Peaches With Herbs and Almond Crunch

I made this about an hour ago.  It is very yummy, a 10!  And so easy to make with only 5 ingredients (I only had to buy the almonds).  The recipe called for either lavender or mint, since I have mint, that's what I used.  The only thing I would change would be to double the almonds/honey topping - that's what makes this dish.  It's so easy and so good, I'll make it a lot this summer. 

Cucumbers With Yogurt Dip (sort of)

I mentioned last week that I was going to make this but my cucumbers went bad.  Well, I decided I'd better use the yogurt before it also went bad.  I have a lot of canned fruit from Costco, so I thought I would substitute the cucumber with pineapple.  Yum!  It's a 10!  I liked it so much I bought more yogurt yesterday so I can have this for my lunches next week.

Refried Bean Wrap

I made this last weekend.  I must confess, I was an idiot & did not fully read the ingredients before I made this dish.  I read that the recipe called for pinto beans, but I decided to use 3 different kinds of beans instead.  So I opened a can of refried beans, kidney, & black beans and had them ready to go to saute with the onions etc.  But then I realized I was supposed to just use pinto beans and mash them like a can of refried beans.  Too late, I already had the beans ready to go & didn't want to waste them.  So I used all three.  It still tasted pretty good though.  I gave it a 8.  Next time I'll make it the right way! 

Celery With Creamy Herb Dip

I was going to post this paired with a picture of yogurt dip for cucumbers, but I just went to make it, and the cucumbers were moldy.  I don't have any money for more, so it will have to wait.  Anyway, this was pretty good.  A 7 1/2 - 8.  The recipe said you could use your favorite herb, so I used dill and the sea salt with garlic grinder.  I would make this again. 

Sloppy Joes

I don't think I've made Sloppy Joes since I was a kid, and they were out of a can.  So it's not only my first vegetarian Sloppy Joe, but also my first homemade one.  It is the best Sloppy Joe I've ever had!  It's easily a 10!  I am posting way too many photos for one recipe, but I couldn't decide which to use.  You can see Oliver liked them too.  I added a little more brown sugar than called for, and it seemed to dry, so I also added more tomato sauce (just poured it in until it was moist).  These are so good, they will be a regular on my menu. 

Apple Pie With Oatmeal Crust

I made this last weekend for my mom & me.  It was so-so, a 6 1/2, maybe 7.  The crust was too crumbly and dry.  Maybe because it's from a low fat cookbook.  Would have probably been better w/ more butter and/or a double crust.  I don't think I'll make it again. 

Taco Salad

I made this last night for dinner.  Yummy, a 10!  It's not original, I've made it before, but not since I've been a vegetarian.  For some reason, I sometimes forget that I can use veggie beef for dishes I used to love.  I changed his recipe a bit, so I'll just post a picture of what I did to the cookbook.  It's still basically the same, I just added the veggie beef & onion and the way to prepare it.  I'll have leftovers tonight!   

Chocolate Cake & Angel Food Cake

I made these last weekend too.  I'm not really a big chocolate cake fan, I made these mostly for my mom, but I ended up really liking them.  They were really moist.  I give them a 9.  I added raw sugar & sea salt to the tops.  The angel food cakes were good, but not as good.  I gave them an 8.  They were a little dry.  I added a cinnamon sugar topping to these.

Brown Rice with Dates & Bean and Pasta Soup

I made these last week.  The rice was amazing, a 10!  The dates caramelized with the butter and was so yummy!  I did not add the parsley or pepper because I didn't want to ruin the sweetness of it.  The soup was really good too, a 9.  I changed a few things but not much.  I think just that I didn't have any carrots.  And I used 3 different kinds of beans instead of 1.  And I used different spices than it called for.