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It happens to all of us at one time or another. We discover dinner didn’t go as planned and we don’t have a backup plan.  Unless you burned it to a crisp, there’s probably a trick you can use to make it better.  Here are just a few:

Too much salt added to your recipe? This has happened to many of us. You toss in a few of your go-to seasonings and a bit of salt for good measure, only to accidentally dump in way more than you planned on. Here’s what to do: Peel a potato and toss it into your pot, letting it simmer along with the rest of your ingredients.  Magically, the potato will soak up some of the excess salt!  Toss the potato when the meal is done cooking.  Voila!

Is the dish too spicy? Whether by accident or by design, sometimes a recipe ends up with a little too much kick for your liking.  You’ve got a couple options for fixing it:

1.  Double all the ingredients except for the spicy ones, and then save the extra batch in the freezer.  So efficient!
2. Sometimes adding a little bit of sugar or honey can reduce the spiciness of a recipe.  Add just a teaspoon or so at a time, stir well, and taste it.  Adjust as needed.
3. Adding a little plain yogurt (Greek or regular), sour cream, or cream cheese can help calm down the spicy heat in a recipe while also increasing the creaminess of it.

Is your recipe lacking flavor? This is an easy one! Garlic, basil, and oregano are all great herbs to have on hand for quick flavor boost.  Start with a teaspoon of any one that you think will work with your recipe, then stir well and taste test.  Adjust as needed. 

Burned, baby, burned!  If you burn the edges or bottom of your pot as you’re cooking, stop stirring immediately. Remove the dish from heat and quickly remove the non-burnt part from the pan right away to prevent the spread of the burnt taste. Put the non-burnt food into a new pan and then do a good sniff and taste test to see if it is ok.  If so, you’re in the clear!  If you lost a significant portion of your food to the burn, you can always fill in with an extra side dish so everybody gets plenty to eat.  Frozen veggies are perfect for this and they only take a few minutes to prepare! 

Sometimes things don’t go as planned, whether in the kitchen or in life. It’s the nature of the thing, right?  Have you learned any tips or tricks that have helped you save dinner?  Please share in the comments!

So last week I followed the February Family Friendly Week 3 plan and here’s what we thought:

Ground Beef Stroganoff:  This was easy to make, but we felt it should have been saucier.  I will be fixing this recipe to reflect this.

Mexican Meatloaf:  While we had the ground beef out for making the stroganoff, it was a snap to mix up this meatloaf at the same time.  We made it in a bowl, formed it into a round right in the bowl, covered it and saved it in the fridge for a busy day when we needed an easy meal.  I had never made meatloaf in a crock pot before, and was pleasantly surprised to see that it turned out to be really good!  My 12 year old is not normally a fan of meatloaf, but he said that this is the one type of meatloaf he’d be happy to have again.  The flavor was good.  The only change I plan to make it to remove the crushed corn chips.  I felt that they made it smell a little weird, added some odd bits of texture every here and there, and didn’t add anything to the recipe itself.  To me, an unnecessary addition to an otherwise very good recipe.  Ours served 6 pieces that satisfied teenage boys.

Tarragon Chicken Casserole:  This was the day that we learned that we do not like tarragon.  It smells weird and adds nothing to the recipe.  Tarragon, be banned forever!  This recipe made a very full 9×13 pan, and was easy to prepare.  Honestly, I felt it needed a lot more flavor and I can think of many ways to improve it.  This recipe will be replaced with something else.

Broccoli Quiche:  This was easy to whip up.  I actually made two, one with added mushrooms and one just the way the recipe was.  My pie shells were not big enough to handle all of the liquid that was made, so I think that part of the recipe needs to be tweaked so nothing goes to waste.  I liked how full of broccoli this quiche was, and was kind of amazed that it only needed 4 eggs.  It took longer to cook than the recipe called for, but it came out good and I enjoyed it very much.  My guys aren’t big on quiche, but they ate it and felt it was pretty good.  I think I’d like to keep this one, with some adjustments.

Overall we are enjoying trying out the recipes and having some new variety for our dinners.  I still plan to make the Pork with Mustard Sauce and Lemon Broccoli Pasta.  Maybe tomorrow.