2020 is a momentous year to do some introspection since 'everything is clearer in hindsight' #20-20. I often see year in review posts, but never a food focused one, so here is is my first stab at it. Just for fun, I also recorded the post as a podcast. Split into 2 parts, you can listen to the 2 x 6-minute episodes on Spotify if you prefer audio over text. Enjoy!

I think the majority can say they cooked more than usual with the additional time at home - even those like me who cook regularly. In fact, based on my simple recipe tracker where I log new recipes I scavenge from the internet, I exceeded my annual average by 2.18x clocking in 48 new recipes into my tracker. On a regular year, I average trying around 20 recipes that I think are worth keeping in my notes. I share this stat not to brag, but to give those who are looking to include a "cook more New Year's Resolution" a realistic benchmark of how many new recipes to aim to try make. If you make 6 new recipes in 2021, you did good for yourself - that is 1 new recipe every other month!

Anyway, having discovered nearly fifty new recipes that we loved, I thought I'd share our Top 5 that we kept going back to during the pandemic. I tried to scavenge my phone for the dishes (or very similar ones) to give you an idea of what the final result looks like! If I kept your attention until the end, I have other non-food related "year in review" items I included that are more personal. Thanks for reading, and see you, next year ;).

Top 5 Recipes Discovered During the 2020 Pandemic

I selected these recipes as they are relatively simple, and called for everyday ingredients. All links are below, just click on the dish name.

1. Revive Sad Veggies Back to Life:

   • Full English Breakfast Frittata by CTV's Master Chef alumni Mary Berg

   • I learned this recipe virtually when I joined one of her live IG calls with Tanya Kim early in the pandemic. I love Mary's suggested ingredients, but this recipe is flexible, you can put in leftovers or about-to-wilt veggies and transform it into something delicious! After prepping the veggies on the stove using my Lodge Dutch Oven, it finishes perfectly in the oven.

2. One Pot Meal:

   • Instant Pot Chicken & Rice by Amy & Jacky from Pressure Cook Recipes

• This miracle meal cooks both chicken and rice simultaneously in our Instant Pot. Double the recipe to make enough to freeze a few for a days you don't feel like cooking.

3. American Classic with an Asian Twist:

   • Asian Pork Burger by Food & Wine

   • Rob is so typical - he is always up for a good burger. As I didn't have minced beef on hand one time, a unique alternative was making pork burgers. This was delicious and felt like a nice fusion /homage to our Asian roots especially because we went sans bun and subbed it with rice, lol. Anticipating that Rob would want a circular patty, earlier this year, I accidentally discovered a hack to make a perfectly round patty is using the Joie Roundy Egg Ring. I know there is also an accessory specifically for burgers, but why buy something if an effective alternative is amongst your kitchen tools?

4. Easy & Filling Side:

   • Oven Roasted Garlic Potatoes by Ina Garten of Food Network

• This recipe transforms potatoes using 6 simple ingredients. During my Sunday meal prep, I roast around 4 potatoes for our everyday lunch bowl. In the new year, I will do a post about my approach to meal prepping, but this is one of dishes integrated in our roasted veggie bowl. My favourite baking sheet to do this is on is the OXO Baking Sheet.

5. Healthy After Dinner Dessert:

   • Peanut Butter Banana Ice Cream by Lindsay Ostrom of Pinch of Yum

   • Forget PB & J, peanut butter's real BFF is banana. This recipe is quick, simple, and will hit your sweet tooth craving without incurring the calories. I make mine in the mini food processor attachment that comes with my hand blender. I have not linked the one I use as I don't the one I have.

Despite falling short from my 1 recipe/month commitment in April, I still shared 3 recipes.

... so I guess that hits 30% of my target. If you want to check out the 3 recipes I put out, I've linked them below

1. Goji Berry, Coconut, Nut Medley Granola

2. Easy Peasy Guac

3. Pineapple Beef Tenderloin Stir Fry

Perhaps creating the site foundation + making recipes was too aggressive of a goal. However, with the base finally set up, I should be able to meet this commitment this year. Cross my fingers and wish me luck! Also, please, hold me accountable by asking!

If you wanted to bookmark a few more recipes

A few people participants in my IG survey stated they wanted 10, so here are a few others that were close to making the cut! Not all were discovered this past year, but these oldies are still goodies!

6. Doubletree's Secret Chocolate Chip Cookie: these are the best cookies, ever. The only modification I make is dividing the chocolate chips measurement in half.

7. Coconut Corn Soup: This soup can be enjoyed hot or cold, is freezer friendly and is so darn healthy! In the new year, I will document my IP iteration.

8. Instant Pot Beef Stew: This is a 'dump everything in' set and forget gem!

9. Sourdough Discard Blueberry Muffins: There is so much applications to the sourdough discard. These muffins revive blueberries that are past their prime.

10. My Favourite Brownies: I hate chocolate cake, but love brownies. This recipe is fantastic! If you add in almond extract and additional nuts, it is a game changer!

Last night, I jotted down lists of 7 thought prompters to help me reflect on the past year:

1) Things That Were Tough; 2) Skills I Learned; 3) Books I Read; 4) Shows / Movies / Podcasts We Loved; 5) Things I'm Grateful For 6) Favourite Moments After Scrolling My Phone Album & 7) Memorable Quotes. After this rare journaling session, it made me realize that while 2020 has been a difficult year, it has also been a really good one that I am grateful for.

Here are some things that really stuck out to me upon re-reading the entry:

1. 2020 wasn't a walk in the park at all. I went to therapy for the first time in my life - I'm grateful that my employer see mental health as health and was paired with an awesome therapist. I didn't want this year in review to be some sort of 'look at how great my life' is front. Things were hard for a few particular months... I suspect I experienced mild seasonal depression in the heart of summer which took an immense amount of exercise to finally shake off. With observing Rob being disciplined with exercise, the iWatch fitness tracker, and the free daily Orange Theory Workouts, I'm currently on my longest exercise streak in years - 70 days and counting. I aim to continue this routine going into the new year.

2. I learned 3 notable key skills including: making bread, knitting, and audio production - I went from knowing nothing to producing 4 hours of content across 11 episodes for work this year - I still have lots to learn. A random new skill I picked up - how to make a GIF on Photoshop - did you know that you could upload videos into Photoshop?!

3. Rob was close to growing a mullet this year. We went through a period of documenting it despite my distain to it. I was SO happy when it finally got cut as I despise the long hair look even though people like his 'fro'!

4. I finished 11 books excluding cookbooks. I loved listening to Ready Player One, Atomic Habits and reading Where the Crawdads Sing. I also realized Reese's Book Club is fantastic! From a food stand point, Bread Baking for Beginners by Bonnie Ohara gave me the confidence to tackle Sourdough and Brioche Cinnamon Buns with zero previous knowledge. Salt Fat Acid Heat by Samin Nosrat shed light on a lot of cooking fundamentals.

5. My personal favourite shows from this year included: Queen's Gambit, Alice in Borderland, and Schitt's Creek. Both Pixar movies, Onward and Soul were well done.

   • Podcast wise - I loved Office Ladies, Song Exploder, Money Moves, and was recently introduced to The Happiness Lab. Of course, How I Built This continues to be a favourite.

6. We are thankful for many things this year. In the midst of the pandemic, health is wealth and being close together isn't to be taken for granted. Well meaning cliches aside, our high end waffle machine which was heavily subsidized thanks to a gift card I received also scores high in making the stay home orders more bearable. I will do a post on it in the new year. It will be a huge win if Breville will product sponsor me one day - I'm going to drop that wish now!

7. Rob and I discovered the Exit the Game Board Games Series. This is a one-time play escape room type game as you have to cut up the cards! Start with the Abandoned Cabin - I'll never forget the emotions experienced from that first game. Perhaps it was because we played this during my sad rut, it was one of the good days that stuck out fondly.

8. "Success is Just Revised Mistakes" - James Clear (Atomic Habits). This website is a working byproduct of this. If you've been following for a while, you'll know my first recipe was shared through a doc. If you had goals you didn't meet in 2020, I was no better and missed a few myself. When I was listening to the audiobook, it really inspired me to continue with building out this site (which is still a work in progress), but I hope I can part this quote with you to inspire growth for 2021.

If you got this far, thank you again for taking the time to care and read "what's up"! New Years are great opportunities to re-connect. I'd love to know how you're doing and what your reflections were for 2020. For those who like pics, here are a few to finish the year. Much more to come in the new year my friends!