Week 1: Coulinary Concoctions

So this week I managed to make TWO things!!!  Way to kick of my cooking challenge with a bang!  I am calling my cooking challenge copycat creations because I am certainly not talented enough to make up my own recipes.  Not yet at least.  Baby steps grasshopper, baby steps.

For my first meal, I decided to go with a soup.  It is getting a little colder outside and soup just sounded good.  So I made an Italian Sausage Soup. I used this recipe.  Mainly because I had a lot of baby spinach and I wanted to put it to good use.  I think I may start adding pictures of my finished product for proof, but I have not taken any pictures yet...  So for now, I give you the picture from the site.  I promise I made it!  Ask Sarah.

My thoughts on the recipe are: good relatively healthy soup, but definitely use spicy sausage!  I used sweet turkey sausage and that was a mistake.  The recipe was bland without the spicy sausage.  I added crushed red pepper and it helped.  On the whole, it was simple to make and pretty tasty once I added the pepper.  I would make it again.  Woohoo for recipe one!

For my second recipe, I went with my absolute favorite tuna noodle casserole.  I cannot find a picture of a casserole online that does not have peas.  And my tuna noodle casserole certainly does not have peas (yuck)! So no fake picture for this one. And no recipe either.  Not because it is super secretive, but because it is not already online and I don't want to take the time to write it out.  Lame, I know.  But I am sure you can find some TNC recipe online if you are dying to make it... actually, if anyone is dying to make tuna noodle casserole, let me know and I will write out and send you my recipe.  I think I may be the only person on earth that loves TNC, so I would gladly take the time to jot down my recipe if I found out I had company.

I heard my college roommate Tess's voice in my head the entire time I was cooking.  She HATES tuna with a passion and every time she would come home after I made tuna of any kind, she would always say "Ewww, Jen made tuna!" or something to voice her concern that our house smelled fishy.  The thought made me laugh and miss her so much (she lives in Baltimore)!  But just as I did in college, I enjoyed my tuna noodle casserole this week despite others thoughts or protests.  I love it ever so!

On to next week!  I am thinking squash of some sort... Spaghetti squash or squash soup....  Who knows!  Any good squash soup ideas?