Here’s where we stand after 3 rounds of the tournament. The last eight recipes standing are:
Turkey Lasagna, and the
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| Cordon Bleu Soup |
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Recipe:
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Prep time/ease of ingredients (10 points)
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Likeliness of making it again (30 points)
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Overall flavor (50 points)
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Value $ (10 points)
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10
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30
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50
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2
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10
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30
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48
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8
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Recipe 1 notes and review:
It was so hard to pick a winner this round because both soups were so good. It truly came down to the value of the two soups. When I think of soup I think of something that will feed my family of 5 for under $10.00 and have leftovers for lunch the next day. The Coconut Thai Soup was so wonderful and my husband went back for seconds telling me it is restaurant quality, but it was so expensive to make. Not only that I had a very hard time finding all the ingredients and had to settle for substitutes on two of the ingredients. Now that I have the ingredients I will definitely be making again. I would also double this recipe. We barely had enough for dinner and only one bowl of leftovers. I was also confused by the step of microwaving the onions and ginger. I have never done that before. It made my house smell instantly wonderful, but it kinda mellowed out towards the end and I was thinking the flavor was going to be kinda flat. Because I added all the spices back in at the end it was not the case at all. Next time I will just dump and go. One less step for me to do at prep time and 4-6 hours should be plenty of time to soften ingredients.
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Recipe 2 notes and review:
The Cordon Bleu Soup was a bit pricy as well so I took some points off for that but it was just because I had to make the trip to the store to buy the meat and and cheese. I was plesently surprised that I had all the spices and It was so exciting to use tarragon! I love that spice. Not only that the tarragon mixed with the basil was so YUMMY. More of my kids ate the Cordon Bleu soup but they all agreed it didn’t really tast like chicken cordon bleu so it lost a few points for overall flavor. Chicken, ham, and cheese are the three most favorite ingredients in my house so my kids all voted for the Cordon Bleu soup. This will definitely be cooked again at my house. Good luck next round Cordon Bleu Soup.
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Final Score:
Coconut Soup: 92
Cordon Bleu Soup: 96
Review by Jody
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| Beef Gyros |
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Recipe:
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Prep time/ease of ingredients
(10 points) |
Likeliness of making it again
(30 points) |
Overall flavor (50 points)
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Value $ (10 points)
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7
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28
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50
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8
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9
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25
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35
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8
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Recipe 1 notes and review:
This was an easy recipe to make.
The steak cooked up nice and tender. Making the cucumber dill sauce took the longest, but dicing up the cucumber and mixing it with yogurt and dill doesn’t really take that long, but I made it the night before so I didn’t have to do anything to do but assemble the gyro Wednesday night for dinner. I had all the ingredients on hand for the cucumber dill sauce. The cucumber dill sauce made the gyro. I used the leftover sauce on my wraps the rest of the week for lunch. I did have to buy pitas and the meat but this could easily be served on tortillas that I always have on hand. I will definitely be making these again. |
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Recipe 2 notes and review:
This was also an easy recipe to make.
Only had to buy the meat, rolls, and soup because it was one kind that I didn’t already have in my pantry but planning for both recipes ahead of time would be very doable. This recipe was good but not a whole lot different than other roast beef or pulled beef recipes. The banana peppers on the finished product did add an extra zing that I really liked. It was fun to serve them on a mini-bun (I used potato rolls because I couldn’t find mini-buns) rather than my typical wheat buns. I would make this again but not anytime real soon. This is a once or twice a year recipe. |
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Final Score:
Beef Gyros: 93
Roast Sliders: 77
Review by Traci
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| Cafe Rio Beef |
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Recipe:
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Prep time/ease of ingredients
(10 points) |
Likeliness of making it again
(30 points) |
Overall flavor (50 points)
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Value $ (10 points)
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10
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20
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50
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5
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8
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20
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50
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8
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Recipe 1 notes and review: It
tasted good, but the picnic pork shoulder was rather expensive. We buy our beef by the side, so beef for me is much cheaper. However, it was easy to make and very tasty. My oldest son thought it made really good tacos. I liked the fact that the pork took very little prep to get into the crockpot. |
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Recipe 2 notes and review: it
was good! Too spicy for the kids, but I loved it. Lots of interesting flavor. However, the dressing was not as good as it sounded in the description. I can’t imagine liking this dressing enough to lick it off my plate. It was okay, but I probably wouldn’t bother with the dressing if I make this again. Finding green enchilada sauce was a challenge, even in the Mexican bodegas around here. |
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Final Score:
Shredded Pork: 85
Rio Beef: 86
Review by Tammy
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| Massman Curry |
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Recipe:
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Prep time/ease of ingredients
(10 points) |
Likeliness of making it again
(30 points) |
Overall flavor (50 points)
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Value $ (10 points)
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Massaman Curry |
8
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30
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48
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7
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Mushroom Tarragon Chick |
7
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28
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50
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7
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Recipe 1 notes and review:
The massaman curry is really easy to put together. Cubing the potatoes is the hardest part. I usually have all the ingredients on hand except the coconut milk, which is fairly easy to find. I have made this recipe numerous times because my husband requests it often. The flavor is delicious and is easy to make spicier or more mild, if desired. Using the thighs is inexpensive and once the other ingredients are purchased they last for a long time. My husband and kids loved this and ate it all. That is why I ended up choosing it. It scored a bit higher on likeliness of making it again just because all of my family will eat it happily.
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Recipe 2 notes and review:
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Final Score:
Massaman Curry: 93
Mushroom Tarragon Chicken: 92
Review by me, Karen Petersen
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| Hawaiian Chicken |
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Recipe:
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Prep time/ease of ingredients (10 points)
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Likeliness of making it again (30 points)
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Overall flavor (50 points)
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Value $ (10 points)
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7
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6
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30
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7
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10
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30
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50
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10
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Recipe 1 notes and review:
I used 8 chicken breast tenders instead of thighs. We didn’t feel like it would have made that big of a difference. We did enjoy the overall flavor of the whole dish, but thought that the chicken itself was a little bland, although it really wasn’t all that dry. That’s why the flavor points are lower. We would eat the recipe again, however I would probably do some tweaking on the chicken. I think instead of salt and peppering it at the beginning, I would probably use garlic salt and pepper. We had to buy extra ingredients for this one. I don’t keep tapioca powder or white wine vinegar normally, but those types of ingredients are usable again and again. It did also involve some extra prep time with chopping all the vegetables. This recipe made enough for our family of 4 to have it twice. Neither of our kids loved it, but they did eat it both times I served it to them. I did like that it was healthy with the extra veggies and the whole wheat pasta.
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Recipe 2 notes and review:
I actually went ahead and halved this recipe, I used 8 chicken breast tenders instead of the 3 thighs. I also used a crockpot liner and tied it to keep the chicken nice and moist. We enjoyed this one and thought that the chicken had more flavor than the other recipe, that’s why it got a better score. Halving the chicken worked out fine, but I wished that I had made the full amount of sauce. The sauce was good, but we tend to like things really saucy and wished for more of the Hawaiian/sweet pineapple flavor. I thought this had a great value, because I had everything on hand, but the tapioca that I had already bought for the other recipe. I loved that it was a really quick throw the meal in the crockpot and go. I think I spent maybe 15 minutes making this whole meal. Our kids both liked this one better.
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Final Score:
Chicken and Broccoli Pasta: 50
Hawaiian Chicken: 100
Review by Cathy
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| Turkey Lasagna |
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Recipe:
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Prep time/ease of ingredients
(10 points) |
Likeliness of making it again
(30 points) |
Overall flavor (50 points)
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Value $ (10 points)
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10
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15
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30
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7
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7
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25
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45
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5
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Recipe 1 notes and review:
This was an easy recipe to follow with fairly simple ingredients, all
of which I had on hand. The prep work was simple and I had it ready to cook in a short amount of time. I had a few issues in the cooking of it (turns out my crockpot cooks VERY slowly) and we had to eat much later than anticipated. My family liked the meal but it turns out they would rather have cheddar instead of Swiss cheese in it. I am much more likely to make again in the oven instead of the crockpot. I served it for dinner but I think it would have gone over much better had it been a breakfast or brunch type of meal. It was served with the bacon on top which always makes everything better! I have a hard time assessing the actual cost since I didn’t purchase anything just for this recipe but I’m sure by the time you’ve added up the cost of eggs, cheese, ham and bacon it isn’t cheap. |
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Recipe 2 notes and review:
Finding turkey sausage for this recipe proved a little challenging
but in the end I was able get something that would work, buying turkey sausage breakfast patties. I broke apart the patties while browning the sausage to get the meat as it is called for in the recipe. All other preparation for this meal was super easy. I finely chopped up the red pepper and the mushrooms so they weren’t so noticeable when eating since my kids will refuse them when identifiable. The plan worked and they had no idea that these ingredients they claim they didn’t like were happily eaten. Everyone loved the lasagna and my only hesitation in making it again is that my husband prefers traditional lasagna compared to those done in a crockpot. But it’s an easy to prepare meal and would be nice for a day when I am busy and can’t spend the afternoon getting dinner ready. With pricey turkey sausage, Parmesan cheese, mozzarella, mushrooms and red bell pepper it wasn’t the most inexpensive meal but the taste makes it a winner, hands down, in my book. |
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Final Score:
Frittata: 62
Lasagna: 82
Review by: Michelle
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| Salsa Rice Bake |
Final Score:
Salsa Rice: 91
Artichoke Dip: 89
Review by Mark (our one and only male volunteer!!!)
Things I’m surprised by? Artichoke dip is out and Beef and Barley Soup is STILL in!
I can’t wait to see who makes it to the final four!!!!!
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