Almost-Lost Foodie Stories & Ideas

There are a lot of dishes that I make that never make it to my blog. Why? It is way too dark for me to take photos. I get so exhausted and am in such pain, I say to myself, just forget it! I think to myself I will just reheat the food and photograph it the next day, only to realize the food is so good there is no hope of leftovers! And some nights, I just want to cook and eat.

Next week I will be sharing how I made this fantastic no-knead artisan bread because it is just too pretty not to share. I found out about it via my blogging buddy Anna from Anna’s Table. She has a fabulous tutorial on how to make this bread. I was so impressed I just had to try it and wow, so glad I did! Wonderful! This is is an easy bread to make, just time consuming so if you have time this weekend to make fresh bread, I highly recommend it but start on Saturday, LOL. And Anna, I still want to make that Ricotta Almond Cake you made, yummmmm….

Another awesome blogger friend of mine is Dan Clapson of Dan’s Good Side. Dan and I recently collectively mourned the fact that we will not be able to compete in Recipe to Riches. I did get a chance to make a version of his recipe How I Cooked Your Mother’s Meatloaf. Just the name of the recipe showcases Dan’s humour and ability to entertain readers with his stories and his food. Thanks to a dwindling pantry and almost-empty fridge I did have to change the recipe a little but overall it was in essence, very similar and tasty! As someone who needs a lot of sauce for a dish, I added some chilli sauce to the top of the meatloaf during the last 10 minutes and it was great. My husband and I both loved it! Thanks Dan, you really delivered with tons of flavour and there was even some nutritional content to a meatloaf for once. Nicely done!

Love her or hate her, Rachael Ray cooks a mean Vegetarian Chilli. I try and cook a vegetarian dinner at least once a week and this is a winner! Adding a can of refried beans was genius, gave the chilli so much texture and body that my husband ate the whole bowl and had no idea that there wasn’t any meat in the chilli. Because of the texture, you can also use the chilli as a dip for tortillas and my husband loved it over a big bed of rice. This is a very easy recipe that makes a ton of food. I mean, a TON! A great economical dish for a large family. I had to freeze half of it and it still made us quite a few meals. This is one I will be making over and over.

After tweeting about how much I loved Nadia G.’s Stracciatella Nadia’s staff on Twitter mentioned the Sweet Potato Soup recipe that won the week’s Weekend Dish contest by Sabrina L. I made it the other night I had to cook it for much longer than Sabrina does because it took a while for my veggies to soften. It was a very good, basic and easy sweet potato soup. I, as usual, finished it with a small dollop of low fat sour cream.

Last and sadly, least, was Food Network Magazine’s Creamy Portobello Soup. I made this over the holidays and really found the soup lacking in both body and flavour. Sometimes simple recipes just let you down and while this is not a bad soup, it is not a very good one either. Meh.

So yes! I have been experimenting in the kitchen here and there, trying out many different recipes from different sources. I wish I could document all the foodie adventures I go on with photos and stories but with my health, it is not always possible. I hope this has given you some fun foodie ideas for your weekend though. Have a tasty one!