Journal

2023 - Week 39 Cooking Results

Sausage

Jalapeño and cheese brats, Crooked Gap, always good.

Lamb Burgers

I found the lamb! I added some Momofuku Tingly Salt, fried them in a pan and served them with Shannon’s choice of side (sea salt chips).

Spaghetti Squash

From the food coop, roasted for maybe a little too short, and then a combination of Roa’s and an onion and some spicy Italian sausage.

Egg Sandwich

Crooked Gap bacon, crooked gap eggs, English muffins.

Chili Crunch Chicken and Noodles

I used boneless skinless chicken thighs, which still made some fond in the pan, worked through the list. Perhaps the 1.5 cups of wine was a bit much, or perhaps they allowed more to evaporate off. Beyond that it was pretty good. I chopped up the chicken after it came out of the onion and it made for a nice dinner.

2023 - Week 39 Cooking

I went to my follow up primary care provider appointment, and I’m back to being just barely mildly anemic, which, by comparison, feels pretty good. I have one more test this week, small intestine study, and after that I should be at about as normal as it gets. Everything else appears to have gone back to normal and I’m supposed to stop taking my iron supplement. So progress. I started using the iOS 17’s mood tracking to keep closer track of what is going on, and even though the times of darkness are there from time to time, so far, content or neutral feelings are what mostly gets recorded. Which is as I generally expect.

2023 - Week 38 Cooking Results

We went to Kinship’s after hours fancy dining The Barbarian past Sunday. It was pretty good. The Drinks were on par and I was happy to be there as the first of several dinners celebrating our anniversary.

Last night we went to Flying Mango for the first time…in a very long time. The cocktail was..not great, but the BBQ (ribs and Brisket), I ate was pretty good and Shannon enjoyed her pasta dish.

(Western) Iowa Loose Meat Sandwiches (+ 1 tablespoon pepper)

Perfect!

Sausage

Jalapeño and Cheese uncased brats. Crooked Gap. Good things.

Bean and Veggie Tacos

This was ok, we ended up using flour tortillas and adding cheese to it, but still ok.

Chicken Tikka Masala

I think every time I make this I burn the onions, or…over cook the onions / mildly burn them. Even so, it turned out pretty good.

Skillet-Roasted Chicken Breasts with Harissa-Mint Carrots

I took a right turn and just tossed the chicken thighs with salt, pepper and harissa sauce. Put those in a 10 inch pan then put it in a 350 oven. I added a little salt and pepper tot he carrots and then tossed the remaining sauce and put them in another 10 inch pan and added them to the oven. Then balanced the cooking level, where the carrots came out then the chicken.

2023 - Week 37 Cooking Results

Rice Bowls with Harissa Beef, Chickpeas and Olives

This came together well, and was a nice dinner.

Penne with Chicken, Roasted Cherry Tomatoes, and Spinach

Because reading is hard, apparently, I missed the part to cut the chicken into smaller pieces. Over all, this turned out quite well. The freshly roasted tomatoes, from Blue Gate, combined with the chicken shallots and etc was a nice combination.

Sweet & Spicy Basil Noodles with Chicken

I couldn’t find the Thai basil, though I didn’t take extra trips to look for it, but even so without it, with me added a bit of extra chili crunch on mine, quite good.

Chicken Stir-Fried with Lemongrass and Chile Recipe

Simple directions, nice timing, I actually took the time, appropriately, to prep everything first. Things came together well, I debated using the one or two Serrano peppers, and ended up using one. As the third chicken dish of the week, it was still a good usage of it.

Lamb Burger

Lamb is at the bottom of the freezer chest and I Didn’t want to dig for it, so Pork! Used a bit of Momofuku tingly, and seared on both sides for a nice crispy edge.

Sausage

Crooked Gap all pork hotdog, good things.

To celebrate our 17th wedding anniversary, we have several special dinners over the course of the next few weeks here. First off, tonight, we’re going to the Barbarian, which is a pre-buy only restaurant, per texts received it will be a 12 course tasting menu. Second, we’ll be heading to CR to visit Rodina with our friends, before they close out. We will also have a tasting menu then, then the day after that, We’ll be going to Grade A Gardens, for the final on farm dinner of the year.

2023 - Week 36 Cooking Results

Sausage

All pork hot dogs. All Good.

Pasta

I went to the farmers market last weekend, and saw these peppers that looked like they were spicy, but were really sweet, so I got those, some cherry tomatoes and combined that with some sweet Italian sausage and garlic with some noddles to make dinner. Quite enjoyable.

Spicy Chili Coconut Shrimp Noodles

This was quite nice. I lowered the amount of chili crunch and the limes I had didn’t look like they’d zest well, so I just used the lime juice. Even so, nice dinner, pretty quick to make after a short last Saturday afternoon nap.

Beef and Bean Burritos

While I suppose these were burrito-y, to me it sounds more like something more than it is. I suppose there were limitations as this was a weeknight dinner. As far as it goes, they were ok. Done in the amount of time promised, so I suppose that makes it what it was.

Rice Bowls with Harissa Beef, Chickpeas and Olives

I forgot about this apparently. I know our plans got a bit mixed up, but I should’ve remembered. Delayed!

2023 - Week 35 Cooking Results

Sausage

Chili and cheese hot dogs…still ok.

Eggs and Bacon Sandwich

I have quite a bit of bacon, so I’m using it.

Sloppy Sammys

Not to spicy, pretty good.

Taco Salad

Good as always, used the last of the canned beans in the house.

Baharat-Spiced Chicken Thighs and Potatoes (Saturday)

I had intended to start making these around 4:30, but, Baldur’s Gate 3, so I started around 5. Things were relatively easy to follow. As I was working through this, it became clear that it really wanted to have bone in chicken , however this is not what I tend to have around, for various reasons. After making adaptations, oil instead of rendered, had to lay some of the chicken over the potatoes, cause there wasn’t enough room for nestling, and etc. It still turned out pretty well. Well spiced chicken with crisp tender potatoes.

Spicy Miso Corn Noodles

Fatty a bit spicy, and sweet from the corn. Good things.

Balloons from Hospital Stay - Helium Loss

After my hospital stay, we brought home the balloons and they slowly lost height over time. I had a funny idea of making it into a race to the bottom, which people seemed to enjoy. So here is the photo set over time (June 18, 2023 through August 21, 2023).

Hopefully Máni will be able to make it back into the living room, now, since the balloons scared him. The same with the ceiling fan, which is why we never turn it off now, so perhaps that talks to some trauma he had as a very young kitten (son of a feral mother).