3-11 -- 3-17

For this week, we're going to do some SkinnyTaste recipes.

Jamaican Brown Stew Chicken and some Jamaican Red Beans and Rice. I'm a chili wimp, so I'm going to substitute the scotch bonnets with seeded jalapenos. Might not be exactly equivalent in flavour profile, but I very much value my lips, esophagus, intestines, and bowels and don't want them ripped apart by fiery orange balls of hell-fire.

Week of 2-20-12 -- 2-26-12

Real Simple's Mushroom Potpie sounds like a winner. Packed with veggies and using ready-made puff pastry as a crust, this recipe ought to be delicious. Plus, it's vegetarian but is still hearty. I think I'll sub butter lettuce for romaine, since it's been looking better at the store than the romaine.

Ratatouille - Phat's Retrospective

So I had lots of images of my cooking but that would have just taken forever so I'll just go about the before and after.
So, there was a lot of prep work. Thank baby jebus I had a mandolin and did not maim myself. I think I should have used smaller slices of eggplant because it was hard to cook up that part. I think the layering and placing is what made me a bit tired doing this recipe. I also should have bought more cheese because I would have liked more.


This is the end product. I liked it but I should have cooked it for longer so the liquid would have cooked off but it was a good flavor. I didn't finish it because it was a lot and I can't eat all vegetables all the time. I think I would try cubing the egg plant as the original recipe asked for.

Week of 2-13-12 -- 2-19-12

I'm on a sauce kick so chicken with Balsamic Vinegar and Garlic. So let's try this out and throw caution to the wind! I think after you've cooked everything...just different flavor profiles would be great to do.

Week of 2-6-12 -- 2-12-12

For this week, we're going to make a nice soup. While it's been unseasonably warm in Southern California (and from what I've read, Texas), it's still winter, gosh darn it! And soups make total sense in winter. So we're making a soup, gosh darn it.

Real Simple's Turkey Vegetable Soup

With the vegetables, lean turkey, and barley, this soup ought to be very healthy and tasty. I'll probably eat it with a slice of nice crusty bread. Yum!

Of course, my decision on this recipe has nothing to do with the fact that I have a few pounds of ground turkey in my fridge needing to be cooked.

Week of 1-30-12 -- 2-04-12

I like sauces. They taste yummy.

Fra Diavolo sauce sounds like a great thing. Of course I won't be using shrimp.

Week of 1-16-12 -- 1-22-12

For this week, we'll do one dish: Ratatouille.

I had never had it until after the Disney movie came out, I must admit. But since that first time making it, it quickly became one of the bestest in my arsenal of dishes. Vegetables? Check! Sopping sauce? Check! Oooey, gooey, melty cheesey deliciousness? CHECK! So long as you watch the amount of Parmesan in it, it's not even that terrible for your waist line.

I usually serve it over a bit of orzo pasta, or with a nice piece of warmed crusty bread.

Night of cooking: 1-18-12.

Welcome!

We both love to cook, but are sometimes lacking on the motivation. I figured it might be nice to put together a little challenge that would motivate the both of us to cook at home more, and thought it might be nice to share a meal with a good friend, even if we live ~1400 miles away from each other.

So, here's the set up.

We'll agree upon a recipe or two to cook each week, and post it here.

We'll shop for the ingredient.

We'll figure out which week night we're cooking the recipe on.

We'll prepare the meal.

We'll take pictures of the finish plate (when we're able to).

We'll enjoy the meal.

We'll post our thoughts.

Sounds simple, right?