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Recipes in 2012

I made a goal for 2012 to try forty new recipes, this idea was blatantly stolen from Sarakastic. Forty recipes seems like a good kind of Goldilocks number; not too many, not too few.

Recipe count: 42 of 40! Woot!

I have been adding links to this post since the beginning of the year, but I decided to post it as soon as I hit my goal instead of waiting until the end of the year to recap. There are already a lot of recaps scheduled for December, you know. This weekend’s cooking put me at 42 recipes, so here you are. Recap! Recipe’s that I made up (and wrote down) I have linked to my cooking blog, heidikins cooks. Everything else is linked up to the original recipe (I just am not the kind of blogger who “adapts” a recipe by changing the oregano or vanilla measurement from 1/2 teaspoon to 3/4 teaspoon). I think I may continue with this recipe re-cap thing, but perhaps once a month instead of saving them all up for 10 months.

Appetizers:

Apple-Goat Cheese Bruschetta: Tasty, interesting mix of flavors, well loved.

Cowboy Caviar: An excellent mix of peppers, jicama, beans, and a tasty marinade. **Is best when it sits overnight**

CPK’s Southwestern Avocado Salsa: heaven on a tortilla chip and super-crazy easy, I’ve made this several times for parties and BBQ’s.

Nutella-Yogurt Dip: Sounds iffy, is absolutely delicious with strawberries or bananas!

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus: I roasted my own peppers and made my own delicious hummus. I’m like the Little Red Hen, or something.

Spinach dip: Recipe on the back of Knorr Vegetable Dip mix. Fantastic! A new party staple!

Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms: These are inhaled at family parties but I’ve never made them and I really can’t figure out why. They are easy, delicious, and (mostly) healthy. A huge hit at book club. (The recipe is the second one in this link, although the soup recipe is equally delicious).

Veggie-Ranch Pizza: A recipe from my mother-in-law, this is devoured at family parties and now is devoured at book club. It’s fresh, packed full of veggies, and super easy to make.

Breakfast:

Apple Blueberry Muffins: A recipe mostly of my own creation.

Janssen’s Blueberry Banana Muffins: Love them!

Coconut Banana Bread with Lime Glaze: Not any better than regular banana bread, I couldn’t taste much coconut or any lime. Meh.

Rhubarb Muffins: I wanted to love these, I really did. I should have added a brown-sugar crumbly topping. These were just too tart for me. I like my muffins dessert-like, not “healthy-tasting.”

Yogurt: That’s right, homemade yogurt, in the Crockpot. A new favorite.

Cookies:

Janssen’s Banana-Oatmeal Cookies. Sugar-free, gluten-free, delicious.

Pumpkin-Peppermint cookies. Not awesome. Strange, interesting, but not awesome.

Cupcakes:

Butterbeer Cupcakes: Cream soda-buttermilk cupcakes filled with butterscotch ganache and topped with butterscotch frosting. They taste just as amazing as they sound.

Chicago Chocolate Cinnamon Cupcakes: From the Junior League of Chicago cookbook, this rich, chocolatey cake will have you dreaming of fall. So amazingly delicious! Thanks to my sis-in-law for tracking down the recipe for me!

Cookies and Cream Cupcakes: What do you get when you mix 2 packages of double-stuff oreos with a fluffy vanilla cupcake and cream cheese frosting? Heaven, I tell you! These were a huge hit!

The Devil’s Chocolate Coconut Cupcakes: These are based on a Mounds bar: chocolate cupcake, creamy coconutty center with almond buttercream. So amazing!

Dr. Pepper Cupcakes: Big. Fat. Fail. The cupcakes were dry, the frosting was nondescript (especially for all the hassle/ingredients), my reduction didn’t reduce and neither cupcake, frosting, or final version tasted distinctly of Dr. Pepper. I threw about a dozen of them in the trash.

Lemon Meringue Cupcakes: A bit labor-intensive, but absolutely delicious. They were devoured at book club.

Peach Cobbler Cupcakes: Not awesome. The theory is brilliant, the end result is…not awesome. The cupcakes are better warm, but they need to be cool to frost. The frosting was…not awesome. The ratios are off and my frosting never thickened up, despite cup after cup of powdered sugar.

Pumpkin Chocolate Cupcakes with Spiced Buttercream: Super moist and cakey and full of all sorts of amazing spices topped with this pumpkin-pie spiced buttercream. These were delicious and even more delicious the next day. Yum.

Roasted AppleScotch Spice Cupcakes with Butterscotch Buttercream: Roasted apples. Butterscotch pudding. Spice cake. More butterscotch. These are basically the taste of fall wrapped up in a cupcake. So delicious.

Dessert:

Blackberry-Peach Crisp: Made in 4-oz ramekins this miniature dessert is packed with flavor and, because they are so tiny, you can eat two. I mean, you don’t have any guilt about eating one… (or two).

Rhuberry Pie: Rhubarb, strawberry, blueberry, raspberry pie. This recipe was invented and perfected by my Mom and sister, and you should definitely try it, it will change how you feel about fruit pie.

Main Dish:

Black Bean Veggie Burger: A bit spicy, surprisingly delicious, and easy to freeze/reheat. Win!

Cauliflower Crust Pizza: Surprisingly delicious, have made it over and over

Onion-Au Jus Shredded Beef Sandwiches: Favorite! And super easy!

Pork Chops and Rice: A childhood favorite, and as good as I remembered it.

Shepherd’s Pie. This was at J-Mo’s request. Meat and onion and garlic and veggies topped with mashed potatoes and cheddar cheese and then baked. Easy. Delicious.

Stuffed Eggplant: Um, I kind of made this up as I went. Hollow out eggplant, roast, and then stuff it with bacon, onion, garlic, zucchini, yellow pepper and Parmesan cheese and bake it again. I really should try this again and, you know, write down the recipe and take a picture and stuff.

Stuffed Bell Peppers: I picked the best parts of a half-dozen different recipes, edited for those of the Mexican-food flavor, and ended up with these delicious stuffed peppers, J-Mo was surprised they were vegetarian and I was thrilled with, well, everything about them. Yum!

Side Dish:

Creamy Coleslaw with Bacon and Blue Cheese: I typically don’t like coleslaw, but the additions of bacon, tangy blue cheese, and apple-cider vinegar in the sauce made this an instant favorite. (If you make it, use less red cabbage and more regular cabbage, the red is pretty bitter and, well, it messes up the bacon.)

Man-n-Smoked Gouda with Cauliflower: Tasty! Somewhat healthy! (See: Cauliflower) Gouda Cheese! When reheated it is very cauliflowery though, and a bit rubbery. I suggest you make a half batch and eat the whole thing in one go.

One Pot, Stove Top, Creamy Macaroni & Cheese: I made a few additions; I added minced green onion and a bit of crumbled bacon and subbed dijon for mustard powder. Even so, I wasn’t impressed with the “creaminess” that was supposed to be so amazing, it was kind of gloopy…I’d rather dirty 2 pots and make a cheesy creamy white sauce to pour over cooked noodles. And then add bacon. Obviously.

Roasted Cauliflower with Golden Beets: I made this recipe up by happy accident and it has quickly become one of my favorite dishes. It’s easy to throw together and reheats beautifully.

Soup:

Bacon-Lentil Soup: A fantastic mix of veggies and lentils and bacon, and if you put it in a breadbowl you have yourself a delicious little bit of autumn.

Chickpea and Rosemary Soup: As is, the recipe is “meh” (but cheap and easy). My second time around I halved the chick peas and let it sit overnight in the fridge before eating and the difference was astounding.

Creamy Cauliflower Soup: Delicious, will definitely be making again and again. On my second attempt I added a bit of jalapeno to rave reviews.

White Bean Sausage Stew: I think Rhi blogged about this (can’t find her link) and I thought it sounded delicious. Italian sausage, white beans, tomatoes, and a little bit of herb in the slow cooker. So amazing! Although, I’m calling it Italian Chili in my world because, well, it tastes like chili + Italy.

Other Recipes:

Janssen’s Homemade Ranch Dressing: Makes the perfect amount for me to eat about 2 weeks worth of salads. Made a dozen times this year, at least.

Homemade Vanilla: Easy-peasy and make me feel oh, so very fancy. Excellent for gifts!

Go on, get your cook on!

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