Today's Special: A Whole Lotta Food

Turkey Soup- New Recipe. This is the recipe that saved Seth's wild turkey from culinary disaster (long story short, it was way too salty after I roasted it). This soup helped tone down the saltiness of the turkey a lot and made it not only edible, but incredibly delicious. The recipe name doesn't sound too fancy, but it was some of the best soup we've had in awhile. Definitely a keeper! (p.s. I substituted corn for carrots because I didn't have any).

Basil Pesto Pasta- New Recipe. This pesto turned out so good! Even better than the stuff in the jar I buy at the grocery store. I have to admit I was a little scared to try it, but I was pleasantly surprised. Very fresh tasting. Oh, I did sub pecans for the walnuts. I also used this on gnocchi instead of regular pasta.

 Fajita Burgers- New Recipe. These were really spicy so watch out if you're cooking for kids. They were a bit crumbly but I think it was because I didn't chop up my onions small enough. Seth really liked these, but I thought all the stuff mixed into the burgers was a bit overwhelming. I'd probably tone it down a bit next time. Also, the roasted peppers were good (Seth made them!) but not sure they were worth the effort. I'd suggest using some store bought roasted red peppers in a jar. I think this would actually cut back on the spiciness too. Oh and one more tip: Don't eat one of these right before you go running. Bleh.

Sauteed Chicken Breasts with Creamy Chive Sauce- New Recipe. This turned out ok... maybe a bit on the bland side. I think it would've been better had the sauce simmered longer and/or the flavors had more time to meld. Definitely not bad by any means, but nothing spectacular.

Mediterranean Tuna Panini- Repeat. These were Seth's exact words the other night when I made this... "This one of my favorite things you make." Enough said.

Granola Bars- New Recipe. This is another Alton Brown recipe. I wanted to try and make my own granola bars for a couple reasons. #1 Store bought granola bars are pricey #2 Store bought granola bars aren't that good or filling or healthy. I wanted to make my own granola bars so I could control all those variables and I have to say my experiment worked pretty well.

There were a couple changes I made to this recipe. I couldn't find hulled raw sunflower seeds at the grocery store, so I just left them out. Also, I tried using agave nectar in place of honey. For my dried fruit I used a mixture of regular and golden raisins, dried cranberries and I believe there were some dried blueberries in the mix as well. These turned out pretty well. They are more of a soft granola bar and mine were a bit crumbly, but not too bad. I read reviews on the recipe that said these were hard to cut or really crunchy... I think this may be the difference between the honey and agave, but I'm not sure. I've already bought ingredients to make a second batch and I think I'll try using honey this time to see which I like best. I'll let you know how it goes.

Ok so update on that last paragraph. I made a second batch of these with honey and they turned out even better I think. I let them cool in the pan this time and I couldn't get them out. So, I nuked it in the microwave for a minute to soften it up and then it came out... in pieces. I would suggest baking this then right away (before it cools) dump it out onto a cutting board and press it together/shape it and then let it cool.

p.s. These were made in a 9x9 pan and I cut them into 8 bars- using these proportions the granola bars have about 400 calories, which is a good sized breakfast. Perfect for my drive to work!