I Didn't Set The House On Fire, So I Call It a Success

Yesterday was a day for zooming and cooking, oh and there was some shopping in there too - grocery shopping and a quick stop by Target for a mandolin, a spiral slicer and a nutcracker. I got back with bags of groceries - mostly veggies and fresh fruit - in time to get everything put away and my new tools washed and put into their new homes. I set up Voodoo and settled in for my weekly Zoom meeting with my WildFit coach and fellow Tribe members. There are calls on Monday,Wednesday and Friday, but I usually end up only having the time to attend the Friday Zoom.

Today is the Vernal (Spring) Equinox. Winter is 
finally behind us and we're heading towards 
summer, full speed ahead. Have a safe celebration 
and I hope this next year will be better than the 
last one. 

After the call, which was excellent as usual, I moved upstairs to the kitchen and started working on food prep - I wanted to make several things before DH got home, and actually got most of them done. I started off by baking a spaghetti squash - something I've never done before. I wanted to make a recipe called Tomato Mushroom Spaghetti Squash and it starts with a cooked squash. 

I got the squash made for the Tomato Mushroom 
Spaghetti Squash, but I ended up using the 
tomatoes I had on hand for the next dish, so I'll 
have to wait until I have more tomatoes before I 
can finish this dish. 

While that was baking, I started fixing a Vegan Tomato Zucchini Casserole. This recipe had me bouncing between the small counter-top we have for a workspace, to the stovetop - a larger surface to use as a workspace, and finally, after the spaghetti squash was baked and cooling, into the oven. The squash continued to cool while the zucchini casserole baked, so I grabbed the new mandolin and started slicing golden beets and a sweet potato to make my next recipe, Crispy Baked Vegetable Chips. 

My casserole ended up with more sauce than 
their photo, but, it's tasty. I think it's because 
I made my own tomato puree instead of 
using something store bought. I'm fine 
with that, though. The little bit I tried was 
quite good, so I look forward to eating it 
later this weekend. 

The Crispy Baked Vegetable Chips recipe called for thin slices of veggies basted with oil and placed, single layered, on parchment paper. It took 45 minutes (minimum) to bake, rotating the cookie sheets every fifteen minutes. Although a few of the slices did turn crispy and were actually pretty good, I called this a failure and tossed them into the trash since most of them were a soggy mess. I think there was just too much oil on the slices to allow them to get crispy. I have more oiled slices waiting in the refrigerator, so I'll wipe off most of the oil and try again - maybe on Sunday.   

I'm calling my Crispy Baked Vegetable 
Chips a failure, although I will try this again 
with the remainder of the veggies I have 
already sliced. I really want this to be a 
success. I bought some golden beets and 
a lovely sweet potato for the chips, and 
I think they'll taste fantastic if I can 
get the recipe to work out. 

Finally, I dove into my main meal for the day - Honey Garlic Salmon and baked Brussels Sprouts. I was finishing these up while DH came through the door after work. In this case, the Brussels Sprouts were baked in the oven like last week, but the fish was pan-fried. It turned out VERY tasty and I have a second portion ready to be reheated tonight for my dinner. I'm already looking forward to it. 

This Salmon recipe was outstanding. It's a pan-fry cook, 
so it's fast and easy and the sauce thickens after you've 
removed the fish. Then you can pour over the cooked 
fillets and it's incredibly flavorful. I'd absolutely make 
this again. 

So, I guess after more than 20 years of microwaving and reheating, I'm starting to get used to cooking again. I know there will be some spectacular disasters in my future, but generally, I'm doing OK. I think one of my major problems right now is determining the appropriate amount of oil to add when a recipe just says "add oil". I'll get there, I'm sure. At least I'm not starving - LOL. On that note, I'm out of here. Have a glorious Equinox and celebrate as appropriate for you. Enjoy your weekend and I'll be back Monday. As always, please be kind, stay safe and wear your mask.