Pumpkin Pancakes

The sweet potato pancakes were such a hit with Drew, that I decided to try pumpkin pancakes.  I'm starting to really enjoy making pancakes on the weekend, and it's really nice to have a stash in the freezer for weekday breakfasts.  These are freezer-friendly too.  Just flash freeze on a foiled lined pan (spray first), then toss them in a Ziploc baggie.

These were just as easy (easier) as the sweet potato pancakes, but I still think Drew likes the sweet potato ones better.  He ate 1.5 pancakes the day I made them.  I also tried one (without syrup or any toppings).  I thought it was good, but I too think the sweet potato pancakes are better.  If I make these again, I may add chocolate chips :) the last thing anyone needs in their breakfast!

Pumpkin Pancakes*
Makes ~30 pancakes

Ingredients
1 - 15 oz can pumpkin puree
1.5 c flour
3.5 t baking powder
1 t salt
2 eggs
1 c milk
4 T butter, melted

Method
In a small bowl, combine flour, salt and baking powder.  In a large bowl, mix pumpkin, milk and butter together.  Beat in eggs one at a time.  Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture and combine.  Pour ~1/3 cup of batter onto a heated (medium) griddle.  Cook ~3 to 4 minutes each side or until browned.

*This is the same recipe as the sweet potato pancakes.  Substitute the pumpkin puree for ~2 large sweet potatoes that have been peeled, baked and mashed.

Oatmeal Cookies

I wanted to try oatmeal cookies since my toddler didn't eat the oatmeal breakfast bars.  Recently, we ate dinner at a buffet, and he ate an oatmeal cookie.  I thought for sure he'd like these cookies, but again he took one bite and that was enough.  Go figure.  I even added chocolate chips to them, but that didn't fool him.  If I make this recipe again, I'll probably leave the chocolate chips out because they seemed too much for the batter (too many add-ins, not enough batter).

Anyway, I think the cookies are good.  They aren't very sweet though so I've found that I've eaten quite a few of them thinking they are "healthy."  And if you asked me if I have been eating them for breakfast this week, I'd have to reply, "I can neither deny nor confirm that," which is my typical response to Brian when he asks me something that I don't want to answer :) (and he already knows the answer anyway usually).

Oatmeal Cookies with Dried Cranberries and Chocolate Chips
Adapted from Martha Stewart
Makes ~24 small cookies

Ingredients:
1/2 c whole wheat flour
1/2 c flour
1 egg
1/3 vegetable oil
1 t baking powder
1 t vanilla
2/3 c brown sugar
1/2 c rolled oats
1/2 c dried cranberries
1/4 c chocolate chips

Method:
Pre-heat oven to 350F.  Combine flours and baking powder and set aside.  Beat egg with sugar, oil and vanilla.  Add flour mixture to wet mixture.  Add oats, cranberries, and chocolate chips.  Mix to combine.  Dough will be very sticky.  Roll into balls and place on un-greased cookie sheet.  Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.  Rotate cooking sheet half way through cooking time.

I rolled about 6 cookies into balls.  The dough was so sticky that I could barely move my fingers after that so I cleaned up and just used spoons to place the dough.  As you can see in the picture, the cookies in front started out as balls - they are nice and round.  The ones in the back were just spooned onto the sheet hence their jagged edges.  But they taste the same.

French Toast Sticks

This was my second attempt at French Toast Sticks.  I like to have different breakfast options ready to go because I send breakfast to daycare.  The first attempt at french toast sticks didn't turn out so well, but these were much better!

The first time I tried baking them.  I wasn't able to flip the sticks half way through the cooking time as the recipe indicated so one side ended up burning some.  This time I decided to cook the sticks how I normally would - on the griddle.  I also added some jarred peaches in hopes of making them a little sweet since I don't serve them with syrup for my boy.

Verdict: Attempt two was a success.  My toddler only ate about 1 stick (or less), but that's more than he ate from the first batch.  His favorite breakfast is still the sweet potato pancakes (and maybe a bagel with cream cheese).  I also thought they tasted better than the first time around.

French Toast Sticks
Makes 30 sticks

Ingredients:
10 pieces of bread, cut into thirds
5 eggs
~1/2 c milk
4 oz peaches (baby food)
1 t vanilla
1 t cinnamon sugar

Method:
Beat eggs with fork, add milk, vanilla, cinnamon sugar and peaches.  Stir to combine.  Soak bread in batter and place on heated griddle (about medium heat).  Cook on each side ~3 minutes or until golden brown.

To freeze:
Allow sticks to cool.  Line baking sheet with foil, spray with Pam.  Layer sticks on foil.  Flash freeze for 1-2 hours.  Remove from pan and place in Ziploc baggie.

Oatmeal Breakfast Bars

This recipe is the first one that I've made post foot surgery.  It's an easy recipe, but it took a toll on me, and I know I need a little bit more time before trying much more baking or cooking!

I've made this recipe once before.  The first time I made half the batch plain thinking that my toddler would eat it (nope) and the other half was for me but I didn't include the chocolate chips.  This time I made the entire batch the same way with all the add-ins.

I really like this recipe.  It's fairly easy to make and it's delicious! It's also adaptable (plain or any add-ins you want!).  This makes a really good breakfast to go.  However, my toddler took one bite and spit it out.  A texture thing maybe?  I'm convinced there wasn't a chocolate chip in that bite.

Adapted from Big Girls Small Kitchen

Oatmeal Breakfast Bars
Makes 32 squares

Ingredients:
2 c oats
1 c whole wheat flour
1/4 t salt
1 t baking powder
1 1/2 c milk (I used skim)
1/4 c peanut butter
1/4 c canola oil
1 egg
3 T brown sugar
1 t vanilla
1/2 c chocolate chips
1/2 c walnuts, chopped
1/2 c dried cranberries (I diced these since I thought my son would be eating it).

Method:
Pre-heat oven to 375F.  Mix the oats, flour, salt and baking powder in a small bowl.  Beat oil, peanut butter, vanilla, and sugar together in medium bowl.  Beat in egg.  Add milk and stir.  Add nuts, dried cranberries.  Fold dry ingredients into wet ingredients.  Stir to incorporate.  Add chocolate chips.

Pour the batter into 2 greased loaf pans (9x3 or similar).  Bake 25 minutes or until golden brown around the edges.

When done, use knife to separate bar from pan.  Let cool on rack.  Store in refrigerator.

Blueberry Wheat Pancakes

Recently I have been making breakfast on the weekend.  Usually when I make pancakes, I opt for sweet potato pancakes.  My 1-yr old loves them!  And I feel they are somewhat healthy and a good way to sneak a vegetable into his diet.  (Something I try to do wherever I can!)

In an attempt to change it up, I decided to make blueberry pancakes.  When I make pancakes, I make a big batch and freeze a bunch.  Pancakes are easy to freeze and they still taste good out of the freezer!

I decided to try Money Saving Mom's recipe for Chocolate Chip Whole Wheat pancakes, but I decided to substitute the chocolate chips for blueberries.

This recipe was good, and we all liked the pancakes!  I think the whole wheat made them a little chewier than a white pancake (and the sweet potato pancake), but they were still edible.  My son definitely prefers the sweet potato pancake, but he eat these also!

Broccoli Rice Casserole

Another meal that we made for the freezer during our freezer cooking marathon session was Broccoli Rice Chicken Casserole.  I got the recipe from MoneySavingMom:

http://moneysavingmom.com/2012/05/4-weeks-to-fill-your-freezer-chicken-broccoli-rice-casserole-day-14.html

The only change we made was adding some onions.  We had some extras from the other recipes.

This recipe was super easy to throw to together and freeze.  We used a rice cooker to cook the rice and just threw the ingredients in the bag and mixed it (kinda) in the bag.  Then in the freezer!

Verdict:  Super easy to make and freeze.  So far this is my favorite from the freezer dish as well.  It reheated nicely and was delicious.  I think this will make the rotation in the future for freezer meals.  I also want to possibly freeze this recipe in muffin tins to use for potato toppings!

Guest Post!

Check out my guest post over on Money Saving Mom:

http://moneysavingmom.com/2013/03/9-tips-to-simplify-freezer-cooking.html

I'm not sure if you've seen this blog before, but it's definitely one of my favorites!  There are good deal, and coupon alerts plus recipes, freezer cooking, meal planning!  There's a little bit of everything and it's updated often!

Check it out!

Beef Enchiladas

Beef Enchiladas - Freezer Friendly Recipe
6-8 servings

Ingredients:
1 lb lean ground beef
1 medium onion, diced
1 pkg Taco Seasoning (or make your own)
1 small can green chile, chopped
1 8 oz can green chile salsa
12 corn tortillas
1 lb shredded cheese, Monterey Jack
water, for taco seasoning

Sauce:
1 15 oz can red enchilada sauce
1 15 oz can green enchilada sauce
1/3 c sour cream
3 T milk

Method:
Brown meat with onion.  Mix in taco seasoning per directions.  (I always use less than recommended water because I think it takes entirely too long for all the water to evaporate).  Add green chiles and green chile salsa.  Mix well, cover and simmer on low heat for 15 minutes.

Sauce: combine both enchilada sauces, sour cream and milk in a medium bowl.  Mix well until blended.

Assembly: In a 9x13 pan (lined with foil and plastic wrap if freezing), pour 3/4 c of sauce on bottom of pan.  Layer with tortillas. Top with half of meat mixture.  Sprinkle with cheese.  Place another layer of tortillas.  Top with rest of meat mixture.  Sprinkle with cheese.  Pour remaining sauce over top and sprinkle with remaining cheese.  Cool completely before freezing.

Thaw completely before serving.  Bake at 350F for 18 - 20 minutes or until heated through.  Serve with desired toppings (tomatoes, lettuce, guacamole).

Verdict:
This was a labor intensive meal for our freezer cooking session.  Trying to drain the fat off the beef was very difficult (we browned 7 lbs!).  Then we had trouble with the liner method (see below).  Then lastly we actually had to assemble the enchilada.

We haven't thawed this meal out yet so I can't so how it tastes.  The other families have eaten theirs and they both said it's a yummy dish.

Liner Method for Freezer:
Take your casserole dish (I recommend an 8x8).  Place a layer of foil in the dish, making sure there is extra on the ends to cover the top of the dish.  Next place a layer of plastic wrap, the same length of the foil.  (If using a larger dish, consider laying a second piece of plastic wrap perpendicular to the first one and foil).  Assemble your enchilada.  Wrap the plastic wrap and foil around the enchilada.

Freeze enchilada (after allowing to cool), in the baking dish (and plastic wrap and foil).  After the dish is frozen, remove the casserole dish.  Return foil encased enchilada to freezer.

This method is useful so you don't lose a casserole dish in your freezer for a few months. 

When you are ready to eat, thaw out the enchiladas somewhat and remove the foil and plastic wrap (the goal is that the enchiladas are frozen enough to keep it's shape/not make a mess, but thawed enough that you can get the plastic away/off the meal - it's tricky).  Place the enchilada in your baking dish and allow to finish thawing.

Chicken in Raspberry Sauce

Chicken in Raspberry Sauce - Freezer Friendly
6 servings

Ingredients:
1/2 cup raspberry preserves
1/2 cup frozen pineapple juice concentrate, thawed
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 T rice vinegar
1/2 t chili powder
1/2 t curry powder
1/2 t garlic powder
1/4 c fresh raspberries, mashed (substitute with frozen raspberries, thawed, when out of season)
6 chicken breasts

Method:
Combine preserves, juice concentrate, soy sauce, vinegar, seasonings, and mashed raspberries.  Place raspberry sauce with chicken breasts in freezer bag/container and seal securely.  Freeze.

Thaw completely before serving.  Place chicken and sauce in large baking dish (9x13).  Baked covered at 350F for 30-40 minutes.  Top chicken with pan juices to serve.  Garnish with fresh raspberries.

Verdict:
To make and freeze, this recipe is a breeze.  It was very easy to make the sauce and combine with the chicken before freezing.

As for taste, Brian did not especially like this recipe (it was "ok").  I only had it as a leftover.  I thought the chicken was juicy so that was good, but I was disappointed the sauce wasn't more raspberry-ish.

I would make this again for the freezer considering it's ease, but I'll probably modify the seasonings (omit the curry and maybe the soy sauce which I think dominated the flavor).

Did you make this recipe?  What did you think?

Freezer Cooking

I have been somewhat obsessed with freezer cooking lately.

I did one freezer cooking session about 4 years ago and didn't think much of it.  I was getting ready to work a turn around so I knew that for a month all I'd be doing was working and sleeping.  I wanted to make things easier on Brian (this was before kids too!) so I made a few things one weekend when he was out of town and started freezing.  It was successful so I'm not entirely sure why I never tried it again or thought much about freezer cooking until a few months ago.

Two of my friends and I spent a Friday afternoon cooking.  We made a lot of food and I was completely exhausted from the rest of the weekend.  But my freezer is full!

We made 4 dishes (and multiplied each by 6 so that we each took home ~12 servings of each meal). 
1.  Beef Enchiladas
2. Chicken in Raspberry Sauce
3. Sweet Potato and Chicken Stew
4. Broccoli and Rice Chicken Casserole

I am really glad that I got to spend an afternoon with some friends and fill the freezer as a result, but it was a long, tough afternoon!  Since then I've still be stocking the freezer, but my method has been to make a larger batch of whatever I happen to be making and freezer half.  I think I like this method better because it seems like minimal effort to make extra.  I've mainly been making toddler friendly recipes but we need those too!

Minestrone Casserole

Minestrone Casserole
Serves 4-6

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups malfada pasta*
1 (10 oz) can cream of celery soup
1 cup beef broth*
1/4 cup water*
1 (15 oz) can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup julienned carrots
1 (14 oz) can tomatoes with basil and oregano, undrained*
1 (16 oz) can corn, undrained
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

Directions:
In large skillet, brown ground beef with onion and garlic, stirring to break up meat. Drain well. Stir in remaining ingredients except for Parmesan cheese. Pour into 3 quart casserole (9x13), cover tightly, and refrigerate.

When ready to eat, preheat oven to 400°F. Bake casserole, covered, for about 55-60 minutes until hot. Uncover, sprinkle with cheese, and bake for 10-15 minutes longer until bubbly.

*My modifications:
I used penne pasta.  I don't know what malfada is and wasn't about to search the store for it.  I used chicken broth instead of beef broth.  I also omitted the can of tomatoes because Brian is avoiding tomatoes right now and I used 1/2 cup of water since I wasn't using the tomatoes.

I made this Sunday morning.  I was a little worried that since left the tomatoes out, there wouldn't be enough liquid for the pasta. There was plenty of liquid after it baked - too much really and next time I'll probably use less than 1/2 cup water.  We both thought this dish was very delicious.  It definitely needed salt, but other than that it was super yummy and this will become one of our regular dinners!

Twice Baked Taco Potatoes

I am still here.  I am still meal planning and I am still cooking.  I just have a hard time finding time/motivation to write about it!  (I also don't even think about taking a picture anymore, sorry!)

I made myself some goals at the beginning of this year.  These goals were targeted around dinner/meal planning.  I feel like I have a fairly good system, but there are a few meals in the rotation that I'd either like to have less often or I just don't like them as much (either because of work required or taste).

My goals:
3 more great crockpot recipes  (Tuesday Nights)

2 more great premade meals  (Monday Nights)
1-2 more great quick meals  (Wednesday Nights)
New grilling ideas  (Friday Nights)

Well I found a treasure of a recipe in this Twice Baked Taco Potatoes!

I could see this recipe becoming a little overwhelming because there is a lot to do.  Bake the potatoes, cook the beef, hollow out the potatoes, make filling, stuff potatoes, bake.   The day that I tried this recipe (a Sunday) I had small spurts of time to work.  I cleaned and pricked the potatoes and put them in the crockpot.  I was also making Monday's night dinner (Minestrone Casserole) that day which happened to call for cooked beef (nicely planned out Past Krista!).  So I cooked the entire pound of beef and split it for the two recipes (different seasonings).  The potatoes took awhile to bake through in the crockpot, but it was better than heating up the oven and making the kitchen hot.  Meanwhile I made the casserole.  Then I did other things (played with my son, went to lunch with a friend).  Later that evening all I had to do was hollow out the potatoes (after they finished cooking, I just let them chill in the CP for a few hours) which was easier than I anticipated.  Made the filling and stuffed the potatoes.  They went into the frige until we were almost ready to heat.   These were really good and made a nice option for lunch during the week!  Brian reall liked them!   These will become a normal part of my "Premade Meal" group.  I think the key for me will be to cook the meat ahead of time (so if we are having tacos for dinner on Friday, I will just make extra beef for this dish on Monday!).

Meal Plan November 11 - 17

Sunday - Chicken and Black Beans - Try it in the Crockpot.  (This was on the plan for Saturday, but we ended up eating out).

Monday - Premade Taco Casserole

Tuesday - Chicken, Potato, Broccoli Casserole (Crockpot)

Wednesday - Loaded Potatoes

Thursday - On Your Own

Friday - Hobos - Brian cooks on the grill

Saturday - To Be Determined

Crock Pot Chicken and Black Beans

Chicken and Black Beans is a favorite of mine.  Recently I thought, I need to try this in the crockpot.  I figured it would be fairly easy to adapt to the crockpot.  In the end, I didn't like the crockpot version as much as the regular one, but I think a big part of that was the black beans.  I didn't have any canned beans so I ended up using beans from a bag and I don't think they were cooked enough.  I don't like undercooked beans.  But I think I will add this as a crockpot meal and next time I'll make sure I have canned beans to use.

Chicken and Black Beans
~3 servings as prepared

3 chicken breast, frozen
1/2 lb black beans, soaked/prepped
1 14 oz can of tomatoes
1 chipotle pepper, seeded and chopped + some adobo sauce
1 small red onion, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped

To serve:
Tortilla chips
1 avocado, chopped
shredded cheese
sour cream

Directions:
Place frozen chicken in bottom of stoneware.  Cover with tomatoes, beans, chopped onion and peppers.  Cook on low for ~5 hours.  (I think I cooked on low for 2.5 hours and then changed it to high for another 1 in hopes of getting those beans softer).

To serve, place chips in a bowl.  Add chicken and black beans.  Top with cheese, sour cream and avocado.

Baked Rolled Tacos

Baked Rolled Tacos were my make ahead meal for this week.  I silently saluted past Krista for putting this on the meal plan this week.  It was super quick and easy which was perfect since we ended up going to the Dynamo Game on Sunday and I didn't have as much time as usual.

I had shredded brisket meat in the freezer that I decided was time to use.  Normally I make rolled tacos with turkey (left over from holidays) or shredded chicken.  But, it was time to use this brisket.  The change was nice, but we decided the meat was a little tough so next time I'm going to chop the shreds (they were quite long) so that it's easier to bite through.

Baked Rolled Tacos
Makes about 9-10 tacos (~3 tacos = serving)

Ingredients:
8 oz shredded meat (cooked)
9-10 soft taco size flour tortillas

Suggested Toppings:
Shredded cheese (consider melting with milk and butter to make a dip)
Guacamole (Or just smoosh an avocado for the lazy version)
Salsa
Sour Cream

Directions:
Make some meat on the tortilla.  Roll up.  Use toothpick to keep taco rolled.  Place in 9x13 casserole dish.  Repeat until all meat is used up.  Cover and refrigerate until ready to bake.  Bake at 350F for ~20 minutes or until heated through.  Serve with desired toppings.

Crockpot Spanish Rice

Crockpot Spanish Rice

Servings ~2-3 (as prepared)

Ingredients:
1/2 lb beef
1 green pepper, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
8 oz tomato sauce (try Rotel's green chile tomato sauce for an extra kick!)
1/2 14 oz can diced tomatoes (I was using up some freezer stock)
1/2 cup rice, uncooked
1/2 t Salt
1/2 t Chili powder
~1 T Worchestire

Directions:
Spray crockpot with Pam.  Put in beef (cooked or raw).  Top with green pepper, onion, tomatoes, tomato sauce, seasonings and worchestire sauce.  Cook on low for 2.5 hours.  (Again, cook time depends on how full your CP is.  I have a large CP, 6 qt maybe? and this recipe as listed only filled maybe 1/4.  The original recipe calls for cooking on low 6-7 hours).

Serve as is or consider topping with shredded cheese or filling a tortilla.

I put this all together Monday night and put the CP in the refrigerator overnight.

Meal Plan November 4 - 10

Sunday - Tilapia and Bean Salad We ended up going to the Dynamo's game Sunday afternoon, so dinner was Wendy's.

Monday - Baked Rolled Tacos

Tuesday - Crockpot Spanish Rice

Wednesday - Chimichangas from the freezer

Thursday - On Your Own

Friday - Nacho Bread Pizza

Saturday - Chicken and Black Bean - trying it in the crockpot

This Week's Meal Plan

Here's this week's meal plan (since I didn't post it last week):

Sunday - Tilapia and Bean Salad   Crockpot Chicken and Green Chile.  Turned out I was too wiped to cook even fish, so I experimented in the crockpot.  I had a large jar of green chile stew.  I put some frozen chicken breast in the CP, chopped some onion, and dumped half the jar in.  It was delicious.  The rest of the jar I'm saving for turkey leftovers and am actually going to make a stew out of it.

Monday - Chicken Parm Salad Subs (made on Sunday) - I used this recipe, but modified it.  I didn't use mint, or fresh parsley.  I used shredded chicken breasts instead of a rotisserie chicken.  I've used rotisserie chicken before and its delicious (more moist than just using chicken breasts), but I was being lazy and cheap.

Tuesday - Crockpot Honey Nut Chicken - I used this recipe, but modified it to taste (no tabasco)

Wednesday - Ham and Mozzerella Croissants and Corn

Thursday - On Your Own

Friday - DATE NIGHT!!!

Saturday - Tacos and Beans

Turkey Quiche

Turkey Quiche
4 servings

Ingredients:
6 eggs
1 small tomato, chopped
1 cup spinach, rough chop
1/2 small onion, chopped
1 serving of turkey lunch meat (this was 3 slices for the Hormel Free turkey), chopped
1/2 cup, shredded mozzerella
1 Prepared pie crust
Salt and Pepper

Preheat oven to 350F.  Cook pie crust according to directions, but reduce time to ~5 minutes.  Beat eggs, add tomato, spinach, onion, and turkey and mix together.  Spray 9 in pie pan with Pam.  Spread out pie crust in dish.  Pour egg mixture into dish.  Top with mozzerella.  Bake for ~60 minutes until brown on top (my oven accomplished this in 45 minutes).

Since I made this ahead of time, I baked the crust first and then added the eggs.  Then baked again.  Covered with foil and refrigerated overnight.  I reheated this in the microwave the next day.  Delicious!  This is a great makeahead meal!

The first time I made this I used short bread pie crust (I am not a baker and didn't realize the pie crusts were in the refrigerated area).  The next time I didn't use a crust at all.  This time I went with the Pillsbury pie crust and this time was also the best.

Basil Chicken with Feta

We've had a slight hiccup in our meal plan.  Last Saturday we planned to eat out, but we had been out already and our little man was getting tired.  So instead of just getting something fast to go, we decided we'd just go home, put the little guy to bed and have a frozen pizza for dinner.  And since we didn't eat out last Saturday, we decided we could eat out this past Saturday.  So I had a meal scheduled for Saturday that we didn't end up using/needing.  It was a new recipe and one for the crockpot (because I need to increase my crockpot arsenal).  So I decided I'd scrap the weekly fish on Sunday to do the meal on Sunday.  This actually worked perfectly because we ended up taking our boat out Sunday and I would have had zero energy to cook dinner.  Plus it was awesome that dinner was ready when we were ready!

Basil Chicken with Feta in Crockpot
~4 servings (recipe says to use 4 qt crockpot)
4 chicken breasts, frozen (original recipe calls for 2lb of chicken thighs)
1 14 oz can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1 14 oz can fire roasted tomatoes
1/2 cup of pitted green olives
1/4 cup basil leaves
8 oz feta

Place the chicken in the dish, top with tomatoes, beans, olives.  Scatter basil leaves and top with feta crumbles.  Cook on low for 6 hours or high for 3.  (I used a 6qt CP and cooked on low for 3.5 hrs and let it keep warm for 4 hours).

This meal was ok, but not one of my favorites.  I thought it was pretty similar to the crockpot Meditterean Chicken dish.  The feta did something weird in the crockpot.  This was my first time using a block of feta instead of the usual already crumbled stuff.  So I'm not sure if that was it or not.  I think next time I'll add the feta much much later.  I used basil from our garden which was awesome.  We didn't like eating the basil after it cooked though.  I'm not sure I tasted much basil flavor either, but I definitely smelled it while it was cooking.