A lot of regular standbys, but one day of great new recipes - the Gai Yang and Grilled Potato Salad. Those were both great.

The Lemongrass Chicken was a nice change of pace too.

Overall I made 45 things in May.

May 1

Super-Simple Friday Night Meatballs (Dinner)

As usual, I satueed some onion first, then added 2 quarts of my pomarola sauce.

1.5lbs of beef, .5 of pork. Panko bread crumbs (1 cup) moistened with the eggs and some milk.

Rice Bean Cheese Burrito (Kid's Lunch)

Asparagus

May 2

Roasted Vegetables

Just zucchini. I made kind of like the chicken and basil recipe, by mincing together garlic and oregano and salt, tossed that with the zucchini and olive oil. I roasted that for 20-30 minutes.

May 4

Roasted Cauliflower

May 5

Crispy Tofu with Cashews and Blistered Snap Peas

Dry Sauteed String Beans

In the wok - I think the green beans weren't as good, and I'm not sure about the wok technique. I'll try them again with some better beans.

May 6

Cheese Toast (Dinner)

Green Salad

May 7

Sauteed Baby Bok Choy

A riff on the recipe I usually make, I think. The bok choy I had was pretty dirty, so I split the leaves apart to really scrub it (instead of trying to split it and keep it together like normal).

The rest was pretty similar - preheat a pan with some oil, dump the boy choy in (still pretty wet), add maybe 1 tbsp of soy sauce, and cover for 5-10 minutes to get a bit sauce. Then uncover, let the water cook off and cook for a few more minutes to deepen the flavor.

This was simpler than normal and turned out well.

Lemongrass Chicken (Dinner)

Turned out really well. Is this the same recipe I made before, from Vietnamese Home Cooking? There were parts I just didn't remember. Maybe I interpreted it differently the last time?

I think it was better this time. I halved the fish sauce (replacing it with an extra tbsp of water). Also: when the recipe says turn the heat down to medium-high, at least on my stove that's not halfway between high and medium. Maybe 1/3 down from high, but you still want your stove going pretty hard.

Oatmeal (Breakfast)

Scrambled Eggs (Breakfast)

May 8

Garlic Butter Fried Rice (Lunch)

Filipinx, page 75

Air Dried Cured Beef (Lunch)

Good with the garlic rice. Really easy. I'd make it again. Also from Filipinx.

May 9

The Best Basic Guacamole (Dinner)

Hard Shell Tacos (Dinner)

I let the beef cook a bit longer and it actually get crisp, this was way better.

Roasted Broccoli

Rice Bean Cheese Burrito (Kid's Lunch)

Quesadillas (Kid's Lunch)

May 11

Hasselback Potatoes

May 12

The Best Basic Guacamole (Dinner)

Vegetarian Skillet Chili (Dinner)

I only had one can of beans, so added another half onion. This was super easy and everyone liked it. Maybe the easiest thing I've ever cooked. Cut an onion and 3 garlic cloves and measure 2 teaspoons, that's really it.

May 14

Oatmeal (Breakfast)

Sausage and Peppers Pasta With Broccoli (Dinner)

A one-dish dinner- there was enough veggies in here so I didn't do anything in the side. I had precooked Italian sausage and one raw; the raw was far better. The broccoli didn't seem like it would cook but it turned out fine. Maybe smaller florets and thicker garlic slices. Also more salt - I left out the parmesan (someone doesn't like it) and didn't replace it with enough salt.

Overall the recipe was pretty easy and it turned out well. The reviews from everyone were that it was fine. And it was! Not exceptional, not bad, pretty easy. I'll make this again or maybe try the technique again.

May 15

Cast Iron Chicken with Roasted Lemon and Rosemary (Dinner)

I used 3 lb of chicken thighs, which worked out to 6 thighs. That's fine, but maybe 4lb next time (or get 8 thighs).

Pasta and Pesto

Green Salad

May 16

Salami Sandwich (Kid's Lunch)

May 20

Sheet-Pan Sausage With Peppers and Tomatoes

I used bell peppers, red onions, and sliced garlic for the veggies, along with 1.5lbs of sausage. To have enough sausage leftovers maybe go up to 2lbs next time.

May 21

Sauteed Snap Peas

We had a big crop of snap peas from the back garden, so I made them two ways - in a salad and sauteed.

The sautee turned out kind of OK. I got the heat high, but put a little too much oil in I think so I couldn't get the flavor I was looking for. I'm actually not even sure if that's the answer- I wanted them a little crunchy, but they all wilted. I think something closer to the dry sauteed green beans would have been better. Maybe no oil at all next time, or just a bit at the end to help the salt stick.

This was all with some leftover meat (italian sausage from last night, and a takeout chicken from the night before).

Green Salad

Heavy on the snap peas and carrots.

May 22

Thai-Style Grilled Chicken (Gai Yang) (Dinner)

I was looking for recipes I could make outside on the BBQ- it's hot out and I didn't want to make it hotter inside by cooking.

The recipe was easy and I thought it turned out great. I only had a few hours to marinate, maybe plan better next time?

I only used half of the fish sauce and didn't have dried coriander. I added a bit more soy sauce to help the marinade puree.

Grilled-Potato Salad With Grilled-Lemon Vinaigrette

I thought this would be all on the BBQ, but I guess I didn't read it closely enough. Still this was great, even before BBQing the potatoes they were a hit. My only complaint was that little fingerling potatoes are a pain on the grill, it's too much to turn a whole lot of little ones.

May 25

Reverse Seared Steak (Dinner)

I added onions around the steak when I started searing to try to limit the spitting, also because onions cooked after the steak are delicious.

May 27

Hot Dogs (Dinner)

Camping hot dogs

Corn

Just made these on the grill pan on my camping stove. The corn was already shucked (it was from a flat pack). No butter or anything, just got some grill marks and warmed them up, but these were great.

May 28

Pancakes (Breakfast)

Camping, so from a mix. I added chocolate and marshmallows, but I forgot oil so everything melted and got weird. Kids loved them though. S'mores pancakes!

Panko Fried Chicken with Lemon (Dinner)

With watermelon

May 29

Scrambled Eggs (Breakfast)

Tried for 1.5tbsp of butter with 4 eggs and still got feedback that it was too much. I don't know man. Maybe 1 next time?

Bacon (Breakfast)

Avocado Toast

Grilled bread (brushed with olive oil, with a heavy pan on top to hold it down) and then avocado on top.

This was a great technique for getting the bread nice and grilled, without a ton of time. I've gone on to use this a bunch more times recently. It helps (maybe?) to heat up the pan you're going to use as a press, so everything gets warm.

May 31

Quesadillas (Kid's Lunch)

Hard Shell Tacos (Dinner)

I added onions garlic and the rest to start. The meat didn't crisp up like last time - maybe I drained too much fat? And I didn't add enough of the spice either.

Another thought- I was watching How to make the Perfect Burger at home, according to science, and I wonder if the beef I used had less fat than the last time. Maybe next time try 70/30 beef.

Green Salad