Yum-my!

Hello Everyone, sorry there has been such a long time between posts.

I've been busy watching my calories and trying to cook things my picky husband would eat at the same time. Today's post is all about Rachael Ray's most recent cook book titled "rachael ray's look+cook". We have made 13 of the recipes so far from the book. A few of them I'm commenting on today.

I've had the book since Christmas so we've averaged a recipe a week. I believe this book was written to encourage people not to be afraid of cooking or trying foods they are unfamiliar with. It has pictures for pretty much every step of the 100 recipes spanning the first 220 pages. Of those 100 recipes, they are broken into  themes like Cozy Food, Make your own Takeout, and Fancy Fake-outs. The recipes with the photos aren't necessarily 30 minutes which I personally liked. They are almost in the format of Rachael's new show on the Cooking Channel called "Rachael Ray's Week in a Day" where you could pick out a few recipe's to make in one day and freeze for a later day.

The next set of recipes in the book are titled 30 Minute Meals. Rachael has created videos to coincide with each recipe that you can stream from your computer. Just gather your groceries and cook along side Rachael. How's thats for developing confidence in the kitchen! She has included 125-30 minute meals. I believe that there was a lot of thought put into this book and suggest it become part of your collection.

Starting with my favorite, "Turkey Chili Shepherd's Pie with a Sweet Potato Topper", found in the Cozy Food section. It's diabetic friendly and can be made with low fat/fat free ingredients. I microwaved the sweet potatoes instead of boiling them which saved time making the recipe. We used sour cream and I substituted my Tastefully Simple Garlic Garlic, Smoked Paprika and Garlic, and Wahoo Chili seasonings for some of the seasonings listed in the recipe. The recipe serves 4 to 6 and I am sad to say we didn't have any left-overs. The recipe was that good!

Another recipe from the Cozy Food section I liked but my husband wasn't a fan of, was the "Spinach & Artichoke Mac N' Cheese". I liked it because I could use whole wheat pasta which has a strong taste on its own (something I'm not a fan of). When the pasta was mixed with the spinach and cheeses, the pasta tasted like regular pasta. My husband wished the dish had some form of chicken in it. You can totally add chicken but I think it's completely fine without.

The "Chipotle Chicken Chili with Flaming Tequila-Pepper Salsa & Avocado Ranch Dressing" is a mouth full to say but was  my mouth happy eating it! Again from Cozy Food, it was also completely fun to make. It was the first thing we have ever set on fire on purpose in our kitchen. Don't be afraid of the chipotle part of the dish, you can control how much chipotle in adobo sauce you use which means you control the heat level of the dish.

Cozy Food struck again with the "Pesto-Presto Chicken" recipe. It used the least amount of ingredients but had such a big flavor that you couldn't tell there weren't a lot of ingredients. We've discovered through this recipe that we are not parsley fans. We made the recipe a second time without the parsley and found it way more enjoyable. The chicken doesn't get dry because of the creamy stuffing inside the chicken and the tomatoes that are baked on top. The dish melted in our mouths.

Since we had a pretty harsh winter, I apparently found a lot of comfort in the Cozy Food section. The next recipe that warmed our tummy's was "French Onion & Wild Mushroom Soup". The hardest part about this recipe was picking the type of crusty bread to serve with it.

From the Fancy Fake-Outs the "Gazpacho Pasta" certainly fooled us. I used whole wheat pasta for this recipe and was happy that it was mellowed by the celery, Manchego cheese, and hot sauce. The recipe also called for zucchini, parsley (which we left out), cilantro, pimentos, scallions, and almonds. We have never really liked zucchini but this recipe certainly gave us a new opinion of it.

My last recipe for today is the "Greek Salad Stack with Sliced Steak". I don't know what part was supposed to be the fake-out but the entire dish was, in the words of Rachael, "Delish"! It's pretty much a one plate dish. Pita bread toasted and layered over all the fixings of a Greek salad like they were croutons only to be dressed with the steak. My mouth is watering just thinking about this recipe.

I hope my raving about this book and comments on the recipes have swayed you into adding this book to your collection. It certainly is worth investing it. The cover price is $24.99 U.S. and certainly worth the time in the kitchen. I would have taken pictures but my husband couldn't wait that long to eat.