I would love to say that if I totally botch something the first time, I can make up for it the second time. I wish that was the case with this cornbread. Okay, let me start out with the truth. I have never really been overly fond of cornbread. I don't like cornbread without modifiers. I need something extra. I need jalapenos or honey. I need something. So, I made the cornbread using the same recipe I did last time, except I actually read it correctly this time. I'm not going to go over the directions with you, but I will give you a piece of advice after the pictures. 

I was so excited when it came out of the oven because it looked fluffy and delicious. My word of advice is to evenly distribute the batter. Mine was thicker on one side than the other, so it didn't cook evenly. So it goes...

Well, my dreams and hopes deflated with this cornbread. It sank. It was a sad day. It also still had that pudding like texture. There flavor wasn't as strong either. 

Review:
TC gave this a 4.5 and really liked it. He went back for seconds. It was less sweet than last time (I think maybe I should cut back on the sugar if I am using coconut milk). I would give this a 2.5. This cornbread was meh. I still have a ton of cornmeal, so I will try again... maybe with a different recipe this time. 

Total Score:
3.5

No, this has nothing to do with shoes. 

I'll let that joke sink in.

I decided to make some cobbler. I had this recipe for a while and I'd been meaning to try it. We are also hoping to move in the next couple months and I am trying to make it through our freezer items so we don't have to move them. I have had problems in the past with berries stored in the freezer. They usually end up tasting like freezer. Since I had so many berries, I needed to use them. Hence the berry cobbler. 

Ingredients:
1 c. Flour (or Gluten-Free Flour Blend)
1/3 c. Sugar
1/4 tsp Salt
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 c. Milk (or Soy, Almond, or Coconut Milk)
1 Egg, Beaten
1 tsp. Melted Butter
1 1/2 c. Fruit

Directions:

• Sift dry ingredients together.
• Add milk, egg, and butter.
• Mix
• Arrange fruit in the bottom of a greased pan.
• Pour mix over fruit. 
• Bake for 25 minutes at 400°
• Serve hot

The fruit filling kinda bubbled over the top of it and made a delicious, gooey layer. 

Notes:
For the fruit, I used frozen strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries. I think fresh fruit would be most delicious, but we didn't have any of that and we had too much frozen fruit. 

I used the Gluten-Free Flour Blend I've used in the past. 

I also used coconut milk instead of cow's milk. We were out of almond milk, so I used coconut milk. 

I still think something is wrong with this oven because I had to bake mine for another 22 minutes. So, be prepared for that. 

I made the cobbler in my dutch oven, so I doubled the recipe. because I doubled it, the berries cooked down and I ended up having a lot more cobbler topping than berries. 

Note about the frozen berries, they didn't taste like freezer, so that was good. 

We ate this with coconut whipped cream, and it was delicious. 

Review: 
This was pretty good. I didn't love it, but I liked it. I think if it had more berries it would have been better. TC gave it a 4 and kept saying that it was delicious. I don't think he would have thought it was as good if it didn't have the coconut whipped cream. I gave it a 3 by itself and a 3.5 with the coconut whipped cream. We made the gluten free version, and it was pretty good!

Total Score:
3.5

This sounded most delicious to me, so I had to try it. If I ever want sweets (which isn't often) it always happens at night. Our bananas were overripe, so I figured that would be the perfect time to try them. 

Ingredients:
1 medium Banana 
2 tsp Honey
Cinnamon

Directions:

• Cut bananas in half, lengthwise
• Preheat oven to 400°F
• Place the banana in an ovensafe dish 
• Bake, covered for 10-15 minutes

Notes:
This recipe originally came from Skinny Taste
I generally am not concerned about how my plate looks as long as the food is tasty. The coconut whipped cream in the picture above is pretty ugly looking, but it tastes soooo good. 

I really wanted these to be crispy, and they were not. They were, however, quite delicious. Next time I will try something else to see if they crispify better. There will be a next time. Actually, I think tonight will be the "next time"!

I have a tendency to not measure things. I didn't measure the honey, and I think I ended up using too much. To cut back on the bite from the honey, I made a coconut whipped cream. 

Review:
This time around was a little too soft and a little too sweet (we're talking about baked bananas here, nothing else). I am looking forward to making this again, and the taste was awesome. I couldn't eat three whole bananas so I put some in the fridge for the next day. For some reason, I was surprised that they had turned brown, but that's what bananas do. They were still tasty. I will give them a 4 this time around. TC says, "Too sweet and kinda mushy" and he gives it a 3. 

Total Score:
3.5

I love red curry. This is not a red curry recipe, and I was mostly unimpressed with it. We had guests over the night we made it and they all gave it high ratings. Maybe I'm just too picky about my curries. 

Ingredients:
1 Small Onion, Diced
1 tbsp Fresh Ginger, Grated
3 tbsp Curry 
1 tbsp Sugar
2 c. Coconut Milk
1 Diced Red Bell Pepper
Salt
Pepper
2 tbsp Coconut Oil
Vegetables, meats, or tofu

Directions:

• Prepare any rice, meat, tofu or vegetables you would like to use in the sauce. 
• In a small saucepan, over medium heat, put oil in pan, then add onions, ginger, curry powder, and sugar in. Saute for 1 minute.
• Add coconut milk and simmer. Then add red bell pepper. (This is also the point when you would add already cooked meats, vegetables or tofu)
• Cook for about 10 minutes
• Season with salt and pepper
• Serve over rice noodles or rice. 

This was the "frying tofu" stage:

Notes:
The most important note: Since this only takes about 10 minutes of actual cook time, make sure you have rice done in advance if you are having rice. This also goes for tofu. I fried up some tofu in coconut oil the night before, and it took me hours. Worth it. 

The original recipe called for 1 1/2 tbsp of curry powder. I thought that was way too bland, I ended up doubling it... if not more than doubling it. 

The red pepper added some much needed flavor. 

I also added a little sesame oil after my initial taste. Added some delicious. 

Review:
I love tofu in red curry sauce. This was not that. It was not as good as that. It was bland, I thought. I give it a 3. The amount of prep before the actual cooking (because of the fried tofu) was hours. Next time, I'll try to be more efficient. TC says, "Needs to be stronger". He keeps asking me to make it again. I polled the guests and these are the total scores: 3.5, 4, 4, and 4. 

Total Score:
3.5

This title is misleading. The smoothie actually ends up being a weird brown color and I'll explain why in a minute. I call it a green smoothie because it has a lot of greens in it. 

Ingredients:
3 Bananas
Ginger
6 oz. Spinach
6 oz. Kale
1 Beet, Raw
1/4 c. Orange Juice
16 oz Water
1 Sweet Apple
1 Cucumber
Vanilla
Honey
Pinch of Salt

Directions:

• Blend until drinkable consistency. If it isn't sweet enough for you, toss in another banana. If it is too sweet, add some more ginger. If it isn't runny enough, add more orange juice. Want some more green? Add avocado! The whole thing is really just "to taste". 
  

Notes:
The reason the smoothie is a weird brown color is because of the beet. You don't have to include it if you don't want to. 


Before we drink it, we add a teaspoon of fish oil (make sure to mix really well) and I add fermented coconut probiotic awesomeness. 


Review:
This is the easiest recipe because it is so changeable. Do you like pineapple? Add some pineapple. Do you like kiwi? Add some kiwi! It was really hard to put this recipe on paper because it is always changing. This was the best I could do. I wrote it down almost an hour after the smoothies had been made. Best of luck! This particular smoothie rates about a 3 for me. It's drinkable and has little gingery bits. The juice that separated... I would drink that all the time. I give the juice a 4. TC gives this a 3.5. 


Total Score:
3.5 (I didn't factor in the juice score)

This doesn't sound that healthy, and it probably isn't. I really like onions, so I thought I should give it a go. 


Ingredients:
1 Stick of Butter
6 Medium Onions
1 Can Cream of Chicken Soup
Salt and Pepper to taste
3/4 lb. Grated Swiss
1 c. Milk
Sliced Bread
Cubed Chicken Breast

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350°
• Poach chicken & cube
• Butter a 2 qt. casserole
• Saute onions 
• Transfer onions and chicken to a casserole
• Combine soup, milk, and spices in a separate bowl and mix. 
• Pour mix over onions
• Sprinkle with Swiss
• Brush melted butter over one side of each slice of bread
• Arrange bread (butter side up) over the mix. 
• Bake at 350° for 30 minutes, or until the bread is browned

Substitutions:

• I can't have milk (I can have dairy, just not milk) so I used almond milk with no taste issues. 
  

Review:
It was averagely tasty. I gave it a 3, but I wouldn't recommend making this for a meal. Not only is it not nutritionally balanced, but it's pretty rich. TC gave it a 4 and said it would do best as a side. 

Final score:
3.5

I don't know that I would make this again, so I can't promise pictures. Sorry.