Weekly Recipe Roundup

With only 1 new recipe a week, the old roundup is becoming increasing harder and harder to glamorize. Then there's always the chance that the one new recipe I try ends up being a dud, leaving me with nothing for you all. Thank goodness for desserts and my uncanny ability to pick out the good ones almost every time - well that and are there really bad sweets?

The recipe I tried this week was Slow-Cooker Red Beans and Rice. I'm posting it not because it was 5-star worthy but rather it has potential. I was initially very disappointed in the taste of the dish as prepared according to the recipe. However, it's very versatile and with some spices, it could easily be made much better. I appreciate that it uses a crockpot, dried beans for less sodium, and smells wonderful upon entering your house after a long day at work. The recipe calls for 1 tablespoon of Creole seasoning and while I didn't have a bottle that said those words, I did look up a recipe online and ended up going with someone I thought might know a thing or two about Cajun food - Emeril. One tablespoon was just not enough. I would at least double it, if not triple it. I would also add a few dashes of hot sauce and consider subbing some of the water with brother, either chicken or beef. I would also not use turkey kielbasa, as it rendered no extra flavor to the dish. A spicy polish sausage or kielbasa would be much better suited to jazz up the flavor a bit. I took comfort in knowing my version was healthy and with several shakes of hot sauce it was just fine. I served mine over brown rice. Just as a side note, this was one of the first dishes that I haven't agreed with the comments on Southern Living's site. I'm hoping this was just a fluke.

Now onto the dessert that actually did turn out great, just as written, Peanut Butter Squares. I'm not going to pretend, there's a lot of sugar in these babies. Maybe you can rationalize like my husband and convince yourself that the peanut butter is healthy, thus negating the mass quantities of sugar. It seems to work for him, maybe it will for you too. These are seriously good though and SO easy.