The Week in Recipes: I swear this isn’t a food blog

I am in fact working on a blog along the lines of: ‘what would a matriarchal society actually look like’ based on my frustration with the game franchise Mass Effect and their lazy alien race the asari. But Life has been busy, full of late night trips on the motorway with ballet tickets won in a raffle, loooooong chats with my agent about my novel, internal crying over my bank account, and trying to do things that are Fun so cracks don’t appear. (The ballet was fun, driving the motorway for the first time ever in the dark on a very windy night was not.)

And basically the easiest thing to talk about is food, because sadly I have to eat to survive and so do you. This week, we themed it with mostly Japanese cuisine, as we have a lot of sauces in the cupboard, making the shop relatively cheap. Here’s some lush dinners:

Tuesday

Soy Tuna and Wasabi Mash

This was a luxury dinner for us, as two tuna steaks cost £13 ($16). But, sweet stars above, it was worth it. I even made the mashed potato from scratch, which I never do, I buy Aunt Bessie’s frozen mash because, sue me, it tastes great. But actually, it was easier than I thought and I added a bit of butter to the mash and maaaybe just a little bit more milk. Nothing is worst than lumpy, dry mashed potato. *shiver* When I cooked the edame pods, I also added salt and mild chilly, which really boosted their flavor. Not a spicy meal, despite the involvement of typically burning ingredients.

Wednesday

Teriyaki Prawns and Broccoli Noodles

This was…okay? Nothing special. Is what it is. We followed the instructions, but I felt this was quite salty. Meh.

Thursday

This was GET HOME FROM WORK. STUFF FOOD IN MOUTH. DRIVE FOR OVER AN HOUR TO GET TO THE BALLET. Breadsticks.

Friday

Miso Brown Rice & Chicken Salad

I almost cried making this. Brown rice does not cook like white Basmati rice. Follow the instructions. First it took forever. Then I charred it so black I didn’t even know how. Luckily, Aaron remembered we had Tilda microwave rice and the day was saved. I was prepared for this to taste awful, after the wasteful rice disaster, but actually it tasted lovely. Solid 8/10 for this.

Saturday

Katsu Chicken Curry

Our friend showed us an amazing cheat to make this delicious Japanese meal in 20 minutes. Buy breaded chicken, 190g katsu curry paste, 160ml coconut cream. Cook the chicken in the oven following packet instructions. Simmer the katsu curry paste and coconut cream together in a saucepan for about 5-10 minutes. Cook your rice. When chicken and rice are done, cut the chicken into strips, arrange on top of your rice, pour over your sauce. Ta-da!

Sunday

Korean Rice Pot

We’ve had this meal a few times now and we love it. All you cook is the rice and the egg, the rest is fresh and nicely cut. Also, we never buy the turkey suggested in the ingredients list, we cut pre-cooked ham that usually gets used in our sandwhiches. You’ll notice broccoli in this picture because I wanted to use up the leftover broccoli from meals earlier in the week. I swear there’s rice under all that veg.

Monday

Asparagus & New Potato Frittata

Considering I don’t like new potatoes, this was delicious and, as always, so easy because I don’t cook anything that involves thinking, I probably forgot to take a picture because I was trying too hard to impress my dad who was eating with us that night. We’ll be having this again next week to use up more of the new potatoes we bought. And ’cause it’s tasty.

All in all, this shop cost us £60.80 ($75.76), which is £30.40 between two people. A bit more expensive that last week, but I can already tell you our next food-shop cost substantially less – the lowest yet!

EAT. ENJOY. LIVE WELL.