Lentils, Tikkas, and Bananas, Oh My!

Last week, while standing in the kitchen walking toward the go-to dinner cupboard, I realized that I had inadvertently taken a short hiatus from cooking dinner. It had been several weeks since I had tried a new recipe. Other than making the lentils a few times, dinners had been quick, repetitive, and mostly comprised of stereotypical college dorm food.

Kevin was a little too quick to agree.

"What?! You don't like sandwiches and chili from a can every night? I don't know how to make duck-con-fee (see how gourmet I am?)! Remember that one night when you were too stuffed from your lunchtime frozen pizza so I ate chips, salsa, and heated canned green beans, delicately balanced on my lap, while sitting on the arm of the couch? That's variety and ingenuity!"


Hmm.

Perhaps the man had a point. (I'll never let on, though.)

So, this week, with a little planning and creativity, I tried some new recipes, tweaked some old favorites, and added some (real) variety to our evenings (and took way too many pictures of food - see below).

Homemade Pita Chips (a WW member recipe)

 Garlicky, parmesany deliciousness. Excellent crunch factor.

I needed to bake the chips a little longer (a bit soggy in the middle), and perhaps one egg white would do, maybe even just the olive oil. Nevertheless, they were quite tasty! And I love a side dish that is filling, delicious, and only 2 Points per serving (4 chips)!

Thank you, Vanna. 

[When using an egg wash, make sure the layer is thin enough not to leave small bits of baked egg on top of the chips. Oops.]

Chicken Tikka Masala (Weight Watchers recipe found here) with grilled asparagus and jasmine rice.

I prepped the chicken the night before so it could marinate in the yogurt sauce for a whole day. Do you know that grating fresh ginger root is actually somewhat difficult? That was a new one for me! In fact, I'd never made any Indian food before.

Triple Chocolate Chunk Muffins (Pinterest find, recipe here)

The muffins, each a scrumptous 2-Point snack, earned the hubby's approval (which is something - picky eater) even after my disclaimer: "Hey, try this muffin. I think it's pretty good. Although, they are healthy..."

Healthy is often a buzz word meaning 'less tasty' in my husband's vocabulary.

Honey Applesauce Banana Bread (another pinned win, recipe here)

Though my banana bread got glowing responses from several taste-testers, the hubs is not a fan of the banana flavor. So his disinterest in my FIRSTEVERANDDELICIOUS banana bread doesn't count. I'm not bitter.

(Okay, he did tell me a long time ago that he doesn't really like banana bread... I just happened to forget this small detail when I got all excited about the over ripened bananas I've been freezing for weeks...)

Admiring the hubby's handiwork.

Slow Cooker Lentil Soup (recipe here) made especially for our dinner guest who had yet to taste lentils, with roasted broccoli and crumbly bacon.

What I love about the lentil soup is that I can have the hubs get the slow cooker going during the day in between his text book reading and paper writing - which means dinner is basically ready by the time I get home. [And cooking doesn't stress him out at all. Nope, he loves it with a fiery passion. He always asks if he can do all the cooking since it is such a stress reliever. It doesn't send him into a frantic panic or bring a glisten to his brow. He cherishes the moments of solitude and quiet in the kitchen.]



Roasted Broccoli (found while reading one of my favorite blogs, recipe here)

I love broccoli. You know that church potluck cold broccoli salad with raisins and nuts? Love it. Steamed broccoli? I'll take some right now. Stir fried? Yes! And then I discovered oven-roasted veggies from a dear friend of mine a couple years ago. This recipe I used, which introduced me to grapeseed oil, was delictible! Next time I would set the oven at 375 instead of 400 and bake the little florets for a few more minutes (just a bit too much crunch).

Baked Bacon (recipe here)

The bacon baking was another Pinterest find. After laying down a sheet of tin foil, I laid out my bacon on the baking pan, sizzled the little guys for 20 minutes at 375 degrees, and got PERFECT BACON!!! The fat dripped easily into my fat drippings jar (technical term) and left very little mess. And, oh man, that bacon was perfectly delicious. Crispy, no gross chewy-fatty sections, and a wonderful spectrum of bronzes and browns. Gorgeous. It was a fantastic crushed addition to the lentil-y goodness.

..........

Fresh ingredients, time spent self-soothing in the kitchen, grocery lists, my favorite green apron, the satiated smile on my favorite man after eating good bites, and knowing that I never once jeopardized my weight loss progress or lost flavor along with calories - that is my definition of a successful cooking/baking week.

It's funny how my happiness still revolves around Food. At times.

Planning meals, scanning the shelves of Albertsons to see if anything may inspire my creativity, multi-tasking in the kitchen, smelling, tasting, plating, feeding my love, making dinner for friends, pinning every good-looking recipe on Pinterest, following food blogs, trying quinoa and basil paste for the first time, savoring a square of Dove dark chocolate as I snuggle under the covers for the night, saving up for a splurge of calories with family or at a restaurant.

Slowly, but surely, Food and I shall love each other in a healthy way.



So tell me: WHAT ARE YOU COOKING AND BAKING? Recipes, please! :)