Baby Steps

Before I even get started on what the dinner was for tonight, I thought it would be best to have some way to measure/evaluate M’s reactions to the meals.  After all, this is an experiment, right?  So with that, I present the following statistical components I will use to evaluate each meal:

1)    The name of the meal
2)    Why this meal is “challenging” to M
3)    M’s expected satisfaction level (or ESL) (on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being fabulously satisfied) based on #2 and my knowledge of him
4)    M’s actual satisfaction level (ASL) after the meal

I’m using the word “satisfaction” to describe several things:  satiety, taste and likeliness/willingness to eat it again.  I realize that this is not very scientific, but hey, it’s my blog, I do what I want.  I’m also planning on trying to update with my weight loss progress once/week since that is kind of the point of the experiment, but we’ll see how that goes.

On to today!!!  Today is not a very challenging day, but I didn’t want to throw him into Chicken Tikka Masala on Day 1.  Oh yes, that dish will happen at some point and that night will be extremely entertaining.  But for today, I wanted to start out slowly, and ease M into the experiment.

One of my favorite websites is Gracious Pantry and it’s a popular one amongst clean eating enthusiasts.  I’ve had this recipe on my Pinterest page for a while, but I’ve always been held back a little by a few things.  First, I’ve never had chicken and dumplings before and I have no idea how it should taste.  Also, M’s not a big fan of chicken stew type meals and if it’s soupy, forget it.  However, I felt like this was close enough to a chicken pot pie situation to try it out on him.  It’s pretty basic, no crazy spices (although my first time using marjoram, I think) and no weird grains or beans that might freak him out.  I almost feel like I’m cheating a little bit with this meal because I do think he will like it, but it also might wind up being one of those “it’s ok, I’d eat it if I had to” meals, which aren’t exactly super encouraging.

So here we go:
1)    The meal:  Gracious Pantry’s Cleaning Eating Chicken and Dumplings
2)    This is challenging to M because he is not a big fan of chicken stews or creamy dishes
3)    M’s ESL:  I’m going with a 5 on this one.  I’m optimistic but cautious.  It’s still a bit like a chicken soup and he’s just not into that.  But this recipe is highly reviewed so fingers crossed he surprises me.

THE OUTCOME

Well, this is probably not going to be the most accurate assessment.  Apparently, my Crock Pot is terrible.  It overcooks everything, which is what happened with this tried-and-true recipe.  It overcooked it a bit.  I had to run out to a meeting so I left M home with the Crock Pot full of chicken and dumplings, and hoped for the best.

M’s ASL:  6.  I’m actually a bit surprised it was even that high given the fact that I thought it was overcooked.  However, when I pushed further for more details, I got “it was ok.”  Twice.  I’m not sure if he was trying to make me feel better or if he was distracted by Wile E. Coyote and The Roadrunner on tv.  I asked him how much he ate and he said “a bowl.”  I have a feeling he was trying to make me feel better, so I don’t think his 6 is really a 6.

Lesson for the day:  no more slow cooker recipes until I get a new one!