Summer Projects

At the beginning of my summer I made a massive to do list (some fun things, some more just necessary) and one of those was to try 15 new recipes this summer. With it being as hot as it has been, it's been hard to convince myself to get into the kitchen and actually cook anything, much less anything new, but over the last 2 weeks I've been doing just that and it's actually been fun. And everything we've tried has been delicious. A few will take a little tweaking, but I'm definitely glad we tried them out.

If you're looking for some new recipes, here are some of my recommendations, from my experiments over the last couple of weeks...

Mama Trishy's Fishy Tacos (from Confessions of a CF Husband blog)--these were awesome and so easy to make. We pretty much followed the recipe exactly, except for the sour cream part, since we both hate sour cream. :)

Pastor Ryan's Homemade Bread (from The Pioneer Woman Cooks blog)--again, super easy and SO good. I made it in the oven because I don't have a dutch over like they recommend, but the flavor was wonderful. I'm already planning to make it again soon!

Pastor Ryan's Homemade Pasta (from The Pioneer Woman Cooks blog)--who knew making homemade pasta was so simple--just a few eggs and some flour. When I make it again I will be sure to roll the dough out just a little thinner and cut it just a little straighter with my pizza cutter that I just bought, so that the noodles will cook more evenly, but all in all it was good and a lot of fun to make!

Pastor Ryan's Bolognese Sauce (from The Pioneer Woman Cooks blog)-- this one had a few more steps than the other things but again, was really simple and really good. It was a little meaty for me, but Landon said it was really good and he's a spaghetti lover, so I think that means it's a winner. :)

Italian Confetti Pasta Salad (from All Recipes)--this was so easy and delicous. I cut out the olives and added some corn, which gave it a nice flavor. Also, I would recommend only making half of the dressing or doubling the amount of pasta, unless you like your pasta salad really soupy. And, like the recipe says, it does taste better the next day after all of the flavors have marinated for a while!

Bruschetta with Tomato and Basil (Simply Recipes)--just how I like my bruschetta. Nothing fancy, but delicious flavors.

Next week, I've got a few things I'm planning to make off of this website (it all looks so good!) and I'm planning to try the homemade noodles and bread again with this fresh tomato sauce from the Eating Well Magazine/Website.

And, if I get a sweet tooth (or really, if I have some event to bring a dessert to) I might just have to try these pecan/pretzel/rolo combos from Annalee's blog.

Happy cooking! And, happy Friday! :)