2025 Food Trends

It's time for all the yearly wrap-ups, and this one being about our food trends. This past year, I cooked mostly from Meal Prep in an Instant. I tended to half the protein in the recipes, as it was more than we needed, but other than that, I seriously recommend the book. We're not finished with it yet, as I cook based on what we have on hand and what we need, rather than the full meal plan each book. Still, this is a resource I would recommend!

I feel into some ruts with other cooking. Dumpling soups had their moment. My husband ate many varieties of lentil soup for his lunches. Muffins somewhat died off. Pumpkin had more than its moment in the sun (and is still easing its way out). I ate overnight oats almost every day. I got somewhat fixated on Pop-tarts, trying five of the boxed kind and making two from scratch. 

After several all day sourdough projects, I decided using discard is my way to do sourdough. With that, I made A LOT of bagels, as well as some other recipes.

I completed 12 Sally's Baking Challenges.

I did a few Fit Foodie Find Cooking Club Challenges and a few from Budget Bytes. (Neither seemed to be regular.)

I am still kind of over cooking. I guess I really like and dislike it at the same time. It is time consuming and tedious, but it also produces great results. There is something so satisfying about saying, "I made this." And so, because it is both duty and delight, it shall continue, unless the Lord somehow deems otherwise.

2024 Food Trends

Here we go! All the wrap-up posts. I really like reading weekly eats round-ups (hence why I started my "What I Used" series).  Birchwood Pie Project does an annual round-up, and though I cannot report on the specific "best" recipes of 2024, I can tell you about trends in my cooking this year.

I cooked mostly from Good Housekeeping Family Italian Cookbook. Although there are plenty more recipes to cook, I think I am about tapped out on pasta. I have plans to start into a different cookbook for the new year.

I made lots of oatmeal mug cakes. (Many of these were for a special project. We shall see whether or not it sees the light of day.)

I once again cooked a lot of muffins (at least 30 different types).

I made quite a few grilled cheese (35), but we pretty much extinguished our use of tortillas. (Well, my husband had me buy a few packages, but then he stopped even that.)

A new trend is sourdough. My husband is making all of the actual bread, but I am using the discard (8 recipes and counting). 

I completed 12 Sally's Baking Challenges.

I completed 13 Handle the Heat Baking Challenges.

I completed all of the Fit Foodie Find Cooking Club Challenges (6). I also made all but two of the recipes in the protein dessert series (13 recipes).

Cooking gets tiring some times, a lot of times, but it is also an area of exploration and play for me. Thank you, Lord for this gift!

Marathon Eats

I wrote enough about the race in the recap, but let me tell you about what I ate to get there. I carb-loaded for three days, and got in far more than the minimum 8 grams of carbs per kilogram of body weight (over 400 grams a day for me) (Featherstun, n.d.). What did that look like? Among other things I ate:

16 T Nesquick

9 sourdough bagels (that I made myself)

6 bananas 

3-4 T pumpkin butter

3 pumpkin spice poptarts

3 pumpkin spice bagels

3 c pasta

2 t Honey Stinger hydration mix

1.5 c applesauce 

1.5 c peas

1.5 c sweet potato

1 fruit pouch

1 sachet of LMNT

Race day included:

1 sourdough bagel

Sachet of LMNT

9 GU gels

Barbecue Lays

A Muscle Milk protein shake

A bottle of water

Two more bottles of water with another LMNT

Oreos

A gigantic hamburger from Rehab Burger Therapy

A banana split from Dairy Queen

Sourdough bread

Hot chocolate with peanut butter

Was I binge eating? No, I was legitimately hungry for all this! I wanted the chips almost immediately after I drank the bottle of water, which tells me I needed salt. Then I felt my blood sugar dropping, so I ate the Oreos. The hamburger was in the plan, as that is my post long-run re-fuel food of choice. The ice cream was to celebrate! Then I was hungry, so I ate the bread and drank hot chocolate. Was it a balanced day of eating? Certainly not! It was a day of celebrating, because we only get one life. There is time for healthy eating, but marathon day is not that time!

Since the marathon, I have felt less hunger pangs. At the same time, my stomach has felt like a bottomless pit. I have eaten as much or more than I did during peak week of training. I have been craving more whole grains, fruits, and vegetables, however, and desserts do not seem that appealing. (I am guessing my body is balancing out the massive amount of sugar I consumed in the form of gels during the marathon.) Whatever the case, I am trying to listen to my body and give it what it needs

God made our bodies smart. I read that it can take up to a month to replenish glycogen stores, and I want that to happen, so I am going to keep eating, eating, eating (Higdon, n.d.). I ran a marathon. Now I guess I have a marathon of eating?

References:

Featherstun, M. (n.d.). Carb loading. https://www.featherstonenutrition.com/carb-loading/

Higdon, H. (n.d.). Post-marathon recovery: Novice. https://www.halhigdon.com/training-programs/post-marathon-recovery/novice-post-marathon/

When More is Simpler (November Update)

More with Less is the title of a cookbook. Sometimes simplicity does mean doing more with less. On the flip side,  sometimes having more is simpler. Take for instance, this past weekend. I traveled for three days, and each of those three days, I was in a different place. I had a small suitcase set out for packing, but I quickly realized that the space was limiting. I asked my husband for the bigger suitcase and just started throwing stuff in. More space meant less need to make decisions. Win.

When I initially checked the forecast, I thought it would be cold. When I checked it again, it looked warmer. I just added t-shirts to the stack of long sleeves already in the suitcase. More options meant less need to buy or borrow new clothes on the trip. It also allowed me to feel more comfortable in the variable temperatures I experienced.

I took a lot of snacks with me. I accepted more snacks from my mom and dad when I stopped by their house. Did I really need all those snacks? I did not think so. Did things work out where I ate most of the snacks? Yes. Although granola bars and other snacks do not a good diet make, they did help assuage my hunger when I lacked other options.

Do I always want to overpack for trips? No. Lots of times, this incurs extra fees and extra responsibilities. In the case of this trip, having more simplified my life and gave me a better trip, and I am grateful for it!

Cruise Cuisine

No menu for this week because we were on VACATION! (Specifically, we were on a cruise to Bermuda and then in Boston for a day). Here is some of the great cuisine we consumed:

Made to order eggs with breakfast potatoes and grilled tomato

Shakshuka with feta

Bread service every night with dinner in one of the main dining rooms (and I took leftovers back to our room for evening snack):

Caesar salad

Hamburgers galore (this one being a blue cheese burger)

Broiled lemon-pepper coalfish (probably my favorite dinner of the cruise)

Lemon-pepper shrimp with orzo

Salads of our own making from the buffet

Chocolate cake with mango couli (My favorite dessert of the cruise)

Late night (or anytime) soft serve ice cream from the buffet

Regular scooped ice cream during dining hours

I did notice that most of the meals had about double the protein I usually eat/serve at home, but that was okay for a splurge. Not all the food was spectacular, but all of it was good, and it was all included in the price we paid for the cruise. Win for not needing to keep track of food in the fridge, menus, or food cleanup!

Easter 2024

It snowed again this Easter in Arizona. (Well, it snowed at higher elevations.)

We left beautiful weather in Mesa to travel up the hill to windy Prescott Valley to see my parents. We arrived in time to enjoy a tasty lunch at the restaurant now in the location of a place my husband and I spent some of our dating days.

We got to walk around the Prescott Courthouse Square.

After a lovely nap, I frosted our Easter cake 

and gave my mom a haircut.

While it did snow Sunday, there was no snow on the roads, so I went for a short 5K run. 

It felt warm and fun until the snow picked up and kept hitting me in the face. 

Mom managed to make some quick cinnamon raisin biscuits before going to there early church service, and I whipped up some omelets. Some sweet strawberries made for a nice garnish.

We attended our old church and saw some special friends.

Then home for our now traditional lamb shepherd's pie that my husband makes.

It was a sweet weekend. Christ is risen; He's risen indeed!

2023 Food Trends

Time for all the yearly round up posts! We will start with this one: things we ate. In the past, we engaged in food trends for an entire year (or years, in the case of tacos!) This year, was more of a seasonal year. 

We did burritos most Tuesdays (but not a new recipe every week-30 new recipes):

Christmas-style beef burritos (Home Chef)

After our Wisconsin cheese fest, lots of grilled cheese and quesadillas (34 new recipes):

Grilled ham and cheese with honey mustard sauce (Tastes Better from Scratch)

Plenty of muffins (More than a recipe a week-69 new recipes), 

Apple banana oat muffins (Sally’s Baking Addiction)

And then lots more mug cakes (More than one a day-424 and counting). 

Orange mug cake (Veltessa)

It's been a good food year. Praise the Lord for His provision!

All the Cheese

We just returned from a lovely trip to visit my brother in Wisconsin. This trip ticked all the boxes: good food, special times with family, and lots of outside time and exploring new spaces. I would totally go back, like tomorrow. But anyway. Brother said I should name my trip recap "cheese and gadgets," so in his honor, here is part one: the cheese.

We ate, like, a lot of cheese. There are stereotypes about Wisconsin cheese, and then there is the real thing. Yes, cheese is really a big thing up there! I mean, have you every seen this big of a cheese aisle in your grocery store? This photo was one side of the aisle, and this was at a budget store!

Needless to say, we picked up some cheese at the store, and tried it later at home.

Bread cheese (fried on the stove)

But before that, we visited a local farmer's market and bought some local stuff

Yes, the curds squeaked when we ate them. It's a freshness thing?

Spicy cheese roll with havarti

We ate fried mac 'n cheese bites at brother's company picnic.

The boys loaded up their baked potatoes with some shreds when we grilled out.

Brother got a pesto grilled cheese and shared when we went out for coffee at Barrique's Market.

We got all the cheesy appetizers at dinner:

Bavarian pretzel with cheese sauce and fried cheese curds at Great Dane Pub and Brewing

And plenty of cheesy entrees:

Texarkana burger (with sharp cheddar) and waffle fries

Irish road reuben (with melty Swiss) and house salad

Big dog smash melt (with sharp cheddar and white American cheese)

We tried goat cheese with marinara at Sugar River Pizza Company for lunch another day.

As well as some green goddess pizza

and ricotta be kiddin' me pizza.

We snacked on some tiramisu we made with marscapone cheese at brother's house.

And yes, we brought some smoked gouda cheese home. I don't think we're cheesed out yet?