"Recipe Deal Breakers: When Step 2 Is ‘Corral Pig’"

Anything with Miracle Whip - forget it!

Any recipe for "cold" soup. Oogy. Absolutely beyond words.

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Living Simply... Or at least making the attempt. Blessed Be.

The processed food ingredients are a big one for me, since I don't eat any processed foods. It seems like so many meat recipes call for cream of mushroom soup or that onion soup mix. If I still want to make the recipe, I just saute some mushrooms and onions and add milk. It's not the same, I'm sure, but it's a pretty good alternative.

If the recipe calls for exotic ingredients, it's usually out. I don't even know what a lot of those things are, much less where to buy them. Truthfully, I doubt any store around here carries most of it.

Actually, perhaps a question that might be pertinent to this discussion is "How many of us use recipes?" I'm generally just winging it and using whatever is at hand. We keep a whole bunch of stuff in stock so there's generally something to mess about with and fortunately my DH is an easy feeder.

I do generally look up a recipe or three for something like mayonnaise. All the mayo recipes seem different, though, so it is generally an amalgamation of several of them that gets made.

Okay, while I could probably wing such a recipe, I must know about your version!! Share?

~~

I grew up on tuna casserole made with cream of mushroom - one of my favorite comfort foods!

But for other recipes that call for a can of "cream of", I will often sub white sauce with mushrooms, celery or whatever. I make my own onion soup mix - it's great! Vegetarians can sub fake beef bouillon or a vegetable one.

Copy Cat Lipton`s Onion Soup

3/4 c. minced onion
1/3 c. beef bouillon
4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp crushed celery seed
1/4 tsp sugar

Combine all ingredients
Store in tight fitting container

About 5 Tbls. of mix are equal to 1 1.25 oz pkg.

Use in making soup or onion dip (Mix 5 Tbls. with one
pint of sour cream).

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God bless,
Bonnie
Opportunity Farm
Northeast Washington

"While we have the opportunity, let us do good to all." Galatians 6:10

I keep kosher too, so I do a lot of substituting in recipes. I put in turkey for pork and soymilk for milk all the time, and I can do a white sauce instead of cream of whatever soup quite nicely. Shellfish of any sort are a dealbreaker, though. Even if I didn't keep kosher, DH is allergic, and nothing really substitutes for it well, to my mind.

Beyond that, there are multiple types of deal-breakers. Some are "maybe tomorrow" type things, so don't count for this discussion (even if tomorrow never comes). The "OK, forget that!" triggers? Well, I don't even bother reading recipes that are just lists of prepackaged ingredients to combine, so that's definitely offense #1. Beyond that, I'll try most things once. If preparing something leaves me needing to take pain meds because my feet hurt so much by the time it's done, though, I don't make it twice (OK, except Thanksgiving).

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Peace, tremulous, unexpected, sent a taproot out of nowhere into Morgon's heart. -Patricia McKillip, Harpist in the Wind

I use recipes a lot...but mostly to give me ideas. It's a rare recipe that I follow religously. Occasionally though, when it's something well outside my 'normal' cookery, I'll use a recipe the first time, and elaborate on it from there. Mostly, I'll mutter, 'Hmmmm, what goes well with________.', and flip through several cookbooks to see what was used with that ingredient. And go from there. But often, I get recipes from friends that have prepackaged stuff in them, something I ate at their house and know I like the taste of...so I want to figure out substitutes. Sometimes I can, sometimes I can't.

Meg

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All life requires death to support itself. The key is to have an abiding respect for the deaths that support you. --- Mark T. Sullivan

Sure, I'll share my version because I wrote it in my Favorites notebook and threw away the original!

2 pkgs sliced prosciutto (I get the pre-sliced/packaged, don't know how many ounces they are, about 6-7 thin slices in each)
1 (8 oz) pkg sliced fresh mushrooms
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 C freshly grated parmesan
2 C whipping cream
1/2 tsp pepper, or to taste
4 green onions, sliced
16 oz penne, cooked and drained

1. Chop prosciutto into pieces and cook over med-heat. (I used a little EVOO because prosciutto won't produce the fat that bacon would.) Remove from pan, set aside.
2. Sautee sliced mushrooms and garlic in same pan (w/EVOO) 3-5 mins or until tender.
3. Add next 3 ingredients; simmer over med-low heat, stirring often, until sauce thickens.
4. Stir in prosciutto and green onions.
5. Pour sauce over penne and mix thoroughly.

Very little prep-work, and not many ingredients... my kinda recipe!
I only used one pack of prosciutto because that's all I had in the freezer, but I thought that it could have used a little more... so I wrote "2" in my notebook. You may think 1 pkg is enough.

I think it would be just as good with Pecorino Romano cheese instead of parm, but I had fresh parm on hand. Whichever is used, freshly grated cheese makes all the difference in the world in the end flavor, IMO.

Hope you like it!

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Before you marry someone, ask yourself, "Will they be a good killing partner during the zombie apocalypse?"
-someecards.com

This recipe sounds good..except I have no idea what EVOO is. I'm assuming it's a fat of some type...am I close?

Meg

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All life requires death to support itself. The key is to have an abiding respect for the deaths that support you. --- Mark T. Sullivan

Extra Virgin Olive Oil. (I was using that abbreviation in my own notes when Rachel Ray was a toddler.)

You can use whatever you would normally sautee something in. We just EVOO 'cause DH loves it... it's in his Sicilian blood, I guess... or maybe it's in his veins instead of blood.

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Before you marry someone, ask yourself, "Will they be a good killing partner during the zombie apocalypse?"
-someecards.com

Extra Virgin Olive Oil.