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I’ve officially rebooted my Instagram and am working on setting up a posting schedule to keep up the consistency. In the process, I’m learning that keeping consistency on Instagram is not as easy as I thought, and that I am not as well-versed in Instagram as I thought.

On the first note, taking photos while cooking is difficult. I’m able to use a small stand to take many of my photos and position the phone, but the “action shots” are a bit harder. I would like have enough photos on hand to keep a steady flow ready. In addition, I’m trying to take some videos of the prep work or the cooking, but that means I can either take photos or take a video. Deciding between the two becomes harder when I think about trying to keep a balance of posts versus reels on the page.

On the second matter, my only experience with Instagram has been with posting photos. I’ve never used social media heavily and I don’t post “professional” photos. It’s something for fun and for my own enjoyment. The quality of the photos has never been of much concern. However with my blog Instagram, I care much more about the quality of the photos. I’m learning to use the editing tools and filters, but I have a long way to go until my photos look how I’d like them to. I’m also learning to use new features that I’ve never used before like the reels. Posting a reel this past Sunday made me feel very out of touch. I had no idea what I was doing. I eventually managed to get a reel posted, but I could tell right away that I didn’t do it “correctly” and it took me significantly more time than it probably should have. I did learn for next time though, so I anticipate it will be better!

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I really enjoy taking the time to search for new recipes to try. I find it difficult at times to think of something new, or what changes I can make to a current dish to make it into something new. Finding recipes online usually takes me a long time because I want to make sure it’s something that fits the cooking timeframe I have, and I want it to look good. Regardless, I find following someone else’s recipe to be just as enjoyable and delicious, and it saves me some time.

This week I made the recipe “One-Pot Creamy Tomato Spinach Gnocchi” from the blog Fork in the Kitchen.

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When searching for recipes I always look for the photos. I like meals that are either very colorful or that look like cozy comfort food. For me, this recipe hit both marks.

My biggest interest with this recipe was that it was a one-pot dish. I’m sometimes skeptical with these, but this one turned out great! Having a one-pot recipe is great when you’re busy because it minimizes how much clean up there is after! That’s a huge win for me because I hate doing the dishes, but I also don’t know anyone who enjoys doing them either.

To add to the convenience of this dish, the recipe called for refrigerated gnocchi. I’ve tried gnocchi a few times and it’s a bit too much potato flavor for me. However, the refrigerated gnocchi I bought from the grocery store this past week were delicious. I still don’t think they’re something I could have regularly, but I was pleasantly surprised to have really enjoyed the gnocchi. I think the mix of flavors helped minimize the potato taste, in favor of something better. It was also a huge time saver for me because it was one less thing I needed to prepare, either by making gnocchi from scratch or pre-cooking dried gnocchi.

Something else that really peaked my interest with this recipe was the addition of leek.

Leeks are high in vitamin A and flavonoids!

Pulled from Precision Nutrition

I’ve never tried or cooked with leek before, so I was excited to try it out. Foods such as leek sometimes fall into the domain of intimidating. For me, it was because I didn’t know too much about the taste of leek, and I have no experience preparing or cooking it.

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I loved this recipe and would definitely make it again. I recommend it for anyone who is in a big rush or has a tight schedule. It was a very easy recipe to follow. Some notes and things I learned:

• I opted for Vegetable Stock because it’s what I had on hand
• I opted for Half & Half because it’s what I had on hand
• I would pay more attention to how long I cook the gnocchi for – I think my gnocchi ended up overcooked
• I had a hard time squashing the cherry tomatoes – next time I would opt for a different cooking utensil that would be able to do this better
• I would add more liquid – my gnocchi turned out very thick. It was still delicious, but I would have liked it more creamy.

The Fork in the Kitchen blog lists at the bottom how to adjust the creaminess to your liking. Try out this recipe and some of the other recipes featured on Fork in the Kitchen and let me know what you think!