More Than Just Noodles

Every afternoon, Addison (6 1/2) asks, "Mom, what's for dinner?" When I take even more than a milisecond to respond, she says "Noodles! Can we PLEEEEASE have noodles?" Now Ellery (2) has taken after her sister and only wants noodles as well. With as much as I enjoy cooking, I have found that I give in to the boring (but oh so very simple and easy) request of noodles on more than enough occasions. My New Years Resolution for 2008 is to get through the 12" high pile of recipes that I have collected (ripped out of magazines, printed off the internet, asked for from friends/neighbors, etc.). We are going to try new things on a regular basis. It is time for more than just noodles.

I began last week and cooked at least one new recipe each night. On Saturday night I was feeling quite risky and cooked an entire dinner of new recipes (including dessert) and invited some friends over to be guinea pigs with us. Luckily, we all liked all the recipes. I thought I would share those with you first, so here they are...