We tried Blue Apron! And I am so behind on my holiday shopping

Who else can't believe that it's already 2 weeks until Christmas?  I'm in big trouble as I have barely started shopping! Don't tell Patrick but I am hoping he will like his 'big present' I went out on a limb as he didn't ask for this, but I got tickets to see Hamilton! Cheap seats to be sure, but still a big expense. This afternoon he was singing a song from the show so I think he will be excited.
Fingers crossed.

Then for BMO all he wants is one thing...a Nintendo Switch. Ugh they are $299 and you can't get any good deal on those.  Don't let anyone tell you kids aren't expensive.

picture from digitaltrends.com

Anna wants a few items, including REAL Ugg boots.  I was hoping Uggs weren't really a thing anymore, but apparently they are, and only REAL Uggs are acceptable.  I don't know that Uggs will be happening. I just don't see the value in purchasing the 'real' boots when the basic style are $20 - $30 and function as well. Also they are bad for feet, they have zero arch support.

Clearly I'm already broke with these three kids. :)

I did get a nice deal from a coworker. She gave me a code for free meals from Blue Apron and I tried a couple of meals this week. Instead of three free two-person meals, I got two of the family meals, those serve four people. I knew at least one kid wouldn't like something about whatever meals I picked, so we would be fine, quantity wise.  Also,  I added extra potatoes for the sides with each meal so there was more food  for the man. I liked the quality of produce and meat that we received.  The steps were a bit more labor intensive than I had anticipated, but nothing too taxing.  The food was definitely restaurant quality and assuming that to eat at a restaurant is at least $12 per person, Blue Apron is less expensive and you can eat in your pajamas. I think we will get Blue Apron about once a month moving forward, it's easy to pick meals and I like to try new recipes.  Maybe at some point I'll be able to mince garlic fine enough to turn it into a garlic paste- something both my recipes asked me to do and I failed at doing.  

Braised Chicken & Smashed Potatoes with Olives, Herbs, & Broccoli

I liked the capers in the smashed potatoes, a nice way to add flavor!

Shiitake & Hoisin Beef Burgers with Miso Mayonnaise & Roasted Sweet Potatoes

You top the burger with baby bok choy.  This was easy to make and I'll use the recipe again.  

So far I'm enjoying the Blue Apron, basically it's meals I would try at a restaurant that I can  make at home without too much effort. I'm looking forward to see what recipes come up in 2018!

November Recap!

Happy  Thanksgiving! I hope you had a lovely one.  I have been neglectful of my blog, because I have been participating in my first NaNoWriMo!  One month, 50,000 words,  1667 new words  per day.  I was keeping up for the first couple of weeks, getting up at 5:30AM to try and put as many words down as possible.  Well I managed to stress myself out so much I was having trouble sleeping by day 14.   Writing a book is something I want to do and not hate doing, so I decided to focus on writing everyday and not counting the words.  I had to take a break from obsessing over winning the month, and rebalance.  In the end, I finished November with over 30,000 words.

If you ask me, I think this was a great first year effort and I'm feeling good about my Cozy Mystery book in process:  Temporary Name: Creating Cakes, Book 1, (I'm looking for a punny title but have come up short so far)  Creaking Cakes, Book 1 is about 25 percent finished and I'm excited with where I am going,  as I recently introduced my main character "Jane" to her future love interest "Mr. Northmen"  He  looks like this...

(picture from pindaddy.com )


He is an 8th Grade teacher. Yes, picture Keanu Reeves as a middle school teacher.  Jane just ran into him while volunteering at the school this past Friday.  I could go on, but I should focus on actually writing the book not writing about writing the book.

For Thanksgiving I tried a new turkey cooking recipe and that bird turned out delicious!   The high heat locked in the juices. After it was done, I lowered the temperature and cooked the sides.  Anna made the mashed potatoes with a recipe from Williams-Sonoma.

If you are going to make a turkey for Christmas,  you have got to try this recipe!  So easy and it works! The Simplest Roast Turkey, is a recipe by famed chef Thomas Keller which I found on the Epicurious website. Give it a try and you can feel that you are in the rarified air of professional chefs when you serve this roast turkey to your family!

Happy December!  Happy Advent !  Has this been a long year or what? 

Thanks for reading today and I'll blog again much sooner. 

xoxo