Allrecipes.com My Favorite!

This is my all-time favorite website for looking for recipes. You can type in a key word, or you can click on the link at the top that says "Ingredients" and look for recipes with the ingredients you have, and even ones that you don't want. But remember less, is more, the less keywords you put the more recipes your search will give you. Too specific might not give you any recipes at all.

This website has other features if you're a member too, you can save the recipes you like in your "Recipes box", add pictures of your own; or even review the recipe. But my favorite part of all is being able to read the reviews, this part is available to you whether you are a member or not. Reading the reviews gives you great ideas on what worked for people in the recipe and what didn't, or even tricks that they used to make the whole cooking process much easier. Whenever reading the reviews however make sure you read more than one. There's no accounting for taste, so balance out a 5 star review with a 1 star review, because chances are you will want to know what both of these people had to say, even if they might not share your same tastes.

Good luck, and happy cooking!

Green Bean Pasta Bechamel with Arugula Salad

Level: Intermediate

Pasta Ingredients:

-Sauce

-Green Beans

-Shell Pasta (preferably whole wheat)

-Gouda

Salad Ingredients:

-Arrugula

-Grape tomatoes

-Rice vinegar

-Salt and Pepper

-Olive oil

Directions:

1. Chop all arrugula.

2. Mix all ingredients together.

Our Lunch! (Doesn't that look fancy?)

Our lunch for tomorrow is composed of the following:

-Brown rice (left overs), with Parmesan and Romano cheese from Rice-a-Roni (left overs), with frozen peas (washed), and Parmesan cheese.

-Half a tomato basil veggie patty.

- Bread, alfalfa, and Ranch dip to make an alfalfa sandwich tomorrow.

-Grapes to dip into the left over ranch.

-And finally this little fruit called "Kumquats" which I tried at the local market and then proceeded to buy. They are citrus and you are supposed to roll them in your hand to release the sweetness from the skin. Then you eat them skin and all. Here's a link to a close up: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/52/Quinotos.jpg Oh yeah, and they are called Quinotos or naranja china in Spanish. Hmmm, go figure!

Sauced Tofu

Level: Beginner

Ingredients:

-Tofu

-Asian sauce

-3 tbsp Vegetable oil

-Scallions (optional)

-Sesame seeds (optional)

Directions:

1. In a non-stick pan add oil and slices of tofu. Fry for about 2 minutes.

2. Add favorite Asian sauce and continue flipping tofu until lightly fried (and you are scared to burn it. I know these are not the best instructions, but believe me, it was more like trying an error for us. Our sauce came in a frozen package and Vane couldn't stop laughing at how the blob of sauce looked in the pan, and how I had to struggle with it to rub it on the tofu. LOL.)

For this meal we had left over Asian noodles which I made a ton of. :( Then we complimented the dish with alfalfa and tofu. The alfalfa might not have been the best combination, but the tofu was perfect and came out really good.

Asian Thread Noodles with Peanut Sauce

Level: Beginner

Ingredients:

-1/2 package of rice thread noodles

-1/2-1 bottle of Asian peanut sauce

-Soy sauce

-Frozen peas and frozen peppers stir-fry or frozen vegetable stir-fry

-Vegetable oil / sesame oil is best

-Peanuts (optional)

I was trying to do this recipe based on something I ate that our friend Danny-Lu made. But I didn't really know the recipe so it was sort of improvised.

Directions:

1. Stir-fry the vegetables with a little bit of oil and a little bit of sauce just for taste.

2. Cook the noodles in boiling water. They only take a few minutes to cook so take them out fast. Look at the package for instructions (I had to drain them in a piece of cloth because my strainer's holes were to large.) Make sure to add a little bit of oil or sauce right away or they will all clump up into a big mess.

3. In a separate large bowl, mix the vegetables with the noodles and add the peanut sauce. Add soy sauce to taste.

(In this sample I used the whole package and then some, which turned out too be waaaayyy too much. Don't make the same mistake. Good luck!)

Vegetarian Chilli

Level: Challenging
Ingredients: *To be filled by Mauro

Meal Idea #2

Yes, today we went all out!
Dishes:
-Squash cream soup (squash, broth, butter, milk, salt/pepper, parsley, pinch of Complete seasoning)
-Veggie patty with egg on top (patty seasoned with soy sauce, egg with paprika and Parmesan; all in butter)
-Whole grain rice
-Arugula with balsamic vinegar (we bought the fresh arugula at the farmer's market for $2!!!)

Meal Idea #1

Doesn't this dinner look great?!
Dishes:
-Fish sticks (with a wonderful sauce I bought at my local farmer's market)
-Green beans (garlic, butter, salt/pepper, cooking wine)
-Whole grain rice
-Arugula with tomato (dressing: olive oil, salt, lemon, Parmesan cheese)