by james -

The Different Daily Dish Challenge of 2021

Apparently my wife(Bronwyn), was getting tired of my request for chicken pie and mash potato every few evenings, so she requested that we challenge ourselves to eat a different dish for dinner every day for a month. I think she also wanted to improve and/or expand her cooking skills. The rules were simply that when together we must have a different dish every day for dinner. The only exception being if one of us were away from the house, then you’re allowed to eat what you like. As it was November 2020 with a Tier 4(which soon became a Tier 5) Lockdown in London and there weren’t any pubs, restaurants or entertainment venues legally open + both of us would be in the house most nights(aka trapped with no excuse or escape), so 1st December seemed like a good time to start this challenge.

Update: We made it to 4 months (March 31st) and now Bronwyn wants a month off for some chicken pie 😀

We managed to get through the first month without many problems, I did happen to be away for dinner a couple of nights(caring for my mother), so had Fish & Chips), but other than that it was quite fun and rewarding to try to think up and cook such a variety of meals. I then suggested we carry this on to make the challenge 3 months long, as that should be much more challenging, so we did.

Once we hit the 3 month barrier, I then wondered if there was some kind of World Record for this, but haven’t found the answer yet. Anyways we’ve decided to keep going and maybe try to travel the world – so far we’ve been to England, Scotland(Hogmanay), Wales(St.David’s Day), France, China, Japan, Korea, Israel, Italy, Spain, Morocco, Turkey, India, Bangladesh, Thailand, Vietnam, the Caribbean, . Any suggestions or comments are welcome 😀

Here are the meals we have eaten so far :

December 2020

Dec 1 Chicken Kiev
Dec 2 Pork loins with cous cous
Dec 3 Dry Chicken noodles
Dec 4 Spaghetti Bologonese with pork mince
Dec 5 Venison and beef special anniversary dinner at The Richmond Hill Hotel 🙂
Dec 6 Left-over bologonese mix but with salad + jacket potatoes
Dec 7 Thai green curry
Dec 8 James’ nice chicken/celery pie + pastry top
Dec 9 Dominoes Pizza
Dec 10 X Ate separately (James had pie & pizza left-overs, Bronwyn Steak & Ale Pukka Pie).
Dec 11 Beef meatballs with harissa sauce
Dec 12 Chinese from The Chef takeaway
Dec 13 Beef brisket roast
Dec 14 James’ Israeli chicken Sofrito
Dec 15 X James ate at the Wetherspoons pub before lockdown and had a panini.
Dec 16 X James ate Fish n’chips with his Mum.
Dec 17 Pork shepherds pie
Dec 18 Chicken, olive + tomato + potatoes bake
Dec 19 Indian Cottage takeaway
Dec 20 Katsu curry by James
Dec 21 Pork chops with mashed potato and carrots
Dec 22 Sausage casserole by James
Dec 23 Beef burgers from mince by the Bronwyn
Dec 24 Gammon and pease pudding
Dec 25 Christmas turkey + vegetables + trimmings 😀
Dec 26 Turkey stew by James
Dec 27 Turkey curry
Dec 28 Turkey casserole
Dec 29 Chilli con carne
Dec 30 Fallafel and cous cous salad (James)
Dec 31 Roast lamb leg

by james -

The “different place for lunch every day, when working in London” Challenge of 2017

January 2017 – a new year and a new job, working in central London for the next month or two. On my first lunch break (I get a whole 40mins), sitting in Pret a Manger on Carnaby St, found myself struck by the number of places to eat in the area. Thus began my “Eat at a Different Lunch Place every day when working in London Challenge 2017“. There were/are no rules really, except no take-aways, you must sit in the place to eat! Also, I do try to keep the cost as cheap as possible, which has become to mean, less than £10 – blame the location. Originally I aimed at 30 places, as that would be a month’s worth, but then I (surprisingly) got re-hired and decided to keep it going. Despite the walking distances and difficultly of find places increasing and a desperately strong desire to go back to previous establishments, I have persisted and been rewarded with a surprisingly good and varied cuisine for lunch. So, here is my 2017 lunch-challenge diary so far…

Notes: Yes, I’m still updating this list – as it comes from my phone and I’m still trying to workout/remember some of the places.
Also Yes, I will add quite a lot of these to Trip Advisor at some point – already a Level 4 contributor 🙂