Tried & True: Recipes From Pinterest You Need to Make

Pinterest gets a bad wrap sometimes. Yes, I see how it can be the rabbit hole of pinning DIY projects you will never, ever make, ridiculous recipes you will never cook, or hairstyles your arms will never allow you to attempt. So what's the point, right?

If used correctly, I think Pinterest is pretty awesome. I've utilized it for fashion advice when I'm not sure how to style a certain pair of boots, I pin hair inspiration photos for my hair stylist, recipes for meal planning, and realistic DIY crafts that not only have I made, but didn't break the bank either.

I don't spend a lot of time on it, but the one thing I use it for almost daily, is meal planning. When I'm reading blogs or articles that share recipes that sounds like something I will make, I will pin it to my "yum - recipes to try" board. Or, if I'm looking for a certain type of recipe, I will search for it on Pinterest.

This is where things get overwhelming though. Recently, I realized I had over 250 recipes pinned in my recipes to try board. That's an insane amount of pins to scroll through each week I'm meal planning, or when I'm trying to find a particular recipe I've already made and want to make again. So, like I mentioned in this post, I organized my boards into recipes to try and tried & true boards. This way, at least the recipes I've already tried and will definitely make again, I can move over to one of my tried & true boards. I can't even begin to tell you how awesome it is to have such organized boards! I also always make comments underneath the pin on any changes I may have made to the original recipe so I don't forget for the next time.

The other thing I find can be overwhelming or intimidating about using recipes on Pinterest to meal plan is, how do you even know said recipe is worth making? I mean, there are literally a billion pinned recipes on there. Some have tens or hundreds of pins, while others have thousands. But here's the thing with Pinterest - A LOT of people just pin for the sake of pinning, and never make a single meal they pin. So while I like to believe that a muffin recipe with 5 thousand pins is going to be a good one, sometimes you just don't know for sure.

That's where I come in! I use my Pinterest recipe boards almost exclusively for meal planning. I do have my favourite cookbooks, but overall, I just find it easier to use Pinterest if I can. For the most part, I'd say I've had a pretty good success rate with the recipes I've made from Pinterest. There have definitely been more than a handful of ones I would never make again though, and those I just delete off my boards right away.

Anyway, consider me your guinea pig if you will! I thought every month, I'd recap the recipes I've made from Pinterest that were big wins in our house and that I think you should make too. Essentially, I'm taking the guess work out of it for you ;)


DINNER RECIPES

Crock Pot Chicken Soup: Pinned only 6 times

Thoughts: I discovered this recipe thanks to Carly and I loved the simplicity of it over baking an actual chicken pot pie. I used leftover rotisserie chicken and just threw it in in the last hour of cooking or so. I know this easily could have been done on the stove, but it's nice to just throw things in the slow cooker and forget about it. This was huge hit with Sully. I knew I would want the comfort of the crust found in traditional pot pie, so I made some quick Pillsbury biscuits to go with it.

Verdict: Comfort food at it's finest. and this literally took minutes to throw into the slow cooker. Perfect for those cold days and when you don't have a lot of time. If you use raw chicken, then you will need to give it more time to cook.

Slow Cooker Pot Roast with Potatoes: Pinned over 7k times

Thoughts: I also snagged this recipe from Carly, and I was intrigued because I love pot roast, but I've never done it in the slow cooker before. It was super simple and smelt amazing while cooking. Unfortunately, I wasn't really thinking and I bought a higher quality cut of roast since it was the same price as the lesser quality, so this meant my cut was way more lean and wasn't as tender as I like a roast to be. That being said, had I been thinking, I could have cooked it for a shorter amount of time and it may have come out more tender. Lesson learned!

Verdict: Definitely a must make. The leftover juices make for a delicious gravy or Au Jus. Consider choosing a fattier cut of roast so yours doesn't dry out like mine did.


BAKING RECIPES

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread: Pinned over 50k times

Thoughts: I had a ton of zucchini last month to use up from my grandma's garden so I knew I wanted to bake with it. I perused a bunch of loaf recipes before deciding upon this one. I liked that I already had everything on hand to make it and that the only sweetener it called for was honey. It did call for white whole wheat pantry which I didn't have (and didn't even know was a thing), so I took my chances and used all-purpose flour with good success.

Verdict: You guys, this was THE BEST loaf I have ever made. So delicious, and moist! We gobbled it up in just a few short days. I'm not sure I'll ever make another loaf again.

Chocolate Zucchini Banana Muffins: Pinned 7.5k times

Thoughts: Figured these would be a hit with the toddler, and I was right. I used coconut oil for the oil and brown sugar, but half the amount the original recipe called for and they were still moist and sweet. We topped with sprinkles instead of sugar as well.

Verdict: Definitely a fun way to disguise zucchini in chocolate. Super moist and Sully asked for one every single morning until they were gone.

and last but not least...

5 Ingredient Banana Almond Butter Muffins: Pinned 12.5k times

Thoughts: Super easy to make and ingredients I always have on hand and I liked that the batter was blended in a high speed blender for a really smooth consistency. I added peanut butter chips to my batter and baked in a mini muffin tin for about 9 minutes.

Verdict: I loved these, as did Jim, but for some reason, Sully was not a fan. I thought they were the perfect little snack for me throughout the day as I found just one or two very satisfying.


Over to you:

Do you love or hate Pinterest?

How do you like to use it? Do you make recipes you pin on there?