What's Cooking March 2022 Part 3

The last day of March. This month seemed to be longer, a lot going on. March is my birthday month, the 20th and I baked a cake for myself.

I love a good pound cake but had to have sprinkles and changed to almond extract instead of lemon. The cake came out of the pan SO much faster than expected. Luckily it landed on the counter, upside down, but not on the floor. I scooped it onto the cake stand. It was delicious.

I again discovered that I planned my menu for two weeks, but had plenty of food for three weeks of meals. I'm trying to use freezer foods and everything in the fridge while still getting some vegetables into our meals.

When I bought broccoli while shopping, I had some left. Not enough for a side dish for two, but enough to use for something. I still had potatoes so Broccoli and Cheddar Twice Baked Potatoes. I made 5.

Twice for dinner as a side dish. I can tell you that they are also good for breakfast and once cooked, freeze well.

Trader Joe find that was great for dinner with some roast pork and frozen dumplings, Scallion Pancakes. Easy to cook and very crisp.

I had red bell peppers, puff pastry, red onion and cilantro, so these galettes were perfect. I served them for dinner with a side salad.

When I buy cilantro, mine seems to get slimy very quickly. I saw a tip on Ministry of Curry and it worked. This cilantro is two weeks old and perfect!

We also enjoyed this quiche for dinner and breakfast. Love double duty meals. Easy to make since I had dough in the freezer. I used that, not the crust in the recipe. Leeks keep a long time in the fridge.

Towards the end I was struggling to find vegetables but still had two six ounce boxes of fresh spinach. I had chicken in the freezer, half a container of ricotta, jarred alfredo sauce.

Chicken Rollatini was delicious. I adapted slightly to use what I had. I used the remainder of the alfredo mixed with some marinara sauce. Served with a side of pasta.

And then we shopped! And refreshed the vegetables. Pork chops with mustard sauce.

There were leftovers from the chicken and the pork which gave me days of not cooking. Which I need!

New recipe after grocery shopping - shrimp from the freezer, fresh kale and the last loaf of pan de cristal from the freezer. I tossed some herbs with olive oil, brushed the bread and toasted it under the broiler.

I baked too. We were running out of bread so I looked at the calendar and tried two new recipes. We've only tasted the Italian loaf and it's good. The oatmeal went into the freezer before tasting.

I've worked a little and will be working more. I had a bridal event on my birthday. I will be doing some work for KitchenAid using the new espresso machine. I like planning in leftovers for days when I don't want to worry about cooking.

I also talked with a woman who started out asking about personal chef services but while we talked it became clear we were going in another direction.

She and her 14 year old daughter don't mind cooking. Her daughter wants to learn to cook more, the mom has some health issues, they had used ready to cook boxes and didnt mind the cooking, they were just bored.

So I'm going to be doing cooking classes with the daughter. I love teaching.

I attended a celebration of life ceremony for a friend who lost her husband. The service was so personal and so many people shared such love. Tears, laughter, good to see my friend but wish it hadn't been for this reason.

We talked about getting together for dinner again. That was a regular event pre-Covid.

I also cooked some meals for another friend entering into a new health challenge. I'm glad she asked me to cook and trusted me enough. Hard because of the reason but also because she is also a chef.

March over, plants growing, pollen flowing, temperature shifts every day. Not sure what April holds but I think I'm ready for April.