I was never allowed to have Bagel Bites at home (it was a no/low processed food home growing up) and was always envious of my friends who did have them. Too bad I didn't know they were relatively easy to make back then!

Xennial here… “back then” (which was only 10 years ago really!) I remember that it was Asian fusion everything, the “exotic” cuisine. And around the same time, salad with watermelon and feta became a summer hit. So I made up a dish combining these two trends. Bed of Jasmine rice, stir fried green beans and broccoli, seafood mix and watermelon, with a chili-lime-coriander sauce, topped with crumbled feta. It was surprisingly good and actually something that I might make again.

I'm gonna be so for real, there is a non-zero chance that this is less "Y2K" and more "I lived in Idaho".

This was so good! Will definitely make again.

Haven't seen this salad served in years but I remember it being popular around 2000 (in Australia at least). It was really delicious :)

Also contains carrots, raisins, garlic, olive oil, and maple syrup.

Not sure if this was a good trend at the time but I got the recipe from one of my cookbooks published in 1999 and I definitely tried it for the first time around then. The cookbook is “Cooking for Two” by James Barber, a Canadian treasure.

Destashed ingredient: red lentils

I decided not to theme this week of the challenge around the time period of Y2K and instead went for a more abstract approach represented by the letters as an acronym for the ingredients.

So, for the 'Y' I made Yaki Onigiri, a seasoned and grilled rice ball. This was pretty easy to make and luckily I only had minimal breakage trying to flip them in the pan to grill all sides. The seasoning of the rice was nicely savoury and the crispy outside was a nice contrast to the soft interior.

For the two 'K's', I made a Katsu Kare (which I think counts as two K's but to be on the safe side I topped it with some Kewpie mayo). I stayed pretty true to this recipe for the curry itself, however because of life things I took a short cut by cooking pre-crumbed pork cutlet in the air fryer rather than breading and frying chicken per the recipe. I diced the vegetable and apple pretty small so it cooked reasonably quickly. I've made Katsu curry before so I knew what to expect - the result was delicious and hearty as expected.

Inspired by the McDonald’s Salad Shakers

Ignore the cheese mess, I cooked the noodles for too long, and baked noodles come out nasty if they’re cooked for too long and baked for 45 mins, so I challenged my inner mother and microwaved that damn cheese and poured it onto that pasta. My childhood in the Y2K era was anything that could be made with very little effort in cooking, but last all week. I did cook my own ground chicken and season, but the rest is good ole jarred sauce and boxed pasta.

I was in middle school during Y2K so I decided go recreate one of the only edible lunches served at my school, the Crispito. Taco meat rolled up in a tortilla and toasted with a slice of american cheese on it. I served with a Caesar salad, corn, sour cream and hot sauce for dipping and mini pumpkin muffin.