The Kitchen: all things delicious and disastrous

So I had the bright idea to add two shots of tequila to my chili con carne. Poured them when I was sauteeing the onions, okay, no problem. I added peppers after a while and... boom. the whole thing caught fire. Luckily I had the lid in my hand, so I just slapped it on.

Wow, the last page was five years ago at the very beginning of my relationship with my now wife.

We figured out a few meals I could cook for us, but they were all among the first things to go when we started eating healthier dinners for the weight loss challenge she's doing at work. Meatloaf, beef burritos, and ramen with added beef pieces and veggies don't really fit in with a diet. I did still get to make dinner omelettes last week though, she just asked for hers with no cheese and very light ham.

My veggie wrap lunches are a bit of a collaboration. I picked out all the ingredients, she just chops up the veggies and assembles. But none of the ingredients except for the salad dressing are things she likes, so she doesn't eat those. We make them for my dinner on nights she eats fish, because I don't like fish.

Edited by TParadox on May 20th 2023 at 7:24:18 AM

filipino hot dogs, maruchan noodles, and white rice when i was a young kid

I have had to move to a heart-healthy diet due to blood pressure issues from a rough genetic history. The big thing is a low-sodium diet which means I pretty much only eat from home as anything from any restaurant has way too much sodium. Followed by lower fat and low sugar.

I have started leaning a lot harder into herbs and spices especially mixes without added salt. Mrs. Dash blends are great as are a handful of salt-free or very low-sodium blends I can get from the grocery store. I am also eating a lot of rice. My meats have been cut down to lean meat chicken breast, healthy fish, and low-fat ground turkey or lean cuts of turkey.

Asian dishes seem to have a lot of good recipes I can use if I avoid the fried stuff. Picked up a trick where you use a little bit of oil and cook the herbs in the pan then add them after.

Found a good plant butter that is low fat and has almost no sodium with good flavor.

I miss beef dishes.

I started using MSG more when I had to cook for my grandparents when they had to restrict their sodium intake. It's about 1/3rd the sodium of table salt and you need way less to bring out flavors.

Yeah, I do the same now. MSG instead of salt and it means checking every label carefully. The amount of salt in everything is disheartening.

I recently ordered a selection of different types of tabasco. I'd seen a raspberry-chipotle on an episode from last year of Good Mythical Morning and finally decided to see if I could buy some.

And while I was looking, I came across this "Family Reserve" tabasco that's apparently been made in a smaller batch and sold as a "Limited Edition" sauce. Now, perhaps all of that is complete bullshit, but I couldn't help but be a bit curious - "Limited Edition" foods tend to pique my interest, mainly because I'll most likely never see them again after the period of time when they're sold is over, so like to try hem while I still have the chance.

I'm probably just a gullible sucker for that kind of marketing, but it'll be interesting to see if the sauce actually does taste different.

Anyway, I bought those two sauces as well as a buffalo-style tabasco and a sweet and spicy one. I've found myself quite enjoying putting tabasco on my food as of late: I think it offers a nice little kick without overpowering the taste of everything else, which I think is a bit of a risk with foods that are crazy spicy, even if I do enjoy spicy food. I'm very interested to see which foods pair well with these sauces - Apparently, the raspberry-chipotle one is great on vanilla ice cream.

I do love a good Tobasco sauce. Failing that Frank's Hotsauce.