02/25/21 Notable Meals! - Disappointment :(

One of the most disappointing moments during this entire challenge occurred today. But let us talk about the positives. An essay that I was afraid of, who's due date was quickly approaching, was pushed back! Which helped alleviate some of my stress and so far the day was going to turn out alright!

First meal I had was another Chile Relleno stuffed with cheese! Again this was the Chile Relleno that one of our family friend, (who has been struggling with her business during COVID because of the lack of parties for her to cater so we try to help them make ends meet by buying some food off them), who also made the Pupusas seen in a previous post. For being from Mexico she makes amazing Central American foods! Anyways, the day started off great! Heated up some home made tortillas, had some Queso Fresco and some of her special salsa and was enjoying every second of it. Then the power went out, and a panicked rush to our fish tanks ensued as we needed to turn on an emergency bubbler to make sure they wouldn't die on us. After that, the day felt like smooth sailing. Had to get my little brothers school applications ready, and finish some of my work before section....

This is where the disappointment began. After procrastinating the essay that I mentioned earlier, I was starting to feel famished. So I had a brilliant idea to make Miso soup with the vegan Miso paste I had in the fridge from... probably close to a year ago. It said it expired today in fact, so I trusted it.

After putting my entire bag of dried Shiitake mushrooms, the funk from the taste taste was immediately noticeable. I let my family try it and they all said it was off, it wasn't faintly sweet but with a tinge of unwarranted funk. So we had to sadly throw it all away. The Miso paste from the container smelled like Miso! But after close inspection, the faint funk was there and I further was immensely disappointed when I realized I wasted half a bag of Shiitake mushrooms and had already cut a box of tofu but I needed to make use of it!

So in an attempt to redeem my previous, lack luster Kung Pao stir fry I tried to make it with tofu this time around. I did something that I have never done in my culinary practices, and that was using a knob of garlic! As I mentioned in my previous posts, now that I have to make meals from scratch and really think about flavors and what I can make to fill me up; this was an idea that I never have done before and just wanted to experiment! My brother even called me Matty Matheson because of my new culinary moves I've been pulling. I fried some garlic and ginger that I minced, and just tried to stir fry some bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, onions, and mushrooms! I tried making it close to my favorite Kung Pao Chicken from the San Fernando Valley, OK chinese food, (if you are ever in Van Nuys, CA, this place gives you insane portions for the price and the food is pretty delish). They used bell peppers, Tien Tsin peppers, Celery, Chicken and Onions! My dish instead had even more ginger, Jalapenos, no Celery (ew), and Tofu instead of chicken! So I think my dish was pretty close to my favorite ehe. Pictures may not look amazing, but it sure did taste great! I didn't even end up eating any of it because I was full stuffing my face with tortilla chips and dip while cooking it that I ended up saving it for tomorrow.