Cooking from the Blogs-What I Made

Ever since I started this blog, I have had a bit of a dilemma.  My goal here is to post recipes that I have not seen elsewhere on the internet.  I do not want to make and repost recipes from other blogs, BUT I do really, really want to make them.  I also want to share recommendation to recipes that I do make that come from other blogs.

I do post "Friday Finds", but that is recipes that I have found that I want to try, but usually have not made yet.  After giving this much thought, my answer is that each Sunday I will share what I have made with recipes from the blogs, my thoughts and comments, and link to the original poster's recipe.  My hope is that this will encourage others to go and try the same recipe.  Here then is my first installment of "Cooking from the Blogs-What I Made".

Bacon and Parmesan Pasta  from Tasty Kitchen via Dine and Dish.  As I said on Friday, I did make this dish for dinner last night.  It was  quick, easy, and very good.  I had only 13 ounces or so of  pasta.  We like a lot of sauce so if I had used the full pound of pasta, I think that I would double the sauce.   I would have liked a little more pronounced Parmesan flavor, but the cheese I had was already shredded and not grated, so I probably should have used more than called for.   Since I am a garlic lover, I think that I would add a little garlic to this dish.  Since there are just two of us, I cooked only a half a pound of bacon; and because I knew that we would have leftovers, I served it separately so when the bacon is reheated it will still be crisp.  Each of us just stirred some bacon into our individual servings.  I served this with additional Parmesan.  I will make this again.

Caramelized Vegetable Trio from The Better Baker.  I love the idea of having a one-dish side dish if you will.  My hubby does not care for fresh or frozen green beans, so I used well-drained canned green beans when I made this.  I also peeled the potatoes which is his preference.  I did overcook my potatoes slightly so they mushed up a little in the final presentation.  I really like the sweet/sour flavor of this and will make this again.  I am also thinking that this might be good with other veggies used instead of the green beans.  I think that I will try it with carrots or Brussels sprouts.

Peanut Butter Banana Smoothies from This Chick Cooks.  This is my new favorite go-to breakfast or snack.  To make this even quicker to make, I ground a quart (yes, I did say a quart!) of oats in my mini food processor so that when I want a smoothie I don't have to do this step.  I also have bananas in my freezer at all times.  A few days ago when I was feeling particularly indulgent, I add 2 tablespoons of  Easy Cocoa Syrup to make a chocolate version.  It made a nice variation.  Chocolate, peanut butter, banana-what more could you ask.  Thanks Katie for a great recipe.

Note:  photos are from the blogs represented and are the property of the owners of those blogs.

I will be back next Sunday with more "Cooking from the Blogs-What I Made".  Stay tuned.