Easy Mashed Potatoes ~ page 239

These were good. I did lower the butter amount from 8 tablespoons to 5 tablespoons, and used milk instead of half and half, and I thought they tasted plenty rich enough. I even put my girls to work on peeling the potatoes...took them almost the whole 30 minutes to peel 5 potatoes! :) I used a ricer which I love using, but usually I'm making such a large batch of potatoes that it is too time consuming to use. But this was the perfect amount of potatoes for a ricer. The recipe says salt and pepper to taste, which I usually don't mind in a recipe when it needs a sprinkle of each, but potatoes kinda need alot, so I think they should have given an amount. I used 3/4 teaspoon and even sprinkled a little extra on top at the table. And I used 1/2 teaspoon of pepper. I will make these again, because they were fast and I didn't have to pull my mixer out, perfect amount for our little family. --Carissa

Skillet Penne with Sausage and Spinach ~ page 142

I had my doubts that you could put sausage, chicken broth, and dry pasta in a pan and come out with something good, but this was delicious! I have made this 2 times actually because it was so fast and easy. The turkey sausage adds so much flavor to this dish. As you can see below, I used a skillet with sides that were a couple inches tall. The recipe calls for a 12 inch non-stick skillet. I just could see no way that that would work...all that liquid and dry pasta and all that spinach in that little skillet, and why do you need non stick? So, I chickened out at the last minute and puled out the bigger stainless pan...it worked like a charm. I polled my friends that were over eating this and we all agreed that it needed less salt...the recipe calls for 1/2 teaspoon...I would leave it all out, the sausage is plenty salty. The other change that someone mentioned that I agreed with was to add a little more spinach. Oh, and I chopped my spinach a little so it wasn't long strings hanging out of our mouths at the table. This is a recipe that I will work into my regular rotation because of it'e ease. It also heats up very well the next day too. --Carissa

Spanish-style chicken & rice (page 111)

This was another quick favorite in our house. Some variations that I made to the recipe were: hot Italian sausage instead of chorizo, tumerick instead of saffron (I couldn’t find saffron in the store and this website recommended tumerick as a substitution http://homecooking.about.com/od/spice1/a/saffronsubs.htm), & added 1 ½ cups of water to step 3 (when cooking the chicken & rice.) My husband also suggested adding some mushrooms. This was really delicious & I’m still shocked at how fast it was to make.

Skillet Tamale Pie (page 119)

This was beyond delicious! My husband & I both agreed that this was our favorite recipe thus far. The seasonings melted together for an extraordinary burst of flavor with a delicious aroma. The cornbread topping was the easiest way to get that traditional tamale taste without killing yourself for it. For the cheese, I substituted the 1 cup of cheddar with ½ cup cheddar & ½ cup habanero cheddar. I didn’t want to waste my left over cilantro from another dish, so I served the extra on top with the sour cream. I am 100% sure that I will make this dinner again.

Quick maple-glazed pork chops (page 211)

I thought the pork chops were very tasty, though a little on the sweet side. They had a gourmet and ritzy flavor. I paired the pork chops with rice pilaf & peas. Very quick & easy!

Skillet Chili Mac (page 147)

Anne & I joke frequently about how similar we are. Well without previous discussion, we both chose the Skillet Chili Mac as one of our first dishes. Ha! I tried the alternative corn & chili version. I also added ½ tsp red pepper flakes & used habanero cheese. The only thing I would suggest for this recipe, agreeing with Anne, is to decrease step 3; 1 cup of cheese is plenty- there is no need to add a 2nd cup. I would put a bowl of cheese on the table & if someone really wants to add a little more they can, but I think a single cup of cheese was way more than enough. But the recipe was really fast, and I finished within 30 minutes & even had time to unload & reload the dishwasher!

Broiled Maple-Soy Glazed Salmon Fillets with Toasted Sesame Seeds ~ page 240

This was outstanding! I would highly recommend making this! It was indeed done in under 30 minutes and was so moist on the inside while being caramelized and almost crisp on the outside. You broil it, so it goes fast. Loved it, and wouldn't change anything about it. I didn't have a broiler pan, so I just used a cookie cooking rack as you can see in the pic below. It worked great, I just had to scrub it several times to make sure my cookies wont taste like salmon next time I bake! --Carissa