This Week's Menu

Chicken Enchiladas

In my defense, I had little idea of what I was doing 

I used

chicken thighs, which I may have over-roasted;

mixed vegetables, because I need to eat more vegetables;

one bag of Mexican cheese blend, which was definitely not enough; and

one 32 oz can of enchilada sauce, which was also not enough.

Yes, they do taste a little dry. Dry, but still edible.

Cucumber Salad

I've turned to cucumber in an effort to eat more healthy snacks. Now, I don't really like cucumber, except for in a pickled cucumber salad that is common in some cuisines.

This time, instead of going for the full vinegar of the pickled version, I've gone with just enough vinegar to taste. I also add a few shakes of sweet chili sauce for a very small kick.

It's a good snack.

Sweet Potato Chips

What to do with oil leftover from frying plantain? Fry some sweet potatoes! Sweet potatoes are healthy, right? As is canola oil?

I know, you hear chips and you think thin slices. But that seemed like it would take twice as long to fry, so I went with thick cuts instead. Naturally they didn't crisp up like a thin cut would, even after a dusting of kosher salt.

Which doesn't bother me one bit.

Crème Brulee

I over-burnt the sugar. It was still delicious

Despite being short ½ a cup of heavy cream, these turned out well. One of these days I'll add Grand Marnier as Ina Garten suggests.

Egg White Quiche with Bacon and Gruyere

Taking the health out of a healthy option

Now, if you look online, an egg white quiche normally takes something like 10 egg whites. I only had 4¹. So off the bat, this quiche isn't going to be right.

But there's Veggies! And Cheese! And Bacon! And Crust! (Some of those online recipes are crust-less quiches. I'm not here for that.)

So yeah. It tastes just fine.

Bonus – From the menus of roughly the past two weeks (which I recognize may be possible repeats from even earlier):

Watermelon Granita

4 oz mason jars might be my new favorite

Some recipes call for adding a sweetener (sugar/honey/agave syrup); I didn't because watermelon is generally sweet enough and I'm kind of watching my sugar intake.

This time around I used watermelon², a bit of salt, and the zest and juice of one lime. A happy alternative to ice cream, since I'm kind of watching my sugar intake.

Mini Cheesecakes

I like mines browned and I don't mind the cracks

Homemade graham cracker crust + muffin tin + cheesecake = tasty goodness.

1. Because the Crème Brulee recipe I used required only 4 egg yolks.

2. I used a seedless individual/personal size watermelon, which I de-seeded before putting it in the blender. Because there's really no such thing as a truly seedless watermelon.