I have a love/hate relationship with Pinterest. Really. I resisted it for as long as I could, and there are still quite a few things about it that annoy me. That's a whole post in and of itself. But, it does have it's benefits.
As I am trying to cook more at home, I am turning to pinterest more and more for ideas and new inspiration. I figured I'd share a few of our finds with you guys.
I had a thing of cream cheese from a dessert I was suppose to make for an event and then it got canceled. There sat this thing of cream cheese in my fridge for weeks. While meal planning and looking on pinterest, I remembered that I had pinned this chicken chili. I had most of the ingredients, so it went on the list. It was super easy to make and was really yummy. Personally, I think I'll dial down the amount of chili powder next time, but Michael really liked it. What we both liked is that it didn't make a huge amount. We ate it once for dinner and then ate it again as leftovers. We probably could have got another serving or two out of it too. But a lot of recipes make SO much and then we get sick of eating it after a few times. This was just the right amount. I will be making this again.
I have a friend who has a pinterest board for "recipes we liked". Genius, right? That leads me to one of my pet peeves... people spend HOURS pinning and pinning and liking and pinning and then do absolutely nothing with it. What a waste of time. I like "tried and true" recipes. I may not always agree with the person, but at least I know someone who personally thinks the recipe is good. So I decided to give this a try. She wrote in the description that she had finally found a meatball her husband liked, but that she would use a different sauce next time. This happens to bring me to another pet peeve--people that just copy the exact pin and don't change the words. When I know for a fact they don't have a son named Easton, or have three daughters, or whatever other random thing that it says that doesn't apply to their life in the least.... Anyway, I like to try a recipe as is at first. Even though she put that she didn't like the sauce. We actually really liked this recipe. The sauce has a kick to it, so if that's not your thing then I would use less (or no) red pepper flakes. Olivia actually ate it and loved it. After tasting it myself I was worried that it would be too spicy for her, but she didn't seem to mind. There were a LOT of onions used and the onion I had was kicking. I will use less in the meatball portion next time. Another nice thing... when we use jarred sauce, Olivia's face would be stained orange and it was immediately to the bath. This sauce didn't leave a mess at all. This has inspired me to find other sauce options and just to make my own. Who needs orange dyed spaghetti sauce when you can make your own without?
I can't remember exactly how I came across this recipe. I'm pretty sure it was a rabbits trail from some pinterest post, but who knows. Anyway, eating a meatless meal is a great way to save money. Plus, eating beans is a good healthy alternative. Beans and rice make a complete protein, so this is a good mix. I know there are tons of black bean burgers out there, but the $2 meal headline caught my eye and I went with it. We ate these on sandwich thins (instead of a bun) with burger fixings. The texture was a little mushier than I would have liked, but the taste was fine. Olivia gobbled hers right up and I ended up using the leftovers for her lunches. This isn't some super favorite recipe. I'll probably keep looking for a yummy black bean burger, but I'd make this again.
More to come.......
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