Tag: homecooked meals

Blue Apron

The hardest thing to think about during my work week is always, what’s for dinner. You spend all day at work, sometimes you don’t pre-plan your meals and you just want to eat. Then you go down the hole of eating out always. I think that is where 20-30 year olds spend their money.

Well, as someone who is 8 months pregnant and has no energy after a full work day, let alone enough strength to stand in the kitchen, I fall into that hole. Lucky for me, my husband cooks as well. He mentioned that his coworker who is also a new parent uses Blue Apron, and thought we should give it a try. This eliminates: 1. food waste because they give you just enough to make your dishes, 2. grocery shopping because they send you the main ingredients and 3. figuring out what to eat because they send you 3 meals, you just pick what day you want to cook what.

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They send you a box with ingredients and recipe cards for 3 meals. They’ve got like 3 ice packs in there and it should be good until you get home. But refrigerate right away! Our first week’s subscription landed on Cinco de Mayo, so they sent Mexican food for that week. Fish Tacos, Mole Chicken Quesadillas, and Pozole.

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I loved how everything was packaged. I felt like we were getting a Chopped basket…except without the challenge! The fish tacos were sooo delicious and full of flavor. I was definitely impressed.

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If you aren’t that great of a chef, fret not. The recipes are simple enough, and it will help you sharpen your skills. The challenge for me, is forcing myself to eat what is there and try new things. Surprisingly enough, I’m a picky eater. Well maybe not picky, but particular. I never had a raw golden beat before.  Nor do I like raw onions and shallots. But I went ahead and ate everything in front of me.

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I like that they only offer 3 meals. I think it is the perfect amount, because maybe you have leftovers Monday, and want to go out Friday! The produce that comes in looks fresh and healthy, which is more than I can say about produce found in our local grocery stores. Overall I am happy with this service. This will come in handy when we’ve got a new born in the house as well!

Posted on by miemo 0

Simple Steak Dinner

I used to be so intimidated by the idea of cooking a steak myself. But then I finally was like. Time to test it. Easy peasy. All you need is a little bit of salt and pepper and a well cut, perfectly done steak will speak for itself.

Sometimes during the week, I am so tired from work, and I don’t want to cook anything too time consuming or elaborate. And sometimes you just need a STEAK. Luckily, steaks don’t take that long and you can get it done fairly quickly. Here is the step by step. It’s barely a recipe!

When I get home, I like to pull the meat out of the fridge right away, rinse, and pat dry. I rub a little bit of vegetable or canola oil on it (not olive) and then season both sides, and let it sit out while I prep the veggies and heat up the grill pan. This is important because bringing the meat to almost room temperature helps it cook evenly!

Asparagus. People always make fun of my pee when I post pictures of asparagus, but you know what? I like fresh asparagus! It tastes good to me. Rinse those off, and hand break the stems off the bottom. Did you know that the hard parts will break off itself at the right spot? Don’t cut it because you might cut off too little and be left with a tough piece. Your welcome for that tidbit.

I toss this in olive oil and a little seasoning, let that sit and heat up my grill pan. Make sure its nice and hot. I like to oil the pan a tiny bit, so that I can see when it starts smoking and then I lay the steak down. Depending on how you well you want it done and how thickly cut your steak is will determine cook time. I like mine medium well or medium. So I usually do 3 minutes, then slightly rotate (to get criss cross grill marks) for another minute. Then I flip it and use the cheek test to know when its done.

What’s the cheek test? Let me tell you. If you press the middle of your steak with your finger, and its the same softness as your cheek, its rare. If it’s the same as your chin, medium, and your forehead, well. ITS A LOOSE TEST don’t get mad at me if you don’t have good cooking instincts.

After that, let the meat sit on a cutting board (so the meat can rest) and clean the pan and grill the asparagus until bright green and tender with a little crunch.

Well now I am hungry. How about you?

Posted on by miemo 0