Week 12, 2022

Mon 3/21: lamb chops and Mediterranean salad. As always, lamb for 132° for an hour forty-five, as inspired by this post. Our salad was Trader Joe’s marinated chickpeas with cucumber and artichoke hearts. The fresh and canned veg balanced out the heavily processed chickpeas. Splashes of lemon juice and red wine vin brought it all together. The best part of this salad is that it stays good for a few days.

Tues 3/22: apple juice-braised pork tenderloin with asparagus and couscous. Hampton is the king of pork tenderloin. Asparagus was leftover from his steakhouse dinner the previous Sunday. Bam. Done. On the table when I walked in and then out to rehearsal.

Wed 3/23: pizza and salad. Frozen pizza crust is a necessity at Flat 493.

Thur 3/24: soy chorizo totchos. Ok, we only had, like, one serving of tots leftover from Hampton’s solo Bad Daddy’s lunch, and apparently none in the freezer… so half totchos, half dirty fries. All delicious.

Fri 3/25: lemon-butter cod with charred asparagus/radish/date/goat cheese salad. Ok, this rich salad would probably pair better with bavette or lamb. *But* this easy cook on frozen cod was a dang delight. We both had the night off and this meal was the lightish, decadent, both of us cooking night we needed. Even if he got tired of me trying to take a pic of him cooking from the magazine.

Sat 3/26: spatchcock roasted chicken and potatoes, braised cabbage with horseradish cream. I saw this cabbage recipe recently and was obsessed. Even though we didn’t have the right pan. Soooo it was not quite as successful as hoped but also still amazing because cabbage and horseradish. We haven’t made a chicken in a while, and I thought it would be an easy meal-prep for next week. Spatchcocking is so the way to go: butterflying the chicken means it cooks faster and more evenly. We used this recipe and the chicken was moist and flavorful. I tossed TJ’s teeny tiny potatoes with champagne vinegar and their new ranch powder, bumping the flavors up a notch (though potatoes under chicken are always a good idea).

Sun 3/27: horseradish-cheddar sausage pasta. Smoke City had new horseradish-cheddar sausage. Obviously, we needed it. I used this base to do an ooey gooey fancy hamburger helper. We added a spoonful of whole grain mustard and a *heaping* spoonful of horseradish, along with pasta water, to oomph up the beer cheese sauce. And a salad on the side. #balance

Lunches: leftovers and work caf. I took off Monday to visit with my in-laws when they stayed over after RAGTIME and, at the last minute, Friday for a mental health day. I slept in, went out for brunch, got a pedicure, did a face mask, took a bubble bath, and read a super good book [more on that soon]. Self-care isn’t all bubble baths and cocktails…. but sometimes, it really is. This introvert *needs* her alone time and there had been a big lack of that, even on my days off. So on Thursday I knocked out everything on my desk and, once again, my boss proved why he is the most understanding.