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Anyone fancy a Well Fed challenge?


Hannlib

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Like many on here I love my copies of Well Fed and Well Fed 2 ... and I want to make sure I have tried every delicious recipe in them. I've cooked many recipes already over the last 18m or so (my first round was May 2014), some of which have become regular favourites. Some I have made once and not been bothered to make again, some I have made once or twice and really should make again, and some I've looked at many times but never made.

 

I'm a dedicated meal planner, and I'm challenging myself to include at least one new recipe from these fab books each week - in the hopes of discovering some new favourites! I'll also try to re-visit ones I've made before but am not so familiar with.

 

Anyone else fancy it?? I'm starting on the protein dishes but you could try veggies, sauces or spice blends too.

 

So - I meal planned last night and shopped this morning and tonight we had Moo Shu pork (WF2). It's a bit of a prep-heavy dish, I made the Hoisin sauce (also new!) and marinated the pork yesterday. Lots of veggies to chop too, but then it all comes together quickly. I separated out the cabbage as it disagrees with my husband and ate mine on a bed of cabbage. Husband and the kids had theirs in butter lettuce wraps as recommended. We didn't add sides - it was a great template meal! Everyone loved it. Well, except the 2 year old (who only ate beansprouts), but she doesn't like much ...

I think it's a bit faffy for a midweek meal for me but a great weekend one. Would be easy to upscale for guests too.

 

 

I've got BBQ beef (WF2, minus the illegal waffle) to go in the slow cooker tomorrow morning, I've made the BBQ sauce before but I don't think I've ever made the whole recipe. 

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Please define "faffy"

I love my Well Fed books! I used to pick recipes by randomly opening one and saying This One! These books introduced me to many wonderful new foods. With Nom Nom Paleo, I had to limit myself each week to surfing one book, too many choices. Nowadays many of the recipes are off limits to me due to FODMAPs, some can be modified but others like the roasted cabbage not so much. Funny thing is I still rave about that recipe and share it. So I haven't been using the books much lately. This is a good reminder to take another look at them, push myself a bit.

I'm flipping thru WF2 right now shopping around for a chicken idea. Looking at Taj Mahal or Piña colada. Sunrise Scramble for my ground beef.

The challenge for me would include not fussing if my meals don't look like hers in the pictures ;)

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Ah yes, she does use an awful lot of onion and garlic which are not always my friends. I've started cutting right down on the quantities I use.

Faffy might be a British word, sorry! I mean lots of steps, lots of chopping, cooking things separately. I enjoy that kind of cooking at the weekend but not midweek.

My favourite chicken recipe from well fed 2 is the buffalo chicken salad ... Maybe not so much January food though! The pina colada chicken and the taj Mahal I didn't enjoy so much though I know others that did so definitely worth a try!

Love sunrise spice too.

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The West African Chicken Stew (WF2) is one of my absolute favorites and an easy prep! Just leave out the vanilla extract or substitute Vanilla Bean. I have paired it with her simple lemon spinach or you can throw it on some cauliflower rice - super yummy. 

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I do the Pina Colada chicken a bit different. I sprinkle raw chicken thighs with the jerk seasoning and then bake them on the weekend. Then when it's dinner day, you just have to chop the chicken up rather than dealing with raw meats during the week. Then I follow all her instructions for the veggies but I also add 2# chopped up baby zucchini because I prefer it served casserole-style rather than over zoodles (also less work!). And I add a LOT more jerk seasoning to the whole thing to liven it up.

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The West African Chicken Stew (WF2) is one of my absolute favorites and an easy prep! Just leave out the vanilla extract or substitute Vanilla Bean. I have paired it with her simple lemon spinach or you can throw it on some cauliflower rice - super yummy. 

This is my all time favorite dish ever and the most requested dish from my kids!  I serve it with coconut almond cauliflower rice (minus the lime juice)  http://thehealthyfoodie.com/almond-coconut-cauliflower-rice/.  I made a triple batch last night so I can put a few servings in the freezer.

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oh- the BBQ beef was utterly delicious. I had mine with coleslaw and roasted sprouts and pickles. DH had his with casablanca carrots and green beans (he doesn't do cabbagey stuff). Really easy apart from the BBQ sauce making - but there's plenty of sauce left over so maybe we'll make it again v soon. 

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Ladyshanny I did what you suggested with the chicken -- cooked the chicken separately from the veggies to make it less faffy with the raw meats. A new word! :)  I haven't tried the recipe yet, but once again my end product looks nothing like Mel's picture. Instead I have browned-juice veggies that are soggy. Oh well. It's all about the taste in the end. 

 

I hacked the sunshine recipe and maybe made it too good? I don't do apple or sweet potato (FODMAP) so I sub out for other veggies. This time I did sliced radishes, all colors of pepper, jalapeno, carrots. So all that with ground beef in the pan. Then I put the butternut squash with eggs and ghee butter in my food processor to lightly chop them up. Not a quite a puree. Then I stirred that into my ground beef/veggies until it started to form up. Oh WOW. It formed an almost solid casserole like dish. I've been using butternut squash as a thickener/binder/creamier agent lately and this was....oh... maybe a little too good.Is that possible?! I could eat that WHOLE THING at once! LOL!

 

LOVE the casablanca carrots. And I re-found the Herb Salad yesterday, doing that this week too. Great push to pull these books out again, thanks!

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Ladyshanny I did what you suggested with the chicken -- cooked the chicken separately from the veggies to make it less faffy with the raw meats. A new word! :)  I haven't tried the recipe yet, but once again my end product looks nothing like Mel's picture. Instead I have browned-juice veggies that are soggy. Oh well. It's all about the taste in the end. 

Really?? I'm actually making this tonight with leftover cooked turkey that I just took out of the freezer so I'm going to compare what I do with what her recipe says and see if maybe there's something different going on? I don't normally read the recipe anymore so maybe I forgot to tell you something? I'll take a picture of my end result for you.

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I am eating leftover coconut-almond green beans right now -- one of my absolute faves from Well Fed. That sauce would be good on anything.

Now this is one I haven't made for ages but I absolutely LOVE it. Need to get it on the menu for next week.

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Really?? I'm actually making this tonight with leftover cooked turkey that I just took out of the freezer so I'm going to compare what I do with what her recipe says and see if maybe there's something different going on? I don't normally read the recipe anymore so maybe I forgot to tell you something? I'll take a picture of my end result for you.

 

Oh I don't think how my recipe turned out had anything to do with your suggestion! Didn't mean that. I think I just overcook things a bit? Just doesn't have that bright colorful mouth-watering rainbow explosion like Mel's pictures. 

I just meant to let you know that making the chicken separately worked great. :)

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I tried a new recipe last night. We had salmon for the first time in ages ... I always do it the same way, with lemon zest and paprika. But I decided to branch out, so i made the salmon a l'Afrique du Nord from Well Fed. It was ..... okay. I oven baked it because January "grilling" really isn't a thing round these parts. The kids ate it, but insisted I scraped the "brown yukky stuff" off the top. I definitely prefer salmon my usual way and don't eat it often enough to feel the need to ring the changes, and I really don't share Mel's adoration of cumin.

 

But anyway, it was okay. I won't make it again but if anyone fancies curry-ish salmon it was VERY easy.

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I tried a new recipe last night. We had salmon for the first time in ages ... I always do it the same way, with lemon zest and paprika. But I decided to branch out, so i made the salmon a l'Afrique du Nord from Well Fed. It was ..... okay. I oven baked it because January "grilling" really isn't a thing round these parts. The kids ate it, but insisted I scraped the "brown yukky stuff" off the top. I definitely prefer salmon my usual way and don't eat it often enough to feel the need to ring the changes, and I really don't share Mel's adoration of cumin.

 

But anyway, it was okay. I won't make it again but if anyone fancies curry-ish salmon it was VERY easy.

Oh, I absolutely adore this recipe!!!!!!!  My husband, not so much.  But as the sole food-preparer, decider, shopper, cleaner-upper, this is the way we eat it.  ;)  Mel definitely has an affinity towards cumin!  

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi all you Whole30ers who love to cook (and love Well Fed).

I am a newbe who is on day 3 and cooking and prepping more than I ever have. I am determined that my husband-who agreed to take this adventure with me-will not be disappointed or have a reason to cheat. I'm not controlling; really I'm not! So, I have been scouring the W30 recipes (the walnut crusted porkloin is fantastic) and Well Fed #1.

Anyway, last night I made the Best Chicken You Will Ever Eat, and it was!! Oh my gosh!!! Both those recipes were so good and wonderful as leftovers on a salad for lunch the next day.

After reading your posts, I now need to buy both #1 and #2 since I have been checking and rechecking a #1 from the library. It may not be in any shape to return it if I don't hurry.

I really appreciate all your suggestions and recommendations for recipes. Now I can't wait to try all of them.

Thanks, this is a great place to come with questions or just to get info and ideas.

Vicki

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Hi Vicki, happy cooking! The Well Fed books are worth every single penny. I'm in the UK and they are expensive here but still so worth it.

I've been a bit up to my eyeballs in moving stress so not as engaged with my cooking but we're still eating well. I made walnut Crusted pork chops last week - not in the books but on Mel joulwan's website - and they were so good! we have the fiesta pork chops a lot but these were a delicious alternative.

Tonight I'm making Lebanese meatballs from wf2. I was tidying my cupboards and discovered the Lebanese 7 spice blends which apparently I had made then forgotten about and never used! So meatballs tonight, and I'm making baba ganoush which I haven't made for a while. Going to try roasting the garlic - raw garlic and I are not friends, last time I left it out but it really didn't taste as good at all. So roast or maybe gently sautée it in some oil I think.

I made that chicken once and didn't think it worth the effort tbh .... I quite like plain chicken breast though! So many fab recipes to try.

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Happy cooking to you too, Hannlib. And happy moving-yuck! I hope all the work will be worth it, just like all our cooking efforts are worth it for our health and well being.

I have Pork chops on the menu for tomorrow; I'm going to see of I can find that pork chop recipe and do it instead. Thanks for the recommendation.

Cheers

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Here you go http://meljoulwan.com/2016/01/12/walnut-crusted-pork-chops-baked-apples/

Tonight's Lebanese meatballs were delicious. The lamb kept them juicy and tender and the flavour was delicate. Served with zoodles, baba ganoush, crunchy crudité salad and I made the kebab/ gyro mayo variation sauce which I haven't made for ages. Super good

Hope you enjoy the pork chops, even my kids loved them and that's saying something!

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I've always loved sardines. As a kid, my dad and I would hike together in the woods. He'd bring a knapsack with our snacks that included a can for each of us and we'd just eat them right out of the can. That's how I've eaten them all my life. I just made the pan-fried sardines in WF2 with adjustments for the few things I didn't have. She wasn't kidding when she said "pile on top of lettuce and eat like an animal "! Where has this been all my life?

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I made the cottage pie last night and just had a big serving of leftovers tonight too. Sooooo good! It might have replaced chocolate chili as my favorite meal. But I do currently have cinnamon beef stew simmering for tomorrow that smells incredible too. . .

When I made the salmon cakes I found them a bit too salty (and I love salt). I wonder if it was the salmon I used. I recently made the coconut almond green beans and I said the same thing - that sauce would be amazing on anything! Spinach/meat muffins are also one of my favorites!! So simple, so many ways to change them up, and easy to eat cold on the go.

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