SparkNB's Journey to Fitness

 2 medium sweet onions, diced, caramelized in     1.5 T avocado oil, add 8 oz mushrooms, sliced Cook 10 min, adding water as necessary to deglasze pan; serves 2

 Some of the things to cook this week, Jan 1-7, 2022: My pre-frozen Pierogies for Ukrainian Xmas Eve Leftover Sausage & Sauerkraut Carrot Lentil Soup Roasted turnip & radishes Pumpkin curry Slow Cooker Hawaiian Pineapple Chicken Roast Beast Baked Tofu &/ Stewed Pork Kale Pesto & Spaghetti Squash Roasted Delicata Squash with Cranberries Potato, Acorn Squash and Lentil Soup Refried Black Bean and Sweet Potato Soft Tacos Frozen Chicken Enchildas Mac & Cheese (w/Truffles) Takeout Pizza, tho  pizza dip (pepperoni)  may satisfy, w/ soft breadsticks *Cabbage Soup Whole Wheat Muffins: Pumpkin Spice Chocolate Chip Various Teas: Opened Apple Cinnamon; served orange, peppermint Puff Pastry;  Made  Cherry Braid Almond Paste; Made Macaro(o)ns Some of the things to cook this week, Jan 8-14, 2022: Roasted turnip & radishes Pumpkin curry Roast Beast Baked Tofu &/ Stewed Pork Kale Pesto & Spaghetti Squash Roasted Delicata Squash with Cranberries...

Here's my first review of my week for 2022, & renewal of tasks undone:  ( planned in italics ; didn't do in gray ;   review in purple ; CALORIES ate/day: ~=1670: SAT green ; >1670;  SAT aqua ; 1670 + / ++ SAT red /der ) FOR THE HOUSE: 1SAT : Shovel snow; Computer set-up for shopping                  Shoveled: 35; Clean+Cal: 35; DIDN'T set-up PC, did tidy area; NYr DAY 2SUN : Shovel snow; Basement/Cook?   New Moon CAPR             Shoveled: 60; Clean+Cal: 45; more tidy area; did food inventory, dental 3MON : Shovel snow?; Basement / Cook ?     Made HAWAIIAN CHICKEN             AEROBIX: 60; Clean+Cal: 60;  did tidy; 4TUES :  Shovel snow?;  Bthrm:stab.bar:wood=step 1;   Cook ?   Made  PUMPKmuff                  Shovel snow?;  Clean+C...

 Not exactly macaroons (which I think of as coconut) nor the recently trendy macarons (which are almond based, but more fussy?) these are more like the latter. Had an expired box of Solo almond paste, so needed to use it up...this recipe is from the back of the box, with 1 change: maraschino cherries are now cherries from canned cherry pie filling. Ingredients: 8 oz Solo Almond Paste 1 egg white 0.5 C sugar 5 oz Cherry Pie Filling (18 cherries) Direc tio ns: Preheat oven to 325F In food processor, break up almond paste, then process, add sugar & process, then add egg white and process for 2 min  (that basically seemed unnec...probly 20 sec was enough...but I followed the directions); Divide into 18 and roll balls (/pipe into stars) onto silicone-lined (silpat) sheet. Flatten & press thumb into it; place a cherry into each thumbprint, trying not to get much of the filling. Bake for 20 min on rack in middle of oven, then another 8 min on higher rack to brown Turned out k...

 Impressive looking, though the elders have a bit of a tough time with puff pastry. Preheat oven to 400. 10 oz cherry pie filling (half a 21 oz can) 13.2 oz puff pastry (I used Wewalka puff pastry) 1 egg yolk 0.25 C sugar On cookie sheet on a silicone pad (silpat; can be floured, I didn't bother), stretch out the unwrapped pastry, just a little to get out the crease; can be rolled out instead of stretching. Pour half a can of pie filling (can use \flavors other than cherry) down the middle of the sheet, almost to the edge on both sides, leaving about a 1 inch margin. On either side of the filling make cuts out to the sides, then...folding the first margin up, fold and lay the cut strips onto the filling, overlapping opposing sides, like a braid; tuck the 2nd margin underneath; paint the top exposed dough with the egg yolk to make it golden, then cover with sugar. Clean up any over-oozing around your braid then... Bake @ 400 for  15min Hat tip to JustGetOffYourButtAndBake Makes...

Betty Crocker Delights Super Moist Spice Cake Mix, 15.25 oz, or any similar 15 oz Pumpkin Puree Follow package directions; cook a little longer, a couple of minutes for more firm texture 12 servings

Preheat oven to 375F 1 lb ground turkey, browned , with    0.5 large carrot, shredded, and    1 T parsley, dried, in    1 T avocado oil, and    1 T garlic, minced, all  layered in 9x13'" pan with 24 oz Newman's Own Marinara sauce (1 jar) 15 oz Contadina tomato sauce (1 can) 15 oz Frigo Part-Skim Ricotta cheese (1 container) 3 T parmesan cheese, grated 6 oz mozzarella cheese, grated 9 oz Green Giant Simply Steam frozen spinach, (1 box) thawed, mostly drained 6 oz Reganno Oven Ready Lasagna noodles, (0.5 box)  Bake 40 min covered, 10 more min uncovered Makes 15 servings

 Betty Crocker Delights Super Moist Spice Cake Mix, 15.25 oz, or any similar 15 oz Pumpkin Puree Optional: 0.5 C Nestle Semi Sweet Mini Morels Follow package directions; cook a little longer, a couple of minutes for more firm texture 12 servings

7 large carrots, cut into rounds, and...   1 small onion, diced: caramelized in...    1 T avocado oil 3 T (0.25 C) vegetable bouillion 8 C water 2 C orange lentils, rinsed 2 T dried parsley 1 T dried onion 3 T diced garlic T Pink Himalayan Salt 1 T garam masala 3 T wheat bran Boil, then cook until carrots are tender and lentils are cooked, about 45 minutes; can be made in slow cooker, but it's...wait for it...slower, a couple of hours. Makes 8 servings

Wanted a different flavor profile — not Mexican, nor Chinese/Asian, nor Indian, nor Ukrainian, nor French, nor Italian...not even 'basic American' — and especially for dad, who is SO, SO ,  SO ,  SO!  bored with chicken, and just won't eat it anymore, which is a problem! for his nutrition...AND, ya gotta 'sweeten the deal' for him (I came up with this phrase 'cuz of his sweetest of sweet tooths...)...so to feed him chicken, and mom & I (who like it for it's high protein, lower fat content)...a few sweet chicken dishes were on my radar (i.e. pinterest):           Hawaiian Pineapple Chicken, Clean (whole foods=fruits and veg; slow cooker) (Chinese) Orange Chicken Brown Sugar Garlic Chicken (Asian) Honey Soy Chicken (Shoyu) (Chinese)Sweet and Sour Chicken (Mexican) Mango Salsa Chicken (French) Honey Mustard Chicken (Asian)  Miso Maple Chicken Lemon Honey Garlic Chicken Michigan Cherry Chicken Apricot Chicken Cranberry Catalina Chicken (...

Resolutions.... Bucket list; 30 day and 100 day challenges; Year-long challenge; accountability buddies/partners Substituting negative with positive...not "don'ts" but "do's" List of fun stuff...rewards, month-by-month: flowers blooming, going to the beach, going out to various restaurants &/or bars, museum exhibits and musical concerts, new tech or entertainment, vacation, buying new clothes or items for home, festivals and festive occasions, family and friends' events Word/Phrase of the Year Life Audit "...   disciplined Saturn keeps its course through revolutionary Aquarius... rise of humanitarian concerns worldwide.... may also see more questioning of ethics and privacy as human-centered design and artificial intelligence... Uranus, "the great disruptor," is in Taurus all year, dismantling outmoded structures and helping us to invent a new reality that serves all of us... shed old ideals, beliefs, and ways of thinking so we can beg...

FOR THE HOUSE: SAT: Shovel snow; Computer set-up for shopping SUN: Shovel snow; Basement/Cook? MON: Shovel snow?; Basement/Cook?  TUES: Bathroom stability bar...wood is step 1; Cook _____   WED: Shovel snow?; Clothes Washing Machine; Cook _____   THURS: Shovel snow?; Pizza/Basement/Cook?  FRI: Pizza/Basement/Cook?  *Cook 3 times; Pizza 1 other time FOR ME: Take my measurements Take "before" selfies Goals for 2022 Goals for Jan Get battery for scale Inventory food (to plan) Food prep