Dear Food Diary...
- Samantha Hoback
- Jul 7, 2016
- 2 min read
In a city where people rely on Seamless and Blue Apron to eat during the week, I have mastered the art of small-kitchen-cooking for one. There is nothing wrong with ordering takeout on the regular or using meal kits; for me, it comes down to one thing: money. Ordering in, eating out, and meal-kit subscriptions are not in my budget right now. At least, not on a regular basis (I still enjoy the occasional mango chicken curry with naan).
Cooking meals for myself--breakfast, lunch, and dinner--is not only budget friendly, but it's also fun. I love to cook (thanks Mom!) and I love to read cooking magazines and browse food blogs (especially Skinnytaste and Smitten Kitchen). Sure, I have several recipes that are my go-to's (turkey sandwiches not included). But when I have the time to plan ahead, I love trying out new recipes, which is exactly what I did this week.
Sundays are my meal-prep days; I shop for groceries (Trader Joe's for the win) and cook anything I can in advance. On the menu this week:
Kale Pizza with Pancetta and Mozzarella
The first two I made ahead of time and packed in Tupperware containers to make packing my lunch a breeze. Alternating days, I looked forward to eating my homemade leftover lunch (and saving the $15 or more I would have spent at Pret). Since we are working a summer Fridays schedule, I splurge on lunch on TGIF--a panini or a salad from Eataly, a quiche or a tartine at Le Pain Quotidien, etc.).
For the chicken Milanese, I was able to make the tomato salad ahead of time; it actually tastes better after the ingredients have been able to sit and meld for a day or so. And then all I had to do when I got home was bake the chicken (pre-cleaned and divided into individual baggies) and assemble the arugula-tomato salad. (Rory likes when I cook; she tries to jump up on the counter or on top of the refrigerator so she has a front-row seat on the action.)
Tonight made the kale pizza; it's a new recipe. I was actually craving pizza on Monday (4th of July) but all the best takeout places were closed for the holiday (as they should have been). So I made sure to include pizza on the menu for the week; and the best part about homemade pizza--you can use any ingredients you want! I started with a frozen whole-wheat pizza dough from TJ's; the recipe originally called for fontina cheese, but I had mozzarella I needed to use up. It wasn't nearly as good as the pizza in Naples (because Naples has the BEST pizza). But it was quite tasty, and healthy!
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