yankee pot roast and vegetables

p. 86

8:30a; I just finished setting the timer and already the meal is very aromatic. I am hoping this one does well since there have been too many poor reviews/recipes lately. I want to eat good food :)

7p; this was yummy. classic meat and potatoes dish, hubby and I agree, 4 stars.

mom's tuna casserole

p. 153

11a: as I prep this meal, I realize that it's very inexpensive. it has only a few ingredients and a cook time of 5-8 hrs; I am putting it for 6.

7p: I served the casserole with a side of peas and carrots seasoned with black pepper. it was quite delicious, the tuna was nicely flavoured with the spices and the two cream of soups the recipe calls for. my husband and I agree on 4 stars.

chicken marsala with fettuccine

p. 106

3p: I was not looking forward to this recipe, but the prep got me a little excited as it is so aromatic. I still haven't formed an opinion on the mushrooms...fungus. we shall see.

7p: well, my husband enjoyed the fungus chicken. it was super earthy tasting because of all the mushrooms, as the pic proves. I did like the overall flavour, but these recipes call for shorter times than is necessary for the sauce to thicken. 4 stars.

roast chicken with peas, prosciutto and cream

p. 105

8a: this is another of my picks. it looks yummy in the cookbook so I am hoping it goes well. recipe calls for a whole roasting chicken, we will have lots of leftovers. 

7p: another disappointment. a whole chicken is ridiculous as the bones practically melt when you try to carve them out, so we had to eat very carefully to not choke! also, the cream takes longer to thicken than is stated in the recipe. if we redo this recipe it will be with boneless chicken. 2 stars.

fall-off-the-bone bbq ribs

p. 175

3p: well, well, well...ribs. let me tell you a little bit about myself, I have a hard time eating meat. I rather have fish or chicken than red meat. when I was pregnant all I wanted to eat were ribs, and I craved them all the time. since then, ribs have become a fave food, so I have high expectations. the dry rub smells delicious already and we just bought "diana's" bbq sauce for the recipe. we shall see how it goes.

7p: wow. this is incorrectly named. the meat stuck to the bone and my husband didn't like the dry rub. 2 stars, hopefully we find a yummy rib recipe as a go-to.

beef bourguignon

p. 67

6:40a; this is a 10-12 hour cook time so luckily my alarm, (read: my 6 month old  boy) woke us up. it took a good hour to prep all ingredients and to cook the bacon and beef as well as brown the carrots and sliced onion. once it all was put into the crock pot, it smelled so delicious.


12:00p; I cheated and stirred it once to ensure that all the beef was nicely soaked in the stew. it smells so good! I wanted to try a spoon, but I resisted.

7:00p; hubby and I just ate our bowls of stew and a couple of slices of cornbread. it was delicious! the beef was so tender it would fall apart on the spoon, the onions were flavourful and the mushrooms added just the right taste to the dish. an easy 4 stars

braised fruit lamb

p. 75

9:30a; I put the lamb in the crock pot after having broiled it per directions. it already smells delicious and I am hoping this recipe doesn't disappoint like the jambalaya!

5:45p; I have plated the dinner, it looks yummy. :)  it has smelled very sweet and rich all day in the crock pot and I copied the photo in the book by plating the lamb over mashed sweet potatoes. I found that recipe online, (1/4 cup of milk, 2 tablespoons butter, 2 sweet potatoes and a drizzle of maple syrup!).

7:00p; once hubby came home we ate and it was delicious! the figs and apricots had soaked up some of the sweet flavours from the raspberry jam and the white wine vinegar. the lamb was succulent and fell apart on the fork. 4 stars!!

shrimp jambalaya

p. 138

9:30a; this is a super exciting recipe! I love shrimp and have never had any jambalaya, I know there are seafood, meat and all these different combos to be tried, but I have never had any so this is exciting for me. all of the ingredients smell so delicious and the sauce gets to mingle for 8hrs! the shrimp only gets put in for the last 20 mins! we shall see how this goes!!

11:00p; we ate around 6:30p, but I was trying to calm my thoughts over this meal. I am thoroughly disappointed. this smelled delicious and it looked good, as you can see by the pics, but the darn sauce was so runny. this made the jambalaya taste watered down and took away from what could have been an excellent dish. also, my husband was disappointed that there wasn`t any sausage with the shrimp as that`s the type of jambalaya he favours. either way, I will be looking for a better jambalaya recipe as this just disappoints. way too runny and that ruined the flavour overall. one star out of five. :(

pulled pork with cola bbq sauce

p. 155

9:30a; I am excited for this recipe! my hubby especially loves pulled pork sandwiches and I like them too. this recipe seems easy enough, I will make the sauce in 8hrs. pfft for waiting

5:40p; just made the sauce, it is not as thick as in the recipe book, but it seems good enough.

6:30p; yummy! the only thing missing is dip! I will have to make some next time by making two batches of the reduced sauce, or slather on some bbq sauce. a yummy 5 stars!!

chinese pork tenderloin

p. 181

11 am: oh, I am excited for this recipe. my husband and I love eating Chinese food, especially sweet and sour pork. this recipe calls for a jar of sweet and sour sauce and it seems easy enough. got the ingredients in the crock pot and am eagerly awaiting this one!

7 pm: wow. this was a massive disappointment. this recipe tasted like a microwave dinner. the pork caused the entire dish to be much runnier than you'd want sweet and sour sauce to be. I am not sure if I will even try this recipe again as I seriously hate the taste of microwave dinners and I couldn't even finish my plate. it goes without saying that both my husband and I rate this one star out of five.

braised chipotle beef

p. 82

unlike yesterdays 10 hour recipe, this recipe is cooked for 7 hrs, which means I went solo on this one.
10:30 am: I started braising the beef as per the recipe, but it took much longer as bebe tired of his jumper :(  otherwise, once I distracted him with his other books and toys, this meal started taking shape. the next time I make this I will apply the dry rub to the beef the night before as that was the most time consuming (and messy) part.

 6:40 pm: this gets 5 stars!! so yummy. I usually don't like overly spicy items, and the chipotle chile powder sneaks up on you. definitely will eat this one again!!