I Made Rachael Ray Recipes For A Week And This Is What I Learned

Last Updated on September 5, 2017 by Janell

Have you every been in a food rut? Like every week you have burgers, pizza, spaghetti, and other simple recipes that have no flavor. I was making my grocery list last week and my daughter brought me the new Rachael Ray Magazine. I stared to go through and get some ideas.

As I went through the pages I thought that I couldn't make these recipes - I even had to Google some of the ingredients. I put down the magazine and kept writing at my list. Then I thought to myself - I can make these recipes and maybe it is exactly what I need to try new foods and add some variety to my life.

Sometimes I can be kind of picky - but I wanted to get out of my comfort zone and try new foods. Let me tell you...I am so glad I did!

Here are things I learned making Rachael Ray Recipes:

New Flavors Are A Good Thing!

Confession time...I had to Google garam marsala and what part of a leek to use in the recipes. Below I will list all the recipes I tried but just because a recipe has something you have never had before or actually used yourself in a recipe doesn't mean you should avoid it. Some of these ingredients I used actually gave our foods some amazing flavors!

Don't make food decisions for your kids!

So many times I make up my meal plan based on what I think the kids may or may not like. In my head the list is very short. Yes, kids are picky but I think we need to make them try new things and expose them to new flavors so they can enjoy more things in life.

I always ask my kids to take at least 1 bite to decide of they like something. They tried a lot of new foods this week and they liked all of them! You may be surprised but I think that kids do like to try new foods too!

They don't take longer to make than the meals I usually make. 

Most of these new meals were pretty fast to make. I am sure they will be even faster next time I want to make them.

I felt like I ordered meals from a restaurant - but I actually made them! 

I love to go out to eat and try things that I don't know how to make but that can get expensive and I really hate when my kids order mac & cheese from the kids menu and I realized I paid $5 for a small plate of what would have cost me .50 cents to make. So we don't go out that much. But now I know I can make these fancy, delicious tasting meals in my own kitchen!

The only (sorta) downside...

When I went shopping I only bought the items I needed to make the 10 items. I didn't have many of the items in my house that were needed for the recipes. My total was $95. That came to about $20 per meal for a family of 5. It felt a little expensive to me but we often had leftovers so we got 2 meals out of it for me and my husband. Plus, I never eat leftovers so the fact that I ate it again is a huge reason to make these meals again. When I make them again in the future, I will have some of the ingredients so it won't be as expensive.

So in the end, I learned that you should try new thing! Get out of your comfort zone.

Here are the recipes I used that I can find online:

• Leek & Lemon Pasta - Loved this! 
• Farfalle with Sausage & Peppers - one of my favorite recipes! 
• Sweet & Sour Broccoli Slaw with Edamame - this is a side item I will make often! 
• Hoisin & Ginger Steak 0 - My kids loved the sauce for this. It was a great way to enjoy this meat!
• Quesadilla Suizas - loved these because I love Enchilads Suizas. The green salsa is amazing! 
• Double Cheeseburgers with Special Ranch - We love this ranch sauce - it was even good to dip my tots!
• Strip Steaks with Pomegranate Sauce & Ginger Gremolata (Bought the ingredients but didn't get a chance to make but I still want to.) 
• Pan-Seared Zucchini with Green Peppercorns & Ricotta (Of all the recipes - this was my least favorite.)