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March 23, 2012

March Madness Round 3 Results

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Here’s where we stand after 3 rounds of the tournament.  The last eight recipes standing are:  
Beef and Barley Soup,
Cordon Bleu Soup, 
Beef Gyros, 
Cafe Rio Beef, 
Massaman Curry, 
Hawaiian Chicken, 
Turkey Lasagna, and the 
Salsa Rice Bake.

Cordon Bleu Soup
Recipe:
Prep time/ease of ingredients (10 points)
Likeliness of making it again (30 points)
Overall flavor (50 points)
Value $ (10 points)
Coconut Soup
10
30
50
2
Cordon Bleu Soup
10
30
48
8
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. 
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.  

Final Score:
Coconut Soup:  92
Cordon Bleu Soup:  96
Review by Jody


Beef Gyros

Recipe:
Prep time/ease of ingredients
(10 points)
Likeliness of making it again
(30 points)
Overall flavor (50 points)
Value $ (10 points)
Beef Gyros
7
28
50
8
Roast Beef Sliders
9
25
35
8
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 doesnโ€™t really take that long, but
I made it the night before so I didnโ€™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.
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 didnโ€™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 couldnโ€™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.

Final Score:

Beef Gyros:  93
Roast Sliders:  77
Review by Traci
Cafe Rio Beef

Recipe:
Prep time/ease of ingredients
(10 points)
Likeliness of making it again
(30 points)
Overall flavor (50 points)
Value $ (10 points)
Shredded pork salad
10
20
50
5
Rio beef
8
20
50
8
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.
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 canโ€™t imagine liking this dressing enough to lick it off my
plate.  It  was okay, but I probably wouldnโ€™t bother
with the dressing if I make this again.  
Finding green enchilada sauce was a challenge, even in the Mexican
bodegas around here. 

Final Score:

Shredded Pork:  85
Rio Beef:  86
Review by Tammy
Massman Curry

Recipe:
Prep time/ease of ingredients
(10 points)
Likeliness of making it again
(30 points)
Overall flavor (50 points)
Value $ (10 points)
Massaman Curry
8
30
48
7
Mushroom Tarragon Chick
7
28
50
7
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. 
Recipe 2 notes and review:
 I love this recipe!  I forgot how good it was until I made it again this week.  The flavor is delicious but not overpowering.  I love mushrooms so anything with mushrooms I am a fan of.  I only scored this lower because my kids wouldn’t eat it ๐Ÿ™ I’m sad to see you go Mushroom Tarragon Chicken!  I wish both recipes could win! 

Final Score: 

Massaman Curry:  93
Mushroom Tarragon Chicken:  92
Review by me, Karen Petersen

Hawaiian Chicken
Recipe:
Prep time/ease of ingredients (10 points)
Likeliness of making it again (30 points)
Overall flavor (50 points)
Value $ (10 points)
Chicken and Broccoli Pasta
7
6
30
7
Hawaiian Chicken
10
30
50
10
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. 
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. 

Final Score:
Chicken and Broccoli Pasta: 50
Hawaiian Chicken: 100
Review by Cathy

Turkey Lasagna
Recipe:
Prep time/ease of ingredients
(10 points)
Likeliness of making it again
(30 points)
Overall flavor (50 points)
Value $ (10 points)
Ham & Swiss Frittata
10
15
30
7
Turkey Lasagna
7
25
45
5
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 didnโ€™t purchase anything just
for this recipe but Iโ€™m sure by the time youโ€™ve added up the cost of eggs,
cheese, ham and bacon it isnโ€™t cheap. 
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 werenโ€™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 didnโ€™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 itโ€™s an easy to prepare
meal and would be nice for a day when I am busy and canโ€™t spend the afternoon
getting dinner ready. With pricey turkey sausage, Parmesan cheese,
mozzarella, mushrooms and red bell pepper it wasnโ€™t the most inexpensive meal
but the taste makes it a winner, hands down, in my book.
Final Score: 
Frittata:  62
Lasagna:  82
Review by:  Michelle
Salsa Rice Bake

Recipe:
Prep time/ease of ingredients
(10 points)
Likeliness of making it again
(30 points)
Overall flavor (50 points)
Value $ (10 points)
Salsa Rice Bake 
6
29
47
9
Artichoke Dip
7
28
48
6
Recipe 1 notes and review:  My family loved the taste of this
recipe!  Having to prepare the rice in
advance while understandable was kind of a pain along with the aluminum foil
collar but not as much as the fact that it was done in two hours and would
really only be something we could only do on the weekends.  The value at right around $11 was terrific
and my wife and daughter both had seconds. 
If you have family members that are sensitive to spicy food the whole
can of peppers may need to be cut in half as my daughter kept commenting on
the heat but the rest of the flavor was so good she had seconds.  To summarize: Prep-time limits us to
weekends but flavor and value will definitely put this dish in our regular
rotation.
Recipe 2 notes and review:  This recipe was billed as an
artichoke-spinach dip every bit as good as one you could find in a restaurant,
and on this, I TOTALLY AGREE!  The
preparation was very easy to follow but getting the artichokes chopped up and
spinach dried out added some time.  At
around $20 it was a little more than some people may like to pay for an
appetizer, even though it makes quite a bit. 
The flavor was really good and rich and is definitely a recipe we will
use again for parties and when our friends tried it, they loved it as well.  Overall this recipe could compete with any
restaurant or deli made spinach artichoke dip but the fact that it did not
really provide a NEW flavor twist and its value kept it
from scoring higher.

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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Hi, I’m Karen. I know that dinner time can be less than relaxing. Busy schedules and cranky kids and a hundred other things can lead to weariness when it comes to putting dinner on the table. I can help! I make homemade, family-friendly slow cooker and Instant Pot dinners and share the recipes with you.

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