Operation: NEW MEALS

I won't lie....I never really expected to like cooking. I've always REALLY liked eating (and thus WANTED to like cooking), but cooking always seemed to cause me stress....serious-at-times-tears-inducing stress - which was unfortunate seeing as the two go so well together....cooking and eating that is. However, it was only a matter of time that my Percevault genes could lie dormant no more! Whether it be the food network's influence, fun cooking blogs or (most likely) a lifetime of good food and memories to live up to and an awesome husband who also LOVES good food and enjoys to cook, I can officially say I'm into it (have been for a while) and have recently been on the hunt to increase our meal repertoire. Don't get me wrong....it's still stressful sometimes and I CAN NOT cook without a recipe...which I look at about 100 times if I'm cooking something for the first time....but we do it. And we love it. Recently I can't get enough of the website Smitten Kitchen. Fun recipes, strong flavors, good directions, great pictures. Love it. Here are a few recipes we've tried lately and our culinary verdicts:


Sausage Stuffed Potatoes: Fun. For an Idaho girl I don't really cook with potatoes all that often so I'm always happy to find recipes that call for a starch other than pasta, cous-cous or rice. I'm not over-the-moon dying to make them again...but we liked them.

Asparagus, Goat Cheese and Lemon Pasta: Just by reading the title you know you can do no wrong with this recipe. A totally fun, different and light summery pasta. We'll definitely make this again....and maybe even add more asparagus.

Balsamic braised brussels with pancetta: We love brussel sprouts. This recipe takes a little time and watching of the pot, but it really is delicious and a fun, different way to consume the brussels. We didn't have pancetta (and couldn't find any in San Marcos...sigh) so we went with bacon. Delicious. We also really like THIS recipe for grilled brussel sprouts.

Cubed, Hacked Caprese: A super fun and EASY salad- awesome topping for bread, green salad, or on it's own.

Ginger Fried Rice: Loved this. (I especially loved the sesame flavor.) A super fun rendition of a dish you think you know. We'll definitely make this again.

Mushroom Marsala Pasta with artichokes: This was okay. I had hoped we would love it because C is such a fan of mushrooms and I have a lukewarm relationship with them. That being said this dish was good....but we didn't love it.

Cellophane Noodle Salad with Roast Pork: SO FUN. So different. All the veggies...the noodles...and the mango is a MUST. A very fun combination. And I'm not going to lie...the roast pork loin might be the BEST pork loin I've ever had. We LOVED it. It takes some work, what with the basting and turning etc....but it's totally worth it. We saved the left-overs and ate them later in the week with the aforementioned ginger fried rice.

We also made Vietnamese Spring Rolls per example of Bonnie and Jon. So fun and tasty. We threw some hoisin on our shrimp as well for a bit of a stronger taste.

All in all it's been super fun. We have lots of good standards and lots of new dishes keeping us full and content. Life is good.