As I have mentioned in a previous post, I have had a lot of mishaps in the kitchen lately. I have been trying to stay on the positive side about it, but after so many failures, it is  hard to think that you still have the swag required to make good things happen in the kitchen. However, when you finally get something right, I guess it is all worth it...right?

Among the 'not nearly cooked' banana bread, and the 'glue' potatoes, I actually decided to make this soup that I LOVE! The recipe is super easy (minus tons of chopping), and since I just had a root canal and can't eat too much solid food right now, I thought that soup would be a great thing to make.

This is another one of my crock pot recipes, which are great because you just throw everything in and then let it go until you get home from work. The soup that I chose to make was a vegetable minestrone...easy to eat, delicious, nutritious and hearty, what more could I want? Everything was definitely going according to plan, I had all of the ingredients on hand, the chopping of the veggies was taking my mind off of the pain that I was in, and I got everything into the crock pot and turned on with enough time for it to be ready for dinner! SCORE! The only catch is that 20 mins before the soup is ready, I need to add the 1.5 cups of pasta...because of course, what would a veggie minestrone be without pasta? I put the pasta in on time, and 20 mins later it looks amazing! But for some reason, I just wasn't hungry enough to eat, so I turned it off and came back to it about a half hour later. When I took the top off of the crock pot, I was horrified! The pasta had soaked up ALL of the broth...so no longer did I have soup, but a huge pot of pasta! I am still going to eat it of course, but I definitely learned my lesson; as much as it pains me to dirty more dishes, I need to cook the pasta separately and add it to my bowl right before I eat! 

Ok, so for anyone who actually follows my blog, you have probably noticed that there has not been a weekend review in quite a while. I seem to have fallen into a little rut of only eating what is familiar and nothing new. However, recently I have found this new salad dressing that I have completely fallen in love with. Usually, I am a Ranch Dressing type of person, but I decided to step out of the box and buy something different for a dinner party that I was hosting. 

 I have definitely been feeling a little off of my game lately. I have had some serious epic FAILS go on in the kitchen over the last couple of weeks. There have been mishaps from everything like mashed potatoes (which came out like glue), soup which wasn't soupy at all (damn noodles), and banana bread that tricked me into thinking it was cooked (but just when I turned my back, the gooey, uncooked middle ended up all over my counters and floor!) So after all of this mishaps I have been feeling a little down about actually cooking anything. 

As you have probably already figured out, I LOVE these things! I have never used them before, although I am sure that some of you already have, and I hope that you love them as much as I do!

First Thoughts: They are a lot thicker than I thought, but once they cook they do become much thinner and almost translucent if boiled. I haven't tried fying these yet, but I definitely am going to try it...you could even make fried ravioli.

These would be great to stuff just about anything in, sweet or savory. You may want to try to put some nutella and fruit into them and fry them, or you could put some type of shredded meat and veggies in them and fry them...the possibilities are endless, and I think these might become a staple in my fridge!

The only thing to remember is that you need to keep these covered because they will dry out. But you can just put them onto a baking sheet as you are working and cover them with plastic wrap.

Rating: 5 stars!

 Roasting is such an easy and delicious cooking method. Typically the winter months are better for this method because it helps heat up your home. There is nothing better than making a delicious meal that makes your home feel and smell homey. And for some reason when I think about red potatoes, I always think of parsley as a flavor pair. There is something about the richness of the potatoes along with the grass-y-ness of the parsley that goes so well to me.