Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Cooking Challenge #1

I like to cook and bake but lately I've been rather uninspired.  So today when my email inbox had a message from Food.com (formerly known as Recipezaar) about their top 25 summer menu ideas, I decided to use that list as my inspiration for some more interesting meals.  The amazing Rhonda is baking her way through Martha Stewart's Baking Cookbook (while being a mama to 3 little ones, a wife to a medical resident and running a photography business) so I decided I could certainly cook my way through this much shorter list.

Tonight for supper we had Better Than Olive Garden Alfredo Sauce - and it was scrumptious!!



Cooking notes:
- I used 1 cup of coffee cream (18% fat) and 1 cup of whipping cream (35% fat) so this is not a low fat meal.  As I was cooking,  I felt rather like Pioneer Woman who has a love affair with butter and cream!
- The sauce was nicely simmering as I reached into the fridge for parmesan cheese - and came up empty handed.  There was a container of cottage cheese so I used that instead for a further reduction in the total fat content.
- I also substituted white cheddar for the mozzarella.
- I cooked fettucini this morning and just poured boiling water over it and let it sit for 2 minutes to rewarm it tonight before draining it and adding the sauce.
- My garden has an abundance of swiss chard so I lightly sauteed 6 chopped cups of it in a non-stick pan and added it to the sauce at serving time.  It added some color and more nutrition to the meal.
- I guess I kind of made the dish my own!  I decided to go with what I have in the cupboard and fridge as I work through this list of recipes, rather than specifically shopping.  I don't have a time line in mind but I do want to make every single one of them.

Next up - Soft Snickerdoodle Cookies!

4 comments:

  1. Yumm. That looks fantastic, and Julia Child would also say that everything tastes better with butter. I do have to agree that it does add some fantastic flavour. I like that you made it your own and added the swiss chard to bump up the nutritional value. I'll have to pop over and check out the list. Looking forward to seeing more of your creations.

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  2. Butter is great. I am a fan. The dush looks delicious. You cook like me, Crystal- I use what is around at the time!

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  3. Anonymous2:52 PM

    That looks delicious! I'm totally going to try it. It would be great with the swiss chard. TFS!

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  4. ooh exciting!!! :) I love a good cooking challenge! That looks awesome!

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