First two weeks

So far I have packed my lunch for last week and this one.  I am really getting into the routine of making my dinner and packing a lunch for the next day.  I hope it is helping my health.

Today's lunch was chilled apple and peach soup.  The recipe I used is from the Courses Cookbook from the Princess Cruise lines.

The recipe was pretty simple and requited no cooking so it was great for summertime and the heat.  The exact recipe can be found here.

It was very creamy and I feel it is for a sophisticated palate.

To round out my lunch, I had some watermelon and a tuna fish sandwich but instead of bread I used a tortilla.

I hope to see you tomorrow and have another lovely lunch day.

2022-2023 School Year

Today help me to keep eating better, I bought myself some Bento Boxes to start the school year.  I must admit that it has been so much fun thinking of my lunches that right now, that is what is inspiring me to go to school.  So far, I have made my lunch for 3 days. 

Day One- Salad with thousand island dressing and vegan chicken salad and peach slices

Day Two- Brussel sprout ravioli, broccoli cole slaw and cherries

Day Three- Salad with dressing and lobster bisque soup and a peach

I don't really plan that far in advance but just went to the grocery store for inspiration and got some healthy food and we will see what happens.  

Turns out I have enjoyed making other meals as well.

Breakfast:

Day One- Oatmeal with brown sugar and cinnamon

Day Two- Chia seed chocolate pudding

Day three-oopsy ran late

Dinner:

Day One- Brussel sprout and bacon ravioli and salad

Day Two- Lobster Bisque and garlic toast

Day Three-  We will see

Who Needs McDonalds?!?

Just like many of us, during this quarantine I have been using this time to try pick up some skills. One of the most popular skills that people have been working on is bread making. I have made a couple of loaves and am trying to make some sourdough starter but that is the extent of my knowledge.  However, several years ago I bought a series of DVDs called Homestead Blessings  In this series their is a DVD called The Art of Bread Making.  I thought now would be a great time to get it out and see if the recipes work.  

The recipe that interested me was Hamburger Buns.  So I got out the flour, salt, yeast, milk etc and tried my best.  For a first attempt it wasn't to bad.  They didn't rise very well but they looked ok and were pretty soft and tasted well. 

Not bad for a first attempt

Since I had some leftover rice and some cans of beans, I decided to make some veggie burgers to go with these buns. I used the vegetarian burger recipe from Martha Stewart's Favorite Family Meals DVD.  I tried to find the recipe on her website but they were a little different from the one I used. 

After making the patties, I got some lettuce from my garden.  I just picked off a couple of leaves but this is the first food I have gotten from it this year. 

My first food from the garden 

Added some pickles and ketchup and I had a great dinner. 

Yummers

There is always a feeling of satisfaction when I have learned to do something new.  With each new skillI feel a sense of freedom.  I don't have to settle for what someone else is offering. I can make my own,

Lenten Idea

I have decided to give up shopping for Lent.  this is allowing me to "shop my cabinets and freezer" first. Of course being snowed-in and out of school for 2 weeks also helped.  I really feel that I am getting into the swing of things.
Since my sister-in-law has given me a new 31 lunch tote I am going to start taking my lunch to school again.  

One year!

Well, I am only 1 year behind. I will need to work on that. I do feel that when I blog, I am more likely to stick to a project. I will think of a good one.

P.S. My sister-in-law just bought me a beautiful new 31 lunchbag so maybe I will start with that again.

Kroger Lunch

Thank goodness for BzzAgent and Kroger for saving the day again.
This Friday morning I redeemed my free coupons for a Kroger Skillet Meal of Chicken Fajitas and a Fresh Selections Salad with the Bacon Buttermilk Variety. 
I was just using the coupons because they were free.  However, I was pleasantly surprised that my lunch turned out to be very tasty and probably better for me than I imagined.

I took home the Kroger Skillet Chicken Fajita Meal and put it 1 tablespoon of oil and cooked it for 8 minutes.  I used a pot instead of a skillet which is why the veggies were more mushy than expected.  If I had used a saucepan they probably would be more tender.
It seemed to be a simple packet of chicken and veggies. However, when I added the spice packet, it whole meal seemed to come together. I don't know what they spices were but they transformed the plain chicken. Fortunately, it wasn't too spicy. I do not like a lot of spice and this was perfect.
The package includes some small tortillas to go with the meal. It says to defrost them for 5 minutes but it may take a little longer than that. Mine took about 10 to completely thaw.
There was enough there for my lunch on Friday and Saturday.
I also added the Kroger Fresh Selections Buttermilk Bacon Salad.  In my opinion, it was the perfect accompaniment.  The lettuce was fresh and crisp and the croutons were crunchy and flavorful.  Plus, the bacon was actual bacon. I was expecting the hard crunchy things that are usually found at salad bars.  Nope, this was much better.
I have some pictures that I will add when I get to my other computer.
Bottom line.....Would I buy this meal again.  Absolutely. It was fast, good, and well worth purchasing. 

Buitoni help for vegetarian

Through my BzzAgent account I received a free package of Buitoni Wild Mushroom Agnolotti.

#GotItFree

I didn't know what Agnolotti was but it look similar to polish pirogis. These were filled with portobelli mushrooms and cheese. 

The directions were to boil 4 quarts (1 gallon?!?) of water and add the pasta and bring back to a boil.  My pots were not that big so I just got the biggest one I could find and filled it with water and boiled it.  I added the pasta and a tablespoon of oil to keep them from sticking to each other.

Agnolotti

 After about 8 minutes I plated half the pasta and added some pizza sauce that I had.

The pasta was nice and meaty but I feel that without the tomato sauce it would have been quite bland.

However it was quick and easy and a great way to eat vegetarian without too much difficulty. 

Will I buy it again. Probably. While it was not the best pasta in the world, it was good and made me feel like I had made a dinner and not just something to eat.