Hi!
Lately I’ve been enjoying some time in the kitchen!
The other night I made fettuccine Alfredo, baked chicken breasts, and Caesar salads with homemade croutons!
Chicken Alfredo is probably my all-time favorite meal so I needed no convincing to make it! But I was also inspired by watching “This Golden Hour” on YouTube. I’ve been enjoying her videos! One day she made baked chicken breasts with homemade pasta, and another time she made a ginormous, beautiful salad with all sorts of toppings.
Here’s a picture of the meal I made! My dad and sister were out of town at the time, so I’ll have to make this again now that they’re back! I’ll share some more about it below.
What’s something you liked about it (and why)? I really liked how it all turned out! The fettuccine Alfredo was so delicious… I went with an Olive Garden inspired recipe and it was amazing! It tasted just like Olive Garden’s, which was very rewarding! I’m also really happy with how the chicken turned out. I’ve never made baked chicken breasts like that so I wasn’t sure how it’d go or how easy it’d be to tell if they were cooked or not. The first thermometer I used must be very old— it was slow and not that accurate because when I used our newer one, it showed that they were plenty over the temperature they needed to be. Maybe they could’ve been a little more juicy, but I really enjoyed them how they were. I loved how the seasoning rub turned out too, it made them so delicious and flavorful! And I liked making the croutons, I’ve been wanting to try those for a while now. They were super easy! I got them a little too dark, but they actually tasted pretty good like that.
What’s something you disliked about it (and why)? I think the main thing that would’ve made the finished meal better was the salad. Since I had washed the lettuce during the meal prep, it was still pretty wet, which made the finished salad kind of wet. So I should’ve tried drying it more. I also wish I would’ve tossed the lettuce with the dressing and parmesan and made it more of a combined, fancy salad, but I ran out of time— plus I wasn’t quite sure if all of us would like that. So we just added the dressing, parmesan, and croutons to the top. But I do wish I would’ve tossed it (even tossing Ben’s with Ranch if it was true that he didn’t like Caesar, that was one of the things I was unsure about), because I think those kinds of salads are a little nicer and easier to eat. Overall though, the salad was very good and the croutons were the highlight of it!
What was your biggest takeaway or lesson? I was kind of nervous to do the chicken, because I wasn’t sure how easy it’d be to know if they were all the way done, and chicken is one of those things you can’t undercook! But once I used the second thermometer, it was very clear that they were done, according to the temperature it gave on the recipe. So I think a big takeaway was the confidence of knowing it wasn’t that hard and that I can do it again pretty easily, and same with other kinds of meats. It was also rewarding because of how flavorful and delicious they were!
Another takeaway was just the desire to make more meals, which I had beforehand, but it got even more strengthened after this. I enjoy managing all the different pieces and feeling satisfied with how it turns out at the end.
What is something you’re curious to learn more about as a result of this experience? This continued to make me curious about cooking, learning new things, improving my skills, and trying to make foods I’ve never made before— especially Italian dishes like pasta, because pasta is definitely one of my top favorite kinds of food!
Thanks for reading!
God bless!
Lucy