Finishing week 6 means I'm almost half way. This is looking really doable. In fact, I finished week 6 with more confidence than I have had since I starting this whole project. There have been a number of unexpected things happen so far during this experience. This week was no different. Day 42. Trash. I'll explain...
Day 36
breakfast: spiced pear bread with butter, mint tea
lunch: leftover coq au vine blanc, spiced pear bread with butter
dinner: leftover coq au vine blanc, spiced pear bread with butter
Day 37
breakfast: scrambled eggs with spinach, spiced pear bread with butter, mint tea
lunch: apples, spiced pear bread with butter
dinner: apricot pancakes with crabapple syrup
Today I was completely repulsed by the smell of a microwave dinner cooking in the break room at work. I literally held my hand over my face and rushed out after grabbing my butter from the fridge. I was surprised at my reaction, and I've started to wonder what this means. I think I know...
Day 38
breakfast: blackberry smoothie
lunch: spiced pear bread with butter, apples
dinner: egg and herbed tomato tacos on pan corn tortillas
Day 39
breakfast: apple chips
lunch: fish balls, hushpuppies, aioli and pear chow-chow tartar sauce
dinner: fish balls, hushpuppies, aioli and pear chow-chow tartar sauce
Fish balls! I had never made them before. I approached them as I would salmon patties and figured if I just recreated a similar texture they should be awesome. And yeah! These were made with drum and a potato primarily. And I just had to make some hushpuppies. I was hoping to get round hushpuppies that matched the fish balls so I could have a whole plate of round and fried weirdness, but I mixed up the hushpuppies too wet and they lost shape as they cooked. Oh well.
Day 36
breakfast: spiced pear bread with butter, mint tea
lunch: leftover coq au vine blanc, spiced pear bread with butter
dinner: leftover coq au vine blanc, spiced pear bread with butter
Day 37
breakfast: scrambled eggs with spinach, spiced pear bread with butter, mint tea
lunch: apples, spiced pear bread with butter
dinner: apricot pancakes with crabapple syrup
Today I was completely repulsed by the smell of a microwave dinner cooking in the break room at work. I literally held my hand over my face and rushed out after grabbing my butter from the fridge. I was surprised at my reaction, and I've started to wonder what this means. I think I know...
Day 38
breakfast: blackberry smoothie
lunch: spiced pear bread with butter, apples
dinner: egg and herbed tomato tacos on pan corn tortillas
Day 39
breakfast: apple chips
lunch: fish balls, hushpuppies, aioli and pear chow-chow tartar sauce
dinner: fish balls, hushpuppies, aioli and pear chow-chow tartar sauce
Fish balls! I had never made them before. I approached them as I would salmon patties and figured if I just recreated a similar texture they should be awesome. And yeah! These were made with drum and a potato primarily. And I just had to make some hushpuppies. I was hoping to get round hushpuppies that matched the fish balls so I could have a whole plate of round and fried weirdness, but I mixed up the hushpuppies too wet and they lost shape as they cooked. Oh well.
Day 40
lunch: fish balls, hushpuppies, aioli and pear chow-chow tartar sauce, apricots
snack: apple chips
dinner: veggie dolmas (potatoes, romas, roasted garlic, mint, salt), griddle cake with aioli, mint tea
As with most of what I'm cooking, if I have anything leftover, I try to eat it pretty soon. I don't have any preservatives (woo hoo!) that would inhibit things going bad quickly, and since I personally love leftovers (easy!), it's a win-win for me. I had those leftover grape leaves in the fridge from when I last made dolmas, so I went with a veggie dolma that ended up being just as good of a version. The texture was perfect, and the mint really tied it all together for that dolmas flavor I expected. As you can see, my aioli melted on my griddle cake. No complaints for a fatty slick on a fried piece of bread!! Ha!
lunch: fish balls, hushpuppies, aioli and pear chow-chow tartar sauce, apricots
snack: apple chips
dinner: veggie dolmas (potatoes, romas, roasted garlic, mint, salt), griddle cake with aioli, mint tea
As with most of what I'm cooking, if I have anything leftover, I try to eat it pretty soon. I don't have any preservatives (woo hoo!) that would inhibit things going bad quickly, and since I personally love leftovers (easy!), it's a win-win for me. I had those leftover grape leaves in the fridge from when I last made dolmas, so I went with a veggie dolma that ended up being just as good of a version. The texture was perfect, and the mint really tied it all together for that dolmas flavor I expected. As you can see, my aioli melted on my griddle cake. No complaints for a fatty slick on a fried piece of bread!! Ha!
Day 41
breakfast: leftover veggie dolmas filling with egg scramble, griddle cake with aioli, mint tea
lunch: griddle cake with aioli, apple chips
dinner: rooster chili (rooster, black beans, herbed tomatoes, roasted garlic), griddle cake with aioli
Cassidy gave me the idea for the rooster chili. We spoke on the phone a couple days prior, and I expressed my lack of interest in my remaining rooster meat which consisted of two legs and two thighs. I'm forever grateful for the roosters, don't think I'm not. But chicken has always been a stretch for me. Cassidy, being so awesome to recall some of my available ingredients, suggested this perfect solution to get me through the rest of the rooster meat! In the process of boiling the chicken, I ended up with over a quart of chicken stock to use later. Thank you, Cassidy!
breakfast: leftover veggie dolmas filling with egg scramble, griddle cake with aioli, mint tea
lunch: griddle cake with aioli, apple chips
dinner: rooster chili (rooster, black beans, herbed tomatoes, roasted garlic), griddle cake with aioli
Cassidy gave me the idea for the rooster chili. We spoke on the phone a couple days prior, and I expressed my lack of interest in my remaining rooster meat which consisted of two legs and two thighs. I'm forever grateful for the roosters, don't think I'm not. But chicken has always been a stretch for me. Cassidy, being so awesome to recall some of my available ingredients, suggested this perfect solution to get me through the rest of the rooster meat! In the process of boiling the chicken, I ended up with over a quart of chicken stock to use later. Thank you, Cassidy!
Day 42
breakfast: persimmon smoothie
lunch: leftover rooster chili, applesauce
dinner: leftover rooster chili, scrambled eggs with aioli, mint tea.
I don't know if it was because I was taking the compost out to the composter, or what, but something occurred to me today. I'm not generating much trash! Yes! So far my trash and recycling look like this:
Trash
-a dozen or so freezer bags (mostly quart sized), one soy milk powder container, small misc pieces of plastic wrap and foil, two medium plastic bulk sacks from flour/cornmeal
Recycling
-one olive oil bottle with lid, soy milk powder container lid, a couple small butter tubs with lids
So that's 6 weeks with trash no bigger than the size of a football. How cool is that?
Recipe:
Fish balls: 2 small drum fillets chopped fine, 1 medium potato chopped fine, 1/4 cup cornmeal, 1 small egg, 4 roasted garlic cloves, salt, thyme. Mix up all ingredients well, form into balls about 1" in diameter, and fry in a skillet with canola oil until brown.
breakfast: persimmon smoothie
lunch: leftover rooster chili, applesauce
dinner: leftover rooster chili, scrambled eggs with aioli, mint tea.
I don't know if it was because I was taking the compost out to the composter, or what, but something occurred to me today. I'm not generating much trash! Yes! So far my trash and recycling look like this:
Trash
-a dozen or so freezer bags (mostly quart sized), one soy milk powder container, small misc pieces of plastic wrap and foil, two medium plastic bulk sacks from flour/cornmeal
Recycling
-one olive oil bottle with lid, soy milk powder container lid, a couple small butter tubs with lids
So that's 6 weeks with trash no bigger than the size of a football. How cool is that?
Recipe:
Fish balls: 2 small drum fillets chopped fine, 1 medium potato chopped fine, 1/4 cup cornmeal, 1 small egg, 4 roasted garlic cloves, salt, thyme. Mix up all ingredients well, form into balls about 1" in diameter, and fry in a skillet with canola oil until brown.