The Curmudgeonly Cook: Mexican Vacation Edition!

I certainly didn’t intend to take a month-long hiatus from writing but apparently that’s what happens when I go on vacation! My sister got married in Mexico so, you know, twist my rubber arm to go hang out on a beach for a week!

Jeff and I were both so excited as we prepared to depart. He was excited to get away from work, eat new foods, and spend time at the open bar. I was excited to laze about in the sun wearin my cute new bathing suits, go snorkeling, and, most importantly, not have to cook for a seven whole days!

I am not an adventurous eater, like Jeff, but I tried a few new things. The food on our resort was excellent, especially at the a la cartes (keeping true to my stubborn palette, my favourite my the Italian restaurant. As always, you can’t hurt my feelings with bread, cheese, and pasta). Jeff and my stepdad enjoyed the Steakhouse best. My mom couldn’t contain herself for this little cream puff thing they had at the buffet. We literally went to the buffet after having dinner at an a la carte, just to get a cream puff.

The only foods of which I remembered to take pictures were desserts. Did I ever tell you about the time Jeff’s mom delivered me an entire cheesecake? I’m just saying, If there’s cheese in cake form, I’m there.

The cheesecake in Mexico was delicious (though, I must say right now, not as good as Ruth’s. And I’m not just saying that because she reads the blog. Ruth makes the best damned cheesecake I’ve ever had, no joke!). I had cheesecake at the Steakhouse and it was the perfect dessert to my meal. I prefer a graham cracker crust but the softer shell was also good.

My favourite dessert of the trip was the cannolis at the Italian restaurant. The shell was crunchy but not overly messy and the filling was so creamy and not overpoweringly sweet. It was such a perfect, light dessert after a heavy meal of pasta and bread.

For the life of me, I can’t remember what I had for dessert at the Mexican restaurant but I know Jeff had ice cream. He said it was good. I had ice cream at the buffet a couple times; it has a different texture than what we’re used to but that’s probably because it’s actual iced cream and not some weird edible oil product that comes out of a machine at Dairy Queen.

The meal served at my sister’s wedding was probably the best thing we ate the whole vacation. The appetizer was goat cheese and tomato slices, of which Jeff didn’t eat much (he likes cheese as an ingredient but not as a slice to bite into, and we both hate tomatoes). I smeared the cheese on a dinner roll (this same thing was served to us at the Mexican restaurant) and it was soOOooOo good. It was so delicious that I pillaged extra dinner rolls from my neighbour’s plates (with their permission, of course).

The main course was steak with vegetables. I know steak-eaters will hate this but I’m a well-done sort of girl so I traded the middle of my steak to Jeff for the more cooked edges of his.

Again, for some reason, I can’t remember what we had for dessert. Whatever it was, I’m sure it was yummy.

We weren’t there for a day before Jeff said to me, “From now on, we are doing this every year.” To which I responded, “Uh… yeah-huh!!” We had a lot of fun. The resort was lovely, the staff were so helpful and friendly, the food was delicious, and the beach was gorgeous! The sun was a bit of a jerk but I’ll trade an aggressive sunburn to be free of the burden of the kitchen any day.

Broccoli Chicken Marinara Lasagna Rolls

This was another recipe I found while aimlessly scrolling through the Tasty app. It had one of those videos that makes it look easy and delicious so, even though I don’t have a spring-locking pan, I figured I could make do with what I had.

The recipe
Pull-Apart Broccoli Chicken Alfredo Lasagna Rolls from tasty.co.

Ingredient changes
I did groceries during the day so I was preparing ingredients when Jeff got home. I explained the recipe to him, stating that I would need his help making the noodles. He gave me that surprised “umm… what?” sort of look, to which I responded, “umm… what?”

“I hate Alfredo sauce. It’s the white sauce I hate the most.”

OMG. We literally had the white sauce conversation with the much-maligned ravioli dish last night. Good thing I listen so well. Also a good thing I had marinara sauce on hand to substitute.

The only other thing I changed was the wide lasagna noodles. My trusty No Frills didn’t have them so I settled for regular-sized noodles.

Ease (or not) of prep
I thought I’d learned my lesson about shredding chicken when I made Buffalo Chicken Cheese Dip, but apparently I’m a glutton for punishment. Cooking and shredding chicken, finely chopping broccoli, shredding cheese, boiling noodles, all before actually putting together the ingredients resulted in a total of about two hours prepping this meal.

Jeff and I had a sort of assembly line situation going as we rolled the noodles.

“Look at us, cooking together,” he said.

“Thank god,” I replied. “I can’t imagine doing this alone.”

To which he said, “I can’t imagine you doing this again.” *crying laughing emoji*

Special guest curmudgeons: Jeff’s family
I also made Cheesy Pesto Bread with this dish so we had quite a bit of pasta left over. The next day, we went to visit Jeff’s brother and sister-in-law so we took the lasagna rolls with us. Jason apparently hates broccoli so he only had one, but he said it was good (he might have been lying). Stacey said they were great and took a few to keep for lunch the next day.

The Boyfriend Test: Pass
The marinara sauce was a stroke of good luck because Jeff said he really liked these.

Picky Eater Test: Pass, but only just
These were quite delicious. They tasted like lasagna but they’re finger food so that was a fun twist. I’m glad that I couldn’t find the extra wide noodles because the normal noodles, cut in half, were the perfect size to handle and get a few bites from. Bigger noodles might have made them harder to keep from falling apart. Unfortunately, they just aren’t good enough to make up for the insane prep time. If it takes so long to make something that your back hurts and you need a break, that’s too freaking long.

We made a whole big pan but there were a few we couldn’t fit so I froze them. Once those are gone, that’s it because, even though they’re yummy, I am never making lasagna rolls again. Apparently having to shred chicken makes me really grumpy.

Spinach Artichoke Ravioli Bake

Running out of ideas for things to make has led to a lot of pasta dishes, especially since the ones I’ve done so far have been so successful. I wasn’t looking for pasta specifically, but I found this recipe the same time I found the Cheesy Pesto Bread, so I decided to make them both.

The recipe
Spinach Artichoke Ravioli Bake from tasty.co.

Ingredient changes
The comments on the recipe talk about using different kinds of ravioli so I decided to use a non-frozen one. Also, the recipe didn’t specify type so I included my usual skim milk and 5% sour cream.

Ease (or not) of prep
I’m a bit torn here. On one hand, the directions were pretty straightforward: dump stuff in a bowl, mix it, pour in a pan with some ravioli layered in. On the other hand, it took a bit of time to prepare; from start to oven it took about 45 minutes.

The Boyfriend Test: Fail
Unbeknownst to me, Jeff has, in fact, met a food he doesn’t like, and it’s name is ravioli. Not only that, but he hates white sauce (his words). He can’t give much of an explanation why, but he knew before even taking a bite that he wouldn’t like this. To his credit, he at least tried it with several bites, but couldn’t finish his bowl. It’s a good thing I also made the Cheesy Pesto Bread because otherwise, he wouldn’t have had anything to eat.

Picky Eater Test: Eh, pass, I guess
Generally speaking, this dish was alright. The sauce was creamy and the ravioli pieces were good, but I can’t give the recipe credit for that since they were store-bought. I didn’t chop the artichoke hearts because the recipe didn’t say to do so, but I wish I had.

Special guest curmudgeons: my neighbours
Since Jeff wouldn’t want anymore, I asked my neighbours to help me with the leftovers. Amadita, across the hall, took a portion to lunch and texted me saying, “Omg it’s so goooooooood.” Victoria, from downstairs, ever the writer, wrote me a review as long as some of my blog posts (I, ever the editor, cut it down a smidge):

I wish I ate it warm first. If ever someone delivers you food in a still-warm container, do not think, “I’ll save it for lunch tomorrow.” Dig in and enjoy a mouthful or two, right away.

My first bites were cold. I found it amazingly tangy — I have never had a pasta with this flavour note so forward before; I liked it. Nuking it didn’t get back to its original creamy consistency, and all I could think was, it’s not as cream-forward as an Alfredo. I found the sauce refreshing and light; it must be that tanginess influence or cheese selection. The pasta — OMG heavenly. It was light, and not dense like other ravioli’s purchased from the freezer section of the grocer.

This was a solid “PASS” and I encourage it being made a second time… and I’m invited to the first serving.

I’m glad you liked it, Victoria, but you’re on your own. The pasta comes from Fortinos, in the fresh pasta section near the deli. The mozzarella cheese I used was a ball in blue packaging, in the same section as the pasta.

Unfortunately, I’m not as excited about the dish as my neighbours. The lengthy prep time, coupled with the fact that Jeff really didn’t like it means I won’t be making this again.

Chicken Club Pasta Salad

I’m a pretty big fan of pasta. Jeff enjoys spaghetti much more than I do, but dishes with ravioli or penne are guaranteed wins for me. Plus I practically lived off Kraft Dinner when I was in college. Unfortunately, there’s only so much KD one can eat before getting annoyed with the noodles splitting and turning into a gelatinous blob with powdered cheese. We had such success with the Chicken Primavera that I went looking for another pasta dish to try.

The recipe
Chicken Club Pasta Salad from allrecipes.com.

Ingredient changes
I made quite a few changes with this recipe but it mostly came down to personal preferences or what ingredients I had on hand. First, I had chicken breasts so I fried them with a bit of salt and pepper instead of buying a rotisserie chicken. Second, I browsed the comments of those that made the recipe and they said twelve slices of bacon was a bit much so we used six. Third, I used old cheddar cheese instead of Muenster. Fourth, I completely eliminated the tomatoes and avocado because we don’t like tomato and avocado is too high maintenance for a food. Finally, to replace the red colour lost with the tomatoes, I added a red pepper.

Ease (or not) of prep
We used almost every dish in the kitchen to make this but overall it was similar to the Chicken Primavera dish. Chop some veggies, cook some chicken, make some pasta, throw it all in a bowl. With Jeff helping, it took us about 45 minutes to pull together. Prep might not have been so bad but clean up was a nightmare! This image features only half of our kitchen; behind me is another stack of used dishes, a frying pan, a pot, and a pile of leavings from the vegetables. If there’s one thing I hate as much as cooking, it’s doing dishes.

The Boyfriend Test: Pass
I’m beginning to think The Boyfriend Test is unnecessary because I don’t think Jeff has met a food he didn’t like. He said this was really delicious but it could use more bacon (go figure).

Picky Eater Test: Pass
Overall this was pretty good. I don’t mind when green peppers are cooked into a dish but I struggle with their raw, earthy flavour. I tried to eat them but eventually I had to pick them out of my portion. Also, next time I make this, I’ll buy proper cheese because I like the bite of a sharper flavour. It will be a great dish to make and bring to a family gathering in the summer… that is, if the party isn’t over by the time we finish cleaning up the friggin’ mess.

The Curmudgeonly Cook: Jeff’s Mom Edition

Are you suffering from an intense hatred of cooking? Do you have symptoms such as decreased stamina for grocery shopping, sore back from hauling bags of food into the apartment, cramped fingers from chopping vegetables, and lost time where you could be doing anything else? If so, we have the remedy for you. Introducing Jeff’s mom, commonly known as “Ruth.” With Ruth, you can forget all your cooking woes! Ruth will ease your suffering and send fully-cooked meals right to your door. Chili with bread bowls? No problem! Potato skins? A cinch! Chicken wings and sausage rolls? Coming right up! With one dose of Ruth, you will be able to feed you and your partner for at least a week! Call now and we’ll throw in a large dish of pasta with cheese, absolutely free! But wait, there’s more. Call in the next three minutes and we’ll send our exclusive delivery system, Jeff’s dad, or “John” to not only deliver your meals but pick up the dishes when you’re finished. All this for the low, low price of you-didn’t-even-have-to-ask! Warning: side effects may include giant portions of delicious foods, full bellies, and excess time to engage in hobbies. Ruth does not take responsibility for snarky attitude from delivery personnel or terrible dad jokes. Ask The Curmudgeonly Cook if Ruth is right for you.