Pin It - Did It!

It's been awhile since I tried anything I pinned on Pinterest, so I thought I would try a few recipes this time.  I tried two so far this week, and one was pretty good and the other one wasn't.

First, on Sunday I made these Sesame Garlic Green Beans.

I'm trying to get Madeleine and myself to eat more vegetables. Actually, I'm trying to get Madeleine to not only eat, but like vegetables.  Me, I'm trying to at least tolerate them - I don't think I'll ever actually like them.  Part of my problem, is I don't really know how to prepare them well, so I started looking for recipes.  I once had some green beans at a tapas place in town that weren't too bad (high praise from me), and this recipe reminded me of them.

The verdict - Bill and I ate them, but we didn't really like them.  How did Madeleine like them?  Well, she popped one in her mouth and then promptly spit it out.  I'm not exactly sure if I did something wrong or not, as the recipe did not have exact measurements.  Maybe I put two much of one thing or not enough of another, I don't know.  It tasted very nutty to me. 

We won't be having these again.  I think the green beans I enjoyed at that restaurant might have had a ginger sauce on them, and not sesame like these.  They definitely had an Asian flare to them - hopefully I'll figure it out.

On to recipe number two...

Last night we made Pasta with Fresh Tomato Sauce. 

As you can see, I'm trying to make healthier choices at meal time.  I love pasta, but usually always eat it with thick tomato or cream sauces.  This looked like a lighter option that would be good for these warmer months.  I loved that it was made with such fresh ingredients.  I felt so healthy chopping up the tomatoes and herbs (I did a course chop of everything and then put it in the food processor).  I told Bill I was going to call this "Summer Spaghetti".

The verdict - I really liked it.  It tasted fresh and light just how I hoped it would.  Bill liked it too, and asked if we could eat "Summer Spaghetti" in the winter.  Madeleine, however, hated it.  Seriously, she started crying at the table when I tried to get her to eat more of it.  She loves pasta, so I didn't think it would be a problem.  I could see her, over time, liking this dish too though.  The best part about this dish was that it was super fast - it's seriously only a 15-20 minute meal.

So, I guess (not counting Madeleine's tastes) we had a 50% success rate with these new recipes.  It's been awhile since I tried some new recipes, so I'm glad we found at least one that we'll make again.