This is the time of year that so many people have resolved to eat healthier. I’m not really into the whole New Year’s resolution business, but I always say to myself that I want to cook more. So for three days, that’s what I did. No fast food or takeout, just breakfast, lunch and dinner using the recipes from Chrissy Teigen’s cookbook Cravings: Recipes for All the Food You Want to Eat. Over the course of 72 hours, I made nine of Chrissy Teigen’s dishes. Some of them turned out great, others a total disaster (honestly, I could barely even eat one of them, so stay tuned). Here’s what went down.
Day 1
Breakfast: John’s Breakfast Sandwiches
This recipe seemed like a dupe for a McDonald’s Egg McMuffin (except it uses homemade sausage instead of Canadian bacon). I love a good breakfast sandwich, but honestly, I didn’t love this dish. The homemade sausage was just okay. I would make this sandwich again, though, but I would leave off the sausage. I would just make it an egg sandwich with cheese and Sriracha. But if you’re interested in an easy recipe for making your own sausage, then I would recommend this. Overall, though, it’s not my favorite thing I made from Chrissy’s cookbook.
Lunch: I Can’t Believe It’s Not Gardetto’s
By lunchtime, I was still pretty full from breakfast, so I made one of the snacks in Cravings. I didn’t know that Gardetto’s was a brand of snack mix (thanks, Mom), but it reminded me of a slightly spicier Chex Mix. It seemed promising. Until I burned the hell out of my homemade snack mix. Like I could barely eat it because it tasted so burnt and bitter. This would be a good time to mention that I’m in journalism school not culinary school. This was my bad, as I’m sure Chrissy knew what she was doing. I mean the snack mix smelled good when I put it in the oven, so I bet it would have been good had I not burned it. But things happen, you know?
Dinner: Pepper’s Scalloped Potatoes
This! This. This recipe is actual heaven in your mouth. Thank god, because I’d really been feeling like I struck out on day one. Of all the recipes in Cravings, Chrissy writes that this is the one she would want you to try. And I understand why now. What really makes this dish special is that cream sauce that you smother the potatoes in. I was literally eating the streaks of cream sauce that didn’t make it into the dish with a spoon out of the saucepan. Shoot, I would’ve eaten that cream sauce with just some crackers and a spoon. Totally not healthy, but who cares? Her cookbook is about cravings not weight loss. And I appreciate that about her. Anyway, 10/10, would recommend. Seriously, if you have this book, make this recipe. Life. Changing.
Related: I Tried a 7-Day Cleanse from the Victoria’s Secret Angels’ Nutritionist
Day 2
Breakfast: Cheesy Cheeseless Scrambled Eggs with Burst Cherry Tomatoes
I make eggs multiple times a week, so I thought this recipe would be super easy. Girl, was I wrong. This dish was deceptively hard to make. The recipe itself is easy, but I cut down the proportions by two-thirds, so it took some trial and error to get that right. Overall, the eggs were a little bland but not bad. They were creamy as promised, and the chives on top of the eggs were an amazing idea on Chrissy’s part. It added a subtle onion-y flavor without giving me bad breath. The tomatoes were good, too. I don’t love tomatoes but this was a fun way to cook them, as you basically just blister them in a burning hot pan. They lifted up the dish, adding an acidic note to cut through the creaminess of the eggs. Now that I know what proportions to use, I think this would be an approachable breakfast to cook before class. I would make it again, but this time I would add hot sauce on top.
Lunch: Sesame Chicken Noodles
If you’re tired of ramen, but want an Asian-inspired dish that’s easy to make, then this is the one. It’s spicy; this is not for beginners. But I like spicy food, and this dish, because to me, spicy generally means there’s hot sauce involved. So the fact that this dish is spicy but has no hot sauce in it is a good kind of different for me. It’s very flavorful and kind of nutty from the sesame oil and tahini (aka sesame seed paste). Also, I don’t cook a lot of Asian or Asian-inspired food, so this was a lot of fun to make because it was different from what I’m used to. Plus, now that I have all of the oils used in this recipe (spoiler: there are quite a few flavored oils used here), this would be an easy recipe to add into my rotation.
Dinner: Spicy Italian Sausage Meatloaf
Another dinnertime success! It was so good. My dad, who can be a picky eater, particularly liked this recipe. It was an interesting take on the classic All-American dish because the sausage kept the meatloaf from getting dry. That and the sausage and red pepper flakes gave it some kick. The scalloped potatoes from the night before went perfectly with this meatloaf, too.
Day 3
Breakfast: Yellow Cake Baked Oatmeal
Cake for breakfast? Sign me up! This was one of the recipes I was most excited about because it’s literally cake mix and oatmeal coming together with peaches and raspberries on top. What’s not to love about that? I will say this dish was not nearly as sweet as I thought it would be, but it was still delicious. The next time I make this recipe, though, I want to try adding brown sugar to the quick-cooking oats, just to up the sweetness a little bit. This recipe is also super versatile. For example, in the winter months, an apple cinnamon version would be so good. In the summer, this peach and raspberry version would be perfect, though. A blackberry and raspberry version would be great, too. Ugh, so good!
Lunch: Pepper’s Pork-Stuffed Cucumber Soup
Before you say anything, let me just tell you this dish was shockingly good. Not that I don’t trust Chrissy with my tastebuds (I wholeheartedly do), but cucumbers? In soup? Like, a soup where cucumbers are the star? Unheard of. At least, I’d never heard of that before. Cooked cucumbers are surprisingly tasty, though, Especially when they’re stuffed with her soy sauce and minced garlic ground pork, which is bomb AF. That pork takes the dish to the next level. I had leftover pork, so I freestyled a little and cooked off some tiny meatballs while the soup was cooking, then I added it into the soup in the last 15 minutes. The broth reminded me a little bit of the soup you get at sushi places. And I love that soup. Honestly, I would make this recipe again just to slurp up that broth.
Dinner: Capon’s Chrissy Burger and Onion Rings
Honestly, I didn’t even want to tell you guys about the onion rings because something very wrong happened. I’m not exactly sure what, but the onion rings turned out translucent. I don’t know what kind of sorcery was up in my parents’ kitchen with that, but my guess is that I miscalculated the ratios. Again. Listen, I’m not a math person. But I am a food person, so I pushed on and made the burgers. The burgers were pretty good. I’d never made a burger before (eaten plenty, though), so it was a little tricky making sure they were totally cooked through. The burgers were super juicy, and the burger sauce recipe that Chrissy advises you to make is a little like the sauce on Big Macs but a slightly spicier. Overall, not the most impressive thing I made from her cookbook, but the burger was definitely good. Those poor onion rings were far from what Chrissy would have expected, though. If Hannah Montana taught me anything, it’s that nobody’s perfect. Same goes for my sad, translucent onion rings.
Walking away from this experience, I have a newfound respect for chefs. Cooking all day is hard! I felt like once I had finished one dish and then eaten some of it, I was on to cooking the next thing. It was not as easy as I had expected it to be, but I did learn a lot about keeping an eye on what you put in the oven and doing the math correctly before you begin mixing things together. I also feel like I learned more about Chrissy Teigen by making these recipes. For instance, I now know that she loves spicy food and garlic, and her mom must be where she got her culinary prowess from because Pepper knows what she’s doing. I might not be a Sports Illustrated model or married to John Legend, but it was fun stepping inside Chrissy’s kitchen for a hot second or two.