Yes, I think I’m making it official. I need weekly updates to what I’ve cooked. Now I’m not going all Julie on her but I am cooking enough to give some decent updates.
OK, so here’s what we made this week. Chocolate sheet cake, Marlboro Man’s Sandwich, Onion Strings, Oatmeal Crispies, Cowboy Calzones, Enchiladas. I also made a pizza from her pizza crust but didn’t do one of her exact pizzas.
Let me tell you a little story about chocolate sheet cake. It does NOT work to substitute the sugar with Splenda and a few tablespoons of butter with Country Crock. Trust me on this. But when you use sugar and butter? Angels sing and your mouth does a dance. Now there’s nothing new about this cake. If you’ve had sheet cake, you’re not going to be surprised. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t worth making. I did find the cake especially fluffy and moist and it lasted all week as our dessert.
Dear Marlboro Man, I love your chaps but I do not love your sandwich. It had a fantastic taste and was very moist but I’m just not a fan of cube steak. I really should have known better. Even Scott was not impressed :(. I will say the girls did love the steak cut up as a main dish.
I actually made them twice this week. I’ve never been good at duplicating the taste and texture of onion strings from restaurants but I think these get darn near close. They are fantastic. Perfect for on top of a steak or hamburger or all on their own.
I’m not a huge fan of oatmeal cookies but these are really good. Just imagine a whole lot of sugar and some oats rolled around and baked.
Cowboy Calzones
These almost didn’t happen. I planned them on Thursday when the girls had gymnastics so I almost canceled them. I ended up running home during my longest break at the gym and got everything together and baked. But really, I shouldn’t have made so much effort. They were edible, but nothing to brag about. I think the Cowboy part of this should be stressed. It’s no surprise Scott liked it a lot. If you’re feeding someone that likes more meat and less everything else, this might be the dish for them. The rest of us found we wanted more cheese. Lots more cheese even after I added extra cheese! This was definitely not the calzone you find at your local Italian restaurant. But I guess I should have known that. It is a Cowboy Calzone after all.
This was probably the biggest disappointment of the week. It was a lot of work to put this dish together and in the end, the girls wouldn’t eat it and the rest of them choked it down. It was HOT. The meat filling was delicious though and Emma was willing to eat that separately. But I think the Enchilada sauce we used was over the top hot. I didn’t care much for the texture of the cooked corn tortillas either.
This one I didn’t directly make but I must include it. Mom made it on Saturday night with filets and it was OUT OF THIS WORLD good. You know when you go to the restaurants and the sauces make the dishes perfection and you just know you can never duplicate it at home? Well, this tastes like one of those sauces but it is SO easy. Mom gave me the leftovers and I also used it with some leftover fish I had. Perfecto!
What I’ll be making again ASAP: sheet cake, onion rings and blue cheese sauce
What I won’t make again (I’m so sorry, PW, I still love you and I’m very sure every other family loves these): calzones and enchiladas