Pinterest to the rescue

 I have 4 (so far) Pinterest boards related to food & cooking.

I know pinning things isn't the same as actually making them, but the organization makes me feel like I'm making progress.


http://www.pinterest.com/ohjoyofjoys/general-food-drink/

http://www.pinterest.com/ohjoyofjoys/healthy-eating/

http://www.pinterest.com/ohjoyofjoys/cooking/

http://www.pinterest.com/ohjoyofjoys/crockpot/

Scratch That

I've been thinking about foods I want to try to make from scratch. 

Hummus

Protein bars

Bread

Granola

In fact, I'm debating investing in a breadmaker. 

Meal Planning

I've done a lot of research around healthy  meals for slow cookers, freezing & storing, meals, bulk cooking, etc. I'm working on a sustainable plan that fits my diet, schedule, & budget. So far, I'm hoping to create at least 2 dinners & 3 lunches per week every weekend, as well as doing as much chopping of vegetables & measuring out snacks as possible.

I've chosen as my first recipes a white bean chicken chili & some enchiladas. I'm also hoping to find a good spinach lasagna recipe with good make ahead or storage prospects. 

Here are some of the resources I'm using:

http://skinnyms.com/10-skinny-weightwatchers-entrees-5-points-or-less/
http://wwcrockmeals.webs.com/

http://www.slenderkitchen.com/healthy-crock-pot-recipes/#

Re-Boot

Well, 2013 was quite the year. I'll be creating a lot of separate posts on these topics later.

• I was diagnosed with diabetes in January (both expected and unexpected) so I started making big changes. 
• I adopted a lower-carb diet (not entirely) and lowered my intake of refined sugar by a lot. 
• I joined Weight Watchers in April 2013. I lost about 20 pounds pretty quickly, but I've stalled a bit since then. 
• My housemates & I signed up for a bi-weekly veggie & fruit box delivery. 
• I bought a second crock-pot.

My current goals mostly revolve around learning to cook more healthy dishes that I enjoy.  I want to master at least 3 this year. I'm focusing on Weight Watcher's recipes, and if they're for the crockpot, so much the better. The plan (or at least part of it) is to get a group together to try new recipes.

Also, I lost an aunt last month, and in her honor, I am determined to bake a sweet potato pie from scratch, by myself.

I made a whole chicken!

That's a first for me. It was precipitated by whole chickens being on sale for a ridiculous $.39/lb. I put it in the crock pot, of course. I also used carrots & potatoes and half a soup mix packet. Next time I'm going to use the whole packet. Also, it would have benefitted from an onion. I used onion powder & garlic powder & a little cayenne pepper. Overall it was good, but I like really bold flavors for chicken, so I want it stronger for next time.


I'm also planning to use the leftovers for chicken & rice, and make stock for a 3rd dish. Whole chickens are cheap and versatile, so yay!

August 2009 Restaurant Week

For this Restaurant Week, I did two lunches and one dinner.

Lunch 1: Bobby Van's Steakhouse.
I love steak. And I can't seem to cook it the way I like it, so I enjoy getting a good steak at a restaurant. But for some reason at the last minute I decided to order the salmon. I can't say I regret it, because it was delicious. It was served with a roasted red pepper risotto that was absolutely incredible.

Lunch 2: Bobby Van's Grill.
Yes, I just did this in February. Yes, it was that good. This time around wasn't quite as good, but still great. Better salad & better dessert than Bobby Van's Steakhouse, by the way. I had a flank steak with sweet potato puree.

Dinner: Ruth's Chris Steak House
Yes, again. I do need to be more adventurous next time. But it was delicious, as usual. I added a side of sweet potato casserole.

Since last time

Since my last post, I got laid off. So, blogging fell down the priority list. I haven't stopped cooking though. I've mastered the crockpot pot roast & started making variations on things. Most recently, I did a cross between the pot roast & the chicken & dumplings; instead of beef, I dumped chicken breast (tenders actually) vegetables (mushrooms, mixed peppers & carrots) in a crockpot with cream of asparagus soup. I served it over rice. I'll experiment with the seasonings a bit, but overall I'd call it a success.