Home Chef Round 2

 

I did my second Home Chef order this week. It arrived on Thursday early in the morning. You have to order at least 2 dishes. I would be more favorably inclined to using the service if you could order only one meal at a time.

 

 My choices were Mushroom Smothered Tri-Tip Beef, a Fast and Fresh item, and Teriyaki Salmon with Mushroom Fried Rice, a 15-Minute Meal Kit. I changed my preferences so I would see recipes with less work. 

Again all of the packaging was not eco-friendly. Many of the containers could be opened easily but they should tell you to have scissors on hand. That was the only way to open the meat packages.

I did appreciate that the salmon and the beef were not only in their own plastic pouches but were packed separately from the other ingredients which came in a large plastic pouch each.

I made the tri-tip beef first. It could be cooked in the oven or in the microwave. I chose microwave. It had its own cooking "pan" that was divided into two compartments.

The mushrooms came sliced this time. It was mostly taking things from the packaging in the order specified. 

The instruction cards always start out telling the cook to rinse any fresh produce. This time it also said to pat dry the spinach.

I put the potatoes in one half of the pan, the mushrooms in the other.

Then I covered the potatoes with the spinach that I had rinsed and patted dry. 

One ingredient they tell you to have on hand is olive oil; I needed to add that to the mushrooms. Covered the pan with a moist paper towel and nuked.

While that cooked, I unwrapped the pre-cooked beef and drained though there was hardly any liquid to drain.

Finally I added the meat to the mushrooms and topped with cornstarch (in packet), demi-glace (in a packet), and two tablespoons of water. Stirred it all up. Added the garlic herb butter (in its own little packet) to the top of the spinach. Nuked again and then thoroughly stirred the spinach into the potatoes. It took about 10 minutes from start to plating.

It cost $9.99 per serving, a bit more than average because of the beef. Tasty and easy though I found myself reaching for my water glass often; a lot of sodium in the ingredients.

The next night I cooked the teriyaki salmon (15 minute meal kit).

This time I had to slice the mushrooms. The card said cremini but these were definitely baby bellas (it even said it on the package).

The other thing I found different from the ingredient list was there were two packets of the umami seasoning (1 gram each). However when I measured the seasoning with a teaspoon it needed both packets to equal that. 

I washed and sliced the mushrooms.

Cooked the salmon pieces flesh-side down in a non-stick pan in olive oil as instructed.

When I tried to turn the salmon over, I used tongs which is what was pictured though not stated in the photo. One of the slabs stuck and broke apart.

While the salmon cooked, I microwaved the rice in its pouch. Then in a large non-stick skillet I placed the mushrooms in olive oil and browned. Lastly, I added the nuked rice to the skillet along with red pepper flakes (in a packet), the umami seasoning (in two packets), and the peas. After cooking for a few minutes, half of the teriyaki glaze (in a bottle) was stirred in. 

Once plated, the rest of the teriyaki glaze was drizzled over the salmon. 

I should have dispersed the pepper flakes better; I had a few spicy bites when eating the rice. I also found myself thirsty even though I did not add the pinch of salt to the mushrooms nor the salmon. 

$8.99 per serving plus $13.99 shipping (for both meals together). 

I will probably unsubscribe from the service in a few months. I used up my credits from the gift card. These faster easier meals were more to my liking, but too salty and too expensive for my budget. 

Have a Blessed Easter

 

The daffodils in the vase still look pretty good, but I moved them to the living room and put these pink tulips in their place.

Tomorrow I am going to put on the table these spring placemats that I bought at my deceased neighbor's estate sale. We have lots of sunshine today and slightly warmer temperatures, but Easter Sunday will only be around 45 degrees.

Today I bought some asparagus to go with our pork tenderloin with orange sauce and wild rice. For dessert I was going to serve cheesecake, and I saw this package of just two slices of chocolate marbled slices which would be just the right size for us; but then I saw these little mini key lime pies. I haven't decided yet which to serve.

Yesterday we drove to Fort Wayne to buy some porch rocking chairs that we had looked at a week before. Originally we looked for gliders as that is what we have owned for about 40 years. Really hard to find gliders especially attractive-looking ones. A lot of patio/porch furniture the buyer has to wait 2-3 months for arrival. 

The old gliders which are somewhat rusty and with thinning mesh were donated to Habitat for Humanity Resale Store. My husband didn't think they would want them and was going to put them in a dumpster, but he checked there first and they said they would be glad to have them.

 Today I bought two cushions for the rocking chairs at Meijer. Next weekend is predicted to be warm; we will finally have good weather for sitting on the front porch.

No matter your weather, no matter your plans, have a blessed Easter remembering the risen Savior.

Sunny Yellow Daffodils

 I have about two dozen daffodils in bloom now. Today was warmer though windy. Whether the flowers will survive the wind and the colder temperatures of Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday remains to be seen. I snipped a few daffodils to bring inside so I will have something to enjoy if the others suffer harm.

With the vase of daffodils on the dining table, I moved the Easter lily and the Godiva bunnies to the sunroom.

The lily blooms are starting to open and heavily perfume the air.

Speaking of bunnies, I visited our new Rural King store this morning. It had a mini Rex of brown and white and a white rabbit that wiggled its cute pink nose at me. This store reminds me of Big R which closed down in our town. Rural King is in the old K-Mart building. We have had quite a few business closures the past few years: Hallmark store, K-Mart, Pier One, Carson's, Ace Hardware, Big R (though it was purchased by R and P--I have yet to go into that store).

I knew from the ads that they had baby chickens in Rural King. The store painted yellow chicken feet on the floor to follow to the pullets. There were many tubs but only two had heat lamps. The first tub only had two little chicks, but from the tub across the way I could hear lots of peeping. Yep, that tub had dozens of baby chicks crowded together. I don't know why the two in the first tub had been separated from the others. They looked slightly bigger so maybe they are all that was left from an earlier batch. 

I knew they would put a smile on my face; I haven't had much to smile about lately. The daffodils also perked me up. Sometimes you just have to go out and seek sunshine and smiles.

Have a blessed Easter. 

Movin' Along

 The Warsaw Public Library has a display case that it uses to feature community people's hobbies, collections, etc. besides some library themes throughout the year.

 

My husband and his woodworking buddy do serious projects, but also they enjoy Big Boys' Toys. For the month of April their wooden vehicles are on display.

My husband made one of the dump trucks. The other dump truck, pickup truck, tractor, and Hummer were made through the years by his friend. There are very detailed plans to follow to get to these end products. It takes a lot of time and patience besides skill.

Other projects my husband has done lately are creating a bracing mechanism for the Grace Village chapel organ bench; a decorative box; and a table requested by a new resident for his laptop computer to sit on in his apartment.

The organ is played by several people throughout the week, and the joints became loose on the bench.

Woodworking is a good hobby because it has many practical uses as well as creating beautiful or whimsical items. Residents of Grace Village are fortunate that a workshop with a variety of equipment has been created for their use. My husband does some of the procedures in his garage, but a spacious shared workspace makes for a good camaraderie and sharing of ideas and skills.

Home Chef

 

The calendar still says spring, but we had some snow overnight and around 9 a.m. this morning. Enough that I had to brush the back window of my car after physical therapy.

One of my husband's friends received from his two daughters a gift of Home Chef meals. Since he isn't paying for them, price isn't a consideration. He and his wife really like the meals. As part of Home Chef's promos they allow the member to give away a $35 gift card. (They also receive a $35 credit on their account if someone uses the card to sign up.)

After looking over the Home Chef web site I wasn't sure I really wanted to use the card. I had to set up an account with a credit card to even select the meals. The requirements are at least two meals per order. The shipping charge is $13.99 added to the order. That right there makes the whole program less desirable. The default is weekly delivery. However, you can skip weeks. I am going to try one order a month for a few months.

We received our first order Wednesday.

We were gone when it was delivered. My husband brought it inside when he got home before me. There is some foam insulation and 2-3 cold packs. My husband took the items inside the box and put them in the refrigerator so I did not see how they were packed inside the box. When I got home I removed the potatoes; when I looked over the recipe/menu card I saw that it said to keep the potatoes at room temp once they arrive. It also says to prepare within 5 days for the two meals I ordered.

My first impression is that this product is not eco-friendly. They say that you can thaw the cold packs and pour out the stuff inside so you can recycle the plastic. We have a recycle center across town, but nothing as part of our trash pickup. The foam is marked that it was made from recycled water bottles; however, I know our recycle center does not accept foam.

For the most part any seasonings, sauces, liquids, etc. are wrapped in portioned out amounts in individual containers. Even the white wine was in a plastic pouch.

This makes it easy for cooking, but again lots of "wrapping" to discard. 

The recipe cards are very detailed. They give the grams of fat, sodium, etc. They mention anything that might be a dietary problem such as milk, gluten, nuts. You can see those details before ordering.

 They automatically select two dishes for you, but you can edit and change to other choices. Scrolling down week by week it appears there is quite a bit of variety. They tell you to have salt, pepper, cooking spray, baking pan, skillet and olive oil on hand.

The first meal I prepared was the white wine chicken scallopini. There was quite a bit of chopping. The chicken had to be pounded really thin. This meal was graded as intermediate hardness. There wasn't anything difficult for me, but it did take effort and time. It was quite tasty but we felt kind of salty. 

The glazed meatloaf was graded easy. I had to slice the potatoes and green onions; mix the ingredients for the meatloaves; mix up the glaze mixture. All of the amounts are pre-measured. The beef had garlic salt, some of the onions, panko, and ricotta cheese added to it. They suggested adding more salt and some pepper. After our experience with the first meal, I did not add any more salt. I see on the ingredients details they list the amount of sodium for each serving as over 1500 grams.

I would make the meatloaf again using my own products. It was moist and delicious.

They provide you a notebook to store the recipe "cards". One problem in re-creating the meatloaves would be that the amounts are listed as grams not tablespoons/teaspoons.

The base cost per serving is $6.99 to over $14.00. You can change the protein so if you choose steak for example the serving will cost more. Add to that the delivery charge of $13.99 and it adds up. It is not like going to a restaurant because besides doing the cooking, you have to wash the utensils and pans and mixing bowls, etc.

I have changed our preference setting to Fast and Easy for the next order. I am ordering for April 28th. When the meals are shipped you get an email telling you that it will be delivered by the end of the day. I was counting on this for dinner but did have something else if it had arrived late evening. It came a little after 1 p.m. according to the tracker. 

I might try this once a month for a few months. My husband's friend got his credit for referring. His situation is different since he isn't paying the costs and his wife is having some cognitive difficulties so having a step-by-step meal prep that he can help her with solves some difficulties for them. You do have to be proactive and look over the choices they make for you by Friday mid-day; also request to skip a week or it will automatically come and your credit card will be charged. 

I have seen Home Chef kits at Kroger; that might be a more thrifty way since there is no delivery charge. However, the choices are quite limited at my Kroger store.

The meatloaf meal was for a family of 4 so we have half to warm up and eat tomorrow night. We'll see how well the left-overs keep quality.