Adventures of a healthy-ish pseudo-foodie

  Next time I'll broil it a bit toastier This is another keeper from the Martha Stewart meal kit. This one is very easy to do without the kit, since it doesn't use many ingredients. I also love that it's a one-pot meal, and it comes together quickly. The original recipe uses mascarpone, which yes, is delicious. But I've substituted cream cheese twice now, and it's still yummy. I remain fascinated by how perfectly the broccoli and spinach end up being cooked using this method. I'm curious about branching out and trying other vegetables, but I lack confidence that the vegetables would turn out so well. Also, I love the sheer quantity of vegetables in this recipe! We very easily eat the entire crown of broccoli and 3 oz of spinach in 2-3 servings, and it doesn't feel like a chore.  The Recipe: 1 small crown broccoli, cut into bite-sized pieces 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 oz parmesan, grated 3 oz baby spinach 1 package cheese ravioli (the refrigerated type) 3 oz c...

  One day when the children aren't pulling me in 5 directions, maybe I'll take a cleaner photo. The schools are doing free lunches (plus breakfast for the next day) to go while closed for Covid. Miles loves the novelty and I love having new fresh fruit and vegetables every day. But it's leaving us with a LOT of milk cartons in the fridge. It's all skim and 1%, which isn't the best for making yogurt or cheese. So I had no choice but to try chocolate pudding. This recipe uses pantry ingredients and doesn't require me to melt chocolate, and it's delicious. I may experiment with making it more gourmet, but there's nothing wrong with a basic chocolate pudding with cornstarch. I followed  this recipe  and didn't change anything except to decrease the amount of butter. The Recipe: (makes 6 half-pint servings) 1 1/3 c sugar 2/3 c cocoa powder 1/3 c cornstarch pinch of salt 4 1/2 c milk 1-2 tb butter 1 tsp vanilla In a saucepan, whisk together the sugar, coco...

  With the last of the garden basil I'm pretty sure I tried this recipe once before and failed at it. I probably undercooked the cauliflower and I definitely didn't puree it for long enough. I'm glad I tried again. I'd forgotten how delicious fettuccine alfredo is, and I'm so happy to have a healthier, dairy-free version. It's yet another amazing recipe from  Pinch of Yum . I only made small changes: I replaced the heavy cream with almond milk, omitted the nutmeg, and inadvertently doubled the butter and oil because I halved the recipe and forgot to halve those, but it's delicious that way and still quite healthy. Oh, and I didn't add any pasta water because the consistency was perfect without it.  The Recipe: 1/2 lb fettuccine noodles 12 oz cauliflower florets 3 c vegetable broth 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 tb butter 1/2 tsp salt pinch of black pepper 1 tb olive oil 1/8 c almond milk Boil the fettuccine according to instructions on package.  In a large sa...

  I feel very proud of this. After trying a number of meal kits, I've settled on Martha Stewart's kit, which I won't name or link here in case they don't like their recipes being posted on the internet. But it's easy to find. We've gotten two boxes so far, and nearly every recipe has been amazing. I wasn't planning to blog/keep any of the recipes, but this one was too good and I want to remember it so I can duplicate it on my own. I've never made pot pie before, since I don't like meat and it never seemed appealing enough to bother with all of that work just for cooked vegetables. My mind is changed. It's worth it. The Recipe: 2 medium carrots, diced small 1 large handful green beans (the recipe says 4 oz), cut into bite-sized pieces 1/2 medium onion, diced small 1 c corn 1.5 oz parmesan, grated 1 yukon gold potato, diced 3/4 tsp chopped fresh rosemary 1.5 c vegetable broth 1 c plus 2 tb self-rising flour 2 tb butter 1 tb vegetable oil 3/4 c plus...

  Bigger slices would hold the sauce better, but I like surface area. One of the experiences that I continue to miss in quarantine life is going to a Korean restaurant and eating lots of different banchan. I've been exploring making various banchan with the help of  Maangchi's  YouTube videos, and serving meals of rice plus as many banchan as I could make with the ingredients in the garden and fridge that day. This one is a keeper, and it could either be a side dish or a main dish.  I used  this recipe , with the only change being that I cooked the tofu in the oven instead of frying it, because I'm awful at frying. I actually set out to pan-fry it, and I was feeling good until it came time to flip the pieces over, at which point half of them crumbled or stuck to the pan. I think maybe I'm not using the right kind of pan (stainless steel), or maybe I need a smaller metal spatula to be able to angle in there better. Anyway, I abandoned the frying plan after the fi...