B-

I'm giving myself a B- on this batch of attempts. I tried really hard to get away from dessert, and told myself I succeeded by having this banana smoothie for breakfast and not just because it seemed yummy. 

I'm not a huge fan of the resulting texture... I think next time I'll replace half the banana with a little peanut butter and more almond milk to see if I can get it less thick but still one serving.

Banana Smoothie

Flavor: delightfully light

Texture: a touch chewy

Difficulty: doable at 7am

Speediness: eating 5 minutes later

Overall Grade: A-

After that, I have to admit I regressed a bit. I saw this recipe for raspberry sorbet and just couldn't resist. Seriously, who could? It's a super easy recipe, and it's basically just fruit, so why even try to resist?

Well, maybe because I don't want to chip a tooth. I ended up with a giant raspberry ice cube instead, albeit a deliciously colored one.

I find it impossible to believe that the photo on the recipe page is actually a result of the recipe as written. I could hardly even chip mine, much less make it look all pretty and scoopable.

After a little time in the fridge, it thawed into this sad looking state (what happened to the delicious, vibrant red??):

...at which point I turned to the internet, which gave me all sorts of ideas for making a sorbet with the correct consistency (ice cream maker, food processor after freezing, something crazy about throwing around a trash bag filled with ice) and made it pretty clear that fruit juice in a tub in the freezer will not, in fact, produce sorbet. Sigh. It's a great way to make popsicles, though. I think I'll just stick with Purely Decadent ice cream. They're better at this than me.

Raspberry Sorbet

Flavor: raspberrylicious

Texture: ice cube-like, then melted ice cube-like

Difficulty: for incorrect results, super easy! for correct results, unknown

Speediness: for incorrect results, super quick (except for freezing time)!

for correct results, unknown

Overall Grade: D+

Luckily, a failed dessert was what it took to finally induce me to make real food for once. I went for aloo palak with a side order of naan. I looove Indian food, and if there's no butter involved I'll be able to stuff myself that much more!

The aloo palak was the winner of the evening. Other recipes I found had photos of potatoes with a little spinach stuck on them here and there. I wanted an ooey-gooey creamy delicious spinach gravy in which to drown the potatoes, and that's what this recipe gave me. Also, I love that she posts photos for every step of preparing the dish; how wonderfully beginner-friendly!

I generally like my food spicier than normal human beings, so I'll dial up the seasonings next time. Also, I won't undercook the potatoes just because I'm starving. There will be many next times.

The naan, while tasty, didn't puff up the way it does at the Indian restaurant I frequent. This being my first time making bread sans bread machine, that very well could have been my fault at any of 100 points along the way. It definitely warrants more research. Naan is one of my favoritest things in the universe.

Aloo Palak

Flavor: delish! though a little mild for my tastes

Texture: PERFECT!

Difficulty: just enough multitasking between spinach and potatoes to make me feel like a real cook

Speediness: should've taken longer, but I wanted to eat NOW dammit

Overall Grade: B

Naan

Flavor: a little bland, could've used garlic?

Texture: a little too cakey, but still enjoyable

Difficulty: so easy! I thought naan would be hard!

Speediness: very quick actual doing + much more time letting dough rise

Overall Grade: B-