Saturday, October 20, 2012

Weekend Cooking: A "Pinteresting" Week


Trish is at it again. Her now-famous Pin It and Do It Challenge is back for the month of October. Round 1 in May was a delicious, resounding success, but August passed in a blur and I totally missed the summer event. With time running short, the entire family was delighted when I announced my intention to cook 'pinned' recipes all week... and complete the challenge in a single post. Here are the recipes I selected:

Monday's recipe came from Peanut Butter Fingers. My oldest daughter follows this blog and I repinned the recipe after seeing it on her board. It was a quick and easy dinner, although a little bland - perhaps my palate missed the full-sodium soy sauce? The recipe calls for the shrimp to be broiled, but I sauteed them instead. Next time, I'll spice it up just a little more.


This recipe from BetsyLife came to me via bookchickdi (thanks, Diane!). I  used Heineken beer and followed the recipe exactly as written. It was delicious, and I was sorry there were no leftovers for lunch the next day. This recipe is a keeper.


Wednesday was vegetarian night... and the biggest success of the week. OMG, this was delicious! The recipe came from The Shiksa in the Kitchen. We topped our bowls with cheddar cheese, salsa, shredded lettuce, avocado, and fat-free sour cream. The photo above is from the original pin. Our bowls disappeared too quickly to snap one of my own!


Thursday I took the night off from cooking and served Sunday's leftover lasagna. I still wanted to try a 'pin' and settled on dessert. This recipe was mentioned on Audrey's blog, so I followed her link and pinned the recipe as it appears on Pinch My Salt. It was actually my second time baking the cake, which has earned a permanent place in my fall dessert repertoire. This is the photo from Pinterest - mine was not as clear, or as appealing.


To finish out the week, last night's dinner was pinned from Allrecipes.com. I used fresh haddock instead of cod. It was quick, easy, and tasty. If I make it again, I'll try reduced fat cheese.

Overall, another successful Pin It and Do It Challenge. Thanks, Trish!


Weekend Cooking, hosted at Beth Fish Reads, is open to anyone who has a food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up over the weekend.

58 comments:

  1. Great job on Trish's challenge! I didn't officially participate, but I recently made two recipes that I had pinned and they both turned out yummy. The fish one in particular looks good (but I'm a sucker for boursin, mmm).

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  2. All of those recipes look fun and delicious!

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    1. thesirenstale - Thanks, we did have fun this week.

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  3. Oh, wait a minute... we're supposed to COOK the recipes we pin? :)
    I'm so glad you liked this cake...it's definitely a keeper.

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    1. Audrey - Haha, that is the little glitch nobody talks about. The cake is amazing!

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  4. Wow -- all these dishes look amazing. Drooling especially over the apple cinnamon buttermilk cake and the honey beer chicken.

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    1. jama - The cake was delicious... I even made a special trip to the store for buttermilk!

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  5. I'm eyeballing the shrimp and the chicken! I love finding new recipes, and my family loves it when something new shows up on the dinner table.

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    1. Sandy - The shrimp was good, but the chicken was even better.

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  6. If you hear a knock on the door, it's just me inviting myself over for dinner. Everything looks so good!!

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  7. Wow indeed!!! Love all of these. That honey beer chicken and the cod recipes look particularly good. Yay you for completing the challenge. I am a pin it, do it failure.

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    1. Beth F - And the best part is that they were both SO quick and easy!

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  8. These look great - every one of them! I am a big quinoa fan, so I'll probably be trying that one! (And yes, expect me to join Other Jill at the door!)

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    1. Rhapsodyinbooks - I would be happy to set two more places any time :-)

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  9. These all look sumptuous! The Hoisin shrimps particularly piqued my curiosity... I guess it's a Chinese dish, because of the sauce. The Apple Cake would be my first taste though. ;)

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    1. Arti - I love shrimp and will adjust the recipe to suit my taste. The apple cake is just perfect as written!

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  10. WoW! You really stepped up to the challenge, everything looks delicious! I pin but I need to do more :)

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    1. Carol - In the grand scheme of things, this is very few 'do's' when you consider the number of 'pins' :-)

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  11. I'm going to pin that honey beer chicken recipe. Always looking for good chicken recipes. Great job!

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    1. Linda - The chicken is a perfect week night meal... quick, easy, and delicious!

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  12. Look how productive you were! Way to go. All of those dishes look great. What time do you serve dinner at your house? Just trying to get my timing right to ring your doorbell. haha! :D

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  13. It looks like you had a delicious week! I'm bookmarking that apple cake to make tomorrow. YUM!

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    1. Cecelia - The apple cake is definitely a keeper. If you don't have an 8" pan, I used a 9" and it works just as well.

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  14. All of that food would make my family very happy as well!

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    1. Kathy - I'd bet your guys have a delicious beer to complement every dish!

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  15. Looks like you had a lot of fun. Have a lovely weekend.

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  16. All of those things look delicious, but that hoisin and sesame shrimp is something I NEEEEED to try. YUM!

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    1. Heather - I'd recommend using the full sodium soy sauce... enjoy!

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  17. Those creations look wonderful and make me hungry too.

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  18. Oh these all look delicious! especially the last one with the fish. I'm always looking for a good fish recipe.

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    1. Jenny Girl - The fish recipe is so easy... just be sure to adjust the cooking time if you use a thinner fish filet like tilapia or sole.

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  19. Congrats on completing the challenge! The burrito bowl is gorgeous with all of those colors!
    Joy's Book Blog

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    1. Joy - The burrito bowl tasted as good as it looks, too!

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  20. This sounds so awesome! I love that vegetarian dish. I think I might have to pin it ;) I also participating in the Pin it and do it challenge and I have also completed it. I need to write my wrap up post still :)

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    1. Uniflame - I'll be curious to hear what you think if you decide to give it a try.

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  21. Wow!! You've done a great job on this challenge. The two pins I tried this week were failures, but I'm not going to give up. I think I'll pin the chicken and cake recipes for future reference. The quinoa dish looks great, but I doubt I could get my husband to try it.

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    1. Les - I purposefully scheduled the quinoa dish for the night my husband had a dinner meeting! He wouldn't even try the leftovers, but Twin B and I both loved it.

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    2. LOL! Maybe I'll make it for myself and have the leftovers for lunch. :)

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  22. The shrimp is beautiful with the coating of seeds. I think marinating for a short time and adding garlic and a dash of red pepper would spice it up just right.

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    1. Fay - Excellent idea! I thought about garlic and pepper, but marinating would definitely help, too

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  23. JoAnn! Each dish looks more delectable than the last! I'm so impressed with your culinary, as well as literary, skills.

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    1. Thanks, Bellezza. We had a lot of fun experimenting last week :-)

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  24. Wow!! You are quite the cook! I will have to try the chicken and the cake!! Yum!

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    1. Staci - Well, I don't know about that... but hope you enjoy the chicken and the cake.

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  25. So many yummy recipes - adding several to my board right now!

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  26. Thanks for the shout-out! The Black bean Burrito Bowl looks like one I would like, I'm going to try that next. I also make an apple cake, a recipe I got from Cooking Light years ago and was happy to find online.

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    1. Diane - The burrito bowl was excellent! Definitely give it a try - you might want to spice up the beans just a little, but it was delicious. Thanks for pinning all those great recipes.

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    1. Carol - I've made it three times now... it is delicious!

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  28. You did this all in one week?!?! I'm exhausted just looking at this. :) I've been tempted to buy Quinoa but the Target brand is still very expensive. But maybe you don't use very much for the recipe? (A bag is $8 but I'm wondering how many meals I'd get out of it). The burrito bowls look delicious!

    Thinking I have that apple cake recipe pinned?

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    1. Trish - Guess I was in a cooking mood that week :-) The recipe calls for 1 cup of quinoa, but my daughter bought the bag we have in the pantry. I may be better off not knowing how much it cost!

      I found the apple cake recipe on Audrey;s blog. There is another apple cake on your board and it was my very first pin! Haven't tried that one yet, so thanks for reminding me.

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