Review of Blue Apron

If you don’t know what Blue Apron is, it’s a box subscription service that provides ingredients and recipes to make delicious meals at home.  The box comes right to your door with exact amounts of ingredients so cooking new recipes is fun and easy.  I did have a coupon code so the first box was free and decided to try it out for the sake of this blog (and to try some yummy dinners along the way.)  Right now you can get 3 free meals when you sign up.

In my first box I was sent Paprika Shrimp & Cheddar Grits, Sweet Corn Ditali Pasta and Spicy Eggplant Curry & Green Bean Curry.  

Isn’t there a lot of packaging?

There is quite a bit of packaging to ensure that soft vegetables arrive in good condition.  Everything provided is also labeled for your convenience.  On the upside, there is little to no food waste since everything is measured and provided in exact quantities.

Are the recipes healthy?

The recipes provided did range around 700-800 calories for one portion which is higher than I personally would like to see my home-cooked meals however, the portions are really large and I never ended up eating half of the recipe.  I actually had enough for about 3 servings which means the calories were closer to about 500 per serving. 

I don’t eat _____.  Can I still use Blue Apron?

You have the option to choose recipes that include meat, chicken, fish or vegetarian options.  I chose the fish and vegetarian option which gave me a variety of one shrimp recipe and two meatless recipes.

But I’m not that great at cooking.

Blue Apron makes it extremely easy to follow along with their recipes and provides tips on how to prepare your meal.  Everything is labeled and measured out in exact portions so preparation is a breeze.  It would also be really fun to share the cooking experience with another person and the result is a new recipe you may not have ever tried before.

Does it save time?

I recommend reading the recipe over from beginning to end before starting to cook.  My first recipe took me a long time to cook for example, because I cut up all vegetables then started boiling water for pasta after.  Normally, I would start boiling water and cooking pasta at the same time as prepping all the veggies.  If you are new to cooking or can get overwhelmed with doing several things at once, go ahead and follow the recipe step by step.  If you are a little more confident, take note of things that you could do simultaneously.  In the end, Blue Apron saves you time since you aren’t spending time grocery shopping for that meal.

Is it expensive?

The price can seem steep at first however, you are getting enough ingredients for 6-8 meals (if you choose the 2 person option).  I normally cook at home during the week and tend to eat out on the weekends which can get pricey.  My box was delivered on Thursday evening so I had meals to last me through the entire weekend and prevented me from spending even more money at restaurants.  The recipes are delicious so I was actually looking forward to my dinners that weekend and didn’t feel the need to order out.

Overall, I think Blue Apron would be great to occasionally spice things up in the kitchen if you are getting tired of the same old recipes week after week. It would definitely be fun to make as a couple or with someone else and makes more sense I think for families with 2-4+ members.  The recipes were delicious and fun to make but for me personally, it was a lot of dirty dishes for just one person's meal.  I may try it again in the future, though!

*All opinions are my own and I was not compensated for my review.

March is National Nutrition Month!

Happy National Nutrition Month! Every year, March kicks off a whole month of awareness for the importance of nutrition in the U.S. We can use this time to motivate eachother to either start or maintain healthy eating patterns!  How are you going to celebrate?!

Ways to celebrate National Nutrition Month:

• Keep a Food Journal
• Reach out to a Registered Dietitian (RD) or Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN) in your area
• Make a nutrition or exercise goal for the month of March
• Use a fitness tracker to increase your activity and encourage friends with weekly competitions
• Visit choosemyplate.gov or eatright.org for information and great resources
• Try cooking a new, healthy recipe
• Follow the hashtag #NNM on Twitter or Instagram

From: dining.okstate.edu

Lemon Pantry's Must-Have Kitchen Essentials

I thought it was high-time I let you all in on my favorite go-to kitchen essentials.  These are some of my absolute favorite things I just can’t go without.  Honorable mentions include mason jars (duh) because they are so darn functional for storage and cute for cocktails as well as my Pampered Chef pizza stone for nice, crispy pizza crusts every time.  Take a peek at my list and let me know what your favorite items are in the kitchen!

Cuisinart Mini-Prep Plus Food Processor, 3-Cup

This food processor is PERFECT for making your own pesto or hummus.  I find it so handy when cooking for one but it also is just the right size for making dips for entertaining.  Find it here.

Calphalon Kitchen Essentials Non Stick Pan

This pan gets used almost every night at my house.  Perfect for grilling salmon, veggies or even fruit.  You can also make Panini’s (although I never have) or toast up bread on it.  It leaves great grill marks you just can’t get otherwise in the dead of winter.  Find it here.

Rachael Ray Cutlery 3-Piece Japanese Stainless Steel Chef Knife Set with Orange Handles and Sheaths

Ray-Ray no longer makes these exact knives but has changed the style slightly and still carries a similar version, here.  The chef’s knife is absolutely perfect.  What more can be said.

NutriBullet Hi‑Speed 12‑Piece Blender and Mixer System

I didn’t even know about the NutriBullet until I received it as a Christmas gift a few years ago and I am hooked.  It is incredibly handy and totally took the place of my old blender.  For real, I got rid of that thing because the NutriBullet is so easy to clean and user friendly.  Ideal for smoothies and the second blade is great at grinding up nuts and seeds.  (I also recommend these to my patients on modified-texture diets.  Because of the different cups it saves you from washing a regular blender 3 times for a single meal.  This way, you can puree meat in one, potatoes in a second, and peas in a third.)  Find it here.

Hamilton Beach 2-Speed Hand Blender

If you are into making your own soups then you need one of these, really.  Every time I use it I am just so happy I have it.  It saves so much effort and prevents me from spilling hot soup while I try to get it into a blender to puree.  This one has a blade that detaches for easy cleaning.  Find it here.

100% Greek Olive Oil and Lemon Juice

This is not exactly a kitchen tool but I use it so frequently I had to include it.  I cook with a LOT of olive oil and lemon juice and this just saves me one step in flavoring most dishes.  It’s also nice to drizzle over dips or salads.  Find it here.

Anchor Hocking 10-Piece TrueSeal Storage Set
I found these on Amazon for a STEAL and they are still available, find here.  I have switched almost 100% to glass Tupperware and I have to say I much prefer it.  I just love that you can get glass Tupperware REALLY clean and it doesn’t stain like plastic.  Also, it looks nice in the fridge and makes it easy to see what you have on hand!

2015 Reading List

As another year comes to a close it's natural to look back over the past 12 months and reflect.  One way I like to do that is by recapping all the books I was interested in reading.  It can sort of give you a peek into where you were at in life and what you enjoyed or wanted to learn about.  I initially felt as though I didn't read as much as I would have liked but I did have two big opportunities to settle down with a few books; first during a week on a remote sailboat and second while I was stuck in bed after foot surgery.
I started the year really enjoying memoirs, especially Yes Please by Amy Poehler.  Towards the time of my surgery, I was looking for a distraction and loved The Girl on the Train and All the Bright Places.  If you liked The Fault in Our Stars then you can be sure you will like All the Bright Places, although I didn't end up bawling my eyes out quite the same.
I'd love to hear some book suggestions from you or would love to know what you thought of these books if you've read them.  I hope you all have a safe and HAPPY NEW YEAR!  Happy 2016, Everyone!

2015 Reading List: 

Yes Please – Amy Poehler

Not That Kind of Girl – Lena Dunham

Bossypants – Tina Fey

Someone Else’s Love Story – Joshilyn Jackson

The Girl on the Train – Paula Hawkins

All the Bright Places – Jennifer Niven

Paper Towns – John Green

Freakonomics – Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner

The Secret – Rhonda Byrne

Happy Cooking – Giada de Laurentiis

Bad Feminist - Roxane Gay (Not Yet Finished)

The First Bad Man – Miranda July (Not Yet Finished)

7 Tips for a Healthy Halloween Night!

1.     Start with a balanced dinner prior to trick-or-treating to help curve cravings but allow for some expected added calories.

2.     Make a plan.  Decide your family’s candy allowance ahead of time.  No matter your limitations on Halloween candy, the holiday is bound to go more smoothly when everyone knows what is allowed before going out. 

3.     Donate extra candy to soldiers abroad or bring to school or work to share.

4.     Develop a toy exchange system where your kids can trade in pieces of candy for a non-food reward or a reward system with left-over candy.

5.     Pass out non-food items (such as crayons, yo-yo’s, fake tattoos, spider rings or bouncy balls.)

6.     Pass out healthier food options (such as pretzels, popcorn, cereal, dried fruit or sunflower/pumpkin seeds).

7.     Discuss with your children that candy is a treat to be enjoyed on occasion but avoid labeling sweets as “bad” foods.  

Have a spooky and safe Halloween everyone! 

A Year's Worth of...Fails?

In the past year, I have to say I’ve had a lot of fun whipping up some really yummy meals for myself.  But I’ve also had my share of less than blog-worthy failures.  Like pretty epic failures.  And what do you know, I decided to share them with you.  Call me crazy but maybe you’re interested.  Maybe not.  Anyways, here we go!

Grilled Pizza – So here I attempted to make pizza without yeast since I didn’t have any and then tried to grill the darn thing.  To avoid the pizza from falling through the grill, I didn’t want to make the crust too thick but this resulted in an unevenly cooked, tough, overall not good pizza.  Blasphemy.

Poppy Seed Muffins – MY FAVORITE.  However, they are my grandmother’s recipe and I thought that 1 ½ CUPS baking powder just had to be a typo.  I mean, that is a LOT of baking powder no matter how large the batch.  Anyways, I decided to try only 1 ½ Tablespoons and ended up with a sad, sad batch of fallen baked goods.  For the record, this is not my first time ruining this recipe, either.  I think from now on, I’ll leave the baking to someone else.

Sweet Potato Pancakes – On one of the blogs I like to read, I came across 2 ingredient sweet potato pancakes made with egg and cooked sweet potato blended together then pan-fried.  I added the optional almond milk and discovered quickly that you need to cook these babies on a HIGH heat.  Otherwise, you end up with sweet potato scramble which is yummy, sure, but definitely not photo-worthy.  At least by the last pancake I figured it out.  

Dairy-Free Paleo Eggnog – Just…don’t.  I think there are enough warning signs in that title to deter you but clearly there wasn’t enough for me.  The taste was not like any eggnog I’ve ever tried and when attempting to incorporate the eggs, we ended up scrambling them into an unappetizing mess. Sure, we tried to strain out the egg and even added amaretto to mask the awful, awful flavor but somehow we were still surprised that this one just didn’t taste good.  I’ll be sticking with the full-fat version this year and loving every sip.

Enchilada Lasagna/Casserole – There was nothing wrong with this recipe.  In fact, it is delicious!  Unfortunately, it came from Pinterest and finding the exact same recipe has proven to be unsuccessful and therefore, I can’t share it with you (or myself).  It’s my own fault for not actually PINNING the PIN on PINTEREST.