So, there are a couple of people that I’ve been listening to, and their thoughts on using recipe. Some seem supportive and some very much not so. Saying that you don’t know how to cook if you follow a recipe. Here’s the thing, I think about food, sometimes a lot, but even then I only cook 4-6 times a week. Most of the time it’s what can I make in 30-45 minutes to get dinner on the table. I don’t know all the shortcuts, I don’t know the proper ratios of how something will taste after it cooks. I have a heat level restriction, so if I get too much spice in there, it means there will be nothing for my wife. I do take things from almost every recipe as part of the process of what can be done. There are things that I just make and there are things where I’m like, I can totally use that. But for the most part I don’t have the time to dwell in thinking about how food should be made, that that’s why I use recipes. I tend to use them from sites that I find trustworthy, or books or etc.

When it comes down to it, I can make audibles and they usually work. This week I thought I had smoked paprika, but only had sweet, so I used the sweet and added some chipotle powder for a bit of heat and smokiness (Meatloaf). I also was kind of surprised by the effect of microwaving the dried chilies (Enchilada Soup), then soaking them in the stock to give them that extra aromatic start, and perhaps short cut the process a bit. There is learned to be had from other people’s writings and process.

Vietnamese-Style Baked Chicken

Finally got around to making this. I rushed up between meetings got everything together and started brining the chicken. it had a nice sheen on it after brining, and I put them in to bake. So overall an easy process, except for the time needed to brine the chicken. They baked off pretty quickly and had a nice brown tinge to them from the brine and the cooking. They were pretty nice. I don’t think they kept enough of the flavor from the brine, but it was there. There were leftovers that I used for for my lunch salads.

Creamy Chicken Enchilada Soup

I really enjoyed smelling the dried peppers out of the microwave. it had a good smell and went in with the chicken and stock to make for a tasty. I hadn’t read through the whole thing so I wasn’t certain how it would go to creamy. With the grated pepper jack and cream cheese it left it with a nice creamy texture.

Curried Turkey-Peanut Soup

I forgot to add a sweet potato to my grocery list, so I ended up swapping in just potatoes. I didn’t have leftover turkey meat, so while I was making the soup I was cooking off a pound of ground turkey (local-ish). This was easy to put together and had a nice flavor to it. I think the add of peanut butter added a nice flavor profile. Good quick meal on a cold evening.

Pretzel-Crusted Chicken Fingers with Honey Mustard

I picked up some chicken tenderloins, since the chicken at CostCo was less then I wanted (and who wants to buy chicken breasts when you don’t have to). This came together quickly. When I do this again, I’ll have to adjust the temps down a bit, since my burners are clearly hotter than they directed. For the most part it came out pretty good, though some of the coating was a bit overdone. I’ll have to do this again.

Spanish-Style Meatloaf

I had planned for the meatloaf but as stated above, I didn’t have all the spices needed, but made some adaptations. I also used the whole green pepper, rather then half, because what would I do with half a green pepper. I used ground turkey, but probably should have used pork. Overall it came together pretty well, the extra half a green pepper maybe made it a bit more vegetable heavy, but over all didn’t make to much of a problem. While it was in the oven, I took most of the rest of the potatoes in my kitchen and made a simple mashed potatoes. Good Saturday dinner.