Recent Recipe RoundUp

It's that time again, to tell you guys what new recipes we have been trying! Let's start with the sweet stuff. 

First up is Banana Bites. I had been eyeing this recipe for a while because it seemed like such a tasty snack. Basically you just slice a banana, put peanut butter on top, and dip it in chocolate. I really thought they would be amazing, but I was disappointed. First, mine didn't look anything like the picture on the web, my chocolate was way thinner and didn't set up well. And the taste? Just a little lackluster.  I think it may have been a texture thing, because the recipe said to freeze them (so the bananas wouldn't be mush). The frozen banana just wasn't my thing. 

Next was a version of peach cobbler, done in individual servings. I LOVE peach cobbler and have been using the same recipe for years. This was basically the same thing, just done in a muffin pan. The taste was delicious! The bottom of each serving stuck in the pan though, so next time I will combine baker's joy (the most amazing baking spray EVER) with the butter to keep it from sticking. You can see in the picture below I managed to get one out in solid form, haha:

The next recipe was for White Chocolate Snickerdoodles. These were AMAZING. Jason and I both loved them. The kids were not so positive, but rest assured they all got eaten. I have just recently discovered my love of white chocolate, so when I spotted white chocolate baking chips at Aldi a few weeks ago I knew I had to try some new recipes with them. These were the perfect little cookie for a nice crisp fall afternoon snack. We will most definitely make them again. 

For the next recipe, I was trying to use up some lemon curd/tart filling that my mom had given me a while back. I thought lemon bars would be the best bet, so I asked my go-to baking girl (Tabatha) what crust recipe she likes best. She suggested Wives with Knives' recipe for lemon tarts. Here is the crust part, mixed and hand-spread in the pan, ready for baking: 

Here's a shot after the lemon curd was added and then baked (it got a little brown):

The best I can say about this recipe was that it was ho-hum. I don't know if it was using the pre-made lemon curd instead of Wives with Knives' filling recipe, but Jason said he thought the crust tasted a little off. I also forgot to sprinkle powdered sugar on top (duh!) for our first tasting, but Jason so cleverly suggested it after we thought they weren't sweet enough. He's so smart! :) They were better after that, but still a little weird. I'm gonna chalk it up to the pre-made filling and give the full recipe another try sometime. 

Now on to some savory dishes! I forgot to snap shots of the first two recipes but I will give you a quick wrap-up.  First recipe was for pineapple chicken. It was a crockpot recipe and the description I read talked about how the chicken just fell apart and tasted so exotic. Well my description is that it tasted like watered-down teriyaki marinade. Bleh. 

Second un-pictured recipe was for Taco Pasta. Honestly I forgot to snap a picture of this one because I couldn't wait to dig in! It was like homemade Hamburger Helper, but SO much tastier! It called for ground beef, pasta shells, taco seasoning, rotel, onion, garlic, tomatoes, sour cream and cream cheese. It was a bit spicy but we both loved it and ate all of the leftovers. Will definitely make again. 

Okay, on to recipes I remembered to photograph! :) 

One food I love but rarely eat is chicken wings (I hate eating around the bones!). When I spotted a recipe for Buffalo Chicken Meatballs I knew we had to try it. It was a slimmed-down version with a twist - all the flavors of buffalo chicken wings with bleu cheese, but all combined in a tasty little meatball form. I used ground chicken and the texture was a little strange, but the flavor was spot on. The recipe called for celery and bleu cheese mixed right into the meatballs. They were delicious! Sorry this picture isn't great, but you can kinda see the flat meatball type creation it made:  

Next up is a cornbread recipe. I have a go-to zucchini cornbread recipe that is the best I've ever had, but I wanted to try something new. This cornbread was very sweet (unsurprisingly, it called for 2/3 cup sugar!) but very light and fluffy, not at all like the dry, suck-all-the-moisture-from-your-face typical recipe. It was good, but next time I will try at least halving the sugar, and maybe even less than that. 

To go with our cornbread, we made a Sausage and Bean Soup.  YUM! The perfect fall dinner. This soup was easy and delicious. I think it may make it onto the "regulars" list for dinner. 

So that's the latest here in the Caranci Culinary Kitchen! Stay tuned soon for trials of broccoli bites, white chocolate pumpkin muffins, and a new waffle recipe. :)