Chicken tikka masala

April 9, 2022 7:38 PM

I know, it's been over a month since I last posted. I'm still cooking. I cook a few times a week, and most of those times I'm really happy with what I cook, but when I'm done cooking my food, I just want to eat it and not have to take photos of it. I really don't like taking photos of food, and lately I haven't had anyone else taking the photos for me, so it's hard. When my sister was living with me it worked out really well because she would plate the food really nicely and take all the photos and she really liked doing that.

Anyway, I made Chicken Tikka Masala because I had half a cup of heavy cream, and I needed a break from pasta. I had no intention of taking a photo of it and posting it on the food blog. But today, in the midst of the incredibly rainy and cloudy past few weeks, a glimmer of sun came out. I was just finished cooking and I thought "ooh! I have natural light!" I usually cook after work when it's already dark, and the photos with the kitchen and living room lights on just aren't that great. So I had to take this opportunity.

I had intended to eat this with just a piece of naan, so I initially didn't cook any rice. But once I decided I was going to take a photo, I also decided that I needed rice for the aesthetic. (Don't worry, I still ate it)

And no, I didn't make the naan. I just bought it from Aldi. Normally I would say something about how dough scares me, but I've actually made naan before! And it was good! But I was not feeling up for making both tikka masala and naan bread on the same day.

So, after I start the rice cooker, I drag my table all the way across the living room so the light is hitting it juuuust right. Or at least better than how the lighting is where it normally is. And then I think, it's finally sunny out! I should take a walk after I finish eating!

Well, it's a good thing I managed to take the photo when I did. It started raining again once I finished eating, so unfortunately that means no walk ):

But the chicken tikka masala was very good. Very happy I made that, and also happy that I have two photos to show for it.

I think it's time

December 30, 2021 4:34 PM

Earlier this year I took a break from my food blog, and I told myself that I wouldn't be back until I made a mobile app for myself. Well, I switched to an Android phone, and I learned some basic mobile app programming, and here I am again.

I think it's time to get back to flailing in my kitchen.

Mashed potatoes, chicken bites, and brussels sprouts

March 2, 2021 11:03 PM

It's later than I should be up for a worknight, but I'm excited to show off what I've been working on for the past two days: Tags! This is just the first iteration of it. More to come.

Last week I made a meal of mashed potatoes, garlic chicken bites, and brussels sprouts, except I spread out cooking the different components on different days so it didn't all come together until I made the brussels sprouts.

For the mashed potatoes, I used this slow cooker mashed potatoes recipe from Budget Bytes. I had that huge bag of potatoes, and I rarely make mashed potatoes so I figured I'd give this a try. It was alright. Needed some herbs. And more butter. And salt. And garlic. And maybe some cheese. I don't have a picture of the mashed potatoes because that's kind of boring on its own.

The garlic mushroom and chicken bites was a recipe I had saved for a while. I unfortunately didn't have chicken thigh, so I had to settle for chicken breast. Would this have tasted better with chicken thigh? Absolutely. But it was still good. I followed the recipe pretty closely except I also added half a cup of chicken broth because I thought it needed to be a little more sauce-y.

I didn't use a recipe for the brussels sprouts. I just cut them in half, tossed them in salt, lemon pepper, and olive oil, threw them in the oven at 425°F for about 10 minutes, and then finished them off in the broiler for another minute. Delicious. I could eat the whole pound of brussels sprouts all in one sitting, but I made sure to save some for two more future meals.

Oh! I also made gravy. The recipe told me to keep whisking until all the lumps were gone. I didn't do a very good job of that. Just don't look too closely at the photo.

Social Distancing: Days 12 - 14

April 6, 2020 8:00 AM

Day 12(Monday): We still have a decent amount of Thai basil leftover, and I figured it's due time for some stir fry. Plus I don't think it's going to last another day. I'm scrolling through recipes from The Woks of Life and I come across one that looks good. It also looks familiar. I made it last year! So I check my old posts, and it says to double the amount of basil. Well, that's not happening. Doesn't matter. This was still delicious.

We also realize that even though we bought a ridiculous amount of groceries the week before, that we were running out of fruit! So we go back to the grocery store an pick up more stuff. Hey, we lasted one extra day this time!

Day 13 (Tuesday): I have a friend of a friend that apparently works at a local restaurant, and they've got a ton of food (ingredients) that they're telling their employees to take home. So what does that mean for me? I get a surprise box of produce! It's like Misfits Markets again!

I mean, really all I specifically asked for was avocados, but she asked me if I was also willing to take limes, and so I said, I'll take anything! But these avocados are super ripe, so they need to be used today.

And what else can we do with avocado? Put them on some BBQ chicken pizza!

We half the dough recipe this time since we had super thick pizza two days ago. But this turns out super thin. Next time we'll go with 3/4 the amount of dough. And maybe one day I'll actually buy a circular pizza pan so we can have proper circular pizzas.

Day 14 (Wednesday): Yesterday we had chips and guac. Today we decide to have chips and queso!

But what about dinner? We have so much food. Why did we buy so much food? What do we have that looks like it's going bad? The green beans are looking a little sad. Let's make green bean casserole! I have this can of Cream of Chicken that has been sitting in my cabinet for who knows how long. It looks like it expired last year. But it's canned, so I assume it's fine.

In making the pizza and the cheesy bread a few nights ago, my sister learned that I have a large amount of cornmeal just sitting in my pantry, so this inspires her to make some cornbread.

Now all we need is some protein in this meal. I did buy a family pack of chicken breast from the store on Monday. So I look for some chicken breast recipes, and found this super basic one from Budget Bytes. Chicken breast is kind of boring, but as long as we absolutely do not overcook it, it will be delicious. The recipe says to cook for 20 minutes. I think we cooked it for less than 15. Perfectly cooked chicken breast.

Stuff I cooked after the New Year

February 3, 2020 3:59 PM

Hey, I might be playing catch-up all year at this rate. It is already February and I'm getting even more behind on my blogging, which means I remember less and less about various things that I cooked.

Sun-Dried Tomato Fettuccine Alfredo - Damn Delicious

I really, really wanted to make fettuccine alfredo when I got back from the holidays. I don't quite remember why, but I think it's because I saw a picture of fettuccine alfredo on a box for a large pan, and I kept passing by this box over and over. After looking through various pasta recipes I settled on this one, and when I made this I was very surprised at how....orange the whole thing turned out. I guess I should have realized that would happen because of the tomato paste. Anyway, this was good, but it took me way longer than it should have because I'm slow.

Kimchi Fried Rice - Damn Delicious

Sometimes when I go to the Asian store I like to buy kimchi because I think it makes a great snack, and every day when I get home from work I feel like I need to eat something immediately. I'm trying to avoid things like chips and shredded cheese (yes, I snack on shredded cheese more than I'd care to admit), but I don't feel so bad eating kimchi since it's all vegetables. Since I had a jar of it, I wanted to try this kimchi fried rice. It was good! I don't remember anything else about it.

Red Curry Noodles with Chicken - The Woks of Life

So the other day I decided I needed to take inventory of everything that I had stocked in my pantry and fridge that I forgot about. I have a lot of random stuff that I need to use before it expires. One of those things was a can of curry paste. I'm sure I had a reason for buying this curry paste originally, but I have since forgotten that reason, so I needed a different use for it. These noodles seemed easy enough to make. (I only used half the tin, the other half I used to make a more soup-y curry except I never took a picture) Overall, they were alright, but I don't think they'll make my make-again list. It definitely needed more flavor. I added fish sauce, but it still felt lacking.

Spinach and Orzo Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette - Budget Bytes

Huh, I know I made this to use up the spinach, but I have no idea what I used the spinach for originally. Maybe I just thought, I'll buy some spinach because veggies are good and spinach is easy to use. Anyway, if you actually follow my blog, you'll know that I'm really bad at making salads. I think this ended up turning out okay, and I think I also ate the whole thing in one sitting, but I don't think I'll really want to make this again.

Chimichurri Chicken Kebabs - Budget Bytes

Remember that 5lb family pack bag of chicken breast that I bought in December? I still haven't used it all yet. And you know what else? I was at that same grocery store on Saturday, and they were selling chicken breast for even cheaper! But the bags were even bigger! They must have been 10lbs! Anyway, I resisted the urge this time. But back to the point of the chicken. I made this recipe, and I think I finally figured out how to use the broiler. I just needed to put my food on the top rack. I ended up seriously overcooking the chicken here, but I'm optimistic about my next try at broiling!