Notes about Recipes in this book

• The best ever meatloaf

  • BrendaD1962 on January 22, 2025

    I made this recipe as written and it’s amazing. I had some Heinz chili sauce to use up and it was delicious mixed with ketchup and brown sugar for the top. The meatloaf is even better the next day and makes delicious sandwiches. A keeper!

  • averythingcooks on May 20, 2026

    I scaled to roughly 1/3 (with a mix of grd beef & pork) to make 3 mini loaves (given as an option). Best ever?? Not for us but still pretty good served over garlicky mashed potatoes & peas. We liked the ketchup/chili sauce/brown sugar topping BUT we agreed that I should have made more (my bad).

• 20-minute broccoli cheese soup

  • averythingcooks on February 06, 2026

    This is quick (as promised) and quite good. I did deviate once...I skipped removing some of the veg & simply used the immersion blender in the whole pot til I got a texture I liked. And oh yes....a good pinch of red pepper flakes was a good idea.

• Maple sesame salmon bites with broccoli & peppers

  • Bessp on September 15, 2025

    This was a quick and tasty dinner, no frills and everything done in the time it took to cook the rice. Next time I'll probably add some sriracha to the marinade for a bit of heat.

• Crispy rosemary chicken thighs with root veggies

  • cookingbychapter on April 26, 2026

    Great meal! Used carrot, potatoes and beets.

• Cheesy beef & salsa burrito supreme

  • averythingcooks on September 19, 2025

    A good home canned salsa (in the filling & spooned over top) + some pretty hot pickled peppers also added to the filling helped these a lot as we thought they were okay but certainly not special. I was surprised at how much filling this made (full recipe with just 8 oz of grd beef) & I will be freezing the leftovers... probably just the filling in useful portions rather than as constructed burritos. I do think that we are just not big fans re: the amount of rice that ends up in burritos & would prefer a higher ratio of flavourful/spicy add-ins.

• My mom's hoisin pork tenderloin sammies

  • averythingcooks on April 01, 2026

    Of course I've made this type of marinade with fresh ginger & garlic, but honestly, while eating, we certainly didn't register that this called for grd ginger & garlic powder :) I made 2 sandwiches with 7 oz of pork & used the air fryer (a suggested option). I made my own pickled veg with both home canned & fresh, ending up with a mix of red onion, carrots, celery, radish & hot peppers. With sriracha mayo & some chopped romaine (to replace cilantro), we enjoyed these hearty dinner sandwiches.

• Spicy sausage pimento mac & cheese

  • averythingcooks on May 07, 2026

    I used kielbasa (1 of the sausage suggestions) and in place of pimentos, I chopped up a mix of sweet roasted red peppers & pickled hot red peppadews. I scaled this to 1/3 which gave of us 2 generous dinner bowls + 2 smaller lunch portions for today. I finished with a crispy breadcrumb topping & we enjoyed this very tasty comfort food!

• Homemade blue cheese dressing

  • averythingcooks on December 03, 2025

    I liked the result of blending the 1st amount of blue cheese with the yogurt etc into a smooth dressing & then adding more crumbled cheese at the end. For us, it needed "amping" up...I used more lemon , a touch of honey + hot sauce. But no worries as I'd rather have the option to up the ante for our palates rather than being left with something that is over the top & unfixable. And we did need to thin with milk as she suggests. End result = this was good with our buffalo chicken salad.

• Hasselback chicken cordon bleu with skinny Dijon sauce

  • averythingcooks on October 10, 2025

    With the hasselback method for the cheese & ham + no breading, this didn't take long to get ready for the oven. My mistake was not checking before the minimum time given (18 minutes) & sadly, it was a little over done. I added grated parm to the simple sauce and it was good with both the chicken & our side of roasted broccoli. I will try this again, watch the time better and perhaps jazz up the basic sauce (ie keep the parm, more mustard, maybe some garlic & add fresh herbs). So yes...this is an idea to build upon.

• Gonna-want-seconds cheesesteak pasta

  • aceedubs on May 23, 2025

    We liked this, but all agreed it would have been better with short-cut pasta. May add a bit of cheddar cheese next time too.

• Weeknight spinach, artichoke & sundried tomato rigatoni

  • aceedubs on November 09, 2025

    I added the entire block of cream cheese so it was extra saucy. Also 1/2 c salted water gets the job done if you don't have 1/2 c chicken broth readily available.

• Kailey's roasted balsamic cherry tomato pasta

  • Bessp on January 30, 2026

    This was a solid weeknight pasta recipe. It was super quick. I did modify it a bit. I used gluten free spaghetti, added a bit of butter to the sauce for body, and neutralized a tiny bit of the acid with some baking soda. I also immersion blended the sauce a bit to break up the tomatoes. The unmodified sauce was a bit thin and sharp for me. I topped with basil and parmesan as recommended and served with sliced Italian sausage on top.

• All-purpose meaty pasta sauce

  • averythingcooks on November 29, 2025

    Sometimes you make a day long Bolognese and sometimes you just want something quicker but still rich & flavourful...that is this sauce. I went with 50:50 water: red wine & added fresh basil + a parm rind during the simmer. This is an easy choice to make again.

• Salsa verde chicken enchilada casserole

  • averythingcooks on October 24, 2025

    I replaced green bell peppers with diced jalapenos + roasted Anaheims from the freezer. The filling seemed a little one note for us so I added ancho chili powder, corn, black beans and a big mix of pickled sweet & hot pickled peppers. A 1/2 recipe was lots of 2 people (leftovers over lunch today - yay!) and we agree that this is a repeat for sure.

• Cheesy herbed-ricotta baked ziti

  • averythingcooks on October 05, 2025

    This is a pan of good comfort food. I added minced garlic to the ricotta & also had a heavier hand with the fresh herbs. I intended to undercook the pasta a bit until I got distracted (let's go Blue Jays!!) but we enjoyed this and are happy to have leftovers....even a 1/2 recipe makes a lot. I also think next time I would decrease the amount of pasta by at least 2 oz.

• Rustic beef & veggie pot pie

  • Bessp on June 17, 2025

    This was quite nice! A lovely rich gravy with relatively few ingredients. I used gluten free flour and pastry. The only other change I made was putting the carrots in at the beginning because we like them stewed. Will definitely make again!

• My all-time favorite yogurt-ranch dressing

  • averythingcooks on September 24, 2025

    I made the buttermilk version and used my fresh herb ranch blend from the freezer (with the parsley & dill called for + chives.) It is good as written but our palates are now used to a little more punch so I added fresh lemon juice & hot sauce to taste.

• Garlic herb bread

  • averythingcooks on October 08, 2025

    I wanted a quick bread to eat with our dinner soup and this did the job nicely. By no means is it fancy but it came together quickly with fresh garlic, grated cheese + a mix of both dried & "fresh frozen" herb blends providing the flavour. I think I will make it again, trying my mini loaf pans next time.

• Skillet onions & potatoes

  • averythingcooks on September 25, 2025

    We enjoyed this simple dish with scrambled eggs & a big spoonful of chutney. While everything does cook/finish in a skillet, there is a "parboil in a pot" step for the potatoes 1st but I didn't mind as under cooked potatoes are a big pet peeve. Adding the garlic + more butter at the end guarantees a big hit of flavour with no real chance of burning the garlic (another pet peeve :)