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Blue Apron, Day 5: Disaster

The first week of Blue Apron went so well. Everything stayed fresh, even towards the tail end of the week. I enjoyed all of the meals. If there were hiccups, they were small.

I think for week two, I let my guard down. I'm actually a bit frightened by the prospect of week three at this point. The first meal was a bit sketchy but what did turn out OK tasted pretty good. And then there was the second meal.

I'm not sure why I decided to cook the chicken before the catfish, but I should not have done that. The week before they had sent me instructions to cook fish first because it might not hold up, but the salmon was fine, so I thought the catfish would be. And it was, but the bread for the sandwiches was completely moldy. I just turned it into catfish fillets with a salad, but it left quite a bit to be desired. I contacted Blue Apron, and they told me I was supposed to refrigerate the bread. Thanks for the heads up before it was covered in purple polka dots.

So, after tossing the moldy bread I tried to cook up the catfish according to the directions. This meal had the least amount of prep time of any Blue Apron meal so far, but it was also a disaster. First, the bread was moldy. Then the catfish breading stuck to the pan so it was just a greasy, barely-breaded fillet. The salad didn't taste horrible, but it was just lettuce and radishes. I liked the dressing I made (mayo, spice blend and lime juice) but I had to put a little of my own mayo in there. The packet that came with it didn't look anything like three tablespoons.

I am sure if the bread had not been moldy that it would've turned out much better. And I've learned my lesson. Next week's delivery comes tomorrow, and I'm going to do the entree with bread -- Korean Bao Sliders -- the first night, and the one with fish -- Seared Salmon and Green Potato Salad -- the second night. This was the week I meant to skip because I'm planning to be out of town for a few days, so I will have to be creative on when I get things cooked. But I'll definitely have to eat the meals for lunch and dinner, so that will help. The chicken with couscous will last for a minute. I'll stick the chicken in the freezer to be on the safe side.

I'm not planning to review all of those meals, but I'll give an update of the whole week once I complete it or if something so spectacular happens that I have to share it just then. After that week, which I had meant to postpone, then I will be taking a break for a while. I just can't justify the expense when I'm jobless. After all, I am about to eat pork chops and mashed potatoes because I need to cook it before it goes bad. That's kind of random lunch food, although not as random as the egg-salad sandwich I had for breakfast to off-set it.

No photos tonight. No one wants to see that.

Labels: Blue apron, cooking, food, foodie, kitchen therapy

posted by Laura at 11:43 AM | 0 comment(s)

Improvements

Aside from taking way too many pictures of my food and getting in lots of kitchen therapy, my life has not been the happiest time lately. However, by the time you read this I will be sitting in day two of an extremely awesome graphic design class, and I have several more days of training that will make me more competitive in job market. And it's being paid for by a scholarship. I've got a few job leads in the hopper and some more offers of freelance work. While life doesn't look like I thought it would, it doesn't completely suck.

I was thinking about this training. I never would've had the opportunity to take this training if I hadn't lost my job and received a state-assigned career counselor. And this training is what's getting me more freelance work. So, things are looking up. I know when you are sitting in the bottom of a pit, crying and hoping someone will hear you, that it's hard to imagine that this is better. I know this because this has been my life for the past few months. There have been jobs that I've wanted that I didn't get, and sometimes I took that personally (especially the jobs that I knew I could really rock), but for whatever reason that's not where I'm supposed to be.

Life is still not rosy. But I'm getting out of the house and I am staying busy. In addition to the design training, I am finally signed up for those comedy writing and performing classes that I keep meaning to take. I have a few events coming up to sell my jewelry. I have a friend from college having her first child in June. I have two friends from college finally getting married after 17 years. I am turning 40 at our annual alumni weekend. I am going to Detroit for a Tigers' game weekend. If I'm still not working in June, I may go on family vacation with my brother's family once the kids get done with school. So while it absolutely sucks to not be working, I have a lot of things on my calendar that might not get to happen if I had a full-time gig.

I have a little money in the bank (although I'm not excited at the prospect of blowing through it). I have projects to keep me busy and keep my creative juices flowing, and I'm looking for more opportunities there. I actually have plenty to keep me busy. I have health insurance through ObamaCare. I would love to have a great job, and I feel like I am going to find something that will challenge me and utilize my skills and allow me to be in a great collegial and collaborative environment. I am not in a place where I feel desperate to just take whatever at this point, so I feel like something great is coming. If not, well, then I'll figure it out when I get there.

So, life doesn't completely suck. In fact, it could be a lot worse. Yes, I miss having coworkers and going to an office everyday and doing great work, and I'm still a little sad at how that ended. No one wants to feel written off, like they never mattered. No one. I don't care what they say. I miss my grandma. My mood's improving, but I still haven't gotten to the gym. I'm still working too much at Babies R Us. I'm still frustrated with other things.

But I got out of bed, put on clean clothes and killed it in my class today. That's so much progress.

Labels: depression, life, self-improvement

posted by Laura at 9:00 AM | 0 comment(s)

Let's get physical!

Let's start with a random fact about me. When I was in kindergarten, "Physical" by Olivia Newton John was my favorite song. I had no idea what it meant, obviously, but I thought it had something to do with fitness because the video looked like a Jane Fonda tape...Kind of.

posted by Laura at 8:02 AM | 0 comment(s)

Blue Apron, Day Four: So hot.

If I had to use one adjective to sum up my latest Blue Apron meal, it'd be hot. First of all, I used way too much chipotle pepper and my lower lip is tingling, and second, I have learned my lesson about cooking anything from Blue Apron on 475. Never again.

All of the ingredients

Tonight's meal was Roasted Chicken and Mixed Mushrooms with Crispy Rosemary-Orange Salad and Chipotle Pan Sauce. I did this one first because I was really worried that the little box of mushrooms wouldn't hold up for several days. As it was, I had a few pieces of greens that just did not look very palatable so I tossed them.

Let's talk about the biggest positive first: The rosemary-orange salad. I had never used collard greens before, but thinly sliced and cooked with orange pieces, orange zest and water in a pan that was used to brown chicken is not the worst idea ever. The "dressing" was the second half of the orange pieces, a drizzle of olive oil, fried rosemary (I know it sounds weird) and a little salt and pepper. It was great.

The chicken, which was just bone-in, skin-on thighs sprinkled with salt and pepper, browned in a pan

I've never roasted mushrooms before!

and roasted in the oven tasted very good, but one thigh is not enough for dinner. It's not an expensive cut of meat, and if one of your thighs was paltry (like mine), then you might have been hungry at the end of your meal. Especially if your mushrooms were shriveled to oblivion, but we'll get to that in a second. If I hadn't needed a lunch to take to my all-day class tomorrow, I would have eaten the entire two portions for dinner.

The roasted mushrooms. Not roasted. Petrified. I should've learned my lesson about cooking anything from Blue Apron on 475 for the directed amount of time after the sweet potato fiasco, but I let my guard down after two perfect recipes. I actually didn't cook them the entire time. They were still shriveled up pieces of charcoal edible fungi. Disappointing.

This sauce was good, but way too spicy. I was a little nervous about cooking with chipotle peppers, especially after the warnings to cut them last and wash your hands, cutting board and knife immediately after. The recipe did say to taste as

Oops.

you added the pepper to make sure that you didn't get it too spicy, except chipotle is a slow burn so it didn't taste that spicy as it was cooking. And then I plated it and ate my food, and my lip is finally regaining its feeling.

My plate wasn't that pretty tonight. First of all, those poor mushrooms. Secondly, my drizzle of creme fraiche did not look like I'd hoped. I did use a beautiful Fiesta plate just in case it turned out nice.

I did drink some wine tonight. I didn't match it perfectly to Blue Apron, because I had another local wine to drink. This one was a 2014 Kinzley Reserve from Arrington Vineyards. It's mostly Sauvignon Blanc (with some Symphony grapes thrown in), so I knew it would go well with an orange-sauced chicken. It has nice citrus and tropical fruit undertones. It went really well with spicy, citrus chicken. The wine was another highlight of tonight's meal.

The plate is pretty. The actual plate. It's Fiesta ware.

Lastly, this recipe took a lot longer than the 35-45 minutes the card promised. It actually took 35 minutes for the prep and over an hour for the whole meal. A good chunk of that was pulling each individual rosemary leaf off the stalks. But rosemary briefly fried in olive oil is delicious and it makes your house smell lovely, especially if someone put in a Christmas Scentsy and your house smells like pine trees in April, but I digress.

This was my first disappointment with Blue Apron, and it was still not horrible. I had never roasted mushrooms before, and I would've loved for them to turn out. I guess I am just getting aggravated that I can't successfully navigate 475 degrees on my oven. Tomorrow night is catfish sandwich day. I am hoping it is as easy as it looks. Also, I totally missed the cancellation deadline today (I think I was messed up being in Central Time Zone, because I thought it was noon and it was really 11 a.m.), so I am getting one more week. I don't know if I will keep blogging about it. I may just post on Instagram or Facebook or Twitter instead of dissecting the whole process. But that will definitely be my last week for a bit.

P,S. Blue Apron had a contest to have someone video you while made tonight's meal. I kind of wish I would since it was such a hot mess, but I don't think that's what they were hoping for.

Labels: Blue apron, cooking, food, foodie, kitchen therapy, wine

posted by Laura at 8:33 PM | 0 comment(s)

Blue Apron Day 3

Today was probably the most challenging Blue Apron day -- which isn't saying much because Blue Apron makes things really easy -- but it was also the most delicious Blue Apron meal that I've had.

Tonight was Nepalese Chicken Tarkari, and I wasn't sure what to expect because I've never had any type of Nepalese meal before. I knew the spice blend included some curry, but aside from I had no idea what this meal would taste like.

This was the last night of my first Blue Apron week, and everything was still fresh. I was a little

In the beginning...

worried about the produce, but I just didn't have time to get to the meal before this afternoon. The produce was not bad, but it was not as fresh as it was six days ago. I was impressed by that. I also realized a few days ago that there was creme fraiche for this recipe and it was not in my fridge. I am pleased to report that the packaging kept it fresh in the knick-knack bag.

Fresh ginger and garlic!

There were a lot of firsts in this recipe. I never use fresh garlic and fresh ginger because they are a pain in the butt. I am not sure I did the world's best mincing job, but they gave the meal amazing flavor. (I did learn that I probably need to break down and get a nice knife set because I had trouble chopping up my cooked spinach too.) I also cooked rice and had it turn out, which never seems to happen in my world. I like all the little tips that Blue Apron gives me.

Speaking of the rice, it took a lot less time to cook than I thought it would and it just kind of sat there (and got a little bit sticky) while I was cooking the chicken and preparing the sauce. The chicken was a place where I went off recipe for a minute. I used the glass lid to my pan instead of tenting the pan with foil to speed up the cooking time. One of my chicken breasts was really thick and the other one was almost a cutlet. I had to remove the thinner one first and let it sit on the plate while the other finished cooking, and it took longer than planned.

The sauce was easy to make and it was great. I will probably use canned crushed tomatoes more often

So much sauce

in cooking because I really liked the flavor and consistency. The creme fraiche really helped balance out the acidity and the spices.

The smells coming out of my kitchen for this meal were probably my favorite part. Everything smelled so delicious that I was literally salivating waiting to get everything plated. It still took me more than 40 minutes. Tonight's meal came in at 55, but maybe I am just not a speedy cook. I know my kitchen has a horrible layout, and I am sure that doesn't help. This was my last free meal, but I'm going to go ahead and try another week of Blue Apron and then I may take a little break. I don't want to get burned out on it. I am just really looking forward to what I'll be getting in the package tomorrow.

The finished product

Perhaps my only complaint with this meal, which is going to sound silly because of how delicious it was, is that there was a lot of food for this one. When I looked at the recipe card I couldn't figure out how this came in at more than 600 calories. There was so much rice, and I probably had to put about one-third of a cup of the sauce down the disposal (although the sauce is so delicious that you might want extra). I just hated to waste any of it because the whole point of Blue Apron for me is to cut down on waste.

I also didn't do the wine pairing tonight because I was feeling dehydrated and stuck with water. I think if I had paired it, I probably would've gone with a Pinot Grigio because of all the spiciness that was happening.

I can't remember everything I'm getting next week, but I know there is catfish and pork chops. Stay tuned to see what else I have to say about this experiment. Today I was telling my aunts that they should try it. They have been really struggling to get dinner on the table without grandma running their kitchen as only a retired dietary manager could. They asked me a lot of questions about recipes, value, how it is delivered. I suspect at the end of the day they may be too finicky with their food preferences and they worried that they lived too far away for the deliveries, but I would love for them to try it.

Labels: Blue apron, cooking, food, foodie, kitchen therapy

posted by Laura at 9:22 PM | 0 comment(s)

Blue Apron: Day 2

So, I am getting the hang of this Blue Apron thing. I'm getting more familiar with following their recipes, and the meals are getting more delicious. I am really looking forward to next week's recipes because I am not sure if they can top this week.

The beginnings of meatball ragout

My second meal was Meatball Ragout with Swiss Chard. Today's true confessions are that I've never made a ragout before (it's like a stew), and I can't remember a time that I've used chard. I wasn't sure how the chard would hold up for several days, so I decided to cook it before the chicken dish that I'll be making tomorrow.

So. Much. Prep.

This meal required a lot of prep. There were lots of veggies to cut up, meatballs to roll out (although this was the easiest time I've had making meatballs), and lots of cooking. The meat had to be browned, then the potatoes had to get started before you added the other veggies. And then you had to add the browned meat back in
with the chard and some water. It was very labor intensive, and it didn't take 40 minutes. It took 59. I set a timer to see if I could deliver in under 40 minutes like it promised. I didn't even have to find the corkscrew this time. But even with all the prep and cooking, it was still easier to prepare that if I'd done it myself, and it was delicious. This was, however, a meal that I might try to replicate on my own. It's a perfect stew for a cold, rainy day, so it worked out that I made it yesterday.

Meatballs before

Meatballs after

Meatballs during

While I am not still not sure about the value of Blue Apron and I have concerns about all the waste of

Lifesavers!

these tiny, individual packages, some of the specialized ingredients in this meal were appreciated. Two tablespoons of tomato paste in a packet is perfect. I waste so much tomato paste in my life. You buy a whole can for one or two tablespoons, and then a few weeks later you throw away a half can of moldy tomato paste. And another one of the "knick knacks" in this recipe was a tablespoon of beef demi-glace. Demi-glace is something that eludes me in my culinary adventures. I was glad that I didn't have to attempt to make it on my own. Add in a tablespoon of corn starch and 1/4 cup of panko bread crumbs, you're adding a lot of convenience if someone likes to cook but doesn't have a very well-stocked pantry.

Cooking the veggies

The meatballs were perfect. I'm not sure I can replicate that spice blend if I decide to make this again later. They were just the right size and cooked perfectly. I loved the tips on that part of the recipe. The chard wasn't hard to work with, and I liked the flavor. All of the veggies worked well with the meat, along with the beefy, tomato-y flavor. And this recipe made a lot of food. I was told when I started that there would be some meals that would probably be more than two servings and this was one of them. I ate it for dinner two nights in a row, and I might have it again for lunch tomorrow. (Or maybe for a snack later tonight, if we're being honest.) But it was filling. I didn't eat a bowl of it and starve later in the evening. It was just so delicious and there's still some in the fridge, and it may just end up in my belly. And it's not bad for you. The only carbs were from veggies and a tablespoon or so of panko bread crumbs, and it came in at 550 calories per serving, assuming you ate half of the pan in one serving.

After adding the chard and meatballs

I am still really enjoying Blue Apron, but even if I had the money right now I would have to take weeks off here and there. The food is good, but I could see it getting to be a bit much. Some nights I still just want to throw a turkey burger on the George Foreman grill. I don't need gourmet meals every night, and this is from someone who likes to cook. For one thing, all of this prep dirties a lot of dishes. So far I've been able to keep everything limited to one cooking pan, but all of the bowls to hold all the various veggies so that you can follow the process can be overwhelming. Thank goodness I have a dishwasher. And, honestly, I am trying to follow the process because I'm reporting on it. If I were just flying by the seat of my pants like usual, I would just throw stuff together to not have so much to clean up.

The finished product

Tomorrow night is something totally different: Nepalese Chicken Tarkari. I have never made any Nepalese food before, and it looks good in the pictures. I am guessing it might be a little spicy.

Stay tuned for a full report.

Labels: Blue apron, cooking, food, foodie, kitchen therapy

posted by Laura at 6:23 PM | 0 comment(s)

Blue Apron: Day 1

To start off, I've been wanting to try Blue Apron. For those not familiar, Blue Apron is a subscription service that sends you a box of ingredients to cook several meals for the week. They tout the meals as "restaurant quality," and so far I think that's a fair claim. The first meal I tried was BBQ-spiced salmon and roasted sweet potato rounds. It wasn't crazy fancy, definitely not too hard to cook, but it wasn't something I'd normally make on a random Wednesday.

A friend offered a free week of Blue Apron for me to try. A week normally costs $59.94, and that gives you enough food for three meals for two. I wondered if it would work for a single lady, but my single friend  does it and packs the second portion for lunch the next day. This is what I'm trying this week. Despite the fact that I waste a lot of food buying either a ton for one recipe or letting stuff waste because I get sick of leftovers, I'm still mulling over whether or not it's a value. I've committed to giving it two weeks to try. Luckily they are pretty good at letting you opt out if you can't do a week here or there. If I were still busy working 70 hours a week, it might be a completely different story. It really saved me a lot of time in the kitchen and allowed me to control my portions. $60 is just a lot to budget with so little money coming in. Most likely I will really commit to this service once I have a full-time job and time is more at a premium again.

Having everything I needed for a recipe right in front of me on the counter and having a recipe card that actually says: "While the potatoes are cooking, make your salad dressing and toast your walnuts," saved me a ton of time. A ton. It is supposed to take you no more than 40 minutes to cook a Blue Apron meal, and I don't think my first effort took that long. And I did get a little behind because I wanted wine and my corkscrew had to be located while the oven was pre-heating. That was supposed to be my slicing-and-dicing time.

Hey, hey, Hahira Red!

Speaking of wine, Blue Apron also recommends two wines you might want to pair with each meal. Clearly someone at Blue Apron is my spirit animal. However, I did not try either a Zinfandel or Pinot Noir with this wine (I had both) because I had a red wine I purchased in Georgia that I thought might be corked and going bad. I wanted to drink it while I still could, but it now appears that it was probably just hand bottled and the cork was fine. It still went well with barbecue salmon and sweet potatoes, so I'm still winning. I do, however, recommend maybe not buying the last wine you try at a tasting because it didn't really taste how I remembered it. However, if you're looking for a red that says it's a dessert wine but is fine with a hearty meal and you ever find yourself in South Georgia, try Hahira Red Supreme at Horse Creek Winery.


Now, back to the meal. My meal was delicious. There were a few things that were just OK, but it was nutritious, well balanced and tasty. My biggest issues were that the 475 temp on the sweet potatoes was too high. I suspected that when I turned the oven on, but I figured our Blue Apron friends were wiser about these things than I am. Even cooking on the short end of the recommended time, I burned about one-third of my potatoes. Not even like "this-could-be-a-potato-chip" burned. We're talking ashes.

Sweet potatoes going into oven

Sweet potatoes after

The salad was delicious with a great flavor profile. It was also very healthful with a ton of greens and apple pieces, a spattering of toasted nuts and a vinaigrette made with olive oil, whole grain dijon mustard, diced shallots and red wine vinegar. Based on the wet paper bag for my "knick-knacks," as Blue Apron calls them, I'd say that my little vinegar bottle sprung a leak. I put what was in the bottle in the bowl and added almost two tablespoons of my own red wine vinegar (side note: using old wine to make vinegar is working y'all) and it was still a very pasty consistency, not like a vinaigrette at all. It tasted good, but it just didn't look/feel like a salad dressing. I could have done something wrong, but I thought I had followed the directions. (Actually, I appear to have missed a note in parentheses and put too much shallot in. That might have made a difference.)

Wild caught salmon. Yay!

The salmon was great. I haven't cooked salmon at home for probably 12 years or so because I got violently ill from eating it once. I have had reactions since then. However, I recently realized that it might be the dye they use at factory farms. When they told me I was getting salmon this week, I decided that I would try it because if they are using salmon that I can eat, then I will be introducing it back into my diet when I use this service. Anyhow, the salmon was dipped in a barbecue spice mix, which was brown sugar, paprika and some other good stuff. Then I just pan seared it for a few minutes on each side. I haven't eaten much salmon in my recent memory, but it was very delicious.

Salmon dipped in the seasoning blend

All in all, I like Blue Apron so far. I hope I get to stick with it. I am a pretty good cook, but I stink at coming up with meal ideas. It is also nice to have everything y

Look! I'm toasting nuts!

ou need delivered right to your door and having it right there when it's time to cook. While it's a little odd to just get a single carrot in my package, the only things I used out of my kitchen were salt, pepper and olive oil. This let me get in my kitchen therapy without taking up too much of my life. It also challenged me. Do you know that in my 20-some years of cooking, I've never toasted nuts?

In addition to saving a lot of time planning, shopping and finding stuff in your kitchen, I think this is perfect for folks who don't have immediate access to a grocery store. I live halfway between a Kroger and a Publix, but if I lived in a big city like New York, Detroit, Chicago or somewhere else that grocery access can be sketchy, I would love this. Surprisingly Southern cities have much better grocery access (I'm looking at you, Nashville, Atlanta and Miami), so there isn't as much of a need for me. Even when I lived by the sketchy urban Kroger here in Nashville, there were two fancy suburb versions nearby.

The delicious finished product.

So, that's day one of Blue Apron. Tomorrow I'll be making Meatball Ragout with swiss chard, mostly because I'm a little worried that the chard will not hold up as well as the meat will in the fridge. I guess we'll figure those kinks out in the next two weeks.

Labels: Blue apron, cooking, food, foodie, kitchen therapy, wine

posted by Laura at 8:00 AM | 0 comment(s)

The times they are a-changin'

If I could use only one sentence to sum up the last six months, it'd be: My life has completely changed.

posted by Laura at 6:25 PM | 0 comment(s)