You Are What You Eat: July 11 through July 20
I've been busy and exhausted, so here, have the longest meal update of the year. This one features a visit from both my parents and M's parents plus a bunch of air fryer experimentation.
Thursday, July 11 - I can't fully read my handwriting on my notes, but I cooked chicken, it wasn't a new recipe, and I don't know what recipe it was. Well, that's awkward. I'll count it as a repeat.
Friday, July 12 - With both my parents and M's parents in town for the Tall Ships festival, we ate out a lot during the weekend. Friday night we went to Cravings for Thai food. I had a red duck curry that was very tasty.
Saturday, July 13 - For breakfast everybody gathered at my house and I made my mother's waffle recipe.
We then went to the Tall Ship festival. It was brutally hot out, and even on the lake when we rode the Inland Seas it was still warm with the breeze. We came out utterly exhausted. A meal with a lot of water at Merwin's Wharf was just the ticket to temporarily revive everyone. We also shared a giant pretzel for an appetizer. Many tacos were eaten.
Even after lunch we were mostly burned out. My parents were sufficiently tired that they went back to the hotel to go to bed early. We took M's parents to Malley's to have dessert first, then had a very small meal at Angelo's.
Sunday, July 14 - For this breakfast we went to Deagan's. I'm pleased to report that brunch there was very good. I had a waffle with chocolate peanut butter ice cream!
With everybody headed for home, M and I regrouped with a rotisserie chicken. I also made Brussels Sprouts in the air fryer, which was another successful experiment.
Monday, July 15 - For this meal I used leftover chicken from our rotisserie chicken to make a Roasted Chicken Banh Mi from the January/February 2019 Eating Well. I somehow had skipped over this one when the issue was new, but with the mildly pickled vegis on ciabatta M declared that it needed to go in the permanent rotation.
I wasn't sure if the banh mi would be enough, so I used the air fryer to baked a potato and a sweet potato. It did this job admirably, but the end result was no different than baking them in the oven, and not all that much faster.
Tuesday, July 16 - I used the air fryer for the third meal in a row when I roasted the chicken for the Cobb Salad with Herb-Rubbed Chicken from the March 2019 Eating Well. I don't have a grill, but this was an excellent substitute. The salad came out pretty well too.
Wednesday, July 17 - Somewhere along the way i realized that if an air fryer could replace deep frying, it could be used to make falafel. A quick google turned up this Air Fryer Falafel recipe. I'm pleased to report that it was a two thumbs up success. M and I both loved it. It's maybe not quite as good as Maha's, but it was more than good enough to make again and again and again. This alone justifies owning an air fryer.
Thursday, July 18 - For lunch, my friend Helene came to work and we ate in the Bistro.
When I got home, I made a quick meal of the White Bean & Avocado Sandwich from the July/August 2019 Eating Well. M and I both enjoyed it well enough, but we weren't blown away by it.
After dinner I met up with some ultimate friends at Fox & Hound where I had both a beer and a dessert.
Friday, July 19 - M and I went to the Tribe game, which meant beer at Great Lakes followed by snacks at Progressive Field (cracker jacks in my case) and then a late dinner at Buckeye Beer Engine, where I had some tuna nachos.
Saturday, July 20 - After a long day of various adventures, M insisted on going to Kintaro for sushi after our movie. I was happy to oblige. We had an assortment of rolls, plus I had a bowl of udon.
Totals For This Post
Days Covered: 10
Meals / Dishes Cooked: 7 / 8
New Recipes: 6
Leftover Nights: 0
Eating Out / Take Out Meals: 7
Eating Out Drinks/Dessert Only: 4
New To Me Restaurants: 0
Repeated Restaurants in 2019: 7
Parties / Friends / Family Cooked: 0
Repeated Recipes: 1
Overall Totals 2019 (less January 1)
Days Covered: 200
Meals / Dishes Cooked: 120 / 169
New Recipes: 74
Leftover Nights: 7
Eating Out / Take Out Meals: 99
Eating Out Drinks/Dessert Only: 38
New To Me Restaurants: 47
Repeated Restaurants in 2019: 34
Parties / Friends / Family Cooked: 13
Repeated Recipes: 11
Thursday, July 11 - I can't fully read my handwriting on my notes, but I cooked chicken, it wasn't a new recipe, and I don't know what recipe it was. Well, that's awkward. I'll count it as a repeat.
Friday, July 12 - With both my parents and M's parents in town for the Tall Ships festival, we ate out a lot during the weekend. Friday night we went to Cravings for Thai food. I had a red duck curry that was very tasty.
Saturday, July 13 - For breakfast everybody gathered at my house and I made my mother's waffle recipe.
We then went to the Tall Ship festival. It was brutally hot out, and even on the lake when we rode the Inland Seas it was still warm with the breeze. We came out utterly exhausted. A meal with a lot of water at Merwin's Wharf was just the ticket to temporarily revive everyone. We also shared a giant pretzel for an appetizer. Many tacos were eaten.
Even after lunch we were mostly burned out. My parents were sufficiently tired that they went back to the hotel to go to bed early. We took M's parents to Malley's to have dessert first, then had a very small meal at Angelo's.
Sunday, July 14 - For this breakfast we went to Deagan's. I'm pleased to report that brunch there was very good. I had a waffle with chocolate peanut butter ice cream!
With everybody headed for home, M and I regrouped with a rotisserie chicken. I also made Brussels Sprouts in the air fryer, which was another successful experiment.
Monday, July 15 - For this meal I used leftover chicken from our rotisserie chicken to make a Roasted Chicken Banh Mi from the January/February 2019 Eating Well. I somehow had skipped over this one when the issue was new, but with the mildly pickled vegis on ciabatta M declared that it needed to go in the permanent rotation.
I wasn't sure if the banh mi would be enough, so I used the air fryer to baked a potato and a sweet potato. It did this job admirably, but the end result was no different than baking them in the oven, and not all that much faster.
Tuesday, July 16 - I used the air fryer for the third meal in a row when I roasted the chicken for the Cobb Salad with Herb-Rubbed Chicken from the March 2019 Eating Well. I don't have a grill, but this was an excellent substitute. The salad came out pretty well too.
Wednesday, July 17 - Somewhere along the way i realized that if an air fryer could replace deep frying, it could be used to make falafel. A quick google turned up this Air Fryer Falafel recipe. I'm pleased to report that it was a two thumbs up success. M and I both loved it. It's maybe not quite as good as Maha's, but it was more than good enough to make again and again and again. This alone justifies owning an air fryer.
Thursday, July 18 - For lunch, my friend Helene came to work and we ate in the Bistro.
When I got home, I made a quick meal of the White Bean & Avocado Sandwich from the July/August 2019 Eating Well. M and I both enjoyed it well enough, but we weren't blown away by it.
After dinner I met up with some ultimate friends at Fox & Hound where I had both a beer and a dessert.
Friday, July 19 - M and I went to the Tribe game, which meant beer at Great Lakes followed by snacks at Progressive Field (cracker jacks in my case) and then a late dinner at Buckeye Beer Engine, where I had some tuna nachos.
Saturday, July 20 - After a long day of various adventures, M insisted on going to Kintaro for sushi after our movie. I was happy to oblige. We had an assortment of rolls, plus I had a bowl of udon.
Totals For This Post
Days Covered: 10
Meals / Dishes Cooked: 7 / 8
New Recipes: 6
Leftover Nights: 0
Eating Out / Take Out Meals: 7
Eating Out Drinks/Dessert Only: 4
New To Me Restaurants: 0
Repeated Restaurants in 2019: 7
Parties / Friends / Family Cooked: 0
Repeated Recipes: 1
Overall Totals 2019 (less January 1)
Days Covered: 200
Meals / Dishes Cooked: 120 / 169
New Recipes: 74
Leftover Nights: 7
Eating Out / Take Out Meals: 99
Eating Out Drinks/Dessert Only: 38
New To Me Restaurants: 47
Repeated Restaurants in 2019: 34
Parties / Friends / Family Cooked: 13
Repeated Recipes: 11