An update on the cooking project

I posted a month or so ago about the cooking project I'm embarking on; that is- cooking through an entire cookbook. I obviously had a lengthy break while we were on vacation, and have been working on getting back into it. Unfortunately, my recipe choices have not gotten great reviews. As someone who likes to cook, this really irritates me.

Since we've returned, I've just made a few more things, and actually repeated a couple (hummus, Greek lamb) we really liked.

Here's what we've had the past little while:

Sauteed Tuna on Green Onion Stalks on Romaine: I really liked this one, BK thought it was okay. I think the tuna could have been seasoned more, like maybe pepper or sesame crusted or something like that. In the recipe the tuna looks really well done, and we like our seared, so that's how I cooked it. The dressing on the salad really makes it and is what gives it flavor. Score: 5.

Chicken with Rosemary Dumplings: This one went over quite well. BK has not been feeling well and he wanted Chicken Noodle Soup, which is not so common over here. I had seen the chicken and dumplings recipe in my cookbook and wanted to try it, so I figured it was close enough. I haven't ever made chicken and dumplings, so I followed the recipe closely. We all liked it a lot, and I think this is one I would make again. BK loved the dumplings, but thought the filling/soup could be thicker. Score: 7.5; Soup: 6, Dumplings: 9.

Ma Po Tofu: We did not like this recipe...it's just missing something. I did change one thing, in that I used all pork and no tofu (just not a fan of the texture), but you would think that doing that would make it more flavorful, which was just not the case. I even added yellow bell pepper to add a little something. BK likened it to Hamburger Helper, which was kind of like a shot to the heart. No offense if you like Hamburger Helper, but it's just not what I was going for. Score: 5 

Hopefully tomorrow will be something better. I haven't decided what we're having yet. Maybe I'll try a dessert this week as well. We still have lots of recipes to go!