I'm back! And I've done more cooking. That's a good start.
I spent the week living off leftovers from the crock pot chicken meal. I will say that it got better as the week went on (or maybe I just got more use to it). My favorite combination was making it into a salad of sorts with tortilla chips.
My new cookbook, photo from Amazon.
This week, I cracked open my new copy of The Joy of Cooking, a gift from a close friend (shout out to Kristina!). I decided to go for another chicken recipe since I had leftover chicken from the week before I had frozen (and it's cheaper to buy in bulk than buy in small quantities).
My task -- coconut chicken curry. This was an extra feat because it required a lot of chopping of veggies, which is not something I excel at. Instead of jumping the gun on browning the chicken, I spent time chopping and trying to improve those knife skills. With all the veggies cut and ready to be cooked, I was able to brown the chicken, add the veggies, and make the coconut broth of sorts. Rice was a necessary addition to compliment the dish, even if the rice was a little soggy. I'll get better with practice.
The final product. Not too shabby, right?
Overall, not a bad dish. The chicken was a little dry but the curry part wasn't too bad. It did smell pretty good and I felt accomplished by the end of it. This was something I did, all by myself. And it's those small victories that really count (to me). I also enjoyed the process of it; I didn't feel rushed because I had the whole evening in front of me. I could take my time and really focus on putting it all together.
As I happily ate my dinner, I got a FaceTime call from Wisconsin. My family was having a get together to see some out of town relatives. While it wasn't as good as physically being there, it was nice to see their faces. I had some good old nostalgia kick in but I'll see them at Christmas and it will make the holidays that more enjoyable.
I also dabbled in some muffins, finally going back to my "Wild About Muffins" days (shout out to Millie, the queen of muffins and no-recipe making). They were whole wheat dark chocolate muffins and are very tasty. Their recipe came from the Seriously Delish cookbook I mentioned in my inaugural blog post for this series. They proved to be an excellent hiking snack as well!
This upcoming week is the last "student-free" week -- classes start on the 22nd. We'll have to see how my job picks up once the students get back and how it might impact my cooking. However, I'm pretty determined to keep the streak (and cooking) alive! Check back next week for more cooking adventures!