I completed 5 new recipes

In November, I challenged myself to try out 5 recipes in 5 weeks. 

[ Baked Potato Soup ]

My recipes were:

- Meatloaf

- Sloppy Joe casserole

- Meatball sandwiches

- Potato bacon casserole

- Grilled cheeseburger wraps

With two bonus recipes:

- Doritos taco bake

- Baked potato soup

The end date was Christmas day, and by that point I had only made the Doritos Taco bake. Which was good, but not fantastic. I might try it again if I had someone to help me eat it.

I also made regular old Sloppy Joes for the first time. I used a store-bought sauce mix, and wasn't a fan of it so I might try homemade the next time around. I'll let this count as a new recipe completed.

Since then, I got serious and bought ingredients I needed for a few other things, and ended up making meatloaf (with crispy smashed potatoes as a side, also a new recipe - view on Pinterest) and baked potato soup, with slightly altered recipes. I'll be sharing those altered recipes soon, if only for my own safekeeping.

They both turned out so good that I scarfed them down at supper time, then took leftovers to work for lunch, and cleaned my plate then as well.

My body is currently thanking me for taking a break from the deep fryer.

So I'll give myself a break (hey, Christmas was busy) and say I completed 5 new recipes.

Here's to hoping for just as much luck next time around! 

5 Recipes in 5 Weeks - A Food Challenge

I'm starting a new challenge. A challenge to step out of my comfort zone and start experimenting more with food. Boyfriend and I tend to go for the same meals, over and over, and we need to think outside the box a little.

One of the big problems, and his biggest flaw, is that boyfriend doesn't like cheese. I know! Cheese. I love it. I love it alone. I love it cold. I love it melted. I love it on almost everything. Food usually isn't food without cheese. So I'm not giving up cheese, but I need to try to find alternatives to feed him too. Sometimes.

So join me if you'd like, and choose your own recipes.

Challenge: try five completely different recipes within 5 weeks.

Start: November 19
End: December 25

 Recipe 1: Meatloaf

[ Meatloaf in Muffin Pan via Pinterest ]



It says it takes 15 minutes to cook, which is genius. I might follow my own recipe that I know and love, but use the same cooking method. Meatloaf and potatoes is one meal I love, and it doesn't need cheese.

Recipe 2: Sloppy Joe Casserolle

[ Sloppy Joe Casserolle via Pinterest ]

I've never had Sloppy Joes in my adultlife, so I don't know how I'd feel about this, but I also love the variations people have posted on the website - use beef with taco seasoning, crescent rolls unrolled as the bread, bread on top and bottom, use cheese, sneak in veggies. It sounds like something I could really work with, and if I only put cheese in my part, boyfriend should like it.

Recipe 3: Oven-Baked Meatball Sandwiches

[ Oven-Baked Meatball Sandwiches via Pinterest ]

I like that this recipe has room for variation as well. Mine can have cheese on top, cheese within the meatballs. I can hide veggies in the meatballs. It's simple - just balls, sauce, cheese and buns. You can get freezer meatballs if you want it to be even easier, but I'm not a fan of those, myself.

Recipe 4: Potato Bacon Casserolle

[ Potato Bacon Casserolle via Pinterest ]

It takes an hour to cook, and sounds like it might be a lot of food so I would probably put it together the night before and start baking it as soon as I got up in the morning. It sounds like it would work well if you had company over for breakfast. 

Recipe 5: Grilled Cheeseburger Wraps

[ Grilled Cheeseburger Wraps via Pinterest ]

Skip the tomato and put in some extra cheese, and this sounds amazing.

Bonus Recipe: Doritos Taco Bake

[ Doritos Taco Bake via Pinterest ]

This sounds so bad that it would be delicious. It isn't even slightly healthy, but it's a mess of cheese, sour cream, beef, and Doritos. I think I would love it. I'm not sure if boyfriend would try it. 

Bonus Soup Recipe: 

[ Loaded Potato Soup via Pinterest ]

I had to put this as a bonus recipe because I keep seeing potato soup recipes and I really want to try one, but it's something I think I could easily mess up, and end up with no dinner. So it's just a bonus for now.

So... is anyone joining in with me to make their own recipe list to try? Please do, and send me your link. For recipe ideas, see my food boards on Pinterest.