Mocha Truffles

Yum. Yum. Yum. Time consuming, but easy. And yum. Bonus - they freeze well. Bummer - they end up being expensive because with truffles, the quality of the chocolate matters. But, they are great for gifts and the recipe is a keeper.

I got the recipe off of Pinterest.

Chocolate Pretzel Peanut Butter Balls

I pinned this recipe onto Pinterest. And then immediately went to make them. Here's what I love:

* it was a super easy recipe with things you have in your pantry (except maybe the pretzels, but I have kids so we had them)
* it was a great recipe for kids to help with
* pretzels, chocolate, and peanut butter - can those ever go wrong?
* pretty - they were actually very pretty once made

Here's what I didn't love:

Healthy Wonton Soup

I got this recipe from I-don't-know-where. It's a Trader Joe's recipe, so all the ingredients can be found there. And it was good. Very good. A keeper. Add some crusty bread with cilantro butter and it's good enough to serve friends.

Here's the recipe:

Baklava

I love baklava. Really, I love anything Greek. Kalalmata olives, feta cheese, hummus, spanakopita. I've never made baklava before....it scares me. Not the actual baklava...the phyllo dough. It's crazy stuff.  And since I stay away from things that scare me, making baklava has always been off the table (catch the pun?!?). Well, I faced my fear and made it. It turned out perfect. This recipe is very lemony, which as my husband pointed out, it great to cut the super sweetness of the honey.

And while it's a great recipe, I won't be putting it in my book. Because phyllo dough is still scary.

Here's the recipe I used. 

Calzones

I love calzones. I love the oozy cheese inside. The tomato goodness you dip it in. And heavens to Betsy, I love the bread. I was meal planning for this month and decided to use a recipe I've had for years for a calzone. Here's the before baking:

And the after:

And the recipe:

I altered it a bit. I nixed the meat and added spinach. And I substituted half the white flour for whole wheat flour. And I used a bread machine pizza dough instead of store bought refrigerator dough. So, really - I'm not even sure I can count that I used this recipe since I changed so much. But, I left the cheese alone, so we'll say it counts.

It was good. Very good. Not pizzeria good, of course. I didn't have a wood fire stove. I didn't have the best dough ever. But, it was a good healthy version of the indulgent original. And it was super easy. I'll keep the recipe.

Green Beans with Roasted Nuts and Cranberries

I love green beans. I love them sauteed, boiled, fried, steamed, roasted, raw. You get the picture. They are good. I've had this green bean recipe forever. I got it out of a magazine, but don't even know which one or when I got it. So, I decided to make it. And I also decided to toss it. Gasp! I never thought I'd throw away a recipe for green beans (except for cold green bean salad, which is just creepy - green beans were meant to be eaten warm).

The recipe is basically blanched green beans tosses with craisins, roasted nuts, and a touch of olive oil. Sounded good. Looked beautiful. Tasted blah. So, adios recipe - you've wasted space in my notebook for too long.

Southern Glazed Sweet Potatoes

I love sweet potatoes. My favorite way - cubed and roasted with nothing on them. Don't get me wrong, I love them with cinnamon. With brown sugar. With marshmallows. But, they are so sweet, they just don't need anything else.

Except these Southern Glazed Sweet Potatoes were divine. It really could be dessert - because it's bathed in butter and brown sugar. So, I'll keep this recipe as a special side...but stick to my plain low fat version.