julie and julia

So i first saw the movie julie and julia because of caroline's recommendation, and i totally loved it! well last week while folding laundry i watched it again and loved it all over again! then i don't know what happened, i must have gotten "inspired" or something, and the next thing i knew i had 5 new recipes lined up to try for the following week. now i'm not trying to "master the art of french cooking" or anything, but i am trying to use a cookbook for more sections than just desserts. i decided to dive into our best bites cookbook, which obviously we all have, so here's what we've tried and what we thought (oh and btw, all these pics came from our best bites):

chocolate zucchini bread

Loved it!! seriously, it's chocolatey, and sweet, with cinnamon and sugar, so good! and it makes two loaves so there's tons to eat, or one to share!

creamy cilantro-lime ranch dressing

we made this to accompany two meals and it's really, really good. like just like cafe rio! i didn't use real butter, and i used milk instead of the buttermilk, but i still thought it was just as good!

mississippi mud brownies (on website- not book)

on the website these are also called "tim riggins brownies" since they're a bit of a guilty pleasure. and while yes they are good, they're certainly a mouthful and after eating one large brownie i immediately had regrets eating something soo unhealthy. so i guess know your crowd, if they love to indulge then they'll love them, if not, proceed with caution!

this week i also made the lime-cilantro rice with pineapple (pg. 204) and LOVED it! they had a lot of steps in the recipe, so i just cooked the rice as i normally do in my rice cooker and then added the "extras" afterward. i will most definitely be making this again, honestly it'll probably become a staple around here! we used ours on tacos, but even on the side with some chilled pineapple on top was delish!!

lastly, we tried the vegetarian black bean taquitos (pg. 109). i really liked these and i definitely didn't think they tasted "vegetarian." we dipped these in the cilantro-ranch dressing, which boosted the flavor. since they are vegetarian there's not much "juice" to the mixture which maybe could have been remedied by some fresh tomatoes while you eat? idk, it just needed a little moisture.

so that's it, now i'm not trying to cook my way through this book via julie and julia, but i am trying to see what we can add into our dinner mix. hopefully these "reviews" help, i know i love reading reviews before i make something new. up next? the spinach mandarian poppy seed salad on pg. 76, looks tasty!

summer recipes

Hey here's a new blog I came across called A Pretty Life in the Suburbs, I really like it. She kind of reminds me of a BHG magazine; she features crafts, recipes, decor, gardening and photo tips. Anywho, she's featuring all her recipes she's been posting that have a "summery vibe" to them, and some of the look delish! Check it out!