This past week, I tested 12 different recipes. Unfortunately, none of them passed my test. However, I want to show you my process for choosing what to make each week. I have 900+ recipes saved in the Paprika Recipe Manager app that I haven’t tried yet. I always search for ingredients I have in the “uncategorized” recipes section to decide what to make that week. Here’s a video of how I do it.

Like I mentioned last week, peaches are a staple in my house all summer 🍑. I had a couple that needed to be used soon, so I found these Peach Caramels while scrolling on Pinterest before bed.

I am a weekly visitor to the San Diego Public Library 📚. I rent all my cookbooks there. I keep a couple of books next to my bedside and aim to try recipes from them before returning the cookbooks to the library. Here are some recipes I tried:

• Tomato and Peach Salad with Toasted Farro and Mozzarella from Cooking in Real Life: Delicious & Doable Recipes for Every Day (A Cookbook) by Lidey Heuck 🍅🍑

• Spiced Sweet Potato Chips and Creme Fraiche Dip from The Sprouted Kitchen: A Tastier Take on Whole Foods (A Cookbook)

• Pumpkin Pie Steel-Cut Oats from The Sprouted Kitchen: A Tastier Take on Whole Foods (A Cookbook) 🎃

• Overnight Oats with Almond Butter from Cooking in Real Life: Delicious & Doable Recipes for Every Day (A Cookbook) by Lidey Heuck 🥣

• Liddy’s Bars from Cooking in Real Life: Delicious & Doable Recipes for Every Day (A Cookbook) by Lidey Heuck 🍫

Since I used canned pumpkin for the steel-cut oats, I had lots of canned pumpkin left that I didn’t want to throw out. I can make many recipes because I nearly always scale down recipes in Paprika to single portions. Here’s a video of how:

This is how I made four pumpkin recipes with one can. Also, I know pumpkins are for fall, but I am a pumpkin person year-round 🎃.

• Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Granola Bark from Kale Junkie 🍂🎃

• No-Bake Pumpkin Balls from Feel Good Foodie 🎃

• Pumpkin Spice Superhero Muffins from Run Fast. Cook Fast. Eat Slow. (A Cookbook) by Shalane Flanagan and Elyse Kopecky 🧁

I mentioned I have been scrolling on Pinterest. I had lots of blended overnight oats recipes in my feed, so I had to try two:

• Chocolate Covered Strawberry Blended Overnight Oats from Nourished by Nic 🍓

• Mango Blended Oats (With a White Chocolate Shell) from Gina Burgess 🥭

And this one is just another smitten kitchen  recipe I wanted to try: Oven Ribs 

Recipes Made So Far This Year:

Goal: To try seven new recipes each week 🗓️, aiming for 365 this year!

 Number of Recipes Made this Week: 12

Number of New Recipes Tested as of 6/23: 221

Weeks Achieving seven or More New Recipes: 24 out of 25

This Week’s Recipe Test Summary

Impress Someone🌟

Nothing this week

Would Make Again 👍

Nothing this week

Would Not Make Again 👎

These recipes didn’t live up to expectations or weren’t to my taste

Peach Caramels from Love and Olive Oil 🍑🍬

• You won’t be able to taste the peach in these caramels. Instead, make these apple cider caramels. I used this candy thermometer to make these caramels.

Tomato and Peach Salad with Toasted Farro and Mozzarella from Cooking in Real Life: Delicious & Doable Recipes for Every Day (A Cookbook) by Lidey Heuck 🍅🍑

Oven Ribs from smitten kitchen 🍖

• I was very excited to make ribs for the first time. This was a 6-hour process, and I successfully made ribs, but the taste of the rub was just okay. I have to beat Texas Roadhouse ribs to get H’s approval.

Spiced Sweet Potato Chips and Creme Fraiche Dip from The Sprouted Kitchen: A Tastier Take on Whole Foods (A Cookbook)

Pumpkin Pie Steel-Cut Oats from The Sprouted Kitchen: A Tastier Take on Whole Foods (A Cookbook) 🎃

Pumpkin Spice Superhero Muffins from Run Fast. Cook Fast. Eat Slow. (A Cookbook) by Shalane Flanagan and Elyse Kopecky 🎃🧁

Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Granola Bark from Kale Junkie 🍂

No-Bake Pumpkin Balls from Feel Good Foodie

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Blended Overnight Oats from Nourished by Nic 🍓🍫

• I might be biased here because I think I have decided I am not a fan of overnight oats in general. But I think blending them makes it worse, because it tastes like raw dough.

Mango Blended Oats (With a White Chocolate Shell) from Gina Burgess🥭

Overnight Oats with Almond Butter from Cooking in Real Life: Delicious & Doable Recipes for Every Day (A Cookbook) by Lidey Heuck 🥣

Liddy’s Bars from Cooking in Real Life: Delicious & Doable Recipes for Every Day (A Cookbook) by Lidey Heuck 🍫

I’d love to hear your thoughts, suggestions, or any recipe requests you might have. Just respond directly to this email.

See you next week. Keep cooking! 👋 

Vale from ValeCooks