Dinner for One??

I had spent some time avoiding this meal as it called for 1kg of Salmon (basically half a small salmon).  I had been asking around and reviewing pricing from $38kg to $26kg.  I finally found a piece that would meet our needs without breaking the bank and was excited to finally get to cook this meal of "Crispy Salmon, Jazzed-Up Rice, Baby Courgette Salad and Gorgeous Guacamole". 

This time I decided to try to cook this meal in the 30 min timeframe without completing any prep, with the exception of gathering all my ingredients, boiling the kettle and gathering cookware and dishes.  As I checked the clock and began cooking, my 2 year old safely engrossed in evening TV and my Schnauzer puppy happily chewing on a toy, I began by preparing my salmon & putting it under the grill and putting the rice on the stove.  Only 8 mins in and I received a text message.  I stopped to check it as I thought it may be an important message from my Hubby.  Indeed it was.  "Not feeling very well, don't think I will want to eat much tonight".  Wonderful!

With my Salmon skin already crackling away, I had no option but to continue...I was committed and it was too late to stop now.  I quickly return to the kitchen to continue with the Zucchini Salad and the Guacamole.  As my Hubby arrived home I was pleased that dinner was almost ready and the time taken to prepare the meal was 40 mins...Awesome!

But Hubby took one sniff of the fish aromas wafting through the house and made a quick dash to the toilet!  I prepared my son's food and called him to the table, only for him to flatly refuse (something he had not done for several months now).  I figured I would wait another 5 mins until his TV show had finished and I was confident that he would then jump to the dinner table.  Another 15 mins later Hubby is in bed shivering and my son was now engrossed in other play and still refusing to come to the table.  So I ate alone! 


The meal was nice and each element delicious in its own right, however, as usual, it's a ton of food and really the guacamole, although really really yummy, not really required.  A portion of fish and two salads is more than adequate for a meal I think. And the dollop of sour cream on top of the fish...bad idea.  Could not see any benefit in this at all except adding more calories!  Consequently, we are having "Nachos" tonight with all the left over guacamole and sour cream!

So I am over halfway now with 27 recipes completed and only 6 more recorded episodes to watch and cook.  This means I will need to cook the last 17 meals with only the instructions from the book!  Should be interesting to say the least, but for now I will concentrate on what I have to work with.  Problem is, next meal on the list is whole fresh Sardines!  Time to source ingredients from places other than the supermarket again..oh joy!