I've certainly been lazy about posting lately. I've been even lazier about cooking healthy dinners. It's a good thing I love freezing leftovers because they've really come in handy. We've been living off of reheated Italian wedding soup, beef stew, and lasagna. I should mention that the soup holds up really well in the freezer. The beef stew, on the other hand, turns into beef-flavored potato and carrot mush, but it still tastes good. Especially with a few dumplings added to the pot while it simmers.

What I haven't been lazy about is baking. All I've been craving lately is carbs. I don't understand it. I spent an entire week eating healthy, keeping track of my calories, and feeling really good! But then it was like my stomach had an empty hole that could only be filled with cookies or cake. It was bad I tell you. I would like to say that I'm over it. Whether that's true or not is a different story, but one can hope.

These recipes have been looming over my head for the past week or so, so rather than write separate entries for each I'll just get them all out of the way in a single shot.

• Irish Soda Bread - Wanting to get into the spirit of St. Patrick's day, I decided to make Irish soda bread. My first loaf was made with a combination of white flour and whole wheat, and caraway seeds. I had to add more buttermilk than the recipe called for to make a soft dough. I made a second loaf to eat with the braised chicken (below) using half the recipe, all white flour, no seeds, and about a tablespoon of honey. I baked it in my small cast-iron skillet and was the perfect completion to the meal. I can see myself making this often to eat with soups and stews.
  
  » Recipe at epicurious.com
  
  
• Big Chocolate Chip Cookies - My search for the perfect, big, fat, chocolate chip cookie recipe is over. I made these with all white whole wheat flour, finely chopped pecans, and added about 1 tablespoon of flax seeds which I finely ground before adding. This recipe made 18 big cookies using my 3-tablespoon scoop.
  
  » Recipe at Smitten Kitchen
  
  
• Braised Chicken - I used a can of tomatoes instead of fresh and left out the chili pepper. The mix of spices smelled wonderful and the chicken was tender and juicy. I'll definitely use the marinade again, perhaps adding a touch of honey.
  
  » Recipe at PW Cooks
  
  
• Blueberry Muffins - I made half of the recipe to make 6 muffins, but there was enough batter for 7 or 8. I ended up over-filling the muffin cups and the tops stuck to the pan a little so when I tried removing them all the muffins split apart. Very yummy though.
  
  » Recipe at Simply Recipes
  

In other news, I switched webhosts and spent the weekend moving this site (and a couple others) to a new server. I'd been meaning to do that for a while and had been putting it off because I was sure I would screw something up or come to regret my choice in host. Fortunately, the transition went smoothly and the headaches were minimal.