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My Favorite Recipes of 2020

Published on December 31, 2020 By Emily. Updated on December 31, 2020

I think nearly everyone’s relationship with their kitchen and cooking changed this year. Many, many folks found themselves in the kitchen more than ever. I actually found myself in the kitchen less than I would have hoped. Parenting two kids was never something I was worried about, but I obviously didn’t anticipate a lack of other caregivers or external activities for those kids. Nor did I anticipate trying to teach from home with both of those children at home the majority of the time. Thankfully, daycare has mostly been open since August. Still, I worked far more weekends than I would have liked.

Nevertheless, we still ate 3 meals a day and I discovered some recipes I really loved. This year I leaned into one pot meals, preschooler friendly food and my slow cooker. I also made a lot of Budget Bytes recipes and remembered to take photos.

Bon Appetit Kale Pesto

Kale Pesto with Whole Wheat Pasta – Bon Appetit

Kale is one of the most reliably available vegetables from our CSA. I am always on the lookout for new ways to use it that everyone will eat. This kale pesto is super easy to make and very delicious. I omit the pistachios for allergy and cost reasons and I don’t feel that the recipe suffers as a result. This recipe also freezes great.

Whole Grain Pancake Mix - King Arthur Flour

Homemade Whole Grain Pancake Mix – King Arthur Baking

Generally speaking, I am not a baking mix person. I don’t pre-make pancake, waffle, biscuit or any other mix for future use. But this recipe is all about that – it makes 10 cups of baking mix that can be stored “indefinitely”. We stored our mix in a big mason jar at the back of the fridge. It is a whole grain mix, but I found these pancakes to be much lighter than some recipes and the flavor is great. Using milk resulted in a batter that was too thin; buttermilk or yogurt resulted in a successful batter.

Skillet Pot Pie

Vegetable Pot Pie Skillet with Cheddar Biscuit Topping – Budget Bytes

This recipe hits the comfort food sweet spot and it is pretty simple to create. I use my 10-inch stainless steel skillet to make it and it all the ingredients fit just fine. Every time I’ve made this pot pie skillet I’ve used a different blend of frozen vegetables and they’ve all been great. I always feel like the amount of “filling” (sauce and vegetables) is a little low relative to the biscuits, but its all so delicious that I keep making it anyway.

Beef Stir Fry Noodles

Beef Stir Fry Noodles – Budget Bytes

For something so simple, this dish is so satisfying. I used egg noodles, peas and shredded carrots for my version and would do it again. Only half a pound of ground beef is needed, which is a nice bonus. These Beef Stir Fry Noodles were a hit with everyone in my household.

Sausage Cassoulet – Dinner for Everyone by Mark Bittman [affiliate link]

I didn’t do much cookbook cooking this year, but my sister bought me Dinner for Everyone for my birthday and I’ve made several recipes from it. The book contains an easy, a vegan and an “all out” version of each recipe. The Sausage Cassoulet is the easy cassoulet recipe and involves cooking sliced sausage with onion, garlic, white beans and tomatoes in a thick stew. The stew is topped with bite-sized pieces of bread and the whole thing is put under the broiler. The result is hearty, warm, rich dish.

Slow Cooker Chicken Tikka Masala

Easy Slow Cooker Chicken Tikka Masala – Budget Bytes

As noted above, I was really intentional about using my slow cooker this fall, partially for the novelty and partially to make dinner prep easier. This is the only new recipe I tried that made my 2020 Favorites. Generally, I find slow cooker recipes that require anything besides throwing everything in the slow cooker to defeat the point of slow cooking, but I followed the instructions and seared the chicken before putting it in my Crock-Pot. It was totally worth it and gave the chicken additional complexity.

Sheet Pan Chicken Tikka – Smitten Kitchen

This is another chicken tikka recipe, but it is very different from the Budget Bytes one above. This Smitten Kitchen recipe is a sheet pan bake of yogurt and spice marinated chicken, cauliflower and potatoes that’s designed for weeknights. The chicken comes out so juicy and flavorful and every time I make it I promise myself next time I’ll make extra chicken. I’ve had good results with just roasting potatoes when I didn’t have cauliflower and I imagine other vegetables would work as well.

One Bowl Whole Wheat Banana Bread - Wholefully

One Bowl Whole Wheat Banana Bread – Wholefully

This recipe wins the title of “most baked” recipe of 2020. I didn’t count the number of times I made Cassie’s banana bread this year, but it was probably at least a dozen. This is a fantastic recipe for making with kids as it doesn’t require any special equipment and is hand mixed. I make the recipe with vegetable oil (instead of coconut), a mix of white and wheat flours, no nuts, and a handful of chocolate chips.

You may also enjoy My Favorite Recipes of 2019.

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Emily
Last week Brian and I finally got around to hiring Last week Brian and I finally got around to hiring a sitter for a rare night out. We went to dinner at @publicna and took advantage of the opportunity with drinks, appetizers and dessert.

Pictured:
- Citrus Braised Beef Tacos
- "Chicken and Waffles"
- House Fries with Garlic Aioli
- Fried Chickpeas
- Blood Orange Cheesecake
It was no surprise that Public was close to full on a Wednesday night - everything was so good. 

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#igers413_food #igers413 #BerkshireFoodies #InTheBerkshires #EatLocal #WesternMA #WesternMass #Berkshires  #VisitTheBerkshires #NorthAdams #NAmazing #PublicEatAndDrink
New year, new theme word! This year's word is "enr New year, new theme word!
This year's word is "enrich" and I'm really excited about it.

I've written more about this year's theme on the blog. Click in the link in my profile or follow the link below to read the post.
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https://www.relishments.com/blog/my-2023-theme-word-enrich/
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#YearlyTheme #MyOneWord #2023 #enrich2023 #NewYearsResolution
It's not New Year's Eve without a Top 9 post. It's It's not New Year's Eve without a Top 9 post.
It's almost all #Berkshires content this year, which is great.
1. A pasta salad reel that took longer to create than the recipe took to make.
2. A reel from North Carolina where I could have watched birds all day.
3. The @thelazygenius book giveaway.
4.@plantconnector 
5. @berkshiremuseum 
6.@sculpture.now at @themountlenox 
7. @massmoca 
8. @mountainviewfarm413 
9. The #AshuwillticookRailTrail
New on the blog: My 2022 reflections on last year' New on the blog: My 2022 reflections on last year's theme word - resume. 

I was able to get back to many activities that were meaningful to me this year and I'm calling this theme a success. Follow the link below or click the link in my profile to read more.
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https://www.relishments.com/blog/reflections-on-resuming-in-2022/
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#resume2022 #newyearsresolution #myoneword #yearlytheme
New on the blog: My Favorite Recipes of 2022. For New on the blog: My Favorite Recipes of 2022.

For the fourth year, I've recapped the best new (to me) recipes I made this year in the hope that they'll give you some new dishes to try. This year's list is short, but delicious. It includes @budgetbytes My Favorite Recipes of 2022
Published on December 30, 2022 By Emily. Updated on December 30, 2022

It’s hard to believe that 2022 is basically behind us. Though overall this year found me getting back to the person I want to be (post-babies and “post”-pandemic), I did not try nearly as many new recipes this year as I used to. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised to see that I’d made note of any new-to-me recipes I wanted to share in this post. This year’s list is short, but delicious. It includes recipes from @budgetbytes, @smittenkitchen and @howsweeteats.
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Read the post by visiting the link in my profile or 
https://www.relishments.com/blog/my-favorite-recipes-of-2022/
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#RecipeRoundUp #BestRecipes2022 #FavoriteRecipes
@coastalmainebotanicalgardens continues to be one @coastalmainebotanicalgardens continues to be one of the highlights of all my return trips to Boothbay and their annual Gardens Aglow event continues to impress. It was great to be back to walking the gardens instead of the pandemic drive through and there seemed to be more lights than ever.  I'm already looking forward to next year.
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#Boothbay #BoothbayMaine #CoastalMaineBotanicalGardens #GardensAglow #BotanicalGarden #MidcoastMaine
It has been a while, but there is finally a new CS It has been a while, but there is finally a new CSA menu plan on the blog! Visit the link below or in my profile to see how I plan to make use of some of the @mightyfoodfarm produce seen here.
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https://www.relishments.com/blog/welcome-to-winter-farm-share-csa-menu-plan-148/
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#MightyFoodFarm #EatLocal #EatSeasonal #VermontGrown #CSApickup #CSAshare #KnowYourFarmerKnowYourFood #MenuPlanning #MealPlanning #igers413 #igers413_food #BerkshireFoodies
Fall in the Berkshires is always incredible, but t Fall in the Berkshires is always incredible, but this year we've had weather that has also been outstanding. The past 2 weekends have included time at Jaeschke Orchards, the Greylock Glen, and the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail as well as stopping to photograph any random foliage I see. 
Check out the last slide for video of some feathered friends we saw on a walk.
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#igers413 #InTheBerkshires #EatLocal #WesternMA #WesternMass #Berkshires  #VisitTheBerkshires #FallFoliage #FallColors #autumn #AshuwillticookRailTrail #JaeschkeOrchards #GreylockGlen
@freshgrassfestival continues to be one of my favo @freshgrassfestival continues to be one of my favorite events each year, and it doesn't hurt that it's just minutes away from home. Enjoying the festival with my kids is definitely a different experience than without, but it's still a good time. The weather was especially cooperative today which was great for all the laps I did around the @massmoca campus pushing a stroller. I'm already looking forward to next year.
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#igers413 #InTheBerkshires #WesternMA #WesternMass #Berkshires  #VisitTheBerkshires #NorthAdams #NAmazing #FreshGrass #FreshGrassFestival #MassMoCA #MusicFestival
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