It’s no surprise that I’m no cook. Sure I love to cook but I totally lack that creativity in the kitchen that sets apart a chef from a recipe-follower. Plus, when it comes down to it, I’m content to throw a bunch of veggies, a protein (usually beans), and a whole grain into a bowl and call it dinner. It works for me but I’d hardly call it cooking.

However, I do bookmark a billion recipes a day and usually make 3-4 a week and despite my amateur skills in the kitchen, I can follow a recipe with the best of them. I figured it might be helpful for me to “review” the recipes that I do make so that you guys (a) know of good recipes to make and (b) don’t waste your time on recipes that don’t turn out. Also, I like to give food bloggers credit when credit is due and if a recipe wows me, I’d love to send you their way. What do you guys think? Are you interested in this?

On Monday I tried Oh She Glows Pumpkin Pie Vegan Overnight Oats. I used 1/3 cup of oats and cut the chia seeds down from 1.5 T to 2 tsp. I was a little nervous that my oats would be too runny but they worked out perfectly. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any walnuts so I topped my overnight oats with a gluten-free corn-based granola (TJs brand). I also used the suggested amount of raisins and maple syrup. It was delicious!

If you’ve never made Oh She Glows vegan overnight oats I’d highly recommend you do! The combinations are super creative and the ones I’ve made have all been very tasty!

Also- I did eat this on my bedroom floor, hence the carpet. We had guests staying in our living room (connected to our kitchen) and I didn’t want to wake anyone.

Lately I’ve had a bizarre craving for ranch dressing. Trader Joe’s makes a healthy and tasty version but I can’t have it because the first ingredient is buttermilk. Not fair. Finally, I resorted to a Google search and came up with this lovely recipe on Food.com.

I scaled it down a bit, making only a quarter of the servings, substituted almond milk for the soy milk, and used Earth Balance Mindful Mayo with olive oil (soy-free) as opposed to veganaise. I also excluded the onion powder (didn’t have) and used dried dill instead of parsley. Even with all of my changes, this recipe rocked! Granted, it didn’t taste like Hidden Valley Ranch or anything but it was still amazing.

I ate it on top of salads and even as a chip dip. I would highly recommend this recipe, even if you’re not vegan.

Last night, I decided to get my bake on and made Chocolate Covered Katie’s Totally Addictive Cornbread. I picked this recipe because it was already gluten-free and I didn’t have to make any swaps (besides using gf cornmeal). I used almond milk, whole grain gf cornmeal, canola oil, and evaporated cane juice. However, instead of using a can of corn, I thawed some (1.5 cups?) frozen roasted sweet corn.

The ends are missing so I could cut the rest into squares, Ian will be taking pieces to work for breakfast.

The cornbread was awesome. It was definitely on the crumbly side but had tons of flavor! It was sweet without being too sweet and had just enough corn in it that you got a bit with every bite. Yum!

I served myself the end pieces (plus a few more nibbles, who am I kidding) for dinner last night alongside a summer soup I threw together with a bunch of veggies that were turning fast.

Definitely hit the spot!

In running news, this morning I headed out for a recovery four miler. I decided to wear my Naperville Tri t-shirt for the first time as well. I love the swim, bike, run buttons on the side. Isn’t it cool? (Ignore mwonderful 5 a.m. fact)

However, the shirt also says “finisher” on it which I don’t love. Why do shirts have to tell people you finished the race? This doesn’t make sense to me, especially when they hand them out at packet pick-up before the race.

Also, please ignore the fact that I’m running in spandex, it’s been laundry day for the last three days.

I was surprised that my legs weren’t beat from speed work yesterday and actually felt pretty decent during my run. I believe I ended up averaging an 8:18 min/mile which is a little too fast for a recovery run but as I may be switching my schedule around this week (stupid rain!), I should be fine.

I’m off to start my Wednesday, have a good one!

Have you tried any of these recipes? What did you think? If not, have you tried any good recipes lately that you want to share?