Check out my progress on Recipe Rebel
Recently, my dad sent me an article from one of my favorite online magazines, Slate. This particular article discusses a book entitled Ratio, in which the author brazenly declares that ordinary cookbooks prevent you from acquiring any real culinary skills. The reviewer strongly disagrees with this theory; I am inclined to agree. Sure, I almost never stick to recipes anymore, but I continue to use them as inspiration for flavor combinations and learn from the methods and techniques that are described in them. How about you? Do you generally follow recipes or do you inevitably improvise?
See below for a few examples of such improvisations…
Thursday
OK, so I’m officially on a raspberry kick.
peach-raspberry smoothie with soymilk, berry HempShake, & Acai Apple granola
Friday
Another 5-minute breakfast. I’m pretty sure I had chia seeds all up in my grill during class today. Oh well–totally worth the embarrassment.
Hugh Jass: the cereal edition (GoLean, chia, unsweetened hemp milk, & blueberries)
ch-ch-ch-chia
I derived inspiration for today’s lunch from ED&BV’s Thai Chick-Un Pizza. I was craving the peanut sauce-pineapple-chickpea goodness, but I knew we were having pizza for dinner…so I made it into a salad. Full disclosure: I used bottle peanut sauce that I first featured here.
Thai Chick-Un Salad; pita; rice milk with Amazing Grass (berry flavor) & stevia
A note on the Amazing Grass. I know I said (in this review) that I probably wouldn’t try it again after the first time, but I later received this sample to review for VegFamily…I’m not one to waste food, so I gave it another whirl today. Much better this time around! It tastes a bit like the strawberry-flavored milk from my childhood, except WAY better for you, obviously. I think the pictures below speak for themselves…
obviously, I really hated the Amazing Grass...
Pizza night at the Broccoli Hut! I made my own sauce out of tomato paste, no-salt-added diced tomatoes, garlic, and fresh basil. A quick whizz with the immersion blender created some fab pizza sauce. This was my first time using a store-bought pizza crust; it made for a nice change from my usual tortilla crust.
365 Whole Wheat Pizza Crust
homemade veggie/soy pepperoni pizza with reduced-fat mozzarella; Romaine with almonds & Bragg's; cantaloupe
a peek into the veggie core: green & yellow bell peppers and red onion
I was visited by the freebie fairy today, twice over. First, my winnings from the Hangry Pants Element Bars giveaway:
Element Bar winnings!
Then…the doorbell rang, and I found twenty-two pounds of foodie fun:
Crikey! I was not expecting such a plethora of samples! THANK YOU, NEWMAN‘S!
Now I must bid you adieu…Stacy and Clinton are beckoning. Have a fab weekend!
Filed under: Meals
Caroline Yoder, dietitian-to-be and all-around foodie.
Haha you KNOW I always improvise recipes
Love the eats and giveaway goodies!!
I’m not one to make my own recipes but I take ideas from cookbooks and make them to my tastes and the ingredients I have avalible. Some recipes I do follow, but that’s only if I’ve never made something like that before.
Great idea for the Thai Salad, I love the pizza recipe!
i dont use recipes unless its something i know it’s hard to make.
holy crap! you get alot of samples!
I rarely use cookbooks but I’ve been missing out. Like you said, it’s a great way to get into learning new food combinations. After the 1st few times of using the recipe, I always tweak it, try new things of my own.
HOLY CRAP look at all those NEWMANS! Hey Newman’s people, I’ve been eating your salad dressing for years, wanna send me some…?
Interesting thoughts on the cookbooks- I definitely use them to create other recipes and rarely make them verbatim.
I always say that I’m a baker first and cook second – I NEED to have recipes with measurements. A pinch of this, dash of that, splash of this just doesn’t make sense in my head!
Newman’s hooks you UP! I’ve got made love for that company!! That pizza crust looks interesting – did it taste the same as usual crusts?
I get teased a bit from my family for never following a recipe, I def get inspiration from them but then like to do my own thing with the fresh ingredients I have on hand.
Wow, those Newman freebies are impressive!
Happy weekend!
oh i have been dying to try those newmans products – i hear from a few blogettes that the hermits are off the hook
! Enjoy =)!
Yay to food mail–oh, all those goodies you get to try out, so envious
I never even bothered to check my teeth after eating chia, I should start doing that to avoid future embarassments.
That pizza salad is a great idea to mix the recipe from ED&BV up a bit. I must try. The actual pizza looks mighty heavenly itself. The amazing grass stuff was that good, huh? Must pick up a sample on my next trip to WFs.
I miss watching What Not to Wear. I should get back on track–love Stacey and Clinton!
I use recipes but then tend to improvise after I use it the first time. I would be lost without them, I like having them for sure.
Awesome packages!
I usually take ideas from cookbooks and sort of mix and mingle them to suit my taste or to fit what I have on hand in the kitchen.
Have fun with all those goodies!! You have quite a bit of stuff to try out…:D
i love slate! as far as recipes go, i am an improvisation station. i think that is why i like cooking a little more than baking, in baking you do have to measure things out sometimes (like flour and whatnot)..
that stuff tastes like strawberry milk? wow.. sign me up.
have a good weekend!
I usually base what I make/follow recipes. I try and be as creative as possible, and I’m getting there, haha. I do come up with my own meals most of the time though. It’s things like baking that I typically follow with a recipe.
Great eats!!!
<3 jess
super jealous of all the newman goods! I haven’t gotten to try any of their stuff yet! URG! Hopefully one day soon?! So what made you special enough for all that amazing goodness? Just curious… (: Sign me up, whatever it is!
Keri
http://hopskipleap.wordpress.com
I usually look at recipes for ideas but end up making my own substitutions! And now your getting Newman samples?? awesome!!
Caroline! Newman’s hooked you up!!! Rip into the hermits if you received any of those, and I definitely recommend the original Newman O’s and dried cranberries too!! You’ll love ‘em!
That pizza shot looks amazing!! I love how i made a pizza with pita bread last night, and you went all real-deal on me and had actual pizza dough!
Hope you’re having a good Saturday!
isn’t that pep amazing?! I really loved it on my homemade tortilla pizzas…had great flavor in my opinion! So glad you were able to enjoy it as well
Oh and I ALWAYS improvise…i hardly ever follow a recipe to the t…oops! haha
hooray for the newmans delivery…that stuff is definitely holy yum worthy.
the hermits are the best!!
im an off the recipe cook…i get a general idea of what im doing in terms of where im going with a dish, but then i do my own thing…
btw that pic of the pizza balanced in your hand 1) looks amazing and 2) must have taken skill to photograph
well done caroline
Ooh, that salad looks delicious!
Speaking of recipes, I know you have a whole page dedicated to the process of how to assemble a successful smoothie, but I’m still having problems with the thickness/taste/texture of my own creations. Your smoothies always look *perfect* in terms of thickness and colour (you should see some of the hideous shades mine turn!) and I was just wondering if it would be possible for you to post ‘recipes’ for some of them with exact quantities of what to use. I would be so grateful if you could!
Many thanks
~Jessica~
I heard an interview with Michael Ruhlman on NPR not too long ago. I was interested, but then I guess I forgot and never checked out the book
If I’m baking something, I always like to pick out a recipe to use as a basis to riff on. Cos baking measurements need to be sort of precise, compared to soup or something where you can just totally freestyle.
Wow, Newman’s jackpot!
What a lucky girl you are! All those free Newman’s samples, I LOVE Newman’s products.
Anything with all those powdered greens in it can taste really rough, so its nice that there is a way for it to taste good.
I’m always on a raspberry kick, they are so good, in everything! I love raspberries in salads.
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Holy Newman’s Goodies, Batman! You totally scored there
All of your eats form Friday look particually good to me today. I would totally do that menu.
As for cookbooks – it really depends on what I’m making as to how closely I follow the recipe. If I’ve planned ahead, I’ll make sure I have all the ingredients, but sometimes I don’t have everything, so I’ll improvise. I often don’t measure things as they are stated in the recipe either, like for soups, stews, stirfries, curries – I just use what I have or what I feel like that day. And sometimes I’ll browse a few recipes for inspiration when I’m craving a certain kind of dish, then I go from there.
My only exception is baking – I pretty much follow those recipes to a T, only because of the science involved.
LOL. Ok I was just checking to make sure you got the bars and then almost died laughing when I saw your other freebie that day.
Hope you liked them.