RECIPE #489, DAY #673 ORIGINAL RECIPE: “Carrot Noodles with Spicy Peanut Dressing,” from April’s Food Network Magazine* TIMING: 20-30 minutes DIFFICULTY: A little more difficult than easy TOOLS: A good vegetable peeler and other normal things COOK TYPE: None HEALTH: A-plus. You can’t really go wrong with raw veggies, herbs, spices, and even a protein-dense,…
Category: Party
Classic Grill Burgers
RECIPE #487, DAY #670 ORIGINAL RECIPE: “Way to Grill Burgers,” from Jamie Purviance’s Weber’s Way to Grill* TIMING: 20 minutes to prep the grill, then 15 minutes DIFFICULTY: Pretty easy, considering TOOLS: Grill, fuel, starter, grill spatula, plate, platter, etc. COOK TYPE: Grill HEALTH: Burgers sort of have a bad rep as junk food, but…
Seven Layer Salad
RECIPE #479, DAY #662 ORIGINAL RECIPE: This is a recipe I grew up on* TIMING: 15 minutes, plus how much times it takes you to cook bacon DIFFICULTY: Easy, as long as you know how to cook bacon TOOLS: I use a roasting pan with rack insert for my bacon, but whatever. A clear bowl…
LEGO Marshmallow Pops
RECIPE #472, DAY #652 ORIGINAL RECIPE: Various places on Pinterest* TIMING: Maybe an hour, including time to cool between steps DIFFICULTY: I find candy melts quite difficult to work with TOOLS: A microwave, double-boiler, or candy melt melter, lollipop sticks, wax paper, and Styrofoam or lollipop holder COOK TYPE: Either microwave, stovetop, or candy melt…
Cockroach Cake with Cream Guts
RECIPE #459, DAY #630 ORIGINAL RECIPE: Basic idea from “Madagascar Hissing Cockroach Cake,” on YouTube, by Katherine Dey. Actual recipes from Betty Crocker’s Cookbook. TIMING: 2 days, or at least several hours DIFFICULTY: This is not the cake you want to make with no experience TOOLS: 2 round cake pans, parchment paper, rolling mat, rolling…
Black Bean and Couscous Salad
RECIPE #436, DAY #604 ORIGINAL RECIPE: “Black Beans and Couscous Sante Fe Style,” from Mill’s and Ross’s Desperation Dinners* TIMING: 20 minutes DIFFICULTY: Easy TOOLS: A small pan with a lid, a fork, and not much else COOK TYPE: Stovetop HEALTH: This begins with white pasta (couscous), although you could get whole grain, but it…
Seven Layer Pasta Salad
RECIPE #434, DAY #601 ORIGINAL RECIPE: “7-Layer Pasta Salad,” from Food Network Magazine, July/August 2012* TIMING: 30 minutes DIFFICULTY: Easy enough TOOLS: A glass serving bowl, a pot to boil pasta, spider, whisk, small bowl, etc. COOK TYPE: Stovetop, although best served chilled HEALTH: This salad has about equal pluses and minuses. Plus: raw veggies,…
Pizza Party Sub
RECIPE #428, DAY #598 ORIGINAL RECIPE: “Pizza,” from Food Network Magazine‘s 50 Party Subs* TIMING: 30 minutes DIFFICULTY: Pretty easy TOOLS: Foil, baking sheet, skillet, bread knife, small pan and whisk COOK TYPE: Oven and stovetop HEALTH: As terrible for you as a Super Bowl pizza party sub sounds, it wasn’t really that bad. I…
Potato Samosas
RECIPE #373, DAY #544 ORIGINAL RECIPE: “Savory Pastries with Spicy Potato Filling”/”Aloo Samosa,” from Julie Sahni’s Classic Indian Cooking* TIMING: At least 1 hour DIFFICULTY: Fairly difficult TOOLS: Fryer or Dutch Oven, lots of frying oil, tongs or fry basket, drying rack, rolling pin, etc. COOK TYPE: Stovetop and fryer/Dutch Oven HEALTH: Well, they are…
Movie Boxes
RECIPE #326, DAY #517 ORIGINAL RECIPE: Got the idea from various people on Pinterest* TIMING: 15 minutes, at most DIFFICULTY: Easy, depending on your means of making popcorn TOOLS: A popcorn popper of some sort (electric, stovetop, etc.) COOK TYPE: Popcorn popper HEALTH: Homemade popcorn is actually a pretty decent snack. However, little bags of…
Candy Sushi
RECIPE #325, DAY #516 ORIGINAL RECIPE: From “Big Hero Six Family Movie Night” from online Sweet Lil You* TIMING: 20 minutes, plus some time to cool DIFFICULTY: I don’t find it especially easy to work with rice crisp treats TOOLS: A 9×12 glass baking pan, a bread knife (ideally), a heavy-bottomed sauce pan… COOK TYPE:…
Chocolate Birthday Cake
RECIPE #323, DAY #516 ORIGINAL RECIPE: “Chocolate Cake” and “Fudge Frosting” from Betty Crocker’s Cookbook* TIMING: A few hours, total DIFFICULTY: Advanced, considering the fondant. Otherwise, not too difficult TOOLS: Rolling pin, stand mixer, whisk, round baking pans, parchment paper, etc. COOK TYPE: Oven and stovetop HEALTH: This is cake, pure and simple. Sugar. White…
Autumn Cheese and Fruit Plate
RECIPE #316, DAY #509 ORIGINAL RECIPE: Life experience and reading cookbooks* TIMING: 5 minutes DIFFICULTY: Easy, but a sense of food and aesthetics is a must TOOLS: A cheese knife and perhaps a honey drizzler COOK TYPE: None HEALTH: Really, the French have a lot better way to end their meals in indulgence than we…
Swamp Snack Mix
RECIPE #291, DAY #490 ORIGINAL RECIPE: “Swamp-Creature Snack Mix,” from the “50 Spooky Snacks” insert from Food Network Magazine* TIMING: 5 minutes DIFFICULTY: Easy, as long as you don’t overmix TOOLS: Some way to pop popcorn (and mine is an electric popcorn popper) and a large bowl COOK TYPE: Popcorn popper (or your method) HEALTH:…
Midwestern Potluck Spaghetti Salad
RECIPE #283, DAY #481 ORIGINAL RECIPE: Kitchen memories of my mom whipping this up before many potlucks* TIMING: 30 minutes, including boiling the pasta DIFFICULTY: Easy TOOLS: A pop to boil, some tongs, and a big serving bowl COOK TYPE: Stovetop HEALTH: Pasta is not at the top of healthy foods, but eating it sometimes…
Straight-Up Hummus
RECIPE #271, DAY #460 ORIGINAL RECIPE: “Hummus” from Nava Atlas’s The Vegetarian 5-Ingredient Gourmet* TIMING: 5 minutes DIFFICULTY: Easy TOOLS: A small food processor COOK TYPE: None HEALTH: We all know about hummus. There it sits, in tubs of about a million brands and flavors, in the cooler section of every grocery store. How it…
Chicken Satay Lettuce Wraps
RECIPE #250, DAY #354 ORIGINAL RECIPE: “Chicken Skewers” with “Amazing Satay Sauce” from Jamie Oliver’s Meals in Minutes* TIMING: 30 minutes DIFFICULTY: Pretty easy TOOLS: A rectangle baking dish that can support either ends of a few metal skewers. A food processor. And some other things. COOK TYPE: Oven, broiling. Or grill. HEALTH: This is…
Hot, Creamy, Artichoke Dip
RECIPE #249, DAY #352 ORIGINAL RECIPE: “Luscious Spinach Artichoke Dip” from Youri on Allrecipes.com, although it is a standard* TIMING: 45 minutes, at most DIFFICULTY: Easy TOOLS: Just a small baking dish/casserole COOK TYPE: Oven HEALTH: Sure, there are hardly any carbs in the thing, but there is a lot of fat. Sharing it at…
Guacamole Mess Platter
RECIPE #246, DAY #333 ORIGINAL RECIPE: “Guacamole Platter” from Jamie Oliver’s Meals in Minutes* TIMING: 15 minutes DIFFICULTY: Easy. It helps if you have some background in breaking down veggies TOOLS: You do need a large cutting board of sorts which you can transport to the table. Wood would be best. COOK TYPE: None HEALTH:…
Strawberry Slushie
RECIPE #243, DAY #332 ORIGINAL RECIPE:“Strawberry Slushie” from Jamie Oliver’s Meals in Minutes* TIMING: 5 minutes DIFFICULTY: Easy TOOLS: A good blender COOK TYPE: None HEALTH: It depends entirely on how much sugar you add. If you add very little, or even none at all, this would be a perfect, healthy dessert (or snack). EXPERIENCE:…
Spiced and Grilled Chicken
RECIPE #224, DAY #290 ORIGINAL RECIPE: “Israeli Spice Chicken,” from Rachel Ray’s 30 Minute Meals 2* TIMING: 30 minutes DIFFICULTY: Easy, unless you count trying to tell when your chicken is cooked perfectly without burning it TOOLS: An outdoor or counter-top grill, a grill pan, or a skillet COOK TYPE: Grill or stovetop HEALTH: It’s…
French Onion Dip for Potato Chips
RECIPE #191, DAY #226 ORIGINAL RECIPE: “Onion Dip from Scratch” from Alton Brown* TIMING: 30 minutes, plus more time for cooling DIFFICULTY: Easy, but you need patience TOOLS: Just a skillet COOK TYPE: Stovetop HEALTH: Zero. Unless you want to justify it by pointing out it’s homemade and contains real, live onions. We were splurging…
Sweet Slow Cooker Meatballs
RECIPE #184, DAY #219 ORIGINAL RECIPE: “Cherry Coke and Jalapeno Meatballs” from 365 Slow Cooker Suppers, by Stephanie O’Dea* TIMING: 6 hours DIFFICULTY: Very easy TOOLS: A crockpot/slow cooker COOK TYPE: Crockpot/slow cooker HEALTH: Meatballs are a fine meat for sometimes. These definitely have added sugar, but I wouldn’t consider them too bad, especially for…
Fluffy Fruit Dip
RECIPE #129, DAY #149 ORIGINAL RECIPE: This recipe has been around, but I merged it with other recipes and kitchen knowledge to come up with the more natural version TIMING: 5 minutes, as long as your cream cheese is at room temperature DIFFICULTY: Easy TOOLS: A small or medium food processor for the first version….
Chocolate Raspberry Bites
RECIPE #127, DAY #149 ORIGINAL RECIPE: Pinterest* TIMING: 10 minutes DIFFICULTY: Fairly easy TOOLS: A heavy-bottomed sauce pan or a glass dish and a microwave COOK TYPE: Stove top or microwave HEALTH: As far as fancy finger foods go, you are a real winner with these. They are easy, they impress, and they are good…
Nail Polish Candies
RECIPE #149, DAY #125 ORIGINAL RECIPE: Taken from a combination of several posts on Pinterest* TIMING: 10 minutes, at least if you have help DIFFICULTY: So easy even an 8-year-old boy can do it TOOLS: Large zipper top bags, toothpicks, a sheet pan COOK TYPE: None HEALTH: It’s best if we say very little about…
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