Cooking with Abs: April recipe review & round up

Every month I'm reviewing the weekly Cooking with Abs recipes and rounding them up in a blog post! I'd love to hear if you make any of these or which one you'd like to try most. If you missed my blog post all about what is Cooking with Abs, read the post here.

Normally the month's recipe round up has four recipes, but this month, there were five Wednesdays!!! And the fifth one just might be the best one...

Along with trying out a recipe, we also like to get a workout in (usually "Abs" focused). We did different variations of 5 min abs each week this month. Here is the breakdown of the 5min abs by @aprilsylvester that brought on core burn!

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Salt & Vinegar Zucchini chips This is a paleo and whole30 recipe created by Amanda from thewholesomedish.com.

Review

These are easy and tasty! The low and long style of baking, crisps them up perfectly with a golden brown crunch! The only problem with these, is how easy it is to eat a whole pan of them straight from the oven...but actually if you don’t eat them right away, they do lose their crunch. I refried them on the stove (no added oil) to eat the second batch later which brought the crunch back! I served these simple zucchini chips with my homemade salsa.

Rating

I would rate this 4 / 5 stars! So simple, easy, healthy and tasty.

Recommendation

I would absolutely recommend these! Super healthy snack.

Find the full recipe here!

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2am tacos (Jack in the Box mystery meat paste tacos)

This is a healthier copy cat recipe by Michelle from thewholesmiths.com.

Review

I found this recipe creative and simple. I love how it is a slightly healthier (at least we know the ingredients) version of such a unhealthy midnight snack/meal. I made them with homemade flour tortillas, topped with plenty of hot sauce and fresh cilantro.

Rating

I would rate this 4.5 / 5 stars! Delicious!

Recommendation

I would absolutely recommend these! The best part is that anyone would love these, it's not biased to those who like to eat healthy and replace ingredients.

This recipe is not published yet as it is in her new cook book. Some of her other taco recipes can be found here!

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Cucumber Cabbage Salad

This is a healthy salad recipe created by Dina from simplyhomecooked.com.

Review

I found this recipe similar to the vinaigrette slaw which we make at home all the time and serve at the restaurant. I tried it because of having everything on hand and liked the idea of the cucumber with the simple cabbage salad. Cucumber was a refreshing addition. It is a really great salad to have ready in the fridge or serve for a party since it has a longer shelf life than most salads.

Rating

I would rate this 4 / 5 stars! Simple and tasty!

Recommendation

As long as you like a vinaigrette crunchy salad, I 100% recommend this.

Find the full recipe here!

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Tortilla de patatas

This is a family Spanish tortilla recipe by my mother.

Review

My grandmother's side of the family is from the Basque Country so my mom learned this recipe while studying there and visiting family, many moons ago. It was a staple tapas/meal/side dish in our house growing up but I had never made it myself! Therefore, my mom, sister and I (between Seattle & Ndola) planned a virtual hangout to make it together! I love that it has very minimal pantry ingredients, is budget friendly, simple and satisfying. It's a comfort food for me.

Rating

I would rate this 4 / 5 stars! (5 / 5 if basing off of any Spanish tortilla recipe.)

Simple, easy and versatile to add to meals/appetizers.

Recommendation

I absolutely recommend this and love it, but I suppose I'm biased! My husband who has only had Spanish tortilla in his adult years doesn't love it because of the heavy amount of potatoes. But I definitely recommend giving it a try!

I have saved the recipe steps as a cooking demo on my instagram.

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Paleo Pasta Dough (Ravioli & Fettuccine with homemade sauces)

The pasta dough recipe is a paleo recipe created by Dina from paleohacks.com

Review

I loved this dough recipe. It was actually my first time making any pasta from scratch and I found it straight forward. The ingredients are minimal - just 4! It had a nutty flavor which I thought added more rather than taking away from dish. Out of this dough, I made both stuffed spinach and onion ravioli and fettuccine noodles. I served the ravioli for one meal with pesto, basil and cherry tomatoes (pictured here) and another with homemade baba ghanoush and olives. For the fettuccine meal, I made a chicken pesto baba ghanoush sauce. All were drool worthy.

Rating

I would rate this 5 / 5 stars! Simple ingredients, minimal time and steps! It made for 3 out of this world healthy and tasty meals.

Recommendation

I absolutely recommend this recipe especially if you are looking for an easy gluten and grain free pasta dough recipe.

Find the full recipe here!

So which recipe would you want to make first? Tell me in the comments and let me know if you try any of them out! #cookingwithAbs