BeckyL's Reviews
101 recipes reviewed. Showing 1 to 50Sort by: Book Title | Date | Rating | Recipe Title 
Website: Pioneer Woman Cooks
We made this as part of our New Year's Day pork, black-eyed-pea, and cabbage tradition. Not only was this dip really tasty, but it was a nice break from the typical black eyed pea dishes that we make.
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Jamie's Food Revolution: Rediscover How to Cook Simple, Delicious, Affordable Meals
By Jamie Oliver
Hyperion - 2009
I've never had Yorkshire Puddings before. I was a bit intimidated, but they turned out magnificently.
We ate them as a side with our Traditional Beef Roast.
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Website: Smitten Kitchen
I thought this soup was ok. The croutons turned out very good, but the soup could have used a bit more flavor.
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Website: Pioneer Woman Cooks
Oh, man! These are amazing! They are a bit time consuming to put together, but they're rich and flavorful. Very worth it!
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Sam the Cooking Guy: Just a Bunch of Recipes
By Sam Zien
Wiley - 2008
YUM! This is simple and cheap to put together. Pairs well with just about anything, especially in place of traditional cole slaw side.
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Website: Smitten Kitchen
These crostini are truly wonderful and completely addictive! Couldn't be simpler either. I used a fresh, homebaked loaf of bread and all of the actual pesto ingredients go right in the food processor.
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Website: Smitten Kitchen
We bought a ton of tomatoes from our local farmers markets and this recipe was one of two fabulous tomato recipes we tried. Simple to put together and so tasty!
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Website: Pioneer Woman Cooks
I thought this was very tasty. The next time around, though, I will definitely include potatoes and amp up the jalapenos as well. I wanted this to be fiery hot, but it wasn't very spicy at all.
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Tyler's Ultimate: Brilliant Simple Food to Make Any Time
By Tyler Florence
Clarkson Potter - 2006
I love this stew. It's got a great flavor and is very hearty. I serve it with a horseradish sour cream that I found with another of Florence's recipes, but plain sour cream on top is nice as well.
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Website: JamieOliver.com
Summer is soon arriving and this is one my favorite recipes for salad. I use it as a guide for making my own versions, but the dressing is always the same.
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Sam the Cooking Guy: Just a Bunch of Recipes
By Sam Zien
Wiley - 2008
This is a great, simple recipe. It turns out perfectly every time that I make it. You can't go wrong with such a simple side.
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Cooking With Cajun Women: Recipes and Remembrances From South Louisiana Kitchens
By Nicole Denee Fontenot
Hippocrene Books - 2002
This sweet dough recipe is just like my grandmother's. Use it as a base for all kinds of sweet dough pies.
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Website: Epicurious
This dish was pretty tasty, but you have to be careful not to let any of the components get cold. It made a nice, hearty dinner and was a nice way for us to use up some spinach (should have made extra of that!).
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Website: The Food Network
This is an excellent summer dessert! So creamy and the mint complements the strawberry so well.
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Website: Pioneer Woman Cooks
I liked this pasta salad, but my husband was more fond of it than I was. I couldn't get the sauce to the right consistency for my preference. It's an easy dish to prepare and good for a weeknight meal.
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Website: Smitten Kitchen
Caramel corn. Yum! This is like Cracker Jack with a kick. I used bagged microwave popcorn and had no trouble following Smitten Kitchen's instructions for this recipe. On a scale of one to ten I'd put ease somewhere in the middle because it is a mess to put together.
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The Food You Crave: Luscious Recipes for a Healthy Life
By Ellie Krieger
Taunton - 2008
I was surprised at how great these turned out. I followed everything exactly and was pleased with the seasonings and the flavors. Very tasty and healthy to boot.
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Website: Smitten Kitchen
This really is the simplest apple tart ever! And it tastes so good.
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Website: Pioneer Woman Cooks
This chili was fairly easy to put together and Ree's instructions are extremely easy to follow. Very tasty, had a great texture. I would have liked more spice, surprisingly, and will adjust next time I make this.
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Sam the Cooking Guy: Just a Bunch of Recipes
By Sam Zien
Wiley - 2008
These are great appetizers. The one thing is that you must use the puff pastry sheets. I've had a hard time finding them and have tried to substitute both phyllo sheets and crescent roll dough. Neither works as good as puff pastry sheets.
Also, if you can find the HP Brown Sauce (a UK condiment) to use in place of steak sauce, it's a real treat.
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Jamie's Food Revolution: Rediscover How to Cook Simple, Delicious, Affordable Meals
By Jamie Oliver
Hyperion - 2009
I was trying to make a healthy and light meal for dinner. My issues with this recipe were not the recipe itself, however. Jamie's directions were easy to follow and the food actually turned out delicious. I'm not very experienced with cooking seafood and so am definitely one of the ones he mentions in the book as missing out because of this fear. This is a super simple way to ease into cooking fish.
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Food Network
(Jul/Aug, 2010)
This recipe only takes as long as is required to roast a couple of peppers and cook a box of pasta. Very good and very simple! Also pretty versatile considering you can really add just about any veggie to the dish.
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Tyler's Ultimate: Brilliant Simple Food to Make Any Time
By Tyler Florence
Clarkson Potter - 2006
We made these steaks for Valentine's Day. They were quick and tasty -- I think we did overcook them a bit, which based on the directions seems very easy to do.
The crab salad is actually a separate recipe and we did not make it this first go around.
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Jamie's Food Revolution: Rediscover How to Cook Simple, Delicious, Affordable Meals
By Jamie Oliver
Hyperion - 2009
Excellent. Again, Oliver gives instructions that are simple to follow so that your dish turns out exactly as you'd expect it to. So often, I've tried to make roasted veggies and come out with the wrong texture and very little flavor. Not at all the case here.
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Website: Smitten Kitchen
I've been trying to add different sides and salads to our meals and came across this one after purchasing an abundance of peppers at our local farmers market. The capers add the perfect tang to the dish. An excellent and easy salad option.
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Tyler's Ultimate: Brilliant Simple Food to Make Any Time
By Tyler Florence
Clarkson Potter - 2006
We made this as an accompaniment to the steaks for Valentine's Day (Roasted Tenderloin of Beef...). I had some nice fresh baby broccoli that we used in place of regular broccoli. The dish would have been great except that it was finished before the steaks and cooled to room temperature, making the crispy parmesan not so crispy and the broccoli kind of limp.
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Vegetables Every Day: The Definitive Guide to Buying and Cooking Today's Produce With over 350 Recipes
By Jack Bishop
William Morrow Cookbooks - 2001
Bishop gives excellent directions, especially for the base of this recipe -- Roasted Beets. They can be used in so many other dishes once you get this method down, and it couldn't be easier.
This is still my favorite way to eat beets, though, with just a little olive oil and sherry vinegar.
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Food Network
(June, 2010)
This was like a fake out risotto that tasted almost as good as the real thing. Overall, I thought the dish could use more seasoning, but it was a really simple weeknight meal. The recipe calls for trout, but says you can substitute chicken. We went the easy way out and used precooked rotisserie chicken to save even more time.
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Website: Pioneer Woman Cooks
This was a really easy salsa to put together. The flavor was pretty good -- I tend to like things saltier than most recipes and haven't quite adjusted that balance here, but otherwise it's really a great salsa.
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Website: The Food Network
We've been trying quinoa recipes lately and I have to say Aarti's use of it in Tabbouleh here is really great. It makes a hearty and veggie filled side dish that's perfect for summer (I could eat a whole bowl of it as a meal!).
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Jamie's Food Revolution: Rediscover How to Cook Simple, Delicious, Affordable Meals
By Jamie Oliver
Hyperion - 2009
With Jamie's easy-to-follow instructions and pictures to help you along the way, I don't think anyone could mess this recipe up.
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Website: Pioneer Woman Cooks
This pesto sauce is rich and creamy -- super easy for a quick dinner when you don't want to mess with something that has a lot of steps. Leftovers don't hold up so great -- I find the sauce tastes best while it's still warm.
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THANK YOU, JAMIE OLIVER! I have never in my life successfully made an omelet. Each and every attempt has become scrambled eggs until now. This is the best set of instructions for making the perfect omelet that I have every come across.
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Website: Pioneer Woman Cooks
This was one of the first things I made with my new stand mixer. The bread came out fantastic, with one small exception -- it goes stale very fast. Not that it lasts that long! We ate half of it hot out of the oven.
I'd imagine it would be pretty easy to put together without a stand mixer (I've only had one a few months) but I've also noticed that most of Pioneer Woman's recipes like this one do call for and have instructions for stand mixers.
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Cooking With Cajun Women: Recipes and Remembrances From South Louisiana Kitchens
By Nicole Denee Fontenot
Hippocrene Books - 2002
These are amazing! Everyone loves them. My grandmother says they're the closest recipe she's found to what she remembers having as a child.
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Make It Italian : The Taste and Technique of Italian Home Cooking
By Nancy Verde Barr
Knopf - 2002
I love this simple soup. Others find the egg a bit strange, but on a cold day with just the basics in the cabinet, this is perfect!
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Website: Pioneer Woman Cooks
As soon as the mushrooms hit the pan of hot butter, I knew these were going to taste amazing! Pretty easy to put together, but I'd recommend doubling the recipe since they tend to go fast!
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Sam the Cooking Guy: Just a Bunch of Recipes
By Sam Zien
Wiley - 2008
I was looking for something easy for a New Year's Eve party and these were perfect. I was, of course, leery about the grape jelly, but the meatballs turned out super tasty.
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Website: The Food Network
From the first episode of Sandwich King! I loved this sandwich. The fig spread is fantastic and we've used it on all kinds of things since trying this recipe.
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Jamie's Food Revolution: Rediscover How to Cook Simple, Delicious, Affordable Meals
By Jamie Oliver
Hyperion - 2009
This is another of Jamie's "quick pasta" dishes. Like the others I've tried, quick, flavorful, and super simple. Salty bacon, the creamy sauce, and the peas make this a great alternative to plain mac and cheese (or shells and cheese).
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Website: Smitten Kitchen
This was a strange drink. They were a bit time consuming to put together and in the end it was like drinking a piece of cantaloupe. Not a bad thing since that's what it was supposed to be, but personally I think I'd rather eat the cantaloupe than drink it.
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Website: Savory Spice Shop
This is one of my favorite dishes. Serve it with Cinnamon Lemon Couscous.
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Website: The Food Network
This is one of Pioneer Woman's recipes from her new show. Overall, I found there was too much oil in the dressing/marinade for my taste. Had I cut that just a bit from the recipe, I think it would have been a great salad. We served this alongside ribs and Ree's mashed potatoes.
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Make It Italian : The Taste and Technique of Italian Home Cooking
By Nancy Verde Barr
Knopf - 2002
This is a great alternative to pasta salad when you're looking for a warm weather pasta dish. The raisins add an interesting element that I really enjoyed.
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The Encyclopedia of Cajun & Creole Cuisine
By John D. Folse
Chef John Folse & Company Publishing - 2004
We have frozen crawfish tails (Louisiana farmed) flown to us so that we can make this. It's a favorite amongst all of our friends. Don't be intimidated, it's super easy to make as long as you follow Folse's instructions, which include making the roux. Simple.
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Make It Italian : The Taste and Technique of Italian Home Cooking
By Nancy Verde Barr
Knopf - 2002
Excellent vegetarian lasagna. This does not use traditional red sauce, but it's fabulous anyway. Easy to put together and bakes up great.
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Mighty Spice Cookbook: Fast, Fresh and Vibrant Dishes Using No More Than 5 Spices for Each Recipe
By John Gregory-Smith
Duncan Baird - 2011
This easy salad is full of flavor and makes a great side dish. Very quick and easy to put together.
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Website: Savory Spice Shop
This is another absolute favorite of mine. I buy Savory Spice Shop's spicier jerk and make these with ground turkey. They are amazing and you absolutely have to make the Grilled Pineapple Avocado Dip to go along with it.
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Website: The Food Network
I never would have thought to combine these ingredients in a grilled ham and cheese sandwich, but they work together so wel!
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Tyler's Ultimate: Brilliant Simple Food to Make Any Time
By Tyler Florence
Clarkson Potter - 2006
I was a bit intimidated by this recipe at first. Some of the ingredients were things that I hadn't used before and I couldn't find Thai Bird Chiles to save my life. I substituted another kind of chile and found the recipe to be pretty easy to follow. The dish came out amazing. We served it with a coconut rice and it was heaven.
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