I’ve tried a number of new recipes lately (thank you, Pinterest) and while they haven’t all been hits, I’ve found two I absolutely loved and wanted to share.

The first is “Tangy Slow Cooker Pork Roast” from AllRecipes.com.

Photo by AllRecipes user amandak23k

This pork roast is so good, I can’t even do it justice. Andy and I absolutely loved it; he said it was better than any steak he’s had in a long time (and the kids ate it too – I told them it was chicken). And it was so easy. As you may recall, I shy away from slow cooker recipes that require more effort than tossing everything in together. If I see I have to sear the meat or some such business, I move on to the next recipe. With this one for pork roast, all I did was slice an onion, put the meat in the slow cooker, and mix together an easy marinade. I served it with egg noodles and broccoli… holy yum.

The other recipe that I loved is from Cooking Light – chili corn chip pie.

Photo from CookingLight.com

It’s an at-home, slightly-less-fattening and sort-of-classed-up version of our swim team season staple, the walking taco. As I was cooking it, I said to my dad and Andy, “I have a feeling what I’m making is really complicated taco meat, and if it doesn’t taste any better than when I through a packet of Ortega seasoning in there, I’m going to be mad!” (Note: It wasn’t complicated – remember, this is me we’re talking about.) Fortunately, it was worth the (minor) effort. It was great – we all gobbled it up. I recommend making a double batch to ensure leftovers!

Those are a couple of my new favorites, but I want to hear from you. What recipes have you stumbled upon lately, or what are your old favorites?

The title of this post is a direct quote from my friend Gina, said years ago as we enjoyed some sort of breaded delicacy in our university dining hall. Apparently, though, she is not alone (nor was she then – I know we all nodded our heads in agreement at the time) because at our local festival last weekend, forks seemed to be the only things that weren’t deep fried.

Case in point:

Yes, that’s deep fried oreos, deep fried snickers, deep fried twinkies and deep fried buckeyes.

At this (extremely small) festival, in addition to the regular fried stuff – corn dogs, chicken strips, Texas tenderloins, french fries, etc. – and the random stuff in the picture above, I saw deep fried pickles (ok I had some of those and they were delicious), deep fried bananas and deep fried apples. The latter two could be ordered “deluxe” and topped with ice cream, whipped cream, chocolate and caramel sauce, nuts and a cherry.

Obesity crisis? Nah.

(Who am I kidding, the apples with all that junk on them looked freaking amazing.)

What’s the craziest thing you’ve seen deep fried? And fess up – did you try it?

I’ve been enjoying my gig as a recipe reviewer on the Shared Tastes Panel for ReadySetEat.com sooo much in general, but one of the specific reasons is that I’ve really discovered some new recipes that my picky children will actually eat. And enjoy. Well, last night I made this recipe for BBQ Chicken Salad and Joshua just went crazy over it!

He kept telling me over and over that it was “the best dinner ever” and he asked me to make it again the next day (which I did not do, because I was out of Hunt’s Petite Diced tomatoes, or I would’ve)! It’s made with Banquet breaded chicken tenders, and I thought to myself when I was getting ready to prepare it, that it really didn’t seem like a very adult meal.  BUT I loved it as much as Joshua did!  And so did Bobby! It was absolutely deeelicious. Sophie even ate parts of it without fussing about it, and she is soooo picky.  She eats mainly peanut butter & crackers and fruit (barely enough to stay alive).  But she actually liked it, although I did have to force her to eat the lettuce.  I will say, the recipe calls for Ranch dressing and I don’t “do” Ranch, so I omitted that, but if you like Ranch then by all means make the recipe as listed.  But do it soon!  It’s too good to wait!

Now, even though I LOVED the BBQ Chicken Salad, I proved myself capable of making something more sophisticated as well.  That’s right, I made EGGPLANT, baby!! Baked Eggplant Parmesan to be exact!  This was the first time I’ve ever even purchased an eggplant and I was extremely skeptical of my ability on this one but the recipe was SUPER EASY and it tasted great!  Bobby and I were both quite impressed with my efforts.

Finally, I have to mention one other recipe that I adored this month.  I *may* have given myself a few pats on the back for this one: Quick Sweet and Sour Pork. I have three words to describe this recipe: YUM, YUM, and YUM!  It was so good, I really can’t wait to make it again!  Both kids also ate this one, even picky Sophie really liked the La Choy Sweet & Sour sauce on her pineapple.

I’ve loved these recipes but I’ve also loved how ReadySetEat.com not only gives you the recipes, but the complete nutrition information, the convenient Recipe Box so you can always find your faves, and the sale item locator so you can see which items in your chosen recipes are on sale at a grocery store near you.  It really has made meal planning so much more easy and so much more FUN for me, and introduced our household to a good new variety of foods.  If you haven’t checked it out yet, GO DO IT!!  Yes, I am being pushy about this  - because it’s a great resource!  Go check it out and then come back and tell me which recipes look good to you!

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I am being compensated for my duties on the Shared Tastes Panel.  All opinions on the recipes, as well as the reviews on ReadySetEat.com, are my own.