This was my second month with the blog and as you can see from those glorious photos on the right, I was a long ways away from where I am today. First of all, I think we can all agree that the photo quality leaves much to be desired and frankly, I'm not sure you'd be able to tell what these were unless I broke it down for you. Gross.

We've got oven baked black bean rollups that had no recipe attached; just a shoddy slideshow of the same photo with different filters. I don't remember this and probably for good reason. Secondly, a recipe titled "Creamy Black Bean Tostadas" that SOUND delicious but certainly doesn't invite you to try it if we're basing it solely off of the photo. Looks like I used half a container of sour cream on that thing lol Growth is good and this is fun because we can kind of see where things started :)

What did 2015 bring us?  It brought us slightly improved photographs, recipes that appear to be written at least a little better and actually shared with the recipe, which I imagine would be helpful.

First up, a Basily Mac Salad that on first glance, looks like undressed noods with some cucumbers and an enormous basil garnish. It doesn't look particularly appetizing and frankly, needs some more fresh ingredients to ever be considered a salad. I honestly don't even remember eating this so I'd imagine it's best left in the archives.

Next up, a Cannellini Bean & Corn Soup that's giving off some major beige vibes. Upon first glance, the recipe needs more salt and more broth to really be considered a soup. 2 cups of liquid is basically soup for 1 in my opinion lol Now, I actually REMEMBER eating this and enjoying it. Because I used so little stock in the recipe, the starchy beans really made the broth creamy and buttery. Overall, I enjoyed this recipe at the time but I feel like it would need a 2021 upgrade before I ever ate it again.

Basily Mac Salad - www.thehappyveg.ca/recipes/basily-mac-salad

Cannellini & Corn Soup Recipe - www.thehappyveg.ca/recipes/cannelini-bean-corn-soup

2016 saw some improvements in my recipe writing, inspired ideas, and new cuisines. Don't worry though, there's still some cringy photography for your viewing pleasure.

First up, a creamy cauliflower soup that features some sub par garnishing action. I would still garnish this soup much the same today but would do so in a significantly more artful manner. The soup recipe itself appears written well on first glance. Looks like there's an approipriate amount of salt and liquids to actually make enough soup for more than one person. Idk, I've shared cauliflower soups recently that would probably blow this one out of the water.

Next, something I was really proud of at the time - my Red Lentil Dahl. This was first time dabbling with Indian cuisine and I remember being both incredibly proud of myself and blown away by the flavours. This is actually a really good recipe y'all and the photograph is lackluster but still gives us hope that the recipe is a keeper. Y'all should revisit it for fun and let me know how it turns out :D 

Ok y'all, we're getting somewhere now. I can confidently say that I not only remember both of these recipes, but I remember eating AND enjoying them both greatly.

First up, some cheesy jalapeno corn biscuits. They were fluffy on the inside and golden & crispy on the outside. What I loved was the underlying heat behind every bite and the fun pops of crispy, juicy corn throughout the biscuits. These were fun to make & eat but I'd still make them and serve them up with some chili or a stew perhaps.

Next, a recipe I still drool over even 4 years later. This was both my first time hearing about Gnudi, and my first time making it from scratch. Essentially, gnudi are ricotta dumplings that would serve up sauced and paired with a nice salad. Gnudi loosely translates to "naked pasta" because it's basically the filling of a ravioli without the pasta shell. These were finnicky but honestly, one of my bext recipes from the archives. If you've never tried gnudi, now's the time to do so!

So you may have noticed that I skipped 2018. If y'all remember, I was abroad in Ireland for a year living my best freaking life. There wasn't much recipe testing happening during that time, more living than anything else. Gosh, that really was the best experience of my life.

Now, 2019. If you guys can tell, the lighting / photography is improving at this point exponentially over the photos from 2017. I did have to go outside with the enchiladas to get good light, but that's what you do.

First up, that delectable spinach & ricotta lasagna. I remember this one right down to my excitement over using my springform for the first time. This recipe slaps. (I heard that term from one of my younger coworkers.) So creamy and perfectly held together, thanks to the springform's magic. Go and make this recipe, you'll love it.

Up next, one of the first recipes I did upon returning home from Ireland. I loved the crispy chips on top because enchiladas reputably are pretty soggy. Garnishes really make a Mexican dish to me. All the sour cream, green onions, pickled onions, crispy goodies, cilantro, ugh...all of it. These enchiladas were super simple to put together and absolutely delicious. Revisit this recipe and celebrate my returning home with some gloriously cheesy enchiladas.

Last year sucked for us all you know? Various restrictions and all around negativity from the people we are surrounded with because of covid. Ugh, I legit couldn't hate covid any more than I do at this point. OVER IT! 

2020 WAS however, absolutely glorious for food. Looking back, I churned out some pretty banging recipes last year and by the end of the year, I was really in a good flow. First up, my skillet shepherd's pie, which includes some fun piping bag actsch. Piping on the taters let's more areas of the potato layer get nice and crispy in the oven. The recipe is written perfectly and the pictures were good too. What matters most though? It certainly tasted delicious.

My mother's stuffed shells were my favourite. She always made some with ricotta, and some with cottage cheese. To be honest, I always tried to taste any big differences but really never could. They were both in the A+ category. She inbred a love of stuffed shells in my soul and every time I plan out a recipe for stuffed shells, I always go back to hers.

These ones are really good though guys. These are nice and garlicky which is a positive thing for me. There was an entire head almost of garlic between the sauce and ricotta stuffing. They really popped with that sharp, garlic flavour which complemented the creamy ricotta and roasted pepper sauce beautifully. Please, make these soon and allow them to take you back to a happier time.