Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tales

Swedish Meatballs & Braised Kale
with Lingonberry Jam & Creamy Mashed Potatoes

Recipe here.
Time: 20-25 minutes (I left the kitchen for a few minutes in the middle of things)

Almost as if Blue Apron could go back in time and react to me canceling their service, this meal was a disaster.

1) The flour was missing.
2) The container of lingonberry jam came open in the bag and made a mess.
3) The pork had gone bad.

I had been looking forward to this meal for a while. I wanted to try making meatballs, I like Swedish Meatballs, and this looked like one of the simpler things to make -- only three things to chop up!

I got the potatoes going, no problem. Then I opened the pork. It smelled off. At first I didn't trust my nose, so I continued on with the recipe. But the longer I smelled it, the more sure I was that something was wrong with it. I wish I had trusted myself off the bat, since then I could have saved the spices and breadcrumbs and tried again some other time with my own meat.

I didn't bother trying to make the kale, becasue without the meatballs there was no meal, and kale isn't a new food for me to try.

$60 for three meals = $20 per meal = I paid $20 for two small potatoes, a pat of butter, and a splash of milk. Go team me. The mashed potatoes were good, but not $20 good, plus that's a lot of potato for one person.

I don't want to tell them about it and try to get my money back, since they'd likely think I was doing it just because I canceled and was trying to get more out of them. My time with them is done, I don't want to continue to deal with them.

I'm really falling down on this Happy Thing effort, but it's more because I post happy things and forget to number them than for lack of happy things. (How did I not count that Japanese gum video of the cat carrying the man to work? That still makes me happy after countless viewings! And Hannibal is currently eating my brain (haha), that should have totally made the list!)

Happy Thing #15: Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey and Niel D. Tyson. First off, that man all but makes me melt. Not only is he good looking and has a wonderful voice, but his intelligence is the most attractive thing about him! I could listen to him talk science forever (me and the rest of the world, I know).

The show itself makes me so very, very happy. It's like the best times in school, learning interesting things in interesting ways. Even though some of what he covers is familiar, I'm more than happy to hear about it again.

I'm happy to see that, at least according to one source, its ratings are pretty good. Though I still boggle to hell and back that it's on FOX networks, I hope they'll keep airing it even if the ratings get worse, just because of what it is. (Long shot, I know.)

Blue Apron: Two good meals this week, one that I'll likely have to skip on making.

Swedish Meatballs & Braised Kale, with Lingonberry Jam & Creamy Mashed Potatoes: I've never had kale any other way than as chips, but I'm willing to try it. Everything else should be MMM!

Chicken, Baby Artichoke & Spinach Casserole with Gouda Béchamel: Never had artichokes (even though they have a thistle in them!), never had gouda, but the meal sounds interesting and I'll try it.

Roasted Butternut Squash with Stewed White Beans, Gremolata & Brussel Sprouts: Everything about this one sounds eh. First off, they sent me a whole butternut squash -- I'd likely cut off at least one finger trying to hack it apart. Second, I'm kind of iffy on beans after last week. The Gremolata sounds good, but I don't think I've ever had brussel sprouts before. I have a couple ideas for this one: I could go out and buy the pre-cut butternut squash and otherwise follow the recipe. My other idea is to roast the brussel sprouts and make the sauce, but toss out the squash and beans part of the recipe. (Not literally toss out -- I'd rather not waste food if I don't have to. I'm not sure if it would be weird if I brought it to work to try to give it away though...)

I wish they sent more instructions with the food. They send a ton of vegetables and herbs, but give no indication of which should go into the fridge (so I generally put most everything in there). I continue to be impressed with the amount you get for the price -- the price is higher than I would like, but I don't think it's out of line for what you get. The box weighs 15 pounds and has to be shipped fast since there's raw meat in it (packed in ice). The only way they could be making money off all this is that they buy in bulk and split it up.

For me, it saves money because, for example, otherwise I'd have to buy a whole bundle of mint when I only need a couple sprigs -- they send the exact amount you need.

I'm really impressed with how well packed and labeled everything is. So many little bottles, plastic containers, and things in ziplock bags of every size. I don't like cooking, but opening the box is like Christmas: You take out item after item after item, seemingly never getting to the bottom of the box, everything carefully wrapped up and new, and it's all just for you.

The one complaint I have is I wish they let you pick your meals. They have six options per week, but you don't get to pick the three you want. I'm guessing it has to do with the weight of your final box and the cost on their end.

I'll probably cook a meal tomorrow night. I don't want to end up having to cook three times in a row over the weekend again, that was too much.

Recipe here.
Cooking time: 45 minutes (Blue Apron claims all can be made in 30 minutes, but I'm cooking challenged, so.)
Fire alarms set off: Almost one!
New foods tried: pistachios, wheat berries, shallot?

While I've never had wheat berries before, I wasn't worried about trying them -- I was actually looking forward to it. Turns out they're harmless, seemingly no different than steel-cut oatmeal.

I was kind of worried about trying pistachios; I've never had them before, but they're a green nut and that just didn't seem right. Turns out they're good!

I've seen shallots used on cooking shows, but as far as I know, I've never held one or eaten one.

Everything came out fine. My oven smoked like heck (maybe I used too much olive oil? I wish they'd say "drizzle a tablespoon..." instead of just "drizzle").

The salsa (can you call it that if I left out the jalapeno?) tasted outstanding in the bowl but too vinegary on the wheat berries. It was interesting having all that citrus mixed in with the berries, though I only ate about half the serving.

All in all, it was an okay meal. Not great, not horrible. I'm glad I got to try wheat berries, and I'm happy to discover I like pistachios.

Happily I didn't freeze last night, though I can't say as much for Ellie New Cat. Poor girl kept trying to sleep on my bed, but I kicked her each time (not on purpose!). She bat-bat-batted my foot each time, then fled the bed.

I darned well hope I get heat back today. My apartment is really, really cold.

Sleep study is tonight! Eeek! But VERY HAPPILY I get to do it at home instead of sleeping there. I have an appointment today to pick up the equipment and learn how to use it, then use it tonight and drop it back tomorrow morning. Will take pictures if it's at all interesting! (This is my new icon for all things bariatric surgery-related. :D )

Also, I got my first Blue Apron box yesterday. (One of those services that sends you all the things you need to cook and directions on how.) The recipes are very long and I suspect I might not like any of them, but if not then hopefully next week will be better! I took pictures of all the stuff yesterday, but was so grumpy couldn't deal with editing them and writing up a post. When I cook the first meal, I will!

Happy Thing #13: I'm so behind on these! Alas it's not been a happy time this last, well, year. :P Anyway! The fanfic I'm reading makes me sooooo happy. Not only is it very well written, it does one of the things I really like: It doesn't rush! I'm about a book's worth into it (chapter 24 of 70-something), and the two main characters are barely friendly with each other. (In the canon one tried to kill the other, and the other tried to frame the first for a different murder -- total enemies!) I love it when enemies aren't in love by chapter two.

Happy Thing #14: They seem to have removed the candy bowls at work. They've been gone for a week now, so I kind of hope it's forever. On one hand, of course I love candy! Free and unlimited amounts! On the other, free and unlimited candy is hell on one's diet. I questioned adding this one as a happy thing, because it's sort of not happy too, but in the end I think I'm happier about it than unhappy. Yay not having to use my (very much lacking) willpower to resist free chocolate!