March Recipes to try

I love cauliflower, just about any kind of cauliflower. Raw, boiled, steamed, grilled, sauteed, or stir fried, I'll eat it. And I enjoy leeks or at least I think I do. I haven't had leeks (that I know of) in years so I'm not positive about that. But I found a nice sounding recipe for naturally low in carbs Cauliflower Leek Soup so it's on my list of recipes to try this month. The recipe calls for 3 cloves of garlic and I happen to have several cloves of awesomely delicious roasted garlic snagged from Newk's so I'll use those.

Speaking of roasted garlic from Newk's I'm obsessed with that stuff and the only way for me to get it is to go to Newk's. While I really do love their food, eating there isn't very thrifty and the sandwiches certainly aren't low carb so I've decided to try my hand at roasting garlic. I know it, it aint no big thing but I haven't done it before and I've been a little hesitant to try it but I've decided to bite the bullet. So, my other recipe to try this month is roasted garlic and the recipe is from simplyrecipes.com, one of my favorite cooking blogs. If I can roast my own garlic I can stay the heck away from Newk's and a little more freely indulge my passion for garlic.

Wish me luck!

February recipes to try

So, I've already tried one of the recipes for this month and that was Mock Crab Cakes. Yeah, I cheated and decided to make it a recipe to try after I'd already made them but it's my blog and I can do that. ;) They were very, very good and will be on our menu now and then, I'm sure. The man person and I agree there isn't really a crab taste to them but they're tasty and filling, anyway, and the recipe is definitely a keeper! If you check out the recipe, do browse Shannon's blog a bit. There are some fantastic recipes there and her blog is entertaining.

The other recipe for this month is Zucchini lasagna. I absolutely love lasagna and hadn't made it in a very long time so I was really excited about this one. I've read many recipes for lower carb lasagna but most of them leave me unimpressed. This recipe was different, though, and I'll write about it later today.

I'm working on March's recipes so stay tuned for those!

Mock Crab Cakes - Mmmm with a capital M!

I wanted to make something different for dinner tonight. Never mind that I broiled a three pound beef roast today or that we have leftover chicken and leftover chili in the fridge. Never mind that 'something different' wasn't on my menu plan for this week. I don't feel too good and very little appealed to me but I knew I wanted something different.

While perusing blogs this afternoon, I found a recipe for Mock Crab Cakes by Shannon at Margarita Stewart and knew that those were my 'something different'. I lacked two ingredients so although I was tired and just feeling puny I went to the grocery and bought them, along with the other things I needed. And I prepared the Mock Crab Cakes.

Let me say that I take a little bit of exception to Shannon's comment of "There is no crab in this, it tastes like it". Neither I nor the man person thought the patties tasted much like crab but don't let that deter you because these babies rock! To be very fair, the recipe didn't say whether the zucchini should be peeled so I didn't peel it. Also, I cut the ingredients in half and sometimes that makes a difference in taste.

I do detect a very slight seafood taste that I think is given mainly by the Old Bay seasoning which I associate with seafood and you might think they're 'crabbier' than we do so let your tongue and taste buds be your guide. Regardless of how crabby tasting they are or aren't, these patties don't disappoint in any way and will be on our menu now and then. The man person liked them so much that when I gave him a bite to taste test while the bulk of the cakes were cooking, his response was, "Do you have a bunch of that stuff made up?" Ehhh, that means he really likes it! And I'm adding this recipe to my February Recipes to Try, even though I still have one from January I haven't tried yet. Okay, so adding one I just found and tried today is kinda cheating but hey, it's my blog. ;)


Shannon, thank you for sharing this treat with the world!

January recipes to try

For a long time now (think years) I've had a list of recipes to try. I keep meaning to get around to making them but you know how it is - with work and other things going on in my life, I don't get to it. Oh, I try new recipes often but not the ones I've had for ages! Some of them now are in the "don't try" list simply because they're too high in carbs or our tastes have changed and they don't appeal to us anymore, but the list of ones to try is still very long.  And I've decided that this year I'm going to start working to reduce that list.

Just like like going to the gym and being careful about my diet are priorities, trying new recipes will be a priority. So, one of my goals for 2010 is to try at least two new recipes a month and write a blog entry about each. I'll more than likely exceed two most months but two new recipes a month is a reasonable and easily attainable goal.

Here are the two I've picked for January:

Edith Bristow's Baked Onions and Farmhouse Beef Casserole

Neither of these has long been in my "try this soon" file but both sound quite tasty and easy so I'll start with them. When I try them, I'll post the original recipe, any changes made to it, and photos. It should be interesting!

Keep watching for more on this!