Pricey

I've noticed that some things are getting pricey at the grocery store. I was shopping for ingredients for three recipes and just a few things stood out. I needed brussels sprouts and the only choice were pre-washed 8oz bags for $3.99. Then I checked sun dried tomatoes which were $5.99 a jar - I decided to stick with the dried tomatoes I had at home.

Today I cooked -

- Spiced wild and brown rice pilar with butternut squash and dried cranberries pg 234 very good
- Turkey Meatload with sun-dried tomatoes pg 363 - very good
- Lemon-glazed brussels sprouts - fair

I did the brussels sprouts at lunch and it was a super easy dish. I did have to trim the ends of my pricey, pre-bagged sprouts. Which made me consider starting a compost pile. I've wanted to do it for a while, but mistakenly hoped my father would start it. Anywho, I brought a box into the kitchen to start collecting all my scraps.


Later in the day I started the rice pilaf. I started cooking items too soon and had to turn off the burner while I was prepping other ingredients. A fun ingredient that was easy to include was a cinnamon stick -which started off dry and small and ended up large and pretty. The rice looked beautiful and I thought it seemed healthy.



Lastly, I whipped together the meatloaf, using french bread to make the bread crumbs. I had to answer and make phone calls while this was happening, so I'm lucky that it was assembled correctly. Here is a thing I've noticed about ground turkey. All my recipes call for 1.5 pounds, but in the store it is sold in 1lb units or 1.25 lb units. I had to add breakfast sausage to my lasagne to ensure I had enough sauce and tonight just used less meat. What's the deal here people?

Bring on the Veggies

Recently, I've reflected that I'm not eating enough vegetables. I've been eating less, but somehow I always turn to popcorn, peanut butter sandwiches, and chips...

So I made Summer Vegetable Stir-Fry with Couscous pg 262 - very good. It is full of beautiful veggies and does not take long to make.



Tonight I made Guacamole with Lime and Roasted Chiles, pg 56 - fair. It was full of fresh ingredients, but involved too many steps - roast chilies, wait, peel, chop, chop, squeeze, process, mix, etc. I think I'll look for something that involves one bowl.

Back to Business

Things have been busy lately - but last weekend Scott and I spent at the lake and I looked through the Bon Appetit book to get inspired to start cooking again. Tonight I made -

-Spicy chicken, eggplant, and red onion quesadillas (pg 87) Very Good
-Spicy black bean salsa (pg 62) Very Good

Both recipes were easy and were excellent. The salsa I used as a side dish since it is full of corn, avocado, red bell pepper, etc. It was like a cool salad as a side.

Most of BA's southwestern recipes include many of the same ingredients -
Adobo chilies, cilantro, lime... all good, but I'm surprised most of the recipes include different prep techniques for the same ingredients.