Swedish Oven Pancakes

This is by far Eric's favorite recipe. It is a dish his family used to eat every Christmas morning along with grapefruit. I received the recipe as a gift from my father-in-law at my wedding shower. I looked at it as a little bit of a right of passage to receive the recipe and have been happily making it for almost 10 years. Eric's aunts believe you must make it with whole milk. I can report that I've made it with 1% and 2% with no problem. I've also varied the amount of sugar I've used and it doesn't make a difference in taste. I also always use a 9x13 pan and it comes out perfect. 

Batter before baking

Things I learned from this recipe:

There is nothing like making a recipe with love.

Would I make this recipe again?:

For a lifetime.

The recipe:

As written by my father-in-law:

1 C milk

2/3 C flour

2 tablespoons of sugar

1/2 teaspoon of salt

2 eggs

opt: 1/2 teaspoon of cardamon

Beat until smooth. Put 1/4 cup of butter in a 9x9 pan and heat until melted. Remove and pour in batter. Bake at 400 degrees for about 35 minutes.

Feta Shrimp

We woke up late and also had dinner plans tonight so I'll call this a "lunch snack". I have no idea what that means but I made it and we ate it way after normal lunch hours and it was tasty. I served it with a ciabatta loaf to soak up the extra juices. I should note that I really enjoyed the taste of the feta melting into the dish. Something new for me and I'd like to make something like this again. A variation is to serve it over orzo. 

Step 1 & 2

Re-heating the shrimp

Things I learned from this recipe:

Cherry tomatoes and grape tomatoes cook differently. I ran out of grape and used a few cherry and those cooked extremely fast, wilted and burst unlike the grape ones. Fascinating.

Would I make this recipe again?:

Sure

The recipe

This is not the exact recipe I used but it is close. I did not use lemon juice or flat leaf parsley (although I'm sure it'd be fine with it), and I also used fresh oregano instead of dried. 

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

Oh the woes of having to make a recipe a day. Sometimes I just have to bake. And sometimes I just have to bake at technically the next day, like at 12:34am because that is the only time I have to cook. I actually didn't intend to technically make this the next day, but that is just how it turned out. I actually didn't try my first piece until 2am, but I will still give it an A for effort and for not giving up and just going to bed when I got home from dinner.

This recipe is super easy and the cooking time was 25 - 30min. I typically go with the middle time when given a range and chose 28min for this recipe. I took it out and let it cool for the 10min but thought the middle could still use a little more cooking after sampling. I reheated the oven and popped it back in for an additional two minutes, and then I took it out, inspected it, and popped it back it for another three minutes. I need to do some reading about placement of items in the oven and see if this is contributing to my baking not being fully cooked through. I haven't had this problem with everything I've made, but it seems to happen more often than not.

Things I learned from this recipe:

I think my oven would like to make a case for me to bake on the longer end rather than the middle range of times like I do for most dishes I make for dinner.

Would I make this recipe again?:

Probably

The recipe

Chicken Panzanella Salad

I like a quick lunch that isn't a sandwich. We love sandwiches but we eat a lot of them so I love a salad that is filling. Over the years I've also learned to use and love red wine vinegar and make any recipe that utilizes it. I would say this is similar to a Greek salad minus the olives, but it's even more than that.

I was able to put the whole salad together while the chicken was cooking (my ideal lunch scenario). I should not have put the croutons in first to soak up all the vinegar but other than that, the salad was delicious. 

Things I learned from this recipe:

The last couple of recipes that required chicken said to cook it on medium-high heat. In the past I've cooked it on medium heat and it never seems to cook as fast or thoroughly as I'd like. I'm definitely going to be sticking with a little higher heat.

Would I make this recipe again?:

We are eating it for lunch again tomorrow.

The recipe

I couldn't find the actual Weight Watchers recipe anywhere online, but the link is pretty close. I used regular vine tomatoes, added yellow bell pepper, and used croutons instead of crusty baked bread to save time.

Pesto Chicken Club Sandwich

I'm coming up on month three of a recipe a day, and I'm finding that inspiration comes in waves. I don't always feel like making anything from the huge pile of recipes I have, but I feel a sense of responsibly to the blog and for now, it is what keeps me going. I psyched myself out of making a Gordon Ramsey recipe this week so I had a couple of chicken breasts sitting in the refrigerator. I was flipping through recipes today and saw a wonderful picture of pesto chicken club sandwiches from a Weight Watchers recipe magazine. I decided to make the recipe even easier and used the pesto recipe from January (this seemed easier than store bought), crisped some bacon, cooked the chicken and called it good. I have to remember that sometimes I need to keep it easy. I also love the idea of using parts of other recipes to inspire new ones. It's something I strive to be better at, and this recipe definitely provided a boost of confidence.

I should also mention that I bought the baguette from our favorite bakery, Aura Bakery and it really made the difference. 

Pesto pre-blend

The goods

Things I learned from this recipe:

Progress is progress. 

Would I make this recipe again?:

Sure

The recipe

I unfortunately couldn't find a link to this great recipe. Here is what was in the magazine:

Serves 4

2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast

6 tablespoons refrigerated reduce-fat pesto (or make your own!)

4 green leaf lettuce leaves

8 (1.8-ounce) slices white-wheat bread, toasted (or a baguette)

4 (1/4"-thick) slices tomato

8 center-cut bacon slices, cooked (turkey bacon works too)