Cooking Catch-up: Roasted Chicken

I haven't forgotten about blogging. I swear! I'm reaching a bit far back on this one though, because why not blog about all those random photos of stuff I've taken in the past?



Now, what do you do when you take photo's of your food because you're proud that you didn't set the kitchen on fire? Other than eating the food of course. Because if you just made it and then walked away that would be all kinds of uncool.

Well, what I do when I take photo's of food is then put those photo's online. It's a lovely process known as 'showing-off-your-ability-to-eat-nice-looking-things' and is drawn from that place where people post about the new game you scored well in that no one really cares about or that awesome new purse that you really couldn't or shouldn't have been able to afford.

I digress. I roasted a chicken once (It was a while ago but I've since roasted different chickens in the same way for a while). It was delish. I recommend roasting your own instead of buying those 10$ pre roasted chickens at the grocery. It takes very little effort.

Here's what I did.

Roasted Chicken

The Cooking Cure: Day 16-18

I have accepted my fate of failure in this Cooking Cure, but not feeling so much defeated about it as laughing at how much it takes to keep on track.

Day 16: Get Yourself a Treat to Have with Dinner

Monday March 24th, 2014
Cooking Cure's task for Day 16 on TheKitckn.com

The post for this challenge begins with a big ol' Congratulations! And you know what? I'm going to take it! I'm going to celebrate that not only have I been cooking a lot, and thinking more about what I do when I cook, I have totally made a blogging comeback. I haven't posted this much in years and feel that this fact alone is enough to celebrate.

Now what did I treat myself to? ICE CREAM! Not homemade, but good quality Haagen-Dazs is always a nice treat.

Day 17: Take 5 Minutes to Think Through the Rest of Your Meals This Week

Tuesday March 25th, 2014
Cooking Cure's task for Day 12 on TheKitckn.com

1. Take 5 minutes to take stock: My week is going alright. Monday night I made a HUGE dinner that was actually also my week's worth of lunches. Chicken Burrito Bowls! Zach and I had burrito's for dinner and then packed up the rest of the food for lunches. It's not Wednesday (yes I'm posting late) and I still have lunch for today and hopefully tomorrow. My breakfasts are a disaster, but lunch is taken care of and I'm happy about that. 
2. Adjust your plans: Breakfasts need some more attention but in the mornings I'm so uninterested in cooking. I think making a batch of bagels again on the weekend and using them just for breakfasts might be a good plan. Midway through the week I think I'll refrain from going crazy, but it's a good plan for Sunday night. 
3. Share your week: Uh, heyo Twitter and FB. I always post to social media! 

Day 18: Make "Stuff I like to Eat" List

Wednesday March 16th, 2014
Cooking Cure's task for Day 18 on TheKitckn.com

• Zach loves fruit, something he's trying to get me involved in. It's not really a 'cooking thing' but it's definitely something he loves to eat and wants more of in the house. I think this is more about changing where we shop as some of our local grocery stores are either too pricey or have crap stock. To the little asian groceries on the corner! 
• Homemade Tuna Casserole: Zach loves it, I love it. Easy, I could do it in my sleep and makes for great leftovers. And did I mention it's cheap? 
• Baked chicken enchiladas: because gooey with cheese and sauce is always welcomed.
• Pot Stickers: Sometimes it's nice to just relax and make dumplings. It's not hard, takes a lot of time thought but the results are always wonderful and if done in large batches can last you a while. 
• A good, from scratch, tomato sauce: It has so many possibilities like fresh pasta, amazing pizza, a dipping sauce for monkey bread. Making it in a large batch means more for later and less work. Plus Zach is a pro-star at making a good sauce. 
• Bread: I have a few simple recipes that make the apartment smell amazing and we always love fresh bread. Who doesn't? Again, it's a process that I almost find soothing now and look forward to doing. 
• Great damn sandwiches: I make a good sandwich. No bragging here, I have lots of supporters on this one. Stack them high, lots of meat, deli style fixings and a good homemade sauce or two, on some of the best bread ever. I love making them, take a pride in it, and Zach loves them too. 

We're nearly at the end, only two days left in the cure. I'm wondering what more we could do, but we shall see! Either way I'm glad of how this whole month turned out for my blogger revival. 

The Cooking Cure: Day 12-15 ...sigh...

Are you shocked? I'm not shocked. I think I'm starting to think about whether I really need to change all of my habits (well at least breakfast). Here we go, week three catch up! Maybe it was a bit much to assume I could blog every day of the week for a month...

Day 12: Ask Yourself 3 Questions About your Dinner Habits

Tuesday March 18th, 2014
Cooking Cure's task for Day 12 on TheKitckn.com

1. What am I tired of eating? Pasta. I love pasta, but boxed pasta as often as I do have it is not a good idea. 
2. What do I love eating? Like all my other answers: FRESH. And mexican. 
3. What would I like to eat more often? From scratch homemade with more vegetables included. 

Did I rush through that? Felt like I did. I guess it's because I've answered it almost the same way twice already!

Day 13: Find 5 New Recipes for Dinner

Wednesday March 19th, 2014
Cooking Cure's task for Day 13 on TheKitckn.com

1. Vietnamese-Style Summer Rolls from chow.com: I like the freshness of these ingredients and the veg to protein ratio. Plus, who can say no to a nice peanut sauce for dipping? 
2. Quiche how to on thekitchn.com: So this isn't really a direct recipe so to speak but a basic how to. Now I've made quiche before, a few times, but what I want to do is the entire thing from scratch (save growing the damn veg myself). This means pie crust, my biggest fear in cooking. 
3. Zesty Fish Curry with Coconut Milk from playfulcooking.com: This looks amazing and I love the idea of learning how to make a good curry recipe since I love indian so damn much. It doesn't look too complicated but I imagine it could get a little dicey working with chilies but I want to try it. 
4. Korean Barbecue Pork Lettuce Wraps from userealbutter.com: I might not go pork, but the recipes this blogger goes through (with detailed instructions and pictures) inspires me to cook. This is one of those lovely recipe's. 
5. Creamy Baked Orzo with Ham, Peas and Leeks from thekitchn.com: Yet another theKitchn.com recipe but I like the traditional feel of a dish like this. Something I could make, or would find my mother or grandmother making in their own kitchens. I see it as something I can learn to substitute with and make my own which is the best part of a good recipe. That and it has superior leftovers potential! 

Day 14: Stock Your Kitchen for One New Dinner

Thursday March 20th, 2014
Cooking Cure's task for Day 14 on TheKitckn.com

You know it's funny, I seem to be able to do these challenges when I'm not really thinking about doing the challenges. I'll blog about it later but I made a big ol' batch of bagels from scratch, something I wanted to do for my breakfasts (and in turn made some nice lunches) for this entire week.
Wednesday night, after looking at the cooking cure and talking to the fiance, I decided we were going to have the Vietnamese-Style Summer Rolls. So we had those for dinner Wednesday and again for dinner Thursday night.

So am I really doing the cure? I'm not following the method exactly, it's more 'Oh hey, we should have that' and I go out that day and get it. Perhaps I need to incorporate less about doing new recipes (that doesn't appear to be the problem) and concentrate on the planning of the meals a little bit more. So I'm not doing it all the night of?

Or maybe that's just not my style. Maybe spur of the moment cooking is how I'll develop my pallet, my routine and my repertoire of recipes. I like the sound of that. Repertoire of Recipes. Who knows! I'll do my best to keep up but I might just end up doing this my own way.

Day 15: Make Dinner Tonight & PLan Next Week's Breakfasts, Lunches  & Dinners

Friday March 21st, 2014
Cooking Cure's task for Day 15 on TheKitckn.com

Yeah, I'm probably not going to go all too crazy on the meal planning this weekend. I have a feeling that's more my Monday gig. But some ideas I'm running through my head:

• Another batch of bagels or english muffins for breakfast
• buy a juicer for breakfast infusion of vitamins
• buy veggies for lunch time snacking and possible sandwich toppings. I'm liking shredding veggies with a peeling for a thin but still crisp snack at home. Could lead to some really cool lunches. 
• Casserole on Monday night for leftovers through at least part of the week
• Maybe tackle a quiche crust on wednesday if I'm feeling ambitious

So much of these things depend on more than just my availability in the week. How I feel physically, now that I've finally kicked the cold I don't want to wear myself down too much. Need for a break: hard weeks at work zap my energy for creativity in the kitchen. If something, like a new recipe or a new gadget (I might be getting a stand mixer or a juicer this weekend fingers crossed) might tip the scales in favour of one thing or another. 

I like to remain flexible. I'll make that my plan for the next week but ultimately I'm avoiding at least two or three things: 

• No Subway sammy's
• No cereal in the morning
• No take-out

Yeah, I'll start with that. 

The Cooking Cure Day 10+11: Aww, shit...

Crap, am I bad at this.

I guess it comes as no real shocker that I'm falling behind again. Not only am I missing days, I'm not completing tasks. Crap on a stick. Well anyhoo, here's my catch-up.

Day 10: Make lunch Today and Plan Next Week's Breakfasts and Lunches

Thursday March 14th, 2014
Cooking Cure's task for Day 10 on TheKitckn.com

Well, I may have kind done this one but on Saturday instead of Friday. It was an egg salad, not as awesome as I'd hoped for but it was from scratch. Chives, lettuce, egg, mayo on pita bread (not homemade). It was like an egg salad pizza. Sadly, no picture, but it was nice and fresh. So we'll call this one a win?

As for a plan? I plan to cook something. Breakfast and lunch were a bust today with a Sunday night out until about 11 commuting back from Pickering. There was no plan this morning aside from tea, which means I bailed on this day almost entirely. I end up being pretty busy on the weekends so this cure structure might not work. Most of my meal planning happens on Monday at or after work so I'm thinking of doing the rest of it today. My sort of 'cure' for the Monday blues?

Day 11: Make a List of Everything You ate for Dinner Last Week

Thursday March 17th, 2014
Cooking Cure's task for Day 11 on TheKitckn.com

First off,

 HAPPY SAINT PADDY'S DAY! 

I was recently correcting by an Irish friend that it's a Paddy's day not Patty's, that's a girls name. Now, back to the cooking cure.

First I should explain that my week was not a normal sample. normally I don't eat out so much or go out all weekend, but it was my birthday last week so this weekend was extravagant. And awesome.

Monday: Pasta. I think?
Tuesday: My birthday. We had indian and cheesecake. It was wonderful.
Wednesday: Leftovers, ie. Indian and cheesecake.
Thursday: Asparagus and some bread. I wasn't feel great so I kept it simple.
Friday: Sushi. I don't know why but we decided it was important so we had more take out. Sushi, of course, was awesome.
Saturday: Dinner at my moms (homemade swedish meatballs, rice, salad, and cake!)
Sunday: Dinner at brother in-laws (pork and beef tenderloin, beans, potatoes,  cucumber salad and a tonne of jelly beans).

Yeah, I don't normally eat like that. But there you go.