You Are What You Eat: January 14 through January 20
With the weather getting steadily chillier and comparatively few activities outside the house besides work and the gym, there's been a lot of cooking around here. Actually, it's been a pretty typical level of cooking, to be honest, but in any event, here we go.
Monday, January 14 - Quinoa, Chicken & Broccoli Salad with Roasted Lemon Dressing - This is the second time I made this recipe from the November/December 2018 Eating Well. M really likes the lemon sauce. The raw broccoli pieces add a nice crunch.
Tuesday, January 15 - Slow-Cooker Butter Chicken - New Recipe - I'm always on the lookout for new slow cooker recipes, so this one for a delicious Indian dish in the new January/February 2019 Eating Well jumped right out at me. I did all the prep Monday night. The taste was excellent, but the sauce was very thing and watery and not the thick delicious sauce I'd hoped for. M thought it watery even with a package of cauliflower rice underneath it. I may see what I can do to fix this because the taste was what I wanted.
Wednesday, January 16 - Roasted Cranberry, Squash & Cauliflower Salad - New Recipe - I'd clipped this one out of the November/December 2017 Eating Well but never got around to it previously. M liked it, but I just don't like the taste of whole cranberries enough to be totally enthusiastic about it. I'd hoped that having cauliflower, squash and hard boiled eggs would be enough to make the cranberries more enjoyable, but not this time.
Thursday, January 17 - Caribbean Black-Eyed Peas - This recipe comes out of the Moosewood Restaurant Favorites. It makes just enough for two people, and since we also had an arugula salad, it even provided a container of leftovers.
Thursday, January 17 - For Friday - After dinner, I baked Irish Soda Bread Rolls from the Bread Bible. I had made the primary Irish Soda Bread recipe during my 2017 Bake More Bread Resolution and found it quick, easy and delicious. Rolls were only marginally harder. I used American bourbon as I was out of Irish whiskey, but such is life. I took these into work on Friday with the whiskey butter that accompanies the recipe as well as some of my Aunt Joanne's raspberry jelly. They were devoured quickly.
Friday, January 18 - Yuzu - Contrary to rumor, the restaurant hasn't gone to a totally vegan menu, but they have greatly expanded their vegan offerings. M tried their vegan General Tso and liked it. I myself went with a tuna poke and basket of their fries. Even after mixing all the ingredients of the poke together, it was very bland. The mango and seaweed didn't spread out enough to give it a strong flavor. I honestly wonder if they left a sauce off of it or something, although everything on the menu was accounted for. It was disappointing, but we did have a nice brisk walk to the restaurant so that's something.
Saturday, January 19 - Basic Whole Roast Chicken - New Recipe - I've roasted a bunch of chickens in my past, but this new recipe called for roasting it in a pot with the lid on instead of in a tray. Why not? Well, for starters it took far longer to cook than the recipe said it should. And the final "broil" step burned the skin. That's the second week in a row the broiler burned something; I had already dialed back how much I let it broil but I'm going to have to dial it back even further in the future. In any event, it was a perfectly fine roast chicken, even if it did take too long. I'll be dismembering it for parts to make broth and another dish in the coming week.
Sunday, January 20 - Breakfast - I made my mother's blueberry muffins for breakfast as well a tomato and parmesan omelet. Victory.
Sunday, January 20 - Breakfast - Dinner - For dinner, I made the Baked Bell Peppers I originally made for the very first Supper Club I hosted. We also tried the fancy chickpea pasta that was on sale at the grocery store on Friday night.The peppers were delicious, the pasta tasted like pasta, and it turns out that it has only marginally fewer weight watchers points than regular pasta, at more than twice the price. So much for that experiment.
Totals For This Post
Days Covered: 7
Meals / Dishes Cooked: 7 / 8
New Recipes: 3
Eating Out Meals: 1
Eating Out Drinks/Dessert Only: 0
Parties / Friends Cooked: 0
Overall Totals
Days Covered: 19
Meals / Dishes Cooked: 17 / 20
New Recipes: 8
Eating Out Meals: 4
Eating Out Drinks/Dessert Only: 1
Parties / Friends Cooked: 1
Monday, January 14 - Quinoa, Chicken & Broccoli Salad with Roasted Lemon Dressing - This is the second time I made this recipe from the November/December 2018 Eating Well. M really likes the lemon sauce. The raw broccoli pieces add a nice crunch.
Tuesday, January 15 - Slow-Cooker Butter Chicken - New Recipe - I'm always on the lookout for new slow cooker recipes, so this one for a delicious Indian dish in the new January/February 2019 Eating Well jumped right out at me. I did all the prep Monday night. The taste was excellent, but the sauce was very thing and watery and not the thick delicious sauce I'd hoped for. M thought it watery even with a package of cauliflower rice underneath it. I may see what I can do to fix this because the taste was what I wanted.
Wednesday, January 16 - Roasted Cranberry, Squash & Cauliflower Salad - New Recipe - I'd clipped this one out of the November/December 2017 Eating Well but never got around to it previously. M liked it, but I just don't like the taste of whole cranberries enough to be totally enthusiastic about it. I'd hoped that having cauliflower, squash and hard boiled eggs would be enough to make the cranberries more enjoyable, but not this time.
Thursday, January 17 - Caribbean Black-Eyed Peas - This recipe comes out of the Moosewood Restaurant Favorites. It makes just enough for two people, and since we also had an arugula salad, it even provided a container of leftovers.
Thursday, January 17 - For Friday - After dinner, I baked Irish Soda Bread Rolls from the Bread Bible. I had made the primary Irish Soda Bread recipe during my 2017 Bake More Bread Resolution and found it quick, easy and delicious. Rolls were only marginally harder. I used American bourbon as I was out of Irish whiskey, but such is life. I took these into work on Friday with the whiskey butter that accompanies the recipe as well as some of my Aunt Joanne's raspberry jelly. They were devoured quickly.
Friday, January 18 - Yuzu - Contrary to rumor, the restaurant hasn't gone to a totally vegan menu, but they have greatly expanded their vegan offerings. M tried their vegan General Tso and liked it. I myself went with a tuna poke and basket of their fries. Even after mixing all the ingredients of the poke together, it was very bland. The mango and seaweed didn't spread out enough to give it a strong flavor. I honestly wonder if they left a sauce off of it or something, although everything on the menu was accounted for. It was disappointing, but we did have a nice brisk walk to the restaurant so that's something.
Saturday, January 19 - Basic Whole Roast Chicken - New Recipe - I've roasted a bunch of chickens in my past, but this new recipe called for roasting it in a pot with the lid on instead of in a tray. Why not? Well, for starters it took far longer to cook than the recipe said it should. And the final "broil" step burned the skin. That's the second week in a row the broiler burned something; I had already dialed back how much I let it broil but I'm going to have to dial it back even further in the future. In any event, it was a perfectly fine roast chicken, even if it did take too long. I'll be dismembering it for parts to make broth and another dish in the coming week.
Sunday, January 20 - Breakfast - I made my mother's blueberry muffins for breakfast as well a tomato and parmesan omelet. Victory.
Sunday, January 20 - Breakfast - Dinner - For dinner, I made the Baked Bell Peppers I originally made for the very first Supper Club I hosted. We also tried the fancy chickpea pasta that was on sale at the grocery store on Friday night.The peppers were delicious, the pasta tasted like pasta, and it turns out that it has only marginally fewer weight watchers points than regular pasta, at more than twice the price. So much for that experiment.
Totals For This Post
Days Covered: 7
Meals / Dishes Cooked: 7 / 8
New Recipes: 3
Eating Out Meals: 1
Eating Out Drinks/Dessert Only: 0
Parties / Friends Cooked: 0
Overall Totals
Days Covered: 19
Meals / Dishes Cooked: 17 / 20
New Recipes: 8
Eating Out Meals: 4
Eating Out Drinks/Dessert Only: 1
Parties / Friends Cooked: 1