Week 1: Dominican Pork and Root Vegetable Stew

This week, I am trying a new recipe from my Weight Watchers collection: Dominican Pork and Root Vegetable Stew. While I have been in maintenance mode since October, I continue to enjoy my Weight Watchers recipes, and every one that I have tried has been delicious. I even cooked our Christmas ham with a glaze inspired by a WW recipe! You've got to figure, these recipes are being posted by people who love food and who love to eat (probably why they are doing WW). Then, they are being tried and tested by OTHER people who love food and who love to eat :) And all of these folks are trying to find new foods that they will still love to eat within their new paradigm of healthful mindedness. SO...they're damn good, and typically quite simple to prepare!

Henry and I went shopping for ingredients, expecting to have to substitute a few things. Having no idea what malanga was, we did a little research. Malanga is a starchy corm, and according to Gourmet Sleuth, yucca or taro can be used as substitutes. However, our local Commissary had both malanga and yucca, so we didn't end up substituting anything.

I thought it was good! I would give it 4/5 stars. The prepwork was a little intense for my gimpy hand with all of the peeling (yucca root has a thick, waxy outer-layer) and cubing of the root veggies, but I enjoyed the different textures once it was finished, and I think you could easily use turnip and/or parsnip if you wanted to. This recipe is gluten and dairy-free. I had to add a lot of salt and hot sauce, but they recommend serving it with more fresh-squeezed lime. I think this needs a big loaf of crusty bread with butter or olive oil as well as a room temperature Guinness, but that's just me :) We'll save those indulgences for the weekend...

Henry touched one of the pieces of sweet potato and exclaimed, "YUCKY!!" and exploded in laughter. Stinker. It's from the Yummy Yucky book we read in his room. He thinks most things are yucky, in general, but I think it's mainly just a fun word to say because his mother laughs hysterically every time he says it. 

I know...I'm fired :)

Here is a list of other new things we did in Week 1:

• got a fish (his name is Sharkbait, and he's a Beta)

• got a membership to Powell Botanical Gardens

• set up a meeting with a new babysitter

• said a full sentence (little h): "Watch Bambi. I happy."