So what worked this week? Taking pictures, which I had forgotten to do with my other meal. I did manage to make a healthy penne pasta meal with mozzarella and veggies, AND take pictures of it (you will see my picture posted at the end of this post). I DID also manage to take pictures of the ingredients for the FIRST farro apple salad version, which I did not like (you can see those in my last post).
What failed? The recipes! AAH! So I need to revise the ingredients in the farro apple salad. I did not like the combination of olive oil and mustard that I used for the dressing. While the picture looked pretty, the taste was not what I wanted. I also think I need to cook the farro in vegetable stock instead of water, to give it a better taste. So this week my goal is to revise the farro apple salad recipe to reflect the better ingredients (then maybe the taste will match the picture).
Farro apple salad ingredients:
Mustard and olive oil dressing
Chopped apples
Cooked farro
The third recipe I also need to revise is the penne pasta bake. I explored this recipe after being inspired by an upcoming Hello Fresh pasta meal, so I tried to recreate it in a quick, healthy way. You will see the picture below and it looks yummy, but again, not so tasty as I had hoped. Instead of sauce I used chopped tomatoes, peppers and garlic salt to try to save time, which is one of my goals; however, not being in a full sauce left the pasta pretty dry. In order to keep this recipe I will need to figure out a way to add homemade, quick sauce to keep it moist and still be healthy.
Why do I want to keep doing this? Because I know that if I can develop some simple, healthy recipes that don't take much time and don't have much mess then I know it will be completely worth it when those busy school nights start again and I don't feel like cooking ANYTHING! Hoping these two recipes will come out this week, which will give me three good weeknight recipes!
Veggie Pasta Bake Before:
Hi Maureen!
ReplyDeleteI have definitely found it hard some days to keep up with my genius hour project as well. I have also had a few fails within my project, but I am taking them as learning experiences that will help me moving forward! I think finding ways to revise your recipes to add quick, healthy meals to your cooking recipes will be beyond helpful once school starts up! I know that feeling of cooking dinner being the last thing I want to do after getting home from a long day at work, which usually results in a boring bowl of cereal for dinner. Good luck with your recipes this week!
Danielle
Thanks Danielle for the comments! Yes, I have also gone to that bowl of cereal too! :)
DeleteHi Maureen! I am very impressed. I am just the average cook that has to follow the recipes and am afraid to give it my own taste. I am too afraid to mess up the meal so bad that I have to throw it out! I envy people who can change up recipes. And it seems like it is a lot of work now, but as you said, who wants to cook when we have to go back to work! A great tasting meal and not spending a lot of time in the kitchen is just the right ingredient!
ReplyDeleteHi Maureen!
ReplyDeleteI love your idea of changing up recipes and making them healthier. I usually stick to easier recipes and hardly ever try and make up a recipe on my own unless it is something basic. That is so great that you are doing that...I wouldn't even know where to start when trying to pair ingredients to make it work. I would also have a hard time trying the recipe again to make changes to make it better. That is amazing that you don't just give up on a recipe entirely. I think I may have to try something like this because now I am interested. Keep up the good work!
Hi Stephanie, thanks for the comments! There have been a few times where I have just trashed a recipe too, and I hate wasting the food, so I also watch alot of FoodNetwork and TopChef to get ideas (and see people mess up too). The more I have tried it the easier it has gotten, and there are some recipes that I can now go to and know that they will come out if I play around a bit with it. I hope you can try some new experiences with foods and hope it works out for you!
DeleteHi Maureen!
ReplyDeleteUsing Hello Fresh to get some new "ideas" for meals is a great idea. They really make it so convenient. I tried it for a little while myself, however my husband and I did not feel the portions were large enough for us. :) Maybe we eat too much. Like you, I'm a health nut and always try to modify recipes to a healthier variation. We have been doing this a lot with Joanna's Magnolia Table cookbooks. I swear if this girl eats the way she says in these cookbooks, she'd have clogged arteries and weigh way more then she does. :) Good luck finding those simple recipes to use during the busy school week and making them healthier. Have you ever tried meal prepping on Sundays and using food storage bags to freeze the meals until you wan them? This works really well for us when we were both commuting further to work, and I was doing my masters program. Give it a try!
Kristina,
DeleteThanks for the idea on Joanna's Magnolia Table! I will have to check those out! I have been ordering the 4 person meals so they basically double up the 2 person servings for HelloFresh, and it does get my family through the meal for the most part. I could see how some of the 2 person meals might not be enough but I always feel like I have extra food from them. I have tried meal prepping on Sundays for some meals and then unfreezing them (the challenge for me is remembering to pull the meals out of the freezer to defrost before I need to make them). I sometimes make two big trays of enchiladas and then freeze those. I might try doing this again too! Thanks for the comments!