You Are What You Eat: June 20 through July 2
[1] We're up to 117 days without eating in a restaurant, and 15 days since we got take out.
Restaurant Stats
Just Me and M, or Just Me (non-concert, non-ballgame, non-travel): 8 (+0)
-- Twice in a Week Resolution Breaker: 1 (+0)
With Friends/Family (non-concert, non-ballgame): 7 (+0)
Concert/Ball-game drinks: 5 (+0)
Travel: 15 (+0)
People over for food: 3 (+0)
[2] I made ten new recipes in this increment. That gets the total to 55 on the year, and makes this post somewhat longer than usual. Here they are in roughly the order that I made them.
- Eating Well has a recipe every month that is designed to for kids to help make it. Frankly, I think they underestimate kids q a lot, but everyone needs more excuses to mix pasta and cheese, so I tried the Cacio e Pepe Pasta with Peas from the May 2020 Eating Well. The peppery sauce had an interesting taste, but M and I agreed that it wasn't so great that we'd make it again.
- I have a red folder full of recipes that I've cut out of old Eating Wells that I never got around to. One of them was the Soft Green Beans from the January/February 2019 Eating Well. I think I prefer less squishy green beans, but M really enjoyed it. It will probably replace a similar recipe I have used in the past that has bacon in it as a fundamental ingredient.
- The June 2020 Eating Well offered up the Roasted Beet & Blueberry Salad. M loves roasted beets, so I'm always on the lookout for new ways to serve them. In a substantial deviation from the recipe as written, I did mix in some arugula (another favorite of M's) to bulk up the salad a bit. M really liked it. The only real problem is that once she picked the beets out of the leftovers she lost interest.
- A crock pot recipe in the summer? The June 2020 Eating Well offered up the Chicken Pita Sandwiches with Harissa Sauce. I was out of harissa so I used the recommended beber spice substitution, but even so M and I both really liked the pita sauce. It's not quite the same as having lamb cut off a skewer, but it came closer than any home recipe has a right to be when it doesn't involve a Lebanese-American grandmother. This will definitely be made again.
- After a brief baking interlude, I turned back to the Bread Bible. This time I made the Pullman Loaf Sandwich Bread, which allowed me to finalize use the lidded loaf pan that I believe I inherited from my old roommate Micah when he moved back in 2006. Compared to the most recent loaf breads I've made, this required substantially less rising time. It was also a fantastic bread to smear butter on. The combination of factors will probably lead me to making it again with more frequency than the others.
- The July/August 2020 Eating Well featured a bunch of melon salads. M likes both watermelon and mint, so the Watermelon with Mint Gremolata was a winner in her book. As for me, the gremolata was fine, but watermelon is so good on its own that I'm not convinced the gremolata was worth the extra effort.
- The June 2020 Eating Well also had a single sheet Rosemary Roasted Salmon with Asparagus & Potatoes. Frankly, doing it all on a single sheet was a bit of a gimmick. It would have been easier and probably no less tasty to use two baking sheets. With that said, the combination of balsamic and whole grain mustard on the salmon was delicious, so at the very least I'll use that part of the recipe again.
- M loves pesto. I love pesto. The Walnut Pesto Pasta Salad came out really well and will be made again. Frankly, given the price differential between walnuts and pine nuts, I'm not sure why I'd use pine nuts for pesto recipes going forward.
- The July/August 2020 Eating Well's kids section has a Peanut Zucchini Noodle Salad with Chicken. I didn't make the noodle salad because I don't have a spiralizer, don't want one, and don't like zucchini all that much. However, I did use the peanut sauce in the recipe for a batch of stir fry, and it is handily the best peanut sauce I've ever made. I am still counting this as a full recipe even though I only made the sauce.
- Sometimes things sit in the red folder for a long time before I get to them. In this case, the Blackberry-Ginger Ice Cream Sandwiches came from the July/August 2018 Eating Well, but they were worth the wait. The blackberry-ginger ice cream filling is fantastic and easy. Frankly, the extra effort of laying out squares of plastic wrap and building ice cream sandwiches with graham cracker squares is probably not necessary. Next time I might just crumple them up on top of the ice cream. There will be a next time though.
Restaurant Stats
Just Me and M, or Just Me (non-concert, non-ballgame, non-travel): 8 (+0)
-- Twice in a Week Resolution Breaker: 1 (+0)
With Friends/Family (non-concert, non-ballgame): 7 (+0)
Concert/Ball-game drinks: 5 (+0)
Travel: 15 (+0)
People over for food: 3 (+0)
[2] I made ten new recipes in this increment. That gets the total to 55 on the year, and makes this post somewhat longer than usual. Here they are in roughly the order that I made them.
- Eating Well has a recipe every month that is designed to for kids to help make it. Frankly, I think they underestimate kids q a lot, but everyone needs more excuses to mix pasta and cheese, so I tried the Cacio e Pepe Pasta with Peas from the May 2020 Eating Well. The peppery sauce had an interesting taste, but M and I agreed that it wasn't so great that we'd make it again.
- I have a red folder full of recipes that I've cut out of old Eating Wells that I never got around to. One of them was the Soft Green Beans from the January/February 2019 Eating Well. I think I prefer less squishy green beans, but M really enjoyed it. It will probably replace a similar recipe I have used in the past that has bacon in it as a fundamental ingredient.
- The June 2020 Eating Well offered up the Roasted Beet & Blueberry Salad. M loves roasted beets, so I'm always on the lookout for new ways to serve them. In a substantial deviation from the recipe as written, I did mix in some arugula (another favorite of M's) to bulk up the salad a bit. M really liked it. The only real problem is that once she picked the beets out of the leftovers she lost interest.
- A crock pot recipe in the summer? The June 2020 Eating Well offered up the Chicken Pita Sandwiches with Harissa Sauce. I was out of harissa so I used the recommended beber spice substitution, but even so M and I both really liked the pita sauce. It's not quite the same as having lamb cut off a skewer, but it came closer than any home recipe has a right to be when it doesn't involve a Lebanese-American grandmother. This will definitely be made again.
- After a brief baking interlude, I turned back to the Bread Bible. This time I made the Pullman Loaf Sandwich Bread, which allowed me to finalize use the lidded loaf pan that I believe I inherited from my old roommate Micah when he moved back in 2006. Compared to the most recent loaf breads I've made, this required substantially less rising time. It was also a fantastic bread to smear butter on. The combination of factors will probably lead me to making it again with more frequency than the others.
- The July/August 2020 Eating Well featured a bunch of melon salads. M likes both watermelon and mint, so the Watermelon with Mint Gremolata was a winner in her book. As for me, the gremolata was fine, but watermelon is so good on its own that I'm not convinced the gremolata was worth the extra effort.
- The June 2020 Eating Well also had a single sheet Rosemary Roasted Salmon with Asparagus & Potatoes. Frankly, doing it all on a single sheet was a bit of a gimmick. It would have been easier and probably no less tasty to use two baking sheets. With that said, the combination of balsamic and whole grain mustard on the salmon was delicious, so at the very least I'll use that part of the recipe again.
- M loves pesto. I love pesto. The Walnut Pesto Pasta Salad came out really well and will be made again. Frankly, given the price differential between walnuts and pine nuts, I'm not sure why I'd use pine nuts for pesto recipes going forward.
- The July/August 2020 Eating Well's kids section has a Peanut Zucchini Noodle Salad with Chicken. I didn't make the noodle salad because I don't have a spiralizer, don't want one, and don't like zucchini all that much. However, I did use the peanut sauce in the recipe for a batch of stir fry, and it is handily the best peanut sauce I've ever made. I am still counting this as a full recipe even though I only made the sauce.
- Sometimes things sit in the red folder for a long time before I get to them. In this case, the Blackberry-Ginger Ice Cream Sandwiches came from the July/August 2018 Eating Well, but they were worth the wait. The blackberry-ginger ice cream filling is fantastic and easy. Frankly, the extra effort of laying out squares of plastic wrap and building ice cream sandwiches with graham cracker squares is probably not necessary. Next time I might just crumple them up on top of the ice cream. There will be a next time though.