Notes about Recipes in this book

• Cornbread

  • KNivia on March 23, 2026

    This is a very traditional cornbread with lots of butter, eggs, buttermilk and cornmeal! Therefore, it’s very tasty. But this would not be my typical cornbread recipe just due to the amount of fat in it…but since I’m freezing it for when our baby arrives I thought it wouldn’t be bad to have extra fats in my cornbread!

• Buttermilk biscuits

  • klrclark on February 13, 2023

    Easy to make, easy to store and taste great reheated.

• Quiche Lorraine

  • Leo on April 21, 2022

    Used the filling in an alternative crust. Very rich and tasty. Will make again.

  • KNivia on April 19, 2026

    I made this right after my son came home from the NICU because it’s rich with eggs and protein. Also because I had been planning to make it before going into labor and my premade pie crust from Trader Joe’s was waiting the fridge defrosted for me. This is delicious and doubled freezes well. Instead of whole milk I subbed in soy milk just because I didn’t have it …still turned out creamy and delicious!

• Cabbage salad with crispy pork shoulder, apples, and maple-cider vinaigrette

  • averythingcooks on December 14, 2023

    This whole salad idea is on the "make soon list" but last night, I just made the vinaigrette for a green salad with sweet peppers, red onion, radishes & feta and it is lovely. A 1/2 recipe still made a lot of dressing but she does say that it has a fridge life of up to 2 weeks. Let's hope so because we will happily eat this again...and again.

• Braised short ribs with cauliflower fonduta

  • averythingcooks on November 05, 2023

    I made this cauliflower recipe to use with a different short rib braise and the verdict was... delicious! I made 1/2 using around 8 oz of florets & replaced the fontina with gruyere. I also used 1 XL egg rather than 1.5 L eggs which seemed to work fine. We loved the rich creaminess under our braise...perhaps too much for every day (or maybe not :) and but it's certainly worthy of the occasional splurge.

• Stuffed peppers with short ribs and rice

  • Christinehomecook on October 03, 2021

    This was very good. I had leftover rice and short ribs, so this was a great way to use them both. I substituted Penzey’s Cake Spice for the spice mix in the recipe, and I also subbed extra chicken stock for the tomato juice.

  • averythingcooks on April 01, 2022

    This recipe inspired a big cook of short rib meat destined for multiple meals. I scaled it way back for 2 peppers and admittedly I did take my meat in a very different direction (Tex-Mex with added black beans, corn, ancho chile & leftover pico). I also used higher meat to rice ratio. Among the big ideas I did use is "tahini as the binder"...it added a nice creaminess with a hit of lemon & garlic to the filling. The sauce / baking directions worked and these peppers were really good beside a green salad.

• Pimento cheese butter

  • averythingcooks on July 12, 2025

    For my 1st try, I scaled this to 1/2 cup of butter and during a quick taste test, I had to remind myself that this IS a butter and so is not as cheesy as a straight up pimento cheese & there is still a hint of the vinegar that was used to marinate the diced peppers before being drained away. Having said this, my 1st use was to stir it into grits and yes, that worked :) This is in my freezer in 1/8 cup portions and the next use will be with potatoes...maybe a 2'ce baked version?

• Pesto

  • averythingcooks on July 18, 2021

    A good, pretty classic pesto destined for the freezer. I did use a mix of parmesan & asiago - a quick taste confirms that it worked.

• Kale and broccoli slaw with pesto-avocado dressing

  • breakthroughc on February 11, 2023

    In the end this turned out well and was a delicious hearty slaw that I would make again. I love the concept of this cookbook, but it is poorly written. First it calls for 2 bunches of kale and two heads of broccoli with no other volume measurements. I was making slaw for 4 generous servings so I just estimated my needed kale and broccoli volume. I used a half of a red onion and added two medium carrots grated. I only used two tablespoons olive oil and the juice of a half of lemon for massaging the raw kale and broccoli. The real issue with the recipe is the dressing. I made a half batch and as written is a super thick dip, not a dressing at all. It also has no acid. I added a tablespoon of white wine vinegar and 3 tablespoons of water to get it thin enough to use as a dressing. I did not make the pesto in the book, but used my own pesto I had in the freezer.

• Caramelized onions

  • breakthroughc on October 01, 2022

    This recipe is seriously flawed. It starts out with one big pot and the language half way through shifts to multiple pots and lids. The ingredient call for 2 cups of water, but no directions of what to do with the water except to add a Tablespoon if sticking. I ended up just cooking down my onions the normal way and taking an hour.

• Roasted beets with chickpeas, herbed yogurt, and caramelized onion vinaigrette

  • breakthroughc on October 01, 2022

    Lovely delicious salad and I will make again. However, some modifications are needed. The vinaigrette recipe call for WAY too much oil. I’m beginning to wonder if this book was tested or edited. The vinaigrette recipe calls for 1 cup of oil and 1 Tablespoon of vinegar…. I was going to make a half recipe and salvaged it by using half the oil and the full amount of everything else. I also added a teaspoon of maple syrup. I also added some lemon, olive oil and salt to the yogurt. I served it family style in a large flat bowl. My guests loved it.

  • Happykikkers on January 24, 2025

    I don’t love beets but I didn’t hate this. My beets were parboiled so I didn’t follow the recipe exactly and put them in the oven uncovered for 20 min. Winged the vinaigrette bc it did seem too much oil.

• Mashed potatoes

  • KNivia on March 30, 2026

    These are just a simple mashed potato recipe! But I wanted to freeze them which is why I followed this recipe. They are delicious-I used half the butter and cream, doubled the recipe and froze half - I plan to reconstitute with more cream/butter on reheating as they instruct. I also love that they don’t advise to peel the potatoes which I never do anymore!

• Chocolate chia pudding

  • GinaRhodes on September 23, 2025

    A solid freezer breakfast option. Stirring it every 30 minutes is a pain and I’m not convinced it does that much, but it’s easy to double and enjoy for several meals.

• Ham and Swiss cheese rolls

  • averythingcooks on September 30, 2025

    Before committing to 12 Hawaiian slider rolls, I did a test run, making 4 early in the day & then freezing them solid to bake at dinner. I was a bit worried that the compound "honey mustard" butter was too sweet, so I added yellow mustard to the top buns. I baked them for 17 minutes & the verdict was (after eating 2 each beside a green salad) that these are great (!) and having them waiting in the freezer for quick/last minute dinners, lunches or snacks is a very good idea. I only had 1/2 the called for amount of poppy seeds (seemed fine) and I learned to be more careful as my butter did split a bit (over mixing) but I was still able to spread it over the bun tops.

• Tex-Mex cheese enchiladas

  • averythingcooks on February 04, 2022

    I came here for the 2 sauces to use with a much heartier filling as cheese enchiladas are a bit too...squishy for us. The guajillo sauce (used to coat/soften the tortillas) and the chile gravy (used as the actual enchilada sauce) are both delicious - complex & distinct flavours with a perfect amount of heat from dried chiles in one & chipotle powder in the other. Note that I cut each recipe in 1/2 and was able to make 1 pan of 6 x 6" enchiladas and have leftovers (enough guajillo sauce to make at least 1 more pan of the same size and chile gravy to make close to double that). I'm very happy to stash both sauces in my freezer.

• Malted coffee toffee cookies

  • averythingcooks on October 31, 2025

    With Skor bits in place of chopped English toffee & grd espresso powder, 2 oz balls gave me the predicted 10 cookies (1/2 recipe). I froze 4 & refrigerated the other 6 overnight (as instructed) to bake today. The result = mixed feelings. They spread ALOT (ie into 1 big cookie) & by the minimum time, I thought I had overbaked (burnt?) them. After cooling, I cut/broke the very thin "caramelizey" slab into pieces & it is actually really good...like a toffee cookie brittle. We will have no trouble nibbling away at these & we'll see if the result with frozen cookie balls is different.