Showing posts with label Hello Fresh. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hello Fresh. Show all posts

Friday, July 24, 2015

Fave Summer Eats and Treats!

 The Style Me Bloggers are back again!!  This time talking about favorite Summer Eats...and treats!!

This one is fairly easy for me.  If we're talking about this summer...all that's been on my menu are my Hello Fresh Meals and Tortellini.  And I'm not kidding!  My cousin and her husband stayed with me this week and I was constantly offering them tortellini!  She thought it was hilarious.  I've been eating it all sorts of ways since my sister showed me a recipe on Memorial Day.  And luckily for me it's been on sale.  Seriously people, it cooks in 8 minutes.  It's an easy summer meal you can cook up in minutes and dress up any way you want....and have for multiple meals during the week.




I've also made a few Hello Fresh meals this summer!  I loved the Carolina Sliders and Shrimp Tacos best!!   And this past week I got the tortellini...ha!!  Tortellini au gratin with Kale...so easy and so yummy!  They are tayloring the meals for summer, obviously, which is great!



And when I'm not cooking for myself, I'm eating out with friends! And I always  try to go for a healthier alternative! I've had lots of tuna this summer and on an occasion or two I'll do a burger because, to me, burgers are summer!  And burgers at family BBQ's are a thing of the past!



As far as the treats go, you should know that Ralph is my man!!! I just love Ralph's and since there's only a seasonal stand in my town, I try to get it as much as I can!!!  But I don't over indulge!  Peanut butter Cookie Dough Creme Ice is my absolute fave.


Other than that, I'd have to say my love affair with Reese's Peanut Cup Oreos, is still going strong.  They've been on sale and are another thing that's only a limited time thing, so I 've stocked up!!!
I've also been treating myself to some refreshing spiked lemonades this summer!!  Check out one I am currently enjoying here!!  Can't wait to check out what the girls are enjoying this summer!  What are your fave summer eats?  Let me know in the comments and link up with us below!!



An InLinkz Link-up

Have a fabulous weekend!  Hope it includes some of your favorite summer eats and treats!!


Linking up today too with:
ErikaAndrea, and Narci for Friday Favorites 


Monday, March 23, 2015

A family-filled, super fun weekend!

My weekend was so busy and so fun!!

After a snow-filled Friday night-in cooking up another Hello Fresh meal, I cleaned up the house and headed to be early, because Saturday was gonna be a big day!!

This Hello Fresh meal just might be my favorite so far , so I had to include it!  It was called Warm Grain Salad.  Barley, butter beans, shallots,  avocado, and grape tomatoes in a mustard, vinaigrette topped with basil.  So good, so easy..and perfect for a Friday during Lent!  I will definitely be getting these ingredients and making this again!


On Saturday I was fortunate enough to be able to go see Aladdin on Broadway! (Score for me that my cousin broke up with his girlfriend...LOL!!) It was an awesome show! Highly recommend the show when it comes to your city.

It was the 8 o'clock show, so we ate dinner beforehand. The rest of my family, (who I went to the with) were already in the city for the day, so I met them all at the restaurant after my train got in and I cabbed it! (I actually walked 10 minutes looking around for the place!) It was a really nice, laid back restaurant and since we had plenty of time before the show, it was just nice to chat and eat and drink, and chat and eat some more. My aunt Uncle and two cousins live in Pennsylvania, so we don't see them nearly as frequently as we like. So that was great!

The drink menu was really cool.  Specialty cocktails and Mocktails were named after shows:



Drinks like the OZ-mopolitan was named for Wicked 

Stormin' Mormon for the Book of Mormon 

And the Rye 'n King for The Lion King

We were thinking that The Best Friggin' Margarita in the City, might've been just that but now I'm thinking it's named for the best Little Whore House in Texas which was on Broadway in the 70's and 80's.

The mocktails were cute too!

Sippin' like Pippin' and Mary Pompins.





After dinner, we headed out toward the show. Stopping in Times Square to “soak it all in” as my aunt said! 

 Little known fact.... the New Year's Eve Ball that they drop in Times Square is actually up there all year round. When it's time for the celebration each year, they go up and change the lights for the year!
The view of the ball as we were waiting to head into the show

Aladdin was really phenomenal! The guy who played the Genie was absolutely hilarious and stole the show. The magic carpet ride was my favorite part. Very cool. Someone at work today asked me if they changed it from the movie. The story is much the same but the show has some elements updated for today and a new song or two. The Genie had an extra song. It was just really, really cute! I was so happy to go!


After the show, I stayed in the city with my sister and her family, who had been in there since Friday! Then I got up bright and early and headed home to my town's St. Patrick's Day parade.


Three seconds after I walked in the door, the rest of my family showed up at my door, ready to go to the parade. It was chilly out but a bright, beautiful day! It was a lot of fun. And we had a prime spot in front of my favorite place in town. It wasn't too crowded, so the kids were able to stand right out in front and had a great view of the whole parade.

Some fun pics from the day
The bagpipe bands were my fave!

And pretty cool that a beer Company has their on Pipes and Drums Band

There's players on the float and Mom screams for the duck! 

The old time cars, trucks,fire trucks and even an old time ambulance were fun too!

My niece actually got in the parade for a hot second with...this guy

My sister and BIL's niece was in the parade with her twirling group!


Photo Shoot at my house after the parade...

Following the parade, everything was so crowded, so we headed back home. My dad and I stopped in the liquor store to pick up some Bailey's (being the awful hostess I am, I had nothing IRISHY to serve).  We hung out a little. My sister and her family had to head home, as they were going to a birthday party later on in the day. My other sister and I convinced my mom and I to go back out to the bar and listen to the Irish band that was playing. Because it was still only 2:30 and we had the whole afternoon ahead of us.

When we walked in, it was still crowded, way more crowded than the first time (and I thought mom was going to kill us!) but my sister was able to wind her way to the front of the bar and after about 20 minutes of standing, by some miracle, 3 people left! So we hopped in their seats and settled in for an afternoon of fun and music. We love our Irish music!! Mom only had a diet coke but before we left my sister thought it would be funny if mom and I did a shot together! I picked an easy one: Baby Guinness! This is how mom does shots....
Because according to her it's to good not to sip and it's a waste of money!!
#shemayberight

All in all it was a great weekend!!!! I have so much fun with all my fam. I wish though that Monday didn't arrive so quickly, so I could've stayed in bed today! But already, it's here! THANK GOD for COFFEE!!




Have a great week everyone!!

Linking up today for:
Weekending with B Loved Boston and Champagne & Suburbs
Manic Monday with On the Daily Express and More Pieces of Me
Monday Madness with Ashley at A Cute Angle

Friday, March 20, 2015

Friday Already?!?!

I never say this but as far as weeks go, this was a pretty quick one!!  YAY!!  One day closer to the weekend!!  Here are some highlights of the week!!


I just really like good people!  
In last Friday's post, I mentioned getting my first Hello Fresh delivery. Well Monday was my second.  And it was delivered to the WRONG address.  And not just the wrong door in my complex, the complete wrong address...three miles away!!  The addresses are not even that similar and since I'm too new still to be on GPS and maps, delivery people think this is the address.  Things have been delivered to this address before, but not a perishable food delivery!!  So this sweet lady spent her day tracking me down.  I wasn't home when she came by with it so she left a pretty big note and her number at the bottom.  I called her that night, expressing my thanks, and sent her a thank you note in the mail with a little treat inside.  She called me yesterday, to say that, that was really unnecessary but it totally made her day.   Someone had rear-ended her car and she was having a bad day and my note and gift card was just the pick me up she needed!
I was also really surprised this week when my co-worker brought me a jar of Victoria sauce to try, and thankful to another work friend who sewed buttons on my pants for me!!  HAHAHAHAHA 


Speaking of Hello Fresh.... 
One of this week's meals!  This one was SUPER easy!!  And really good.  And this was my first time ever cooking pork.  It was Pork with Butternut Squash with Broccolini.  Loved the sage butter on top of the pork!!  
I also got a taco meal that I made on Monday.  I sorta cheated on it , using the leftover crockpot salsa chicken!  But still very good!


St. Patrick's Day!
As far as St. Patrick's Days go, this year was pretty lame-o!  In the past I've gone to the city and the parade with my cousins. Or I've at least taken off!!  (I've written a strongly worded letter to the Pope asking him to consider making this day a Holy Day of Obligation, so us Catholic School teachers can have off!) My cousins have since all moved away!  We had a St. Paddy's Day reunion of sorts in February when we went to see our favorite Irish band play a reunion concert!  So that softened the blow a little bit!!  HA!! It was a low key day!  No Guinness, no Jameson, no Baileys!  Just red wine....

The extent of my St. Patrick's Day
#KatieDaily2015


Empire
So basically I've just started and finished this show!!  So good!!  Really well done.  And a lil bit CRAY!! Anyone else watching?


Currently Reading
I'm working my way through this list this year.  One of the books to read is a book from your childhood.  I still might do that because there were so many great books I loved as a young girl.  For now though, I'm just reading a book for kids!  Being a elementary librarian I thought Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library might just be perfect.  After I read it, I'm going to add it to the school library.


Also linking up with my girls, the Style Me Bloggers today!!  We're talking Spring Trends!  Head on over and check it out!!


Have a great weekend all! Cheers!
Katie


Linking up today with:
ErikaAndrea, and Narci for Friday Favorites 
September Farm and The Farmer's Wife for Oh Hey, Friday!
April and the girls for Five on Friday
Jennie for Friday Favorites
Caitlin and the girls for High Five for Friday

The Diary of a Real Housewife  Coffee with Caitlin


Monday, March 16, 2015

That weekend I gained 10 pounds...

So this weekend I didn't do much!  Basically I did not see another human being! #solitarylifeprobs  Why is it that I did something every single night last week and had no plans this entire weekend!!  I go in spurts really, I guess!  I either have nothing to do, or plans both days!  Big doings next weekend though!

But back to this weekend!!  In Friday's post, I mentioned that I started receiving Hello Fresh delivery! I got lots of great feedback and questiions about it in the comments. Thanks.  The weekend was spent making the rest of those meals and then some.

Friday I was super excited to get home, throw on my sweats, pour the wine and start making meal #2! (I might have started at 3:15...love getting home early on Fridays!)  The second meal was a spinach, sun-dried tomato chicken penne dish.
The meals come packaged with all the ingredients for each meal in a bag!  
Super easy to figure out what goes with what.  

Really good!  And another really easy one-pot meal (with the exception of the pasta, cooking first!!) I always get a little iffy when I cook chicken in a skillet but it worked.  Wish I took a picture of it all as it was cooking but I forgot. I also realized that I definitely need a bigger skillet.  The last thing you do before adding the cooked pasta to the skillet was add the spinach.  You're supposed to add it all, but I had lots left over.  Eventually adding EVERYTHING to the skillet in the end, it was overflowing!
I had a ton of this leftover!  It was really yummy!!

Saturday was really rainy!  So I decided to bust out my crock pot.  In my Peapod order earlier in the week, I got all the ingredients to make a recipe that Mel at The Larson Lingo posted a few weeks back, Crock Pot Chicken Tacos.  Only three ingredients!  It's kind of like the Salsa Chicken I make, but kicks it up a notch, literally.  The taco seasoning really gives it a kick.  And the chicken is shredded for tacos. Find the recipe on Mel's website {here}  I had even more of this leftover.  I really have to invite people over when I cook!


My taco fixin's included some of the spinach salad I had left over from my dinner Friday, shredded cheese (the mexican blend) and sour cream.  I wrapped it all up in a burrito.  YUM!!

Sunday I made two meals! Three, if you count the breakfast burrito I made with eggs and the rest of the spinach! 

For lunch, I made my third and final Hello Fresh meal of the week!!  A Greek Flatbread pizza.  I'll be honest, this was the first homemade pizza I ever made.  I did ok, not great, with the dough.  Two thumbs up to Hello Fresh for suggesting using a wine bottle to roll out the dough, if you don't have a rolling pin!  This wasn't difficult, just a lot to chop and cut up.  I also should not have left this for last.  Some of my tomatoes had to be discarded!  
Looks a little wonky, but it tasted great!!  Mad this is the only picture I took!!

When it's done you top the pizza with the romaine lettuce coated in balsamic vinegar.  You can't really see the rest of the ingredients but there's grape tomatoes, garlic, red onions, feta, mozzerella, and artichokes, under there! 

For dinner I had a piece of salmon that I had to eat before I couldn't anymore.  Anytime I make salmon, I wrap it in a foil pack to steam it.  This is my go-to method.  I topped it with a honey balsamic dressing and baked it on 400 degrees for 20 mins.  So easy.

I had this with a side of lemon shrimp risotto I brought home from Meetball.

I'll be honest, I couldn't finish this all, even though it was really good! 

I feel like all I did was eat these last three days!!  I may not have gained 10 pounds but it certainly feels like I did!  I am getting another Hello Fresh Delivery today and am looking forward to more delicious meals.  But I might have to skip next week...I need a break from all this food!! I would definitely recommend Hello Fresh.  To try it and get $40 off your first box like I did, use code: LYY428

Have a happy Monday!!


Linking up today with Ashley at A Cute Angle for Monday Madness and Biana at B Loved Boston for Weekending!



Friday, March 13, 2015

Was anyone else a little OFF this week!?!?

Holy Cow FRIDAY!!  I thought you'd never get here!!
But my favorite thing about Friday?!?  Sharing the week that was with all of you!



This was a rough week...I was just totally off!!  I think it's this Spring Forward business!  It's too dark in the morning!  But on the bright side, I'm loving the "lighter later" aspect! I was also really busy each night this week, which is good too.  But now that Friday's here, I'm just counting down the hours til school's over today, I get home, and can curl up on my couch with wine in hand!!!!   This made me laugh when I saw it over the weekend!!

I'm all for THIS!!  Who's with me?? 



Finally a little spring-like weather this week!!  It's not as warm as I would like but it was beautiful on Monday and on Wednesday we even hit the upper 50's!  It was so nice!!  And I've found that my mood is greatly improved when it's sunny and warmer!  I'm getting happier!! And I got to wear something other than my rain boots and a sweater dress!!  Ha!!  YAY for red pixie pants being in the mix this week!!


This week I got my first Hello Fresh delivery! It's a weekly delivery service that sends you all the ingredients for three meals (for 2) a week.  All I need to do is cook them!  I decided to try it after throwing out about $100 in groceries! And I had a coupon for $40 off my first delivery (SCORE!) I liked the idea of just getting exactly what I needed to make the meals and having no waste. I also liked that you can skip weeks and there's no commitment, you can cancel at any time. I only made one of the three meals so far this week (probably not smart eating out three nights the first week of meals!!), but I thought it was really good. I'm making the rest of the meals this weekend. I liked next week's food options too, so I'm trying it again.  To try Hello Fresh and get $40 off your first box like I did, use referral code: LYY428
The week's food packaged up in separate bags for each meal.
One pot meal!
The Finished Product!


A few Fridays back I mentioned that I received my first Influenster #VoxBox in the mail!!  #XOVoxBox I have been using the complimentary products I received  to test and review!!  Lots of fun new stuff!!  Eventually I'll get my review post together of all the products, but I just had to tell you all about the Tide Pods with Febreze I got!!! 
Is it sad that I was most excited to receive these in my box??  
#OLDLADY  
I've used them a few times and am just loving them.  I've been using Tide Pods since I moved into my house because it came with a front load washer.  These little pods kick it up a notch.  They smell awesome, everything is still nice and fresh, even today!  And those red pixie pants I mentioned above!  Still like new after watching and drying them with the Tide Pods with Febreze!!  No fading!!  Woo hoo!  With totally be buying these from now on!  Definitely worth the little extra!!



I've been listening to this album all week!  I just love Ed Sheeran!  What a cutie!!
Totally recommend it for your weekend listening...


Have a great weekend!!

Linking up today with:
ErikaAndrea, and Narci for Friday Favorites 
September Farm and The Farmer's Wife for Oh Hey, Friday!
April and the girls for Five on Friday
Jennie for Friday Favorites
Caitlin and the girls for High Five for Friday




The Diary of a Real Housewife  Coffee with Caitlin