I haven't had a food fail in a while!
Now I admit part of this was my fault. I've never (knowingly) tried Hoisen sauce before. And I also tend to research my recipes by reading comments, etc before trying them. Actually, the comments was one of the things that drove me to start this blog. I mean how many times do you read "Oh that looks tasty" but no one has actually TRIED it!? Yah, so that was a motivator for this, because I actually try it and write about it.
Moving on...
So I'm continuing my love affair with my slow cooker but looking for new recipes to try. We like our Asian style foods, so the recipe for Honey Garlic chicken from InspiredDreamer sounded perfect. A bit more complex then normal since I had to go purchase Hoisen sauce, something I never had on hand but I figured I'd give it a whirl. The recipe sounded solid enough. Results? Not so much.
The chicken was SUPER salty. Like, you can't taste anything but salt. I even went over the recipe again after we at it to make sure I followed it correctly, which I did. I only eliminated the pepper flakes since my boys don't like spicy foods and added a small dash of chilli powder instead. The hoisin sauce plus the soy sauce make a super salty combination. No honey or garlic taste at all, and thats after 5 (large) garlic cloves!
I may try this recipe again, either seriously reducing the hoisin or soy sauce, or both, or eliminating one completely. But if that doesn't work this recipe will definitely not be returning to this house. And it has sadly been labeled a fail.
Showing posts with label Fail. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fail. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 3, 2015
Wednesday, December 31, 2014
Cleaning Butcher Block with Lemon - Fail
Back in May my hubby and I renovated our kitchen. Well, our contractor did. And we went from this...
To THIS!
I'm STILL in love :D
But I'm learning some hard lessons about our lovely butcher block island counter. Like STAINS! EWW
I'm very diligent when using my island. Mostly dry ingredients, any wet spills are wiped up right away, and I clean it off regularly. My husband and mother in law - not so much. It's almost at the point where I need to sand down some parts and re-oil them to remove the stains. But that's what happens when you use butcher block.
I found some ideas for regular spot cleaning, one using coarse salt and half a lemon. I picked a spot on my counter to experiment on, a small-ish, relatively fresh stain.
As instructed I put on the salt, scrubbed with the lemon. No effect. I left the mixture on to set for a while. No effect.
I tried again with MORE salt and lemon.
Nope, still there. It's slightly faded, but there.
Boo
I had high hopes that this would work. Even though it faded the stain, I have used it on other more damaged spots with zero effect. I will most likely have to sand or bleach my butcher block to remove the stains and start over again.
To THIS!
I'm STILL in love :D
But I'm learning some hard lessons about our lovely butcher block island counter. Like STAINS! EWW
I'm very diligent when using my island. Mostly dry ingredients, any wet spills are wiped up right away, and I clean it off regularly. My husband and mother in law - not so much. It's almost at the point where I need to sand down some parts and re-oil them to remove the stains. But that's what happens when you use butcher block.
I found some ideas for regular spot cleaning, one using coarse salt and half a lemon. I picked a spot on my counter to experiment on, a small-ish, relatively fresh stain.
As instructed I put on the salt, scrubbed with the lemon. No effect. I left the mixture on to set for a while. No effect.
I tried again with MORE salt and lemon.
Nope, still there. It's slightly faded, but there.
 |
| Before |
 |
| After (with new stains added) |
Boo
I had high hopes that this would work. Even though it faded the stain, I have used it on other more damaged spots with zero effect. I will most likely have to sand or bleach my butcher block to remove the stains and start over again.
Monday, December 29, 2014
The Quest for the Perfect Soft Boiled Egg - Volume One
A couple months ago a friend of mine posted on Facebook about how she was discussing breakfasts with some coworkers and was weirded out that none of them had heard of Soft Boiled Eggs and Toast Solders. None of them.
My brother and I grew up on these tasty breakfast items, we called them Dipper Eggs. Must be my Scottish heritage. It was always a fun morning when we got to draw faces on our eggs, boil them, then lop their heads off and dip out the insides with toast sticks (solders). Yummy!
So back in November my mom came out for a visit to help with the kids while my hubby banked some major overtime, and I told her about my friends Facebook post. And that in turn became a challenge to find egg cups to hold the tasty soft boiled eggs we were going to make the next morning.
You know how many stores we went to that didn't have egg cups, or even know what they were?? 5. FIVE! Then my mom went to two other stores back in my home town and finally at store #7 was able to find lovely little egg cups.
So Christmas morning I open a box and inside was 6 little egg cups. Dipper eggs for breakfast!! Well, not Christmas Day, that was another tasty breakfast I'll report on later.
Getting to the point - Since I have not eaten dipper eggs in about 15 years, and my mom hasn't made them either. So off to Pinterest, cause it's my new recipe Google. There are so many different ways to cook soft boiled eggs!
I decided to go with the 'traditional' method. Once water is boiling, place eggs GENTLY into the water, remove pot from heat and let sit for 5 min as per the instructions.
Results - FAIL
Eggs were barely cooked, whites were still very runny.
So the eggs (except for the one we cracked into) were returned to the water, plus one more. Boiled for 3 minutes, keeping the pot on the heat this time.
Results - Hard boiled eggs.
The egg that was replaced and not re-cooked was left in for a bit longer (I can't remember the time) and was sort of soft but mostly hard boiled.
Fail again. But at least edible this time.
I was so disappointed I didn't even take a picture to document my failure.
I will continue to attempt to prefect the soft boiled egg, because I really want my son to experience this awesome breakfast.
Stay tuned for Volume Two
My brother and I grew up on these tasty breakfast items, we called them Dipper Eggs. Must be my Scottish heritage. It was always a fun morning when we got to draw faces on our eggs, boil them, then lop their heads off and dip out the insides with toast sticks (solders). Yummy!
So back in November my mom came out for a visit to help with the kids while my hubby banked some major overtime, and I told her about my friends Facebook post. And that in turn became a challenge to find egg cups to hold the tasty soft boiled eggs we were going to make the next morning.
You know how many stores we went to that didn't have egg cups, or even know what they were?? 5. FIVE! Then my mom went to two other stores back in my home town and finally at store #7 was able to find lovely little egg cups.
So Christmas morning I open a box and inside was 6 little egg cups. Dipper eggs for breakfast!! Well, not Christmas Day, that was another tasty breakfast I'll report on later.
Getting to the point - Since I have not eaten dipper eggs in about 15 years, and my mom hasn't made them either. So off to Pinterest, cause it's my new recipe Google. There are so many different ways to cook soft boiled eggs!
I decided to go with the 'traditional' method. Once water is boiling, place eggs GENTLY into the water, remove pot from heat and let sit for 5 min as per the instructions.
Results - FAIL
Eggs were barely cooked, whites were still very runny.
So the eggs (except for the one we cracked into) were returned to the water, plus one more. Boiled for 3 minutes, keeping the pot on the heat this time.
Results - Hard boiled eggs.
The egg that was replaced and not re-cooked was left in for a bit longer (I can't remember the time) and was sort of soft but mostly hard boiled.
Fail again. But at least edible this time.
I was so disappointed I didn't even take a picture to document my failure.
I will continue to attempt to prefect the soft boiled egg, because I really want my son to experience this awesome breakfast.
Stay tuned for Volume Two
Friday, October 17, 2014
Apple Pie Cookies - Fail-ish
I love baking, if you haven't noticed. But when it comes to cookies, I rarely move away from my never-fail tried and true chocolate chip cookie recipe.
But with fall here and a preschooler to entertain, I find I'm baking more. So I needed to break out of my regular (but tasty) cookie rut.
And what better way to celebrate fall with Apple Pie Cookies! Serious! Like pie but less effort. These Apple Pie Cookies taste fantastic, but they really don't store well.
Right out of the oven, these cookies are lovely. They totally remind me of warm apple pie. However, after 24 hours they start to get super soft. After a couple days they're nearly impossible to pick up because they're almost like dough again. They still taste awesome though!
I've made these cookies twice, adding slightly more flour, increasing the cooking time, decreased the cookie size, and changing the storage method and still ended up with the same doughy results after a few days. My theory is the apple pieces leech their water into the cookie making it soft and doughy. After a few days, they are so soggy they are difficult to even pick up because they just fall apart.
These cookies still taste fantastic. They'd be perfect for a bake sale or potluck where you could bake and consume them in the same day. If I make them again I may use parchment paper for storage, and try something to keep the apples from 'leaking' so to speak.
So these cookies are a win for taste, but a fail for long term consistency and storage.
But with fall here and a preschooler to entertain, I find I'm baking more. So I needed to break out of my regular (but tasty) cookie rut.
And what better way to celebrate fall with Apple Pie Cookies! Serious! Like pie but less effort. These Apple Pie Cookies taste fantastic, but they really don't store well.
Right out of the oven, these cookies are lovely. They totally remind me of warm apple pie. However, after 24 hours they start to get super soft. After a couple days they're nearly impossible to pick up because they're almost like dough again. They still taste awesome though!
 |
| Freshly Baked |
 |
| Baked on a Tuesday, soggy but still tasty on Friday |
I've made these cookies twice, adding slightly more flour, increasing the cooking time, decreased the cookie size, and changing the storage method and still ended up with the same doughy results after a few days. My theory is the apple pieces leech their water into the cookie making it soft and doughy. After a few days, they are so soggy they are difficult to even pick up because they just fall apart.
These cookies still taste fantastic. They'd be perfect for a bake sale or potluck where you could bake and consume them in the same day. If I make them again I may use parchment paper for storage, and try something to keep the apples from 'leaking' so to speak.
So these cookies are a win for taste, but a fail for long term consistency and storage.
Wednesday, October 15, 2014
Microwave Potato Chips - Fail
Who doesn't love chips? Seriously. It's a problem, my love of chips. But they don't love me. Or maybe they love me too much, but just my hips. If you catch my drift. So microwave potato chips? Low on the fat, high on the taste! Seems too good to be true?
It is.
This recipe needs some experimentation and I will update if I succeed in creating crispy tasty chips in my microwave. But for now, the 3 crispy 'chips' I received out of my one potato amid the soggy and the burnt isn't really doing it for me.
There are varying methods for this recipe which may explain the lack of success. Some say soak/rinse the potato slices first, some use oil and others don't, some use parchment paper. Cooking times vary between 3-6 minutes per side.
I rinsed my potato slices, used a small amount of olive oil, salt and pepper, and placed the potato slices on a plate lined with parchment paper. I cooked the slices for about 10 min per side in 3-5 minute intervals in order to prevent burning. I only burned the last few. The rest were slightly crunchy on the outer edge but soft in the middle. Not very chip like.
I plan to continue to experiment and I'll post my final successful recipe (if I get one). If anyone has suggestions, please leave them in the comments!
It is.
This recipe needs some experimentation and I will update if I succeed in creating crispy tasty chips in my microwave. But for now, the 3 crispy 'chips' I received out of my one potato amid the soggy and the burnt isn't really doing it for me.
There are varying methods for this recipe which may explain the lack of success. Some say soak/rinse the potato slices first, some use oil and others don't, some use parchment paper. Cooking times vary between 3-6 minutes per side.
I rinsed my potato slices, used a small amount of olive oil, salt and pepper, and placed the potato slices on a plate lined with parchment paper. I cooked the slices for about 10 min per side in 3-5 minute intervals in order to prevent burning. I only burned the last few. The rest were slightly crunchy on the outer edge but soft in the middle. Not very chip like.
I plan to continue to experiment and I'll post my final successful recipe (if I get one). If anyone has suggestions, please leave them in the comments!
Thursday, October 31, 2013
Slow Cooker Chicken Spaghetti - Fail (unless you love onion)
It's not often I have a recipe fail. I tend to pick my recipes carefully according to what my family will eat and what I know I can cook. I'll occasionally push my skills with good result. Even though slow cookers are easy, I'm new to these recipes and slow cooking is uncharted territory. I feel this recipe failed for two main reasons.
1) WAAAAY too much onion. I followed the recipe fairly exactly and I thought the onion would cook down more. It didn't. Every single bite had onion in it. Every.One. So unless you LOVE onion, reduce or cut it out.
2) I didn't like that this recipe required already cooked chicken and pasta. This would be a good leftover type meal - where you have leftovers from other nights and combine them for a new meal. Not much of a time saver when you have to cook chicken and pasta prior to using the slow cooker
Crock-pot Chicken Spaghetti
1 lb cooked chicken, diced
1 lb package of spaghetti, cooked and drained
1 medium onion, diced
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 can Rotel (canned diced tomatoes)
16oz Velveeta, cubed
1/2 cup chicken broth
Salt and pepper to taste
MODIFICATIONS - when I made this recipe I made 3 modifications
1) Macaroni instead of spaghetti
2) 8oz of Velveeta (I did't buy the right one) and 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
3) 1/2 cup water instead of broth (I didn't want to open a whole carton for just 1/2 cup)
Dump everything in the crockpot, give it a stir to combine it all, and cover. Cook on low about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
If I ever made this recipe again I'd cut the onion completely and use a little green onion as a garnish at the finish for colour and flavour. The flavour was bland, but it might have just been overpowered by onion. I'd also probably add some mustard or spice into the mix to kick things up a bit. Maybe I'll try this again, but it won't be in the regular rotation since of the extra pre-cooking required. Even the Munchkin didn't like it and he'll eat anything that resembles Mac and Cheese.
1) WAAAAY too much onion. I followed the recipe fairly exactly and I thought the onion would cook down more. It didn't. Every single bite had onion in it. Every.One. So unless you LOVE onion, reduce or cut it out.
2) I didn't like that this recipe required already cooked chicken and pasta. This would be a good leftover type meal - where you have leftovers from other nights and combine them for a new meal. Not much of a time saver when you have to cook chicken and pasta prior to using the slow cooker
Crock-pot Chicken Spaghetti
1 lb cooked chicken, diced
1 lb package of spaghetti, cooked and drained
1 medium onion, diced
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 can Rotel (canned diced tomatoes)
16oz Velveeta, cubed
1/2 cup chicken broth
Salt and pepper to taste
MODIFICATIONS - when I made this recipe I made 3 modifications
1) Macaroni instead of spaghetti
2) 8oz of Velveeta (I did't buy the right one) and 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
3) 1/2 cup water instead of broth (I didn't want to open a whole carton for just 1/2 cup)
Dump everything in the crockpot, give it a stir to combine it all, and cover. Cook on low about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
If I ever made this recipe again I'd cut the onion completely and use a little green onion as a garnish at the finish for colour and flavour. The flavour was bland, but it might have just been overpowered by onion. I'd also probably add some mustard or spice into the mix to kick things up a bit. Maybe I'll try this again, but it won't be in the regular rotation since of the extra pre-cooking required. Even the Munchkin didn't like it and he'll eat anything that resembles Mac and Cheese.
Saturday, August 3, 2013
Crock Pot Creamy Tomato Pasta - eh, Fail
I think this is the first recipe in a long time that has actually not worked out! This recipe wasn't a total fail but it definitely needs some major tweaks to get into our regular menu routine. I mean it was super easy to put together, but didn't really win us over. The recipe is from here.
Creamy Tomato Pasta
1 24 oz jar Spaghetti Sauce
1 16 oz jar Cheesy Ragu Alfredo Sauce or Ragu Roasted Garlic Parmesan Sauce
1/2 pound large pasta like Farfalle or Rigatoni
Parmesan Cheese
Directions
Combine spaghetti and cheesy sauce in crock pot. Boil pasta as per directions on package. Drain and rinse (if you choose to rinse your pasta). Pour pasta into crock pot and mix together so sauce covers pasta. Cook on low for 1 hour. Serve with Parmesan Cheese
Directions are dead easy. Taste was a bit off for me, but that's just me. I used an Alfredo sauce because I couldn't find the Roasted Garlic which I thought would have tasted better. It was just a weird taste and a bit bland. I figure next time I'd add in some chilli powder or flakes and some chicken for protein. So like I said, not a total fail but needs some work. But the easy directions is a definite win for me!
Comment if you tried this with modifications! I'll update when I come back to this recipe with adjustments
Creamy Tomato Pasta
1 24 oz jar Spaghetti Sauce
1 16 oz jar Cheesy Ragu Alfredo Sauce or Ragu Roasted Garlic Parmesan Sauce
1/2 pound large pasta like Farfalle or Rigatoni
Parmesan Cheese
 |
| Not Ragu but it's what I had |
Combine spaghetti and cheesy sauce in crock pot. Boil pasta as per directions on package. Drain and rinse (if you choose to rinse your pasta). Pour pasta into crock pot and mix together so sauce covers pasta. Cook on low for 1 hour. Serve with Parmesan Cheese
 |
| Sauce ready to go |
Comment if you tried this with modifications! I'll update when I come back to this recipe with adjustments
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Sharpie Decorated Mugs - Fail!
I'm going to take a stab and guess most people like to save a few bucks, especially when it comes to the holidays. We seriously can't afford to spend $50 plus on each person, or even half that sometimes. So I found this seemingly great idea off Pinterest for Sharpie Decorated Mugs. I figured this would be an awesome project for my son to do for the grandparents - cheap, creative, and personalized. Sounds great - right? WRONG!
The entire project cost about $16 for all 4 grandparents - $10 for 4 mugs and $6 for a packaged of colour sharpies both from the Superstore. If you search around Pinterest you'll see many links for this project and all are the same. Buy mug, wash mug, decorate mug with sharpie, bake, and TA-DA! Until you wash it...
After washing the mugs I let Munchkin go crazy with the Sharpies all over the mugs. He had a blast. As he'd draw something I'd ask him what each thing was and wrote it down on the mug (dog, cat, mommy, dinosaur, etc). The colouring took a couple sessions for all 4 mugs since my son has the attention span of a gold fish - again, he's 2!
After we finished the colouring the mugs looked great and I was really excited. Then we baked them at 350 for 30 minutes as instructed. And that's when the problem started.
1) The colours seriously faded - big time. Especially the yellow which turned some sort of gold-brown colour. Not super attractive
2) As a Pinterest-craft rookie I should have done more research about the project. One of the major failings of this craft is the ink comes off with washing - or in our case, by rubbing your finger on it...lightly. We even re-baked the mugs at 350 for an additional hour and it still came off.
So all and all I really was hoping this project would work but it didn't. I thought about trying again with new mugs and Sharpie Paint Pens but those were way too messy and too expensive for my dreams of a cheap(er) Christmas gift.
The entire project cost about $16 for all 4 grandparents - $10 for 4 mugs and $6 for a packaged of colour sharpies both from the Superstore. If you search around Pinterest you'll see many links for this project and all are the same. Buy mug, wash mug, decorate mug with sharpie, bake, and TA-DA! Until you wash it...
After washing the mugs I let Munchkin go crazy with the Sharpies all over the mugs. He had a blast. As he'd draw something I'd ask him what each thing was and wrote it down on the mug (dog, cat, mommy, dinosaur, etc). The colouring took a couple sessions for all 4 mugs since my son has the attention span of a gold fish - again, he's 2!
Looking neat - Right?
After we finished the colouring the mugs looked great and I was really excited. Then we baked them at 350 for 30 minutes as instructed. And that's when the problem started.
1) The colours seriously faded - big time. Especially the yellow which turned some sort of gold-brown colour. Not super attractive
2) As a Pinterest-craft rookie I should have done more research about the project. One of the major failings of this craft is the ink comes off with washing - or in our case, by rubbing your finger on it...lightly. We even re-baked the mugs at 350 for an additional hour and it still came off.
And....fail
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