A Challenge and A Commitment

**Warning this post is very long!  It doesn't contain a recipe... it's mainly me babbling, so feel free to skip!  -Mandy **

I know a few authors on this blog have seen Julie and Julia.  A current hit at the box office featuring Meryl Streep as Julia Child and Amy Adams as Julie Powell.  The premise of the movie is:

Julie Powell, government worker by day, budding author/blogger/food lover by night, challenges herself to make all 524 recipes out of Julia Child's cookbook in 365 days.  The movie also takes us back in time to showcase Julia Child's beginnings as a chef/cook/foodie (if you will) and authoring Mastering the Art of French Cooking. The same book that Julie Powell has committed to make every recipe.

Ben and I saw Julie and Julia last weekend and loved it.  Amy Adam's just happens to be one of my favorite actresses and I'm realizing along with the rest of the world that you never go wrong with Meryl Streep!  Anyway, upon seeing this movie I thought about my recipe collection, all the books and magazines I've collected over the years and created a challenge for me.  I have over 30 cook books and picture below is the collection of magazine clippings I have stored away in notebooks.  Ridiculous, I know!  

 

So what's my challenge?  I have decided to try every recipe from my magazine clipping collection (pictured above) and I will not fall back on any old standbys until I have successfully tried every one.  I find that I often get into a "dinner rut," resulting in the same old stuff recycled over and over again.  There is nothing wrong with the "dinner rut," unless you are like me and have endless amounts of recipes that are going unexplored.  I made 6 new recipes in the last two weeks and had some HITS and some MISSES.  Here is what I made:

HIT - Cayenne-Rubbed Chicken with Avocado Salsa

HIT - Orzo with Chicken, Corn, and Green Beans

HIT - Flank Steak with Lime Marinade, Mashed Potatoes, and Glazed Carrots

MISS - Chicken Cheese Steaks  (Bland)

MISS - Spaghetti and Meatballs (The sauce was just OK.  I've had better.)

HIT - Southwestern Corn Chowder 

As the weeks go on and I continue to try more recipes I will post my HITS to share with all of you!  I hoping by the time I go through all the recipes I'll be able to downsize from 7 notebooks to 5 or 4!!! HA!