Recipe Countdown at last 9...8

Butternut Squash and Black Bean Tostadas
I liked the results, but nowadays, recipes like this rub me the wrong way.  Their butternut squash comes pre-cubed in a bag; the beans come from a can.  So I cheated--I whacked a butternut squash in half, scraped out the seeds and baked it in the oven until soft. I presoaked a cup of black beans and threw them in the slow cooker with onion, garlic and cumin.

But the idea was good and the results were great.  It's a keeper. I doubt if I'd bother with a recipe next time.

Chinese Inspired Chicken Noodle Soup

Oh, my. I can't think of enough bad things to say about this recipe.  Here are the simple facts. 

I don't care how good it tastes, the recipe is stupid.  You can't cook a chicken and then "remove chicken pieces" from the broth.  It was a whole chicken and it fell to pieces. What about all the little tiny bones that fall out of the meat?  Were they somehow magically going to hold together so I can dip them out? Impossible.

It was okay, tastewise, but not special enough for the aggravation of trying to dip all those little bones out. I'll go back to the normal approach--cook, take the meat, cook the bones some more then strain the broth.