After ACL

Well, it's been an awfully long time since I've posted on here. I've finished my second to last year of school, started my last year (YAY!), worked as an Intern at Boeing, and gotten my new ACL! So I'm finally off crutches and out of my brace and I think it's time for me to start eating well again and to start exercising! So I'm going to start this again. Except I'm going to use it as like a meal diary thingy. Not like I did before, anyways. I started this project where I am sorting my recipes (since I have roughly 50 cookbooks) by season (and then eventually by main ingredient(s)) so I can cook healthier (since cooking in season is better, and not to mention cheaper!) and actually try all my recipes. I've only tried probably less than 2% of all my recipes.

In here, I'm going to write what I had for each meal, like usual, except I'm going to also write my comments about the stuff I made, what book its from, pages numbers, time it took and cost also. I'll also add if I made any changes and what happened (oh goodness, I sound like a chemist!). I wish my camera worked, but it eats batteries like a monster so there won't be any pictures for a while. Hmmmm.. maybe that's what I should ask for christmas....

Anyways,

Since I probably won't remember most of the other days, I'm just going to start with today. Maybe another night when I don't have a midterm the next day and two homework sets I'll go back through the recipes I've cooked and added my comments. Maybe.

So for today:

Breakfast: Cranberry Muffins from Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook, page 115. Gotten these down pretty good so only about 30 min total. Rough cost = (4.99 bag cranberries * (used 1/3 of bag) / 12 muffins = 14 cents per muffin (flour, sugar, milk, eggs, etc... negligible since bought in large quantities and I don't remember the price.. oh goodness now I really sound like a chemist!) I increased the flour from 1.75 cups to 2 cups. Seems to make them rise better and be fluffier. Also had an apple juice box.

Snack: none

Lunch: Cup o Noodles and a Pear

Snack: Piroutte stick thingys. My grandma gave me a box and I'm addicted. I ate like 5 in one sitting. And a homemade Pumpkin Spice Latte, which was more like a Cinnamon Spice Latte since I don't have ground cloves and my mom still has my nutmeg.

Dinner: Rosemary Thyme Lamb with Parmesan Roasted Broccoli and Cauliflower. Veggies from Barefoot Contessa at Home, p 146. For lamb, rubbed with dried rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper, then "grilled" in my cast iron grill pan (that I love to cook in, but hate to clean!). Total time about 45 min (thermometer wasn't working right, showed temp at 140F, then 110F). Could have been closer to 30 if thermometer worked. Total cost = ((4.06 for lamb)+(1.53 for cauliflower) +(0 broccoli (free from my grandma))/2 = $2.80 per serving. Parmesan cheese negligible because off large block and cannot measure exact amount. The recipe for veggies only called for cauliflower but I though broccoli would be good too. It tasted really good, but the broccoli didn't look to good. So if you don't care about looks, add the broccoli for color, but if want it to look good, add your color elsewhere.

Dessert: 1/2 pomegranate and a s'more!

Exercise: Cleaning. I got a new vacuum so I was cleaning lots today! And I did about 6 loads of laundry :)

Now that I think about it, a good thing to add would be a Yum factor, rated by both me and Tim. Hmmm.... I'll add that later. Ok adding it now.

Muffins:
Me - 4/5, forgot to add the extra 2 tbsp sugar, so a little sour. would have been better with orange zest.
Tim - 4.5/5, yummy, good texture, great taste, good size, sometimes cranberries a little too tart

Lamb:
Me - 3/5, good flavor, tender, a little chewy in spots
Tim - 3.8/5 - good texture, but didn't like the rosemary

Cauliflower and Broccoli:
Me - 4/5, yummy, very yummy but would have just done only cauliflower for first 10 min in oven, then added broccoli so the broccoli didn't look so yucky.
Tim - 4.8/5, delicious, tasty, good texture

Doubrou noc!