This week in the kitchen

Monday/21-Mar-22: Ed barbecued tonight. We had some really thin sirloin (faux-filet) steaks, marinated in a recipe I collected from EAT-L not too long ago. This was yummy. Served with a made up pasta-coleslaw thing, using up the green cabbage I still had a bit of. One chocolate-covered madeleine each for after. 

Tuesday/22-Mar-22: Dinner was Tuna Cakes with Lemon Dijon Sauce (web). These were okay, but nothing special. She says to be careful turning them because they're "delicate". Also they had no sticktuitiveness. Instead of freezing two patties for another meal, we'll have them crumbled on a sandwich soon. Served with a bit of trio rice and some carrots tarted up with shaved parmesan, pine nuts, lemon juice, and parsley. A nice, if messy, dinner.

Wednesday/23-Mar-22: Ed got to both Drives today, with a hearing aid checkup in between.

Dinner was Yellow Fin Sole met Peterseliepesto (web; AH/aug10), with cod masquerading as the yellow fin sole. I bought way too much parsley for this, so now have two big bosjes to use up. I forgot that I meant to make some nice potatoes with this, so I made some trio rice at the last minute. For after we had some Mothais Poitevin (a local-ish goat cheese wrapped in a chestnut leaf) that was on sale this week. 

Thursday/24-Mar-22: Dinner was based on a recipe I collected from EAT-L, Rotini and Crab. This sounded good when I collected it, but as I made it, I realized there was no sauce, nothing to hold the pasta, broccoli, and zuke together. So I stirred in a goodly chunk of a bakje of pyramid cheese. This was quite edible, if nothing special.

Friday/25-Mar-22: Dinner was a DMA recipe, Yogurt-Curry Marinated Chicken Thighs (web; GD; EW/mar-apr14). This was good. For a side there was Spanish Garlic Eggplant (web), easy and delicious, and store-bought Moroccan couscous. For after we split a mini bakje of HD ice cream.

Saturday/26-Mar-22: Since we're almost out of bread, I made a loaf of English Muffin Bread (MC). I'm going to move all my bread-makings to a spreadsheet similar to the one I used to keep for the bread machine when we were in Amstelveen. This is easier to maintain than the links I've been using, and easier to extract information from.

Dinner was Punjab Spiced Garbanzo Beans (BestPC, p119). This was ok, nothing to write home about. Served over plain basmati rice.

Sunday/27-Mar-22: We had lunch out today, then went to a concert. Nothing happened in the kitchen. 

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 4; #2 PHOTO: no;
This month: #3 GUESTS: n/a
This year: #5 BACKLOG2: yes #6 BACKLOG3:  no; #7 RECYCLE: 0; #8 NEW: 2

This week in the kitchen

Monday/22-Feb-21: Leftover fish pie for dinner, with steamed broccoli and carrots. Some store-bought lait au semoule for after.

Tuesday/23-Feb-21: Yogurt on overday.

Dinner was Soupe de Poulet au Citron à la Grecque (VPG). (I couldn't find this recipe online, but I did find a similar one with the same picture. Odd. We liked this a lot, so I've translated it for later use.) As a go-with, I looked at a couple of Greek salad recipes and made one up. I marinated a small can of chickpeas in a Greek vinaigrette (Greek, because of the oregano, I suppose); I marinated some thinly sliced red onion in red wine vinegar and a bit of sugar (it would have been better without the sugar); thawed and sliced some oven-dried tomatoes; tossed all with some lettuce (arugula or spinach would have been nice, but you use what you have); then topped with crumbled feta. It was all a bit too much like the soup, but who cares? A pair of chocolate-covered madeleines each for after.

Wednesday/24-Feb-21: Ed picked up groceries from both Drives today. We may try to stick to this schedule, semi-normal, which means a meal plan that sort of get follows instead of made up every day or so. Already had first change to meal plan. It's lovely bbq weather today and forecast for tomorrow, so we'll bbq tomorrow. 

Dinner was a half-recipe of Fish Molee* (web) with cod. This is yummy and easy to make. Served over long-grain brown rice, which wasn't strictly necessary but gives us some nice whole grain. No dessert.

Thursday/25-Feb-21: Made a loaf of Light Rye (Electric, p64) (Basic/Rapid/M/d/-). We both really like this for a bread machine bread, it's taste and it's texture.

Well, yesterday it was supposed to be nice weather today, warm and sunny, but it turned out gray and windy. Not terribly cold. Still Ed bbq'd chipolatas. For one go-with I made Red Cabbage and Carrot Slaw (web). I made a half recipe, but accidentally got a half tablespoon measure out for the vinaigrette, so made a quarter of the dressing; the half amount would have been better. And some potato salad (with hard-boiled egg, capers, cornichons, cuke, etc., and a French-ish lemon-based vinaigrette) from my old Joy of Cooking. No dessert needed.

Friday/26-Feb-21: Dinner was Escalopes de Veau à la Crème—Veal with Mushrooms in Cream (Franey, p216). That's a veal scallop topped a piece of prosciutto, then a layer of mushroom cream sauce, topped with slices of Beaufort (one of our favorite swiss-y cheeses), and run under the broiler to melt the cheese. Franey suggests serving with buttered noodles with caraway; I make spaetzle, with butter and caraway seeds. And some roasted asparagus. I didn't need dessert; Ed had a mini HD ice cream cup.

Saturday/27-Feb-21: Went, a bit late, to make tonight's dinner and discovered that the cabbage is supposed to cook for an hour! Oops. Postpone that one. Dinner was a made-up pasta dish, not my best, but not bad. Ravioli with cèpes, onion, prosciutto, shrooms, held together with pyramid goat cheese. A mini HD ice cup for after.

Sunday/28-Feb-21: Made a loaf of Dennis's Blarney-Stone Bread (Magic, p70) (Basic/Rapid/M/d-). Don't seem to have made this one before. It's a very good oatmeal bread.

Beautiful weather, but a blah day. Started dinner a bit late again, and it turned out to take longer than I thought. I made a third recipe of Shrimp-Stuffed Artichokes (EatingTog, p124), this recipe by Peter Feibleman. It was rather poorly written/edited. You chopped parsley but never used it. You saved two cups of the artichoke-cooking water, but never used it. Etc. I followed the cooking time for large artichokes, but they weren't quite done, so when we pulled a leaf, there was nothing attached. A good idea, poorly executed. A pair of chocolate-covered madeleines each for after.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 3; #2 PHOTO: yes; #3 *DMA: yes
This month: #4 GUESTS: n/a
This year: #5 BACKLOG1: yes; #6 BACKLOG2: no; #7 RECYCLE: 11; #8 NEW: 2

This week in the kitchen

Monday/6-Apr-20: When I ordered rumsteak at Intermarché, I neglected to say that I wanted a thick cut. What arrived was quite thin, so I searched for something else for dinner. I made Savoury Beef with Asparagus (HotWok, p98). I used to use this book a lot, but not so much since we've moved here. This was an untried recipe, perfect since we have a lot of asparagus right now. Pretty good it was. Then we had last night's salad, which I forgot at lunchtime. No dessert so far.

Tuesday/7-Apr-20: Used up the last bit of cabbage and the bird sausages from the freezer to make Sausage and Cabbage Pasta (web). This was easy and pretty good. Some chocolate-covered madeleine for after. We're getting low on these, and no way to replenish the stock.

Wednesday/8-Apr-20: Placed another order with Intermarché Drive, to be picked up Saturday.

Made some English Muffin Bread (MC) for tomorrow.

Dinner was, vaguely, Asparagus and Leeks on Toast (VegSups, p183). I used a (French) ciabatta for the bread. Goat cheese for the Fontina. Frozen spinach for fresh. Forgot the lemon juice at the end. Still it wasn't bad, surprisingly good even. Some chocolate-covered madeleines for after. These are getting scarce. We can't replenish till we can go into Leclerc.

Thursday/9-Apr-20: Made a loaf of Bill Hatcher's Italian Bread (MC) today.

Our first fresco meal today. Dinner was a halfish recipe of Roasted Cauliflower Salad with Lemon Tahini Dressing (web). This was unusual but good. I served over big lettuce leaves; used frozen parsley because I forgot to order the real stuff last time. It looks like I ordered plain vanilla ice cream, but we got vanilla pecan; we had that for after.

Yogurt on overnight.

Friday/10-Apr-20: This morning, I went off to pick up a package with flour and rice at a package depot place. The first time I've had proper shoes or jeans on in weeks. Five kilos of flour fills up my Tupperware Cake Taker.

Dinner was a half recipe of Linguine with Tuna Fish Sauce (PastaCarlu, p24), which we've had several times and remains good. Then a big salad. Then Nigella's Emergency Brownies (web; GoogleDrive), which were quite good. Ed had his with cream; I didn't.

Saturday/11-Apr-20: Ed picked up the Intermarché Drive order today. No strawberries, but we've got asparagus again. And fish for two nights.

While dinner was in the making, we munched on some Spicy Cucumber Wedges (MJ1, p172). We have a surplus of cukes for the next week or so. This is a start on using them up.

First of our fish dinners was Grilled Masala Salmon (MJ@Home, p46) cooked on the bbq. We've enjoyed this before; it's still good. Served with Potato Chaat (MJ@Home, p165) and Zucchini and Yellow Summer Squash with Cumin (MJ@Home, p174) (only zucchini). We've had both of these before too, and they were still good. For dessert there was Vermicelli Kheer (MJ@Home, p274). I've made a half recipe of this before, and remarked that it never really thickened. This time it set like glue. I think the store-bought vermicelli are not thin enough. Tastes good, though.

Sunday/12-Apr-20: Made some Authentic French Bread (Magic, p22) for our next bread.

Dinner was Fish Kebabs—Spicy Cod and Salmon Patties (web). This was good, but hard to believe it would serve four. I thought it might serve three; Ed said, No way, it's perfect for two. Served with plain basmati rice and Carrot and Onion Salad (MJ1, p171). For dessert we had some of the Vermicelli Kheer with cream. Good taste, bad texture.

Yogurt on overnight.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 5; #2 BACKLOG: no
This month: #3 GUESTS: n/a
This year: #4 SHORT: no; #5 LONG: no
On-going: #6 READ; #7 RECYCLE; #8 NEW

This week in the kitchen

Monday/13-Apr-15: Just last week, didn't I say to Ed, Looks like we've missed the plague of flies this year. Spoke too soon. They're swarming in the bedroom today, enjoying the warm and sunny weather.

Starting work on last year's taxes, with the idea of doing them all in one go. We'll see.

Still haven't finished reading last month's Time-Life book (Japan), so adding a month to that book and moving the rest out a month. The next is the Caribbean one, and I'm really looking forward to it.

Dinner was Grilled Chicken with Lemons and Couscous (Diaries, p258), first bbq. Easy and pretty tasty. Whole wheat coucous again, not very good planning. We split a magnum classic for dessert.

Tuesday/14-Apr-15: Still sorting tax papers and scanning stuff I've never done over the last year. Ugh.

Tonight was use-up-the-asparagus night, with a half recipe of Linguine with Asparagus and Egg (PastaHarv, p46), very good, kind of a pasta carbonara with asparagus instead of lardons or bacon. I was looking for something in a seldom used book, but didn't succeed. Then a big salad. Then some Soupe Épicée au Chocolate (VPG). I used the wrong chocolate (90%, which needed a bit of powdered sugar added), and just realize that I used 30dl of cream instead of 30cl. No wonder I had to add more and it never got soupy. Oh well, it tasted fine.

Wednesday/15-Apr-15: Yogurt on overday. Shopping after my ENT appointment.

Dinner was supposed to be small and fast, but ended up more elaborate, as these things do. First I made some Prune and Almond Brownies (web), which turned out pretty good, but the recipe is weird. (The original is from Delia Smith, here.) The prunes should have been soaked in armangac; the almonds should have been toasted; both would have been nice. The recipe calls for 330g of sugar. I stopped at 200g, which was fine. Later I saw Delia asks for 225g, which would probably have been ok. Skipping the soaking and the nut toasting made it pretty easy.

Then I made some Crispy Lemon Roasted Baby Artichokes (web), which didn't really work that well. I've never seen anything called baby artichokes here, but there were some very small globe artichokes on sale. So I got two and followed instructions. Not quite as nice I thought they should have been and they could have used another 10 minutes or so in the oven. I made a little sauce with mayo from a jar and some finely minced preserved lemon. That was pretty good.

Then I made a half recipe of Crushed Spiced Carrot Salad (Morocco, p78), which I've made before and we like alot.

This was all to go with a half recipe of Salmon Fishcakes with Garam Masala, Chilli, and Ginger (web), using panko instead of the popped amaranth seeds. Good stuff this. I seem to have been making lots of tasty fishcakes of late. This one was a bit tedious because the recipe called for hand mincing the salmon. Probably the food processor would have worked fine.

Anyhow, all was good, if more work than I intended.

Thursday/16-Apr-15: What a day. Got a good start this morning, hoping to make a major dent in getting our French and US taxes done. Only to discover that one of our accounts had gone haywire in Moneydance. Latest good copy was dated the 12th. And of course I've done lots of work since then getting started on the taxes and just general life. Can't figure out if it was something I did wrong, but not going to waste any more time on it. Have reentered as much as possible and will pick up again tomorrow.

Dinner was fun. Half recipes of Chicken Lettuce Wraps (web) and Jamie Oliver's Broccoli with Asian Dressing (web). Both were really easy, fast, and tasty. Some of the prune brownies for dessert, topped with a good slog of cream. Yum.

Friday/17-Apr-15: Dinner at Café Lombok (Indonesian buffet) before No Direction played. Nothing much happened in our kitchen except for yogurt on overnight.

Saturday/18-Apr-15: Lunch with friends today. Popcorn for dinner. Nothing happened in the kitchen.

Sunday/19-Apr-15: Dinner was Frittata with Asparagus (ClassicItal, p283), using only four eggs. Good stuff. We ate about two thirds of it. Then a big salad. Then some mini magnums.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: yes/no; #2 UNUSED: no; #3 GRAINS: yes; #4 VEG/FISH: 3
This month: #5 PASTA: no; #6 BREAD: no; #7 FotW: no for March/April

This week in the kitchen

Monday/3-Mar-14: Didn't much feel like cooking today, so I defrosted some merguez de volaille (bird sausages), made a bit of potato salad with lots of leftover bits, and steamed some broccoli. Had the last two natillas for after.

Tuesday/4-Mar-14: Out of milk, so we did our shopping today instead of tomorrow. The store was relatively empty and the shelves largely stocked, so we may change to Tuesdays. There were hogs' heads in the meat department today.

Dinner was Saumon Écossais aux Spaghettis et aux Câpres (VPG). Twas supposed to have big capers, but I haven't found any of those here. Small ones are just as good no doubt. Then a salad. Then a bit of Delice de Poitou, a cheese from our xmas dinner that we especially liked. This is the first time I've seen it since then.

Set pork marinating for tomorrow's dinner.

Wednesday/5-Mar-14: Yogurt on overday. Used a new starter again, since the last batch didn't seem to be "cooked" properly; i.e., it was still pretty runny. Maybe I miscalculated the stop time. Today's batch seems OK, even though there was, yet again, a power blip that caused the machine to turn off.

Sunshine today and I just happened to have planned a meal that was really meant to be grilled, so Ed cranked the bbq up. We ate inside, of course, since it really wasn't that warm out by dinnertime. We had Honey-Lime Pork Tenderlion (web), which was easy and good, but the two of us ate what was meant for four people. Thank you, pig. Served with some smashed sweet potatoes and steamed broccoli.

Thursday/6-Mar-14: Line dancing this afternoon, then off to the doctor's open hours to renew a prescription. Two hours later I emerged. Didn't feel like cooking what was on the plan, so got some comté-basil fagottini from the freezer and made a salad. We split a magnum classic for after.

Friday/7-Mar-14: Made some Butternut Squash Gnocchi (web) this evening. We ate a fourth of it, and I'll freeze the remaining in batches. Can't say it was a success; I just don't have the gnocchi technique. Then a salad. That was all.

Saturday/8-Mar-14: We had Barbara and Shirley for a simple dinner before going out for a loto evening. Two kinds of zucchini soup from the freezer were accompanied by a Tortilla de Patate (TLS&P, p67).

We didn't win anything at the loto, but Barbara won a jambon sec and gave it to us. Wonder what we'll do with that?

Sunday/9-Mar-14: Yogurt on overday.

Off to a concert this evening with pizza for dinner afterwards.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 COOKBOOKS: yes #2 VEG/FISH: 4
This month: #3 PASTA: yes; #4 FotW: yes for February, no for March; #5 BREAD: 1

This week in the kitchen

Monday/26-Mar-12: First bbq tonight, not very successful. Used the marinade from Bottle o' Beer Chicken Thighs (Weber, p199) to marinate a spatchcocked chicken. Ed had the fire too hot so the skin was burnt black as can be and the meat was tough. Won't bother to pick the bones, and will put everything except the black skin into the stockpot. Then there was Spicy Potato Salad (MC), a rather forgettable recipe. Think I'll delete it from MC. But the dessert was good, ice cream with (thawed) frozen raspberries.

Looks like Sophie will spend the night out tonight, very worrying. Ed left the new cat flap opened outwards, so she went out again after having a small bite to eat. We're having problems getting her properly fed, since Oscar wants to eat everything. If he ate everything he wants, he'd have to be called Snowball.

Yogurt on overnight.

Tuesday/27-Mar-12: Whew, Sophie came in in the night, having figured out how the cat flaps work.

Made Authentic French Bread (out of head) today with the stone-ground bread flour. Brown but tasty.

Dinner was more or less Turkey Black Bean Tamale Pie (MC), a favorite. Used pintade from the freezer. And a salad. Ate outside although it was getting a bit cool. Crescent moon and Venus visible before the sun really set.

Wednesday/28-Mar-12: Grocery shopping today.

Dinner was Spicy Grilled Peppered Lamb Skewers (BigFlav, p142). Accompanied by Green Grape-Parsley Relish (BigFlav, p77), except with purple grapes, because that's all there was the grocery. Green grapes are definitely prettier, but don't really find a taste difference. Stuffed some globe zucchinis with a bit of rice and some leftover black beans. The end of some goat cheese for afters.

Thursday/29-Mar-12: Nice dinner tonight, but poor planning, since it finished up too late for me to get to line dancing. Made up for it by doing a load of ironing.

For our main, we had Fish Masala (web), with basmati rice and Oven Roasted Cauliflower with Turmeric and Ginger (web). For after, I made a Ginger Panna Cotta with Mango (MC), scaled back to the amount of evaporated milk I had needing to be used and served with the last of the frozen mango and frozen raspberries

Friday/30-Mar-12: We took Lesley and Toby out for a meal today to thank them for all their work with Sophie and Oscar. Nothing much happened in our kitchen, except for yogurt on overday.

After we got back from lunch Ed discovered that Sophie had a big open sore on her tail, plus some smaller ones. Off to the vet. She stayed overnight so they could anesthesize her to shave her tail and clean up the sores.

Not looking good for pasta for March, since that's not on the plan for tomorrow. Maybe need to reconsider. And won't get anything published for an unused cookbook either, since Sue will be closing the linky for this week's version tomorrow before I'm ready.

Saturday/31-Mar-12: Ed picked Sophie up this morning. She was goofy as can be, stumbling, unable to focus, etc. We think that when we took Oscar in for his first checkup, they recorded his weight on her record and gave her an extra 1.5kg of anesthesia.

Made some smokey flavored chicken stock from the rest of the bbq bones.

Had the idea to make some pasta today, but ended up spending a lot of time with Sophie, so was short on time. Went with the planned Salade de Quinoa au Thon (PRMTurmeric, p73). Used a package of pre-cooked quinoa, first time I've used such a thing; awfully handy, but not sure I approve. My radishes had to be tossed, so I substituted cuke. The whole thing was edible but boring.

Made some of Mama's Healthy Cookies, 5 dozen too big. Should have made them smaller.

Sunday/1-Apr-12: Sophie's back to herself this morning, and she's insistent that she wants to go out. Little does she know she'll be ten days inside! Maybe more togetherness than Oscar will appreciate.

For dinner we finished off the leftover tamale pie, along with some fresh guacamole. Then finished off the Ginger Panna Cotta with some defrosted mixed fruit.

Having run into a cilantro bonanza at the store this week, I chopped a bunch and froze one tablespoons in ice cubes, used some in the guacamole, made some Cilantro Zucchini Hummus (also using a lot of shredded zucchini from the freezer), and still have a bit left.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 COOKBOOKS: yes, but not posted, #2 BREAD: yes, #3 SOUP: no, #4 MIDDAY: yes, #5 VEG/FISH: 2
This month: #6 PASTA: no for March :-(, no for April

This week in the kitchen

Monday/28-Mar-11: For lunch we had open-faced sliced lamb sandwiches with leftover lamb and lamb juice augmented by some chicken broth. As a side, I cooked the ends of sacks of frozen peas and fêves, with some chopped mint and shallot. For dessert, we finished off the rum cake. (Not as much as it sounds, since we took the same amount up to Yvonne yesterday.)

An open-faced roast beef sandwich with gravy and smashed potatoes on the side. Real comfort food. The lamb wasn't half-bad either.

Ed cut into the lamb bone to get to the marrow, breaking my #2 knife in the process. :-(

Tuesday/29-Mar-11: Yogurt on overday.

For our midday meal there was Broccoli-Cauliflower Bake (web, now MC), a recipe intended as a side dish, but eaten as a main. It was surprisingly good. For dessert, we had Grand Marnier soufflées, straight from the freezer. (Thank you, Toupargel!)

Wednesday/30-Mar-11: Used up my last jar of AH's vleesfond tonight for Cooking Italy's Risotto with Saffron, Milanese Style (ClassicItal, p246). Served with a salad. Too late for dessert.

Thursday/31-Mar-11: For lunch there was a quickie soup from some defrosted chicken stock with a handful of mini bowties (farfallini) and some julienned carrots (thank you, mandoline). Accompanied by an open-faced sandwich with the last of the bread, thinly sliced onions (more mandoline) and some English cheddar, popped in the toaster oven until melted.

For dinner I defrosted some pork chops and some marinade. Served with trio rice and made the Italian Grilled Zucchini and Red Onion (MC) again; the zucch and onion are indeed better on the grill pan than under the broiler. The salad was good, but didn't especially go with the pork chop marinade. We split half of a petit Camembert for afters, then two Lindt truffles each.

Friday/1-Apr-11: Yogurt on overday.

Shopped today. Bought a leg of goat for the freezer. This seems to be goat season. Both of our local shops seem to have goat available at the same time. The rest of the year it's not visible. Don't know what I'll do with it yet but I know I occasionally run across a recipe.

First bbq this evening, really simple. Defrosted the last of our chipolatas, which were very salty; don't remember the others being like this. Then there was Bacon-Avocado Potato Salad (MC); good stuff. Also Gujerati Carrot Salad (MJ1, p170), an easy favorite. For dessert there was some vanilla ice cream on a sticky meringue cup topped with a crumbled chocolate rose.

Saturday/2-Apr-11: Dinner was Grilled Lamb Chops with Curried Couscous and Zucchini Raita (Gourmet mag, found on the web). My lamb chops were the last of a sackful from Toupargel, a bit uneven in size, but tasty. I made up half the coucous, using all the spices. This was still a bit underspiced; the curry was hot but there was not much flavor beyond that. The raita was good and complemented the couscous. For after there was the rest of the Petit Camembert followed by two Lindt truffles each.

I made up some "broth" for ice cream, half Nutella and half coconut milk, a "recipe" I saw somewhere. Very simple and possibly good.

Sunday/3-Apr-11: Lots of lamb bones; made lamb stock today.

Dinner was sautéed duck breast scallops with a sauce of red wine and chicken stock (from a cube). Served with the leftover cauliflower-broccoli casserole.

I clumsily managed to break the paddle on the ice cream maker as I was pouring in the mix. Something else to replace. The ice cream was good, though. Can't be beat for easy.

One wonders why I bother to make any kind of a meal plan. Definitely off piste tonight. In the morning, I'll have to give a thought about how best to use up all the stuff that needs to be cooked.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: no (unless risotto counts), #2 SOUP: for lunch, #3 MIDDAY: yes
This month: #4 PASTA: March yes, April not yet

Goals review:

#1) I had the feeling from last year that I was cooking a lot of meat and not so much vegetarian or fish. Instead, this is feeling like the easiest goal to reach. More challenging might be to serve each week (at least) one vegetarian meal, one fish, and one either veg or fish. Not sure if I'm ready to commit to that right now. Ah well, with last-minute change on Sunday's dinner, I didn't really make this goal this week. Unless risotto with beef broth counts. In Ken Hom's book on vegetarian noodles, he uses chicken broth and still calls it vegetarian. I could follow suit. ;-)

#2) This is being quite difficult. Seems I'm more likely to throw together a soup-for-lunch than to make a meal soup or a soup starter. That counts, the way I've worded the goal, but soup-for-main would be nice.

#3) Since I'm out for line dancing in the early evening on Tuesdays, this has been easier to keep to. It's still difficult to avoid eating after 8pm, especially since we don't usually finish breakfast till 11am or even later.

#4) It takes some focus to get this done, but we enjoy fresh pasta a lot, so it's not too hard.