During Tommy’s first month, Nick and family took over the role of making dinner. I never imagined how much I would miss this simple chore. I’ve always been the cook and Nick the cleaner. I hate cleaning and now I felt like it was my responsibility.
It wasn’t but I just felt bad sitting on the couch breast feeding all day and being of no productive value when it came to the upkeep of our home.
It felt like a part of me was lost. When I realized what was causing this, I told Nick that I wanted to take back my role and it has since made me feel much better.
Lately, I’ve been loving Just Add Cooking. It cuts down on the time of deciding what to eat and buying the groceries. Voted Boston’s Best by the Improper Bostonian, JAC is Boston’s only local meal kit delivery company. They offer seven different recipes including vegetarian and gluten free options. You log in, pick your recipes and they hand deliver all the ingredients you need right to your door the same day it’s packed – so everything is fresh and it reduces the amount of packaging required to keep it cold.
I was shocked at how minimal the packaging really was compared to Blue Apron. The box was so light! The packaging is all reusable and/or recyclable. They also recently introduced a compostable cooling bag to their packaging providing even less waste each week. This is a huge difference from other meal kit services which have to ship their packages via FedEx or other air carrier.
When selecting your meals, you can see the calorie count, recipe steps and time it takes to cook each meal before selecting it. I obviously go for the healthy and quick ones! They source all their ingredients from New England farmers, vendors and purveyors for maximum freshness and to support the local food economy, too. On Tuesday, we made Shrimp Pad Thai. The calorie counts may sometimes appear high but the servings are really big. As a single female, the meals meant for two would probably produce 3 servings. As a couple, your man can go back for seconds. As a breastfeeding half-marathon running woman, I like a 500-600 calorie dinner since I’m eating around 2000-2300 calories a day, so Nick and I share.
This week I was excited to learn how to make this Miso and Mixed Grains bowl. I wish I ate more vegan dinners but I find the pros are much better than I am at making them flavorful and interesting. This recipe helped solve that problem.
I’ve never cooked with kombu but have read about its many health benefits. It was so easy to use and added a ton of flavor to the sauce for the vegan power bowl. You just boil water, kombu and the dried mushrooms for 15 minutes. Remove kombu and dried mushrooms, add miso and red pepper to broth. Viola! This image is what it looked like pre boil.
I rinsed, sliced and boiled the remaining ingredients. Placed them in a bowl and topped with the broth.
I ate this with a spoon and loved every bite. I had no idea how spicy the daikon radish was going to be
I love learning how to cook with new ingredients like groats and kombu. These meal kits are how I learn to cook these days so I’m always excited to try new food items. I also enjoyed the combo of groats and black rice. I would not have thought to do that but they were terrific.
Last night, I made steak teriyaki and will be saving it to my favorites to remember for future reference.
The teriyaki sauce was so simple to make and tasted better than any store bought brand I’ve tried. No overnight marinade required.
Just Add Cooking is offering a great deal for those of you who haven’t yet had a chance to try them! With code SFIT, you can get your first Just Add Cooking box for just $39. Click here to sign up for a free account and pick your recipes!
