Weekly Recipe Round-up

Since venturing into this eating whole foods vs. processed foods change of lifestyle, I have started cooking up a storm and trying out a ton of new recipes. I mean, I don't follow a zillion Food/Recipe blogs for nothing. :) Actually a lot of the Fitness/Personal Balance blogs also post recipes too that are delicious. So I am going to start sharing the recipes I make and which ones are good or bad in case you too would like to try some new stuff!

Before jumping into the recipes I made this weekend/for the up-coming week, I'd like to revisit the ones I mentioned I'd be making in this blog post and let you know how they came out, if I'd make them again, etc.:

• Curry Chopsui a la Heather: Delicious! I was a little nervous when making the coconut milk sauce because mixed with the spices, it seemed waaaayyy too strong. But once I put it on the veggies, it magically became perfect. I didn't use any meat by accident because we didn't have any chicken on hand. I served it with rice noodles instead of rice and I loved it as it was (veggies no más), however Chris definitely wanted chicken. He loved it too though, he as asked me several times to make it again and the only reason I haven't is because I need to pick up more coconut milk.
• Chicken with Artichokes and Angel Hair: I was super pumped about this recipe because, hello artichokes are delish, but unfortunately this recipe did not live up to its expectations. It wasn't terrible, it just seemed too greasy or something. Maybe that was thanks to breading the chicken? I don't know, but I won't be making this again.
• Indian Lentil Soup: I first made this with green lentils because I didn't have any red ones. It was super yummy and tasted even better the next day. I have now learned to make lentil soups one day ahead because they are a million times better the next day! I definitely plan to remake this recipe.

Now for the recipes that I made this weekend:

• Spicy Butternut Squash Soup: Amazing soup! First time I blended a soup to make it creamy after cooking it and you definitely can't skip that step. Just make sure to only fill up your blender 1/3 or 1/2 of the way so you don't burn yourself when blending. The changes I made to the recipe were: no rosemary, no bay leaves, no chili, no celery. I used chili powder from the States and doubled up on it since I didn't use a chili pepper. I used a mix of chicken and veggie stock (from bouillon cubes). I also added some black beans that I had frozen to give it a protein boost. Those got blended too. And the perfect side dish is homemade garlic bread! Oh and I didn't use the whole butternut squash, but about 3/4 of it. I froze the rest. The hubs loved it too! Here's a pic he shot:

• Red Lentils for 2: I doubled this recipe which is why it is "for two" instead of "for one" as the actual title of it. I served it with palta (avocado) on top and made it a day ahead of when we actually ate it. So yummy. You can get red lentils at Organisk. Even though I think the owner of the store is an a-hole (he is always rude to us for absolutely no reason), I still shop there because it is close to my house and has a ton of variety that you can't find elsewhere. Christian gave this a thumbs-up too.
• Curry Chickpea Burgers: I love Angela's recipes, but I can't normally make a lot of them because some special products that she uses are just not available in Chile. So I was super excited when I knew I could make this. Christian at them on a hamburger bun with gringo mustard. I ate mine alone, on the side of my Red Lentils for 2. I will definitely be making more of these and probably freezing some for a quick protein when I don't have other stuff in the house.
• Vegetarian Paella: Technically we haven't eaten this yet since I made it for lunch tomorrow and Tuesday along with the chickpea burgers, but I did steal a bite or two away to try it and yum yum!!! The changes I made to this recipe were: no green bell pepper (ew still hate these) and I halved the rice (arroz integral that is not quick cooking) and the veggie broth (I used 1 cup). Since the rice wasn't quick cooking, this recipe took about 45 minutes to cook up, and even reducing the veggie broth, it was moist. But not soupy. I am super excited about eating this mañana and am pretty sure I'll be making it again.

I must say, I don't do all this cooking alone. Christian has really stepped up to the plate to help me with what I need since it is a lot of work to cook this much. He normally helps me out with chopping up vegetables. He also does the dishes when I ask him (most of the time). And if we have any recipes with meat, he is the one to cut it up and cook it. I may mix the seasonings, but I really don't like dealing with raw meat. In fact, I haven't even really liked cooked meat that much lately which is why you see all these vegetarian recipes!

If you end up making any of these recipes, let me know how they come out!! I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

And just for the heck of it, I'll leave you with a picture of my baby that I took on Saturday afternoon. She was in her camita (bed) next to the estufa (heater) keeping warm.