New Recipes - Novi, MI

Just adding my vote for allrecipes. I get nothing but raves regarding every dish I have made. As others said, the readers' comments help you to pick good recipes or make adjustments to the recipes to make them perfect.

Hi S.---I like to use www.eatingwell.com. There are a variety of recipes from easy to advanced and everything in between. I've also started a subscription to Vegetarian Times magazine. It's great. You can also access their recipes online at www.vegetariantimes.com. My family is working at reducing our animal protein consumption. Not going totally vegan, just eating less for better health.

So I've collected a ton of recipes. I'm always trying something new. Feel free to contact me if you'd like to explore a few of mine. In the meantime, here are two of our favorites, one with and the other w/out meat.

Quinoa Salad with Dried Apricots & Baby Spinach
View Online: http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/quinoa_apricot_spinach....

Yield: 4 servings
Active Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes
Ease of preparation: Easy

This spicy salad with little jewels of dried apricot in the mix would be welcome at lunch or a simple weekday dinner. You can prepare the salad and dressing ahead of time.

1 cup quinoa (see Ingredient note)
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup dried apricots, coarsely chopped
2 cups water
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup Moroccan-Spiced Lemon Dressing (recipe follows), divided
1 cup cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes, halved
1 small red onion, chopped
8 cups baby spinach
1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted (see Tip)

1. Toast quinoa in a dry skillet over medium heat, stirring often, until it becomes aromatic and begins to crackle, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a fine sieve and rinse thoroughly.
2. Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until golden, about 1 minute. Add apricots and the quinoa; continue cooking, stirring often, until the quinoa has dried out and turned light golden, 3 to 4 minutes. Add water and salt; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, until the quinoa is tender and the liquid is absorbed, 15 to 18 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, make Moroccan-Spiced Lemon Dressing. Transfer the quinoa to a medium bowl and toss with 1/3 cup of the dressing. Let cool for 10 minutes.
4. Just before serving, add tomatoes and onion to the quinoa; toss to coat. Toss spinach with the remaining 1/3 cup dressing in a large bowl. Divide the spinach among 4 plates. Mound the quinoa salad on the spinach and sprinkle with almonds.

NUTRITION INFORMATION
Per serving: 325 calories; 10 g fat (1 g sat, 5 g mono); 0 mg cholesterol; 51 g carbohydrate; 11 g protein; 7 g fiber; 214 mg sodium.
Nutrition bonus: Vitamin A (120% daily value), Vitamin C (50% dv), Folate (32% dv), Iron (30% dv), Potassium (25% dv).

TIP
Ingredient note: Quinoa is available in most natural-foods stores and the natural-foods sections of many supermarkets. Toasting this grain before simmering enhances its flavor.

MAKE AHEAD TIP
To make ahead: Prepare through Step 3. Cover and refrigerate the quinoa and dressing separately for up to 2 days.

Moroccan-Spiced Lemon Dressing
View Online: http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/moroccan_lemon_dress.html

Yield: about 2/3 cup
Active Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes
Ease of preparation: Easy

This dressing is inspired by the flavors of North Africa and is good drizzled on mixed green salads as well as grain salads.

1/4 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons nonfat plain yogurt
1 1/2 teaspoons honey
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
Freshly ground pepper to taste

Whisk lemon juice, yogurt, honey, cumin, cinnamon and ginger in a small bowl until blended. Slowly whisk in oil so that the dressing becomes smooth and emulsified. Season with salt and pepper.

NUTRITION INFORMATION
Per tablespoon: 54 calories; 5 g total fat (1 g sat, 4 g mono); 0 mg cholesterol; 2 g carbohydrate; 0 g protein; 0 g fiber; 56 mg sodium.

MAKE AHEAD TIP

To make ahead: The dressing will keep, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 2 days

Frijoles: Zucchini Bake

2 T oil
1 C diced zucchini
1/2 C chopped green pepper
1/2 C chopped onion
1 LB gound beef
1/4 C dry white wine (I use white vermouth)
2 T tomato paste
1/4 C dark raisins
1/2 t salt
11/4 t each: pepper cinnamon and allspice
1-16oz can pork and beans in tomato sauce
1-8oz pkg cheddar cheese slices

Heat oil in large skillet. Add zucchini, green pepper and onion. Saute about 5 minutes until tender. Push veggies to one side, add meat and brown. Note: I omit the oil, brown the ground beef first and then put the veggies in to saute when the beef is nearly done.

Stir in wine, tomato paste, raisins, salt, pepper, cinnamon and allspice. Cook 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Stir in beans and continue cooking until heated through. Line casserole dish with half of the cheese. Spoon meat mixture into casserole and top with remaining cheese. Heat in a 400 degree oven 5 minutes or until cheese melts and bubbles. Serves 4 or more.

Note: I always use more zucchini, often times 2 cups, and I'll use a larger can of beans as well. I omit the cheese on the bottom of the pan and just use 4 oz. to top the casserole. I will often omit the oven stage and melt the cheese on the stove top, although the cheese melted in the oven has a nicer 'finish'.

Enjoy. Call if you have any questions. D. ###-###-####

I enjoy a couple of food blogs:

crockpot365.blogspot.com She has tons of crockpot recipes - from drinks, to desserts, to appetizers, and of course, main dishes. Her Rotisserie Style Crockpot chicken and Brown Sugar Chicken are huge family favorites for us, and so easy!

stolenmomentscooking.com is another site I get good ideas from.

Also, Meijer Mealbox meijermealbox.com has a lot of helpful features. You can pick out recipes, plan your menu for the week, make a shopping list, and print coupons (if you shop at meijer)

If you want something that plans your week of meals for you here are 3 sites(they are pay sites!):

http://www.savingdinner.com/index.php/cPath/28
http://www.dinnerplanner.com/menu.htm
http://www.mealmixer.com/default.aspx?afid=143

Here are a couple freebies(first is bulk cooking):
http://www.menus4moms.com/bulk/whatsfordinner.php
http://www.shoppingmenus.com/

you can find others by doing a menu planning web search.

I am a Pampered Chef Consultant and would be more than happy to help you out with some recipes. What kinds of food do you and your family like? Have you ever thought about starting your own home-based business to help your family out financially? Something to think about... Contact me at ____@____.com

I frequently go to cooks.com. There are a lot of options there.

Hi S.,

I to am bored with the same dishes. I have been wanting to do a recipe swap night with the ladies (dont have many friends either)maybe we can pull something together. Let me know what you think.

Cherie

If you have a group of friends. Send an mail out to one or all and ask them for one of their favorites. But they need to 'Reply to all' so everyone gets great new recipies.

You could even do it on mamasource.

Good Morning S.!

I like to use www.allrecipes.com . They have a great variety of recepes and there are also comments from people who have tried the recipes and found ways to maybe even make them better. My husband has never "not liked" a recipes from allrecipes.com (now the kids... they're another story! Having 4 kids makes it hard to find something EVERYBODY likes, but usually the majority enjoys the dish as well!!)

Hope you find this helpful and have a blessed day!!
B.

go to all recipes.com... you can sign up and they send up a number of recipes each day in an email.
the recipes on that site have reviews and pictures most of the time,it's a wonderful site. There are other ones like it as well called recipezaar and a few others I don't remember the names of.
Just take the time and just do it.... it's worth it once you find a few good recipes.

go to pampered chef .com or you can go to the book store and get cook books. I use alot of different things depending what I want to try. Some times my kids don't like it and some times they do. Also you could get your hands on a rub that you all agree on and that might helop change dinner too. lie instead of normal pork chops grab a rub and olive or canola oil and rub you pork chops through them on the grill.

Check out http://www.supercook.com/

You'd be surprised what you can make using ingredients you already have! I use this site a lot, and it's helped me realize what "staples" I need to keep in the fridge/cupboards and helps me get creative when I'm in a funk. Good luck!

S.,

I agree with the others who have suggested allrecipes.com. I really enjoy my daily e-mails with multiple suggestions for new things to try. If nothing sounds good, I just delete and wait until the next day for new options. A recent favorite is Peach Pork Picante. Search the site for that one - it's easy and different. My whole family loves it and it's now in the dinner "rotation." Be sure to sign up for all the free e-mail options and you'll never have to go searching for a new recipe again.

Regards, L.

my favorite site is allrecipes.com
you can sign up for the "daily dish" and they just pick some random recipe to send you...delete it if it doesn't sound good.
plus...you can keep recipes you want to try in an online recipe box.
the recipes can be changed by entering how many servings you want as well.
also...others who have made it leave comments and suggestions, so you can hear what others have said before you even try it.
there is a feature where you can search by ingredients you want, and don't want, and it'll search the site for you. perfect for those nights when you are staring at that package of chicken and just don't know where to go.
I'm in for a recipe swap too...you could just send out a request like...who has a chicken recipe...and see what we all get! :)

allrecipes.com has them also some inexpensive recipes can be found on savealot.com.

i had heard meijer has a place on its website and it keeps a tally of items so you can print a list for easy shopping. (although I haven't been able to figure it out.)
Another trick is to meal plan 2 wks or a month at a time so you only get what you need. That saves on your grocery bill also.