Vote Now: Best of 2011 Reader’s Choice Awards!

Last year on Christmas Eve, I decided to create a blog to keep track of the recipes I’d been making and hopefully share them with others. It has been almost a year now and I am humbled, honored and thrilled that people out there (especially YOU) are following my blog, trying the recipes and sharing the site with friends. Thank you!

A lot of blogs do a year end “best of” post and I thought it would be fun to do the same. I’m horrible at narrowing down my list of favorites, so I thought it would be more fun (and easier) for you all to do the work! I was a little bit nervous about posting this – what if no one votes? I asked the followers on my Facebook page and got several assurances that readers would vote, so you better!

Since I started the blog in December 2010, the “Best of 2011” is actually going to cover the year from December 2010 – November 2011. I think that’s okay because I want to give you all time to vote and then post the winning recipes from each category on my one year blogiversary (12/24/11)!

There were several recipes that could have gone in multiple categories and I was torn about whether to list them more than once. I ultimately decided to just pick one category for each recipe to avoid the possibility of a recipe winning in multiple categories. I also didn’t include every single recipe that could potentially fall into each category, so if your favorite isn’t there, feel free to write it in.

Here’s how the voting will work: There are 13 categories (plus a bonus write-in category) . To vote, leave a comment below with the numbers 1-13 and next to each number fill in the letter corresponding to your choice for the winner for that category. Number 14 is open ended so just answer it however you like! I realize almost no one will have made a recipe from every single category, so if you’d like to vote for the one that looks best to you that’s fine, or if you’d rather leave some categories blank that works too. In any instance where there is a tie, I will cast the deciding vote. Here’s what a sample vote should look like (I chose the letters arbitrarily):

1.    A
2.    C
3.    E
(etc)

And the nominees are…

1. Best Appetizer
a)    Pizza on a Stick
b)    Mini Spinach Dip Bread Bowls
c)    Pepperoni Pizza Mini Puffs
d)    Buffalo Chicken Bites
e)    Pepperoni Bites
f)    Ham & Cheese Pretzel Bites

2. Best Asian Dish
a)    Asian Chicken & Vegetables with Spicy Peanut Sauce
b)    Ginger Sesame Chicken
c)    Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps
d)    Soy Ginger Fried Couscous

3. Best Breakfast Recipe
a)    20 Minute Bacon, Egg & Cheese Breakfast Pizza
b)    Pumpkin, Cranberry & Apple Baked Oatmeal
c)    Sausage, Egg & Cheese Hash Brown Cups
d)    Blueberry & Peach Baked Oatmeal
e)    Bacon, Egg & Cheese Biscuit Cups

4. Best Baked Good
a)    Lemon Poppyseed Doughnuts
b)    Raspberry Cream Cheese Muffins
c)    Orange Dark Chocolate Scones
d)    Pumpkin & Cream Bread
e)    Monkey Bread Muffins
f)    PB&J Doughnuts

5. Best American Comfort Food Recipe
a)    Creamy Stove Top Mac & Cheese
b)    Chicken & Biscuits Casserole
c)    Buffalo Chicken Chili
d)    Slow Cooked Barbecue Beef
e)    Deep Dish Pizza Casserole
f)    Cincinnati Chili

6. Best Dessert
a)    Strawberry Cheesecake Popsicles
b)    Black Forest Cupcakes
c)    Crustless Pumpkin Mini Pies
d)    Nutella Thumbprints
e)    Lemon Lime Cupcakes

7. Best Italian Recipe
a)    Best Lasagna Ever
b)    Eggplant Parmesan
c)    Chicken Saltimbocca
d)    Layered Pasta Bake
e)    Pepperoni & Sausage Stromboli
f)    White Vegetable Lasagna

8. Best Main Course “Muffin/Cupcake”
a)    Taco Cupcakes
b)    Mac & Cheese Muffins
c)    Lasagna Cupcakes
d)    Meatloaf Muffins
e)    Cheeseburger Cupcakes
f)    Cheesy Chicken Cups

9. Best Mexican Recipe
a)    Taco Casserole Bake
b)    Chicken Enchiladas
c)    Mexican Rice Casserole
d)    Mini Taco Bowls
e)    Bubble Up Enchilada Casserole
f)    Slow Cooked Mexican Pulled Pork Tacos

10. Best Pasta Recipe
a)    Cheesy Taco Pasta
b)    Pasta with Feta & Roasted Vegetables
c)    Sausage & Pumpkin Pasta
d)    Parmesan Linguini with Peas
e)    Pesto Pasta with Asparagus, Sun-dried Tomatoes and Arugula
f)    Creamy Lemon Tortellini Bake

11. Best Pizza Recipe
a)    Cheeseburger Pizza
b)    Buffalo Chicken Pizza
c)    Margherita Pizza
d)    Pepperoni & Pineapple Pizza
e)    Barbecue Chicken Pizza

12. Best Soup Recipe
a)    Roasted Tomato Basil Soup with Parmesan Crisps
b)    Chicken Tortilla Soup
c)    White Bean Chicken Chili

13. Best Vegetarian Recipe
a)    Spicy Black Bean Burgers
b)    Italian Farro Bake
c)    Falafel Sandwich with Yogurt Sauce
d)    Mushroom Risotto
e)    Brown Butter Gnocchi with Spinach & Pine Nuts

14. Best Overall Emily Bites Recipe of 2011
This is a write in - just tell me your favorite! It can be from any of the categories above or any other recipe from my site.

Let your voice be heard! Voting will close on Wednesday, December 21st and the winners will be posted on Christmas Eve.  Thanks in advance for voting!

Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps

If you have a P.F. Chang’s nearby, you’ve probably heard wonderful things about their chicken lettuce wraps. Personally, they’re the only dish I order there because they’re my absolute favorite. Needless to say, when I found a recipe claiming to be an almost exact knockoff of the restaurant’s famous dish I was pretty excited to try it. I did make some adjustments, both to make it more authentic (ground chicken instead of diced) and healthier (I used way less oil) and it really did taste very close to the original! Don’t be intimidated by the long list of ingredients, many of them are repeats. It just seemed simpler to separate them by cooking step.

P.F. Chang’s serves their lettuce wraps with a mixture of sauces that appear on every table that you can add to make the dish spicier or more flavorful. I’m not really sure what’s in their mystery combo, but if you’d like to add some heat I suggest adding a bit of Sriracha or chili oil, and if you’d like them to be a little sweet you can add a drizzle of Hoisin (like Asian barbecue) sauce. If you like P.F. Chang’s lettuce wraps you are going to love making your own at home!

Pizza on a Stick

I’m not going to pretend I don’t love flowers, but a bouquet of pizza may just be the way to my heart. I love the idea of serving these as finger food at a party, but they’re also great for a meal or a snack, and I’m assuming kids will love them! These were super easy to make and you could definitely change them up or make them vegetarian by using different pizza toppings. They have great pizza flavor and they’re fun to eat!

If I were to serve these at a party I would get a vase and a block of that green Styrofoam that florists use and put it inside. Once the pizza buns were skewered it’d make it easier to arrange them in a vase the way you want them. Then you have a beautiful pizza arrangement for your guests to grab from! I should have done that for my photos because I tried to put mine in a vase but getting any of them to face the same direction was an exercise in futility. If you don’t care about having them face the same way, just a vase should the do the trick. You might also like to serve them with a bowl of additional pizza sauce for dipping.

Buffalo Chicken Roulades

Mmm…Buffalo chicken. This is a great weeknight recipe because though it tastes great and looks impressive, it takes less than 20 minutes of prep time to put together. You can also easily double or triple this recipe based on how many people you’re serving. I loved the corn flake coating on this and though there was obvious Buffalo flavor from the Frank’s, it wasn’t too spicy. If you prefer it hotter, you could always use the “Xtra Hot” Frank’s. Juicy chicken breast, Frank’s Red Hot and creamy blue cheese are a match made in Heaven either way.

Layered Pasta Bake

I have been meaning to make this recipe all week. In fact, I thought about making it Monday. I bought all the ingredients Tuesday. I planned on making it Wednesday. Finally Thursday came along and I finally got my act together. I blame Daylight Savings time. When I get out of work and it’s pitch black out it’s so hard to do anything besides change into my pajamas and curl up on the couch. 5 PM suddenly seems like 9 PM for some reason and it zaps all my motivation! I need to ease back into this whole “almost winter” thing.

Luckily, this recipe was worth the wait. Anything with meat, cheese and pasta is usually a winner in my book, but the sour cream layer in this dish added a tangy twist that I really liked. The cheese on top of my pasta bake browned a tiny bit more than I would have liked because I accidentally put it in the top half of the oven instead of the middle rack. Keep that in mind and yours should reach a perfect light golden color. The servings for this are huge and it was super filling. Darkness Schmarkness, I think I got my cooking mojo back!

Pumpkin & Cream Bread

I adapted this from a recipe I found on Pinterest about a month ago and I’ve been waiting excitedly to try it ever since. Pumpkin bread with a cream cheese swirl layer? Sign me up. The bread is moist (it's probably more like cake than bread) and has a very similar flavor to pumpkin pie filling. It would be a great side dish or dessert at Thanksgiving dinner or just a tasty part of a Fall breakfast! I plan to eat it for breakfast alongside some fruit and protein.

If you’re reading this and thinking “what is this Pinterest she speaks of?” then you are missing out! Pinterest is a virtual pin board where you can catalog all your favorite things on the web. You can categorize your “pins” onto as many different boards as you like and you can also follow other people’s boards to see what they’re pinning. It’s a fabulous way to find ideas for whatever you’re into: recipes, fashion, weddings, quotes, photography and more! Pinterest is still in the invite only stage so if you’re not on there and you need an invite feel free to leave me a comment with your email address (or shoot it to me in an email at emilybitesblog@gmail.com) and I’ll send you an invite. Caution: it’s addicting!

CONTEST CLOSED - Smart Ones Satisfying Selections Giveaway!

 

I love to cook, as I’m sure you’ve all gathered, but I still have nights like everyone else when I get home from work and I want to eat dinner NOW and even taking 30 minutes to cook something doesn’t seem like an option. Before I started cooking I depended on frozen tray dinners for the majority of my meals, and while I certainly enjoyed some of them, I didn’t often find them very filling or satisfying. That led me to snack a lot and unsurprisingly, the cuisine isn’t quite so lean when you supplement it with a lineup of snack foods afterward. Oops.

When I was contacted about trying Smart Ones’ new solution to that issue, I was intrigued. Their Satisfying Selections line has five different options that each provide 30% more food than the typical tray meals. These options get steamed in a microwavable bag rather than a tray, so you do need to BYOP (bring your own plate), but I think that actually makes it seem more like a real meal anyway, and if you serve it with a side of veggies they can sit side by side. These meals are a few more points than many of the tray meals (they range from 8-10 Points+) but with 30% more food, they’re much more filling as a main course.

I was given coupons to try two Satisfying Selections for myself and I gravitated directly to the pasta entrees (pasta has long been my go-to choice in the frozen meal world). I tried the Ziti with Meatballs and Cheese for 10 P+ and the Chicken & Broccoli Alfredo for 8 P+.

The Ziti with Meatballs was pretty tasty and it definitely felt like a larger portion than traditional frozen dinners. I was surprised by the number of meatballs included (I love meatballs). There was also a lot of cheese (yay), though it clumped together a bit when steamed, so I ended up cutting it into pieces to spread it out before eating and then I got cheese in every bite.

I really liked the Chicken & Broccoli Alfredo. The sauce didn’t taste light and I liked the corkscrew pasta. There was broccoli included which made me feel better about eating a frozen dinner and I felt full after finishing it. It was a good sized serving for 8 P+. I would definitely buy this one in the future to bring to work for lunch or keep in the freezer for a night I didn’t have time to cook.

 The Final Verdict: Of course as a food blogger and lover of cooking I still prefer a home cooked meal, but for nights when cooking isn’t an option, these Satisfying Selections provide a pretty filling dinner that’s ready in five minutes! I will definitely buy these again (especially the alfredo one) and probably try the other flavors as well: Chicken Teriyaki Stir Fry, Chicken with Broccoli & Cheese and Sesame Chicken.

Want to try it for yourself? THREE lucky winners will each receive two coupons for a free bag!

I’m giving you FOUR possible entries to win:

Entry: “Like” the Smart Ones Facebook Page and leave a comment there with the Satisfying Selections entrée you’re most excited to try. Make sure to tell them you’re entering the giveaway on emilybites.com (feel free to tag my Facebook page in the post)! Then post a comment below (on this post) to let me know you did.
Bonus Entry: Become a fan of Emily Bites on Facebook and leave a second comment below (here, not on Facebook) letting me know you did. If you are already a fan, you can say that instead!
Extra Bonus Entry: Follow @emilybitesblog on Twitter and leave a third comment below letting me know you did.
Double Extra Bonus Entry: Follow emilybitesblog on Pinterest to have access to my top picks of the web and leave a post below letting me know you did.

Note: Please make sure you enter your name and email address when commenting so I will have a way to contact you if you win! Also, be sure to leave a separate comment below for each entry to maximize your chances of winning!

That’s five potential chances for each of you to win! Winners will be selected by random.org on Thursday, November 17th at 6:00 PM EST. Enter below and it could be you – good luck!

The winners have been chosen! Out of 61 comments, random.org selected the following winners: Lori D (loridunagan), Jessica Y (jyoung9788) and Jessica C (jcap611). I will be contacting each of you by email shortly!

Congratulations to our winners and thank you to everyone who entered!

Cheesy Taco Pasta

Oh. My. Goodness. I was pretty optimistic about this recipe to begin with but it still managed to exceed my expectations. To me, this dish is the perfect comfort food: cheesy, beefy pasta with taco flavoring and juicy salsa vegetables. It tastes like a guilty pleasure but you don’t even have to feel guilty after! If you’ve been following my blog for a while you may know that I love my cheddar cheese as sharp as possible, so I decided to go half and half with the 2% and full fat shredded cheeses to maximize the flavor while still keeping it P+ friendly. I am happy to report that it resulted in a perfectly decadent cheesy flavor. This recipe is extremely simple with virtually no prep time and I can’t say enough about how warm, cheesy, comforting and indulgent it tastes. Drop what you’re doing and make this right now! You won’t be disappointed.

Turkey Apple Pecan Stuffing

There’s nothing like warm, savory Thanksgiving-style comfort food to get you in the mood for Fall. This homemade stuffing is full of flavor and is a delicious lighter alternative to traditional buttery sausage stuffing. I split this into nine servings and ate this as a main course, but it would also make a fantastic side dish at your Thanksgiving meal!