Week 33 - One Color

Challenge week: 33

Theme: One color

Theme note: I'm a big proponent of eating the rainbow, so the idea of eating just one color for a whole meal didn't really appeal to me. (A lot of the submissions I've seen on Reddit since I made this were so creative in making balanced meals, but I lacked culinary inspiration and creativity when I was choosing.) Instead I made a dish with multiple ingredients of one color with some sides that brought in some others.

What we made: Tortilla española (yellow onions, yellow potatoes, Just Egg)

How much it cost (with estimated breakdown): Very estimated, since not only did I not write this down after making it sans recipe, but I didn't even take an ingredient photo. Thinking $5.67 for the tortilla, with an additional $3.50 or so for the carrots and mushrooms on the side.

- 1 yellow onion ($0.50)

- 1 can of diced potatoes ($1.99)

- 1 container of Just Egg ($3.15)

- salt and pepper ($0.03)

Challenge quick review: We were really impressed with how well the tortilla española came out. Did it sink in the middle once moved to a plate instead of being solid like a cake like the ones we've had at restaurants? Yes. Was the texture a little different because ours was vegan? Yes. Did it need more potatoes? Maybe. But did it taste good? Yes. It was really easy to prepare, but I never could have made it without A's help because the flipping part was both difficult (such a heavy pan) and intimidating (what if it all fell apart?).

As a side note, I made this less than a month ago, and I was already having trouble remembering exactly what I used, what I did, etc without notes or photos. I have a lot of weeks to catch up on, so some of them I think are going to just be photos of completed challenges without much detail. Sorry. Apparently the stress of 2021 and all the sleep deprivation has meant these things just don't stick in my brain anymore if I don't take notes. Currently stuck at home sick, so time to push to get all the past challenge posts done, so I can write better current posts!

Cheese Empanadas with Cassava Crust

It's been a long, long time since we've written about something new we've tried at Trader Joe's (since January!), but I've noticed that, without these posts, we really do forget if we've tried something and whether or not we liked it. So, time to get back into it!

We picked up these cheese empanadas with cassava crust ($2.99) on a recent visit. We're no strangers to empanadas, but the cassava crust here sounded unique, and the filling of cheese, caramelized onions, and spinach sounded delicious. The ingredients list on the box was simple and had everything you'd expect to find based on the description - a basic crust of cassava flour and starch, water, oil, and salt, and filling of ricotta cheese, caramelized onions, mozzarella cheese, spinach, salt, and pepper. No additives, nothing you couldn't pronounce, very straightforward. There were instructions for both the oven and the air fryer, and since I kept forgetting to make them while preparing the other components for dinner, we went with the air fryer, which took 10 minutes.

Unfortunately, they were just okay. The spinach was visible but didn't really add much to the flavor, and we completely forgot there were supposed to be caramelized onions in it until we re-read the box. You couldn't taste them at all. It mostly tasted and texturally felt like a ricotta cheese-stuffed empanada. The shell wasn't as crispy or crunchy as other empanadas we've had, but if that's not the cassava, maybe we just needed to air fry it a little longer. It was a good complement to the much stronger-tasting ceviche that we ate for dinner, but on its own, it was not that exciting.

Buy again? Probably not. They were fine, but we didn't love them.

Week 30 - Camping

Challenge week: 30

Theme: Camping

Theme note: I have not gone camping, and honestly, don't really have much desire to go camping, so no first-hand knowledge or experience with this theme. I realize now that the last time there was a similar theme (outdoorsman in 2016), I made chili too, so I guess I have a type when it comes to "outdoor" cooking.

What we made: one-pot veggie chili cornbread casserole, adapted from the recipe on Vegetarian 'Ventures

How much it cost (with estimated breakdown): $13.33 (dinner for 3 + 2 lunches for 2)

- 1 yellow onion ($0.50)

- 1 red bell pepper ($1.34)

- 1 green bell pepper ($0.86)

- 5 cloves of garlic ($0.10)

- olive oil for sauteing ($0.30)

- 1 cup vegetable broth ($0.75)

- 1 can fire-roasted diced tomatoes ($0.87)

- 1 can pinto beans ($0.99)

- 1 can black beans ($0.83)

- 1 can red kidney beans ($0.90)

- 1 can corn ($0.92)

- about 8 oz of mild salsa ($1.65)

- spices (in decreasing amount): chili powder, garlic powder, oregano, cumin, freshly ground black pepper, salt ($0.28)

- 2 cups cornmeal ($1)

- 1 cup AP flour ($0.16)

- 2 tsp baking powder ($0.06)

- pinch of salt ($0.02)

- 1/3 cup butter, melted ($0.45)

- 2 tbsp maple syrup ($0.60)

- 2 cups oat milk ($0.75)

Challenge quick review: As I was pulling out the ingredients for this challenge meal, all I could think was, "Who would bring all of this to go camping?" The original recipe post did talk about bagging up spices, chopped vegetables, the dry ingredients for the batter in advance, but it still seems like a lot of stuff to lug around, plus the heavy pot and cookware, for one meal in the outdoors. But I guess that's why I don't go camping.

As for the recipe itself, the chili was tasty, the cornbread was good, and it was an easy one-pot meal. I had never made cornbread on top of chili before, but it was convenient and quick just throwing the batter on top. I wasn't sure if it would really work, but it did, and I liked how the cornbread picked up some of the sauce from the chili. A thought it was good, but he would have preferred making our favorite cornbread and favorite chili recipes separately and just adding the cornbread on top of the chili. In addition to convenience, it was a very economical meal, very filling and a lot of food that lasted for days. I would make this combo again.