Recent Recipe Successes

I was talking to some friends over the weekend and we were talking about having to cook for ourselves (mostly along the lines of “No one tells you adulthood is figuring out what to eat 3x a day for the rest of your life”) and having the “we have food at home conversation with themselves”. However, I’ve actually been pretty proud of the way I’ve been feeding myself lately. Living here has definitely broken my delivery habit (there is no delivery, I don’t even think there’s take out, at least not during the “off” season) and I have been cooking meals that I really have been enjoying.

A lot of these are going to be Half Baked Harvest Recipes, I know she’s been around for a while, but I really only started following her and cooking her recipes this January. I have yet to make a bad recipe, I haven’t absolutely loved everything, but I’ve loved nearly everything!

This One-Pot Creamy Penne Alfredo with Spicy Arugula this is so good, I have a feeling that without the spicy arugula it would be too thick and rich, but the spicy, lemony dressing lightly mixes in with the pasta and cuts it and then the arugula clears your palate. Ugh, it’s so good.

Honey Mustard Pretzel Chicken, Bacon, and Avocado Salad – this is the one that I didn’t absolutely love, it was still good, I ate all the leftovers, but it was just okay. The salad dressing though is really good, I’ve been keeping a jar in the fridge for lunch and side salads.

Sheet Pan Lemon Brown Butter Salmon and Potatoes with Parmesan Asparagus – I made this for my Easter dinner and it was SO good. I love a sheet pan dinner and this was super easy, the leftovers reheated really well and my salmon was definitely mediocre but this recipe made it taste fantastic.

I didn’t follow exactly this French Toast recipe, I didn’t have bourbon and I didn’t do the Cinnamon-Sugar portion but it made such good French Toast. The inside of the bread almost became like the filling of a crème brulee. Which could sound gross but it was so delicious. Definitely soaking the bread in a big pan rather than in a bowl and then only half the bread gets enough stuff and the first two slices are just soaked in it is a trick I will be using in the future.

I have actually made this Vanilla Tiramisu Cake twice, once for my family and then again for Easter dinner. It is very easy to make, it refrigerates beautifully for leftovers (important when making a cake for 1 person) and is just so good.

This was the first HBH recipe I ever made. When I moved home I made dinner for my family once a week. My first dinner was these Healthier Homemade CrunchWrap Supremes. They were a bit spicier than we were expecting (I don’t think any of us had actually had Taco Bell before) and I think they would be just as good as a burrito without the middle crunchy tortilla, but then they wouldn’t be CrunchWrap so I get it. Also be careful, I have a scar on my middle finger from trying to flip the wrap without ruining the careful folding!

These tacos were absolutely superb, they were supposed to be my first recipe, but then COVID ruined my New Years Eve plans so I ended up making these for dinner for my family one week when I was home. I love a slow-cooker meal and these were so delicious. There were no leftovers! Crockpot Carne Asada with Cilantro Lime Garlic Sauce

I made these Sweet Potato and Black Bean Enchiladas from Cookie and Kate last week and just finished the leftovers yesterday. They were absolutely delicious, reheated super well and made enough to feed me for I think 4 or 5 meals. Very good, very easy, and super delicious.

This is one of my very favourite salads to make, it packs super well for when we are back in the office/out and about again. I also often swap out the spinach for lettuce because raw spinach makes my teeth feel funny and I’ve decided to stop eating textures I don’t like (maybe weird to do, but it’s part of me trying to eat more intuitively).

And then I have some random lunches and breakfasts that I have been making:

My grocery store has a bakery (it’s cheaper to bake stuff here than truck pre-made breads and baked goods in) and they make bagels, on Fridays (I think, I only go on Fridays) they do these variety packs of bagels with 1 of each flavour of bagel. I use the savoury bagels to make breakfast sandwiches with cheese, bacon, eggs, lettuce and tomatoes, and the sweet bagels with peanut butter. I also made avocado toast last week and it had been so long since I had avocado toast and it was SO good.

I also made avocado toast last week and it had been so long since I had avocado toast and it was SO good. Mashed avocado, feta cheese, salt and pepper, red onion and tomatoes. I also try to always have baby carrots and stringless sugar snap peas because it is a great easy way to get some veggies in.

A favourite lunch of mine is a grilled cheese with sliced apple or tomato and cut up fruits and veggies, like I’m a five-year old basically. Also this was the last time I had strawberries like three weeks ago, I had no clue there was such a shortage because it has been cold and dry!