Changing it Up

Do you ever feel like you cook the same meals over and over? I feel that way alot but never want to gamble on a new recipe that might flop. I took some time before we left for Africa and did some recipe searching on allrecipes.com. This is my favorite website for recipes because the comments help me to cook it right the first time and know if there are any adjustments that should be made to improve it. We are also limited here by what produce is currently in season and available, and this has forced me to branch out a bit. I decided to link you all up to some of the new things we have tried since we have been here. I only put up the recipes that we liked and that we will eat again. I would suggest reading some of the popular comments on each recipe. I changed up each of these recipes a tad (or sometimes a lot!) and really rely on those comments to make any needed changes. I hope you can snag a new recipe or two for your collection. :)

Shepherd's Pie
Morning Glory Muffins
Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
Banana Crumb Muffins
Peppy's Pita Bread (I also use these to make some really yummy Pita chips)
Virginia's Tuna Salad (I really changed this one: added 1 Tbs. parmesan, 1 tsp. dill weed (instead of the relish), 1/2 tsp. lemon juice, 1/2 Tbs. dried parsley, 2 boiled eggs and less tuna, no celery)
Meghan's granola (I made lots of changes on this one based on what we have here but this was the base recipe)
Cabbage Sloppy Joes (I needed to find a good use for some extra cabbage that we had and found this tasty recipe. One of the wives here gave me a "40 min. hamburger buns" recipe that is easy and GREAT.)
Italian Bread Bowls
Balsamic Dressing
Fried Rice (I left out the shrimp, ham, celery, and peas because we don't have them but it was still quite tasty)
Black Beans and Rice (thanks to everyone who recently sent more black beans! We all love those and can't get them here in Niger.)
Lentil Tacos (we LOVED these and Marc couldn't believe that they were vegetarian)
Mexican Rice
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Eggplant Supper Soup (I used 1/2 lb. of ground beef which seemed plenty and 6 fresh tomatoes with 2 tsp. of Italian seasoning)
Tuna Noodle Casserole (I used macaroni noodles and made our own condensed mushroom soup)
Pumpkin Bread (I'm making this one in the next day or two but it looks tasty so I included it! I'm planning on doing half oil and half applesauce and using 1/2 brown sugar mixed with the white)

Can I just say how amazing it is to have Eli (our picky eater) gobble up nearly everything I make now??? Eli would never have eaten anything on this list above before (except for the chocolate chip cookies), but he loved each of these dishes and usually asks for seconds. There are fewer snack food options here so he is usually more eager to eat at meal time and he learned very quickly that if he didn't eat what was served he would be hungry. :)

It just doesn't get much better than enjoying some homemade salsa....

and Coca Cola! This is one drink you can find most anywhere in the world. :)

Happy cooking!