My Week - In Food

What's a sure sign that you're out of whack from too much work and not enough water?

Cooking disasters.

Point of clarification - my cooking disasters rarely are inedible...they're just unpredictable!

Example 1: Split Pea Stew

I wanted to make something simple and easy in the crock pot. Something warm for the tummy to battle the continuing cold weather. Something that would use up leftovers. The perfect something was Split Pea Stew. Toss in some root vegetables, leftover chopped chicken, broth and split peas; cook for 8 hours or so. Yum.

Unless you get home and realize that you put lentils in instead of split peas!

Oh well, a legume is a legume, right?


Example 2: Chipotle Sloppy Joes

With our water back on, I knew we needed to eat something with a little heat. Something that had a lot of flavor but wouldn't take too long to cook. The perfect something was Chipotle Sloppy Joes. Brown some hamburger, add chipotle chiles, green bell pepper and tomato sauce. Top with sauteed onions and serve with a side of fresh homemade coleslaw. Yummy and spicy!

No problem...unless you realize you've added tomato paste instead of tomato sauce. (Hmmm...how much water to add and time required to cook it back down to a manageable consistency?!?)

So it was no surprise that I was more than a little worried about having Breakfast Club duty on Friday. After contemplating bringing donuts, I decided to make a Chile Rellenos casserole.

All seemed to be going well until a colleague stopped me and asked if I had made breakfast from scratch (hello...do you know who you're talking to???).

Yes, I said.

What type of pepper is in the casserole? he wondered.

It's green chile.

Hmmm, he replied. It tastes like bell pepper.

Well, it's not, I answered. It's definitely green chile.

But between you and me - I couldn't help but wonder if I really had used green chile! Could this have been cooking disaster #3?