Monday, October 31, 2011

Rating of Last Week's Meals + Coffee Cake recipe :)

I thought I would give a quick update on how meal planning went for us last week. I don't know that I'll always do this, but I made a few new recipes and Tim like to help me rate them so we can remember how we liked them and if I want to make them again!

Our rating system: First each of us give it a number out of 10 for TASTE, 
then I rate it for "Ease to Make"

Broiled Parmesan Tilapia (Taste: Julie - 4, Tim - 5, Ease to make-7) Now the low ratings are not really fair. I kind of botched this recipe. I plan on trying it again. #1 problem - I accidentally got smoked haddock when I shopped online. It was just too salty for us with the parmesan and smoking. #2 problem - I am still trying to figure out my stove. I could not for the life of me figure out how to broil with my oven. So the topping that was supposed to be golden and crispy was mushy - yuck. Of course as soon as we finished dinner, I accidentally pressed the right button and it went to broil - haha! Now I know! So don't discount this one - it does look like a really great recipe!

Pasta Pie - (Taste: Julie-7, Tim 7.5, Ease to make -8) I had made this one before and we had forgotten how much we liked it!

Chicken Fajitas - We didn't rat this one because it wasn't new. It's one that is easy and we love so it always gets thrown into the rotation! I set it up like a "burrito bar". Tim's exact words were, "It looks like a Chipotle up in here!"


Baked Mac and Cheese - (Taste: Julie -9.5, Tim-10, Ease to make -6) Thank you Martha Stewart for this recipe! YOU NEED TO MAKE THIS make and cheese! It was a little more involved and made a big mess (probably because the girls were helping me), but it's worth it! We ended up eating this two days in a row for lunch and dinner -yum!

Chicken Pot Pie (Taste: Julie -8.5, Tim-9, Ease to Make: 5) This was absolutely delicious! Tim loved it and thought I was from another world for making it(so of course I'll make it again). It was just a lot of little steps and I think next time I will make the filling during nap time or the night before and then just throw the crust on and bake it before dinner so that I don't loose my cool while kids are hanging on me and Tim is on his way home!
Here are the pics I took of it:




Harvest Salad - I'm a little bummed that I didn't get to this one this week. We ended up having so many leftovers, that we didn't need this meal. But I plan on making it for lunch this week :)


Nana Baylor's Coffee cake - I made this last week and a few people asked for the recipe. It's seriously amazing! I make this coffee cake for every holiday and probably once a month when there are no holidays(per Tim's request :) We all love it! Usually I make it in a bunt pan, but this last time I made part of it in a loaf pan (for our sweet neighbors who give us fresh eggs and homemade jam) and then the rest of it in muffin tins.



 Mom Baylor’s Coffee Cake
1 stick of Butter (soft) 2 Cups flour
1 Cup of sugar 1 tsp baking powder 
2 eggs 1 tsp baking soda 
1 tsp vanilla ½ tsp salt
½ pint sour cream (8 oz) ½ Cup chocolate chips
  ½ Cup of chopped pecans
Topping: 
¼ Cup sugar ½ cup pecans
1tsp  cinnamon
Directions: 
1. In a large mixing bowl, cream- butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and sour cream until blended
2. In a small bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
3. Add dry bowl of dry ingredients to wet ingredients slowly until fully mixed. 
4. Add ½ c chocolate chips and ½ c chopped pecans
5. Spoon half of the batter evenly into the bottom of a bunt pan. 
6. Sprinkle half of the pecan “topping” over the bottom layer of batter.
7. Spoon the last half of the batter evenly into the bunt pan. 
8. Sprinkle the last half of the pecan “topping” over the final layer of batter. 
**Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes (check after about 35-40 minutes – every oven is different)
Take out of oven and let cool in pan for 10 minutes. 
Use spatula or knife to release from edge of pan 
Flip onto a dessert plate to finish cooling. 

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