Did you see any recipes that you found appealing?

Stay tuned for next week when I share the remaining four recipes and my thoughts on the recipe challenge.

Let your light shine!

Amy