Here’s a fun one for you. As a blogger, we tend to put on the front that everything is easy…living the healthy life, making healthy food, keeping it all together. But here’s the real life truth! Sometimes we have to try a few extra times first. I present to you, the food fails of Cold Texan Wellness, 2018!
Every now and then some things end up in the trash before even making it to the table. These food fails range from meh, to completely disastrous. Creativity comes with a price I guess, lol. We’ve had major changes in our lives this year, so I freely admit that most years this list is twice as long. But, this year probably had some of the most memorable fails.
The Food Fails
Warm Roasted Veggie Lentil Salad
Um, so. gross. I love everything that goes into this so I sort of thought it would go nicely together. I even found a few similar ideas on pinterest. . Mr. Cold Texan’s motto is he’ll eat anything….he didn’t eat this. I couldn’t even choke down 3 bites. Never again.
For what it’s worth, it did look pretty….but still, worthy of this year’s food fails list!
Zucchini Parmesan Chips
Huge disappointment. HUGE. They were so mushy and soggy. No crunch. How can you have a chip with no crunch?
Fried Guacamole
Fried Guacamole, I think, took the blue ribbon for most epic fail this year. This was a beautiful idea in theory. When I ordered it at restaurants it was always delicious (yes, sometimes I eat fried food. Life it too short to deprive yourself completely). When we were living in Finland in the earlier part of this year I was feeling creative and decided to give it a go. But, some ingredients are a little difficult to find in Finland, such as wonton wrappers…
So I thought maybe spring roll wrappers might work. Oh man, was I wrong! Turns out they melt when you fry them, and also stick right to the pan. Guacamole EVERYWHERE! I had one that sort of stayed together, but then the even stranger thing was that the guacamole lost ALL its flavor. And, not to toot my own horn, but I make some amazing guacamole.
I could have SWORN I took a picture, but I think it got lost in the move somehow….Or my computer ate it. Either is possible. Epic Photo AND food fails!
Crustless Mini Quiches
Even with greasing, they were so difficult to get out of the muffin tin. The more I try, the more I think muffin tins should 1) always be used with liners, and 2) are for muffins and nothing else (that won’t stop me from trying something else). I finally had success with using a slice of deli meat for a crust/liner. Took me a solid 3x to get that right. That recipe turned out to be one of the most popular of the year.
DIY fruit roll ups
What a mess! They didn’t dry evenly, so the middle was mushy, the edges were crunchy, and there was fruity water ALL OVER the floor by my oven from the steam evaporating. That had to be cleaned up 3x during the process. I may attempt again at another time there will definitely need to be some changes made.
Crock Pot Bone Broth
The biggest thing I missed when moving overseas was my crockpot. So, you probably don’t have to think too hard on what I went right out and bought when we got here. The past 2 months, we’ve been eating something crockpot-y every week. But sad to say the first batch of bone broth didn’t quite turn out. I put it on low for 24 hours and it just never got hot enough. A lesson for us all.
It was still pretty flavorful though, and I was able to cook with it, adding to other soups or risotto. So, not a TOTAL waste, but the it never gelled, so I really didn’t make bone broth
Broccoli Slaw
I love broccoli stems. They have all the nutrition of the crowns, and a good texture, and I just hate throwing them away. So, I decided to DIY some broccoli slaw…..
I didn’t need to do an arm workout that day! That was more work than it was worth. Aaaaand I’m lucky to still have my finger tips.
I don’t know if I just didn’t use the right tool, or I need to free hand it, but lets just say my box grater and I are not best friends anymore! Never has there been someone more clumsy in the kitchen. Those stems are a lot more sturdy than you might think!
Tadaa!
Luckily, a lot more success stories came out of my kitchen, than the food fails. Some years that’s not been the case, or maybe I’m just getting better as time goes. Yeah, we’ll go with that.
Either way, you can’t take yourself so seriously in the kitchen. One of the keys to being on a health journey is just to let go, try new things, and have a good sense of humor when that something new just doesn’t go the way you thought it would.
Happy Holidays!
