2014 New Recipes

Back in 2014 I decided to create a list for myself, 30 things I wanted to do before I turned 30 (in 2015). I had all kinds of things on the list – travel related items, financial goals, personal development goals, and so on. But my favorite item on the list was trying one new recipe a month for a year (from July 2014-July 2015). I love to cook and had SO many recipes I wanted to try, but always seemed to make the same few things over and over. I wasn’t exactly sure how I would feel about attempting a new recipe every month, but figured I’d give it a go. I didn’t care about the complexity of the recipe, and some months I made up my own because I was trying something new. It was something I loved so much, I’ve been keeping it up since then, and keeping track of the recipes and my thoughts about them. Below I have my initial recipes from 2014. Over the next few months I will post the subsequent years (2015-present) so I can share these experiences along with you! 

2014

July

• Butterflied Chicken
  • I wanted to learn how to make something on the grill other than hot dogs (that were already cooked), so I decided to try out the butterflied chicken. I found the recipe in a magazine, and it wasn’t as difficult as I expected. I’m also proud of myself for working with a new cut of chicken and figuring the whole thing out.
• Easy BBQ Ribs
  • Definitely would make again. Easy and delicious
• Pesto (with pistachios)

August

• BBQ chicken pasta salad (veggies, bbq chicken, bbq sauce on pasta)
  • Made this recipe up, I didn’t follow anything. I mixed in a bunch of vegetables with BBQ chicken and then poured bbq sauce over the whole thing

September

• Pizza rolls
  • I followed this recipe but for my toppings I used pepperoni and broccoli, and used store-bought pizza dough. I don’t know what it is about this pepp and broccoli combo but I love it. I’ve made this several times in the years since

October

• Lydia’s Fire-Roasted Tomato Soup
  • I found this recipe at the end of a book I was reading (The Fixer Upper by Mary Kay Andrews) and it is now my go-to tomato soup recipe. I’ve made it tons of times; it’s great on it’s own, with pasta cooked in (mini ravioli, tortellini, or just regular pasta), and with grilled cheese
• Homemade Apple Cider Donuts
  • It is prime apple cider time and here in NY, apple cider donuts are a MUST! I made this recipe with a friend of mine and they turned out so good! I highly recommend trying these out – and I loved that they were baked not fried because a)I don’t have a deep fryer (and don’t really want one – all that oil freaks me out a smidge) and b)baking is way healthier than frying. Win-win!

November

• Stovetop homemade pumpkin spice popcorn
  • Followed this recipe for stovetop popcorn (minus the nutritional yeast) from Gimme Some Oven, and then topped it with Trader Joe’s pumpkin pie spice and sea salt. SUPER yummy snack, especially great for the fall
• Roasted Grape, Goat Cheese, and Honey Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
  • Made these for Thanksgiving and they were a hit. The roasted grapes were such a different flavor but the whole thing came together in a very delicious way 🙂

December

For December I decided to have a cookie baking party at my house with some friends. I had three recipes I wanted to make (two new, one a reliable stand by)

• Chocolate Chili Truffle Cookies
  • I found this recipe in another addition of the grocery store magazine. They came out really tasty – very chocolatey with a hint of spice. I don’t typically crave chocolate, but I would make these cookies again for cookie plates and holiday gatherings. 
• Sugar Cookies
  • I never made sugar cookies before now (aside from the slice and bake kind from the grocery store). I wanted to try it out and especially was interested in making ‘pinwheel’ cookies. I dyed half my batter pink (I was going for red, but didn’t quite get there) and then rolled the cookies into spirals. They didn’t come out perfect, but tasted really yummy!