Recipe Challenge Complete

365 Recipes & Counting!

November 10, 2024

We still have several days until the end of the year, but we’ve officially made it to recipe number 365 (and beyond)! 🎉🍽️ This has been such a fun challenge. I’ve been testing different recipes since my junior year of college, and I started tracking them in Excel back in 2020. But this year has been extra special because I’ve had the joy of sharing this journey with all of you! ❤️ It was something I always did for myself, texting friends recipes individually here and there. This year, though, I got to share it with you all in one place through this newsletter, and I decided to set the challenge of making seven new recipes each week, aiming for 365 recipes in a year.

I’m thrilled to say that this past week, I made recipe number 365! 🎊 Achieving this goal a little early feels amazing. No matter how many recipes I’ve made (not counting the old favorites I keep coming back to), I don’t want to stop. This is my happy place. And, as I’ve said many times before, the best part of this journey is sharing the food I make with my loved ones and seeing the smiles it brings to their faces. 😊🍲

I’m back home now, thrilled to be in my own kitchen again, no longer carrying around my trusty carry-on, measuring cups, and mini pantry from place to place. 🧳🥄 In the coming weeks and months, I’ll be trying to recreate some of the amazing food I tasted on my travels.

I’m also looking forward to the holiday season and making some of the tried-and-true recipes I discovered this year. 🎄🍪 And honestly, I’m ready to take a break from the simple ingredient recipes! Now that I’m back, I’m excited to dive into more challenging recipes. On the flight home, I looked up “essential recipes every home cook should know,” and I’m planning to find trusted versions of each and master them.

A huge thank you to all of you for sticking with me on this journey! As always, feel free to reply to this email with any special recipe requests or suggestions. I’d love to hear from you! 💌

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: 7 (Week 43) ✅ & 7 (Week 44)✅

Number of New Recipes Tested as of 11/3: 371 🌟

Weeks Achieving Seven or More New Recipes: 42 out of 44

This Week’s Recipe Test Summary

Impress Someone🌟

Nothing this week.

Would Make Again 👍

Tasty granola bars with freeze-dried strawberries and chocolate chips—great for a quick snack!

I grew up on tons of jello desserts, so this natural, simple-ingredient jello snack was a nostalgic treat for me! I enjoyed it, though I know not everyone loves the texture of jello.

This is a very filling breakfast that actually tastes like banana bread! It combines almond and coconut milk, but next time, I’d use just almond milk for a smoother texture.

One of my go-to breakfasts is steel-cut oats, and this had a similar creamy texture that I enjoyed. I’ll add it to my breakfast mix for the extra quinoa benefits.

Would Not Make Again 👎

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

Dairy-Free Matcha Ice Cream | TikTok Post  🍵🍦

The texture and coconut cream were great, but the condensed milk made it too sweet. I’ll be looking for (or creating!) a less sweet version.

The matcha flavor was too strong in this and the next two recipes.⬇️⬇️

The cocoa flavor was too intense in this and the next recipe.⬇️

A creative take on a crunch bar! It was a bit too sweet for me, but I might try a less sweet version.

I'm not a fan of the texture on this one.

It was an exciting way to use quinoa in a sweet treat, but it was too sweet for my taste.

I prefer plain quinoa pudding, but chocolate fans might love this—it just wasn’t for me!

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