Snapshots

I'm really struggling at work these days. I just do not want to be here! I hate sitting in this freezing air conditioned building when it's so beautiful outside. Anyway, I'm taking a little break and writing this post.

Here are some life snapshots from the past few weeks!

Gorgeous sky during a beach walk.

Great summer beers before seeing Trainwreck at my favorite movie theater!

Beautiful view from the Brooklyn bridge!

Beer tastings at the very cool Threes Brewing in Brooklyn.

Delicious sangria from Miti Miti in Brooklyn.

In love with these nail polish colors (blue on the toes, pink on the fingers)

Branzino has become one of my favorite fish to order. This is from Deux Amis in NYC.

So happy to see Maja (and apparently I still don't know where to look in a selfie)!

The second wedding of Mr and Mrs Clement!

My nail polish was appropriately called "watermelon".

I swear this wasn't planned.

Celebrating National Tequila Day with tequila shots, of course.

Blue Apron haul!

Lamb burgers with fried zucchini rounds (Blue Apron meal).

I volunteered at a cancer Hope Lodge last week and played Bingo with this adorable couple. They asked me to take this picture with their prizes and send it to their kids since neither of them had a smart phone!

Beautiful Sunday adventure to the Boston Seafood Festival!

Cod with miso soba noodles (Blue Apron -- soo good!)

Simple breakfast but I am a great omelette maker.

Saved this for way too long...still exceptionally delicious.

What else have I been up to?

- I rode in the front seat of a convertible for the first time ever!

- I went back to yoga after a three month hiatus and successfully suffered through it for an hour. I'm planning to go back again tonight!

- I finished week 7 of Couch to 5k (I took a week long break in between weeks 6 and 7)

- I watched the first half of Wet Hot American Summer on Netflix. Loooving it.

- I went on 2 dates (!!) and slow danced to Frank Sinatra in the Boston Common (that's a story for another time...maybe!).

- I took a bootcamp class and have been struggling to walk for the last two days.

- I got dressed up and went to a Boston nightclub (for the first time in years) for an event. I still refused to wear heels but I think I did okay :-)

- I wasted two hours of my Sunday watching Bachelor in Paradise. Two nights a week?? C'mon ABC we have lives.

Life is pretty freakin' fun these days.

The Boston Public Market is OPEN!

Whenever I visit a new city, one of my favorite things to do is see the local public market. I've always been sad that Boston doesn't have one of its own (unless you count Quincy Market, which I don't), but finally, my dreams have come true!

The Boston Public Market opened to the public yesterday and I was lucky enough to squeeze a visit into my work day! From their website:

"The Boston Public Market is a permanent, year-round, self-sustaining market featuring fresh, locally sourced food brought directly to and from the diverse people that make up Massachusetts and New England. At the Boston Public Market, farmers, fishermen, and food producers from Massachusetts and throughout New England offer the public a year-round source of fresh, local food and an opportunity to taste, buy, and understand what our region has to offer. The market houses over 35 vendors selling locally produced items such as farm-fresh produce, meat and poultry, eggs, milk and cheese, fish and shellfish, bread and baked goods, flowers, and an assortment of specialty and prepared foods."

What I really like about the market is that the folks who run it are making a conscious effort to make it available to people of all backgrounds and income levels. While farm to table food is always on the more expensive side, the delicious and large sandwich I got was just $8.50 -- which from what I remember is about the same price as a Burger King value meal these days. And plus, every part of the sandwich came from local farms, which I'm more than happy to support vs a multi-million dollar fast food corporation. The vendors at the market also accept SNAP/EBT (Boston's version of food stamps) and they are offering free/inexpensive fitness and cooking classes to individuals and families. Furthermore, the market association itself is a nonprofit so they're making a sincere effort to spread the word to ALL types of people and are partnering with a number of other local nonprofits involved in food justice. It could really be something great for the city, and at the very least, I think it's smart that the local government is thinking about new ways to make healthy options available to people who live here while supporting local farms and businesses.

Anyway, let's see some photos!

Amazing free sample!

Beer alley!

Big crowd watching the opening ceremony

Cookbook exchange -- so cool!

Can't wait to try the Noodle Lab

The cutest little eggplants

Amazing sandwich from Wolf Meadow Farm

I can't wait to visit the Market again. It will definitely be my go to every time I'm downtown during lunch!

Blue Apron

I'm so excited my friend gave me a free trial of Blue Apron! I've been wanting to try the service for a LONG time, but just never got around to it. I scheduled a delivery for just a couple of days after I signed up.

So what is Blue Apron?
Blue Apron encourages people to cook at home by mailing recipes and ingredients to subscribers each week. Recipes are seasonal, are never repeated in the same year, are 500-700 calories/serving and take 35-60 minutes to prepare.

Most ingredients are pre-measured so there's no (or very little) waste. You choose the delivery date you want, and the items are delivered (free delivery) in a refrigerated box so the food stays fresh even if you're not home.

Right now there are two pricing options:

- $59.94: Three meals/week for two people ($9.99/person)

- $69.92 or $139.84 for two or four meals/week for a family (4-5 people; $8/74/person)

I had my meals delivered on Monday and was so giddy when I got home from work to my box waiting for me! Everything was packaged nicely and still cool in the box.

I took everything out and checked out the recipes (you can see them online beforehand).

I got started right away on the first meal: sirloin steak with mashed purple potatoes and summer vegetables.

This is definitely one of the best home cooked meals I've ever had. It was so delicious and I completely cleared my plate. And how beautiful are those purple potatoes?? Since I'm cooking for one, I got to eat all of the meals twice. This was just as good the next day!

The next meal I made was salmon ceasar salad with homemade sourdough croutons.

I ended up bringing the salads to work for lunch. They were very good, but I think I overdid it on the lemon in the dressing. I really liked the homemade croutons!

The last meal I cooked was chicken and basil fettuccine with mascarpone and plum tomatoes. 

This was a perfect example of a recipe I would have loved to cook, but would have definitely skipped out on some of the ingredients. The sauce in this dish was so incredible and made my kitchen smell amazing for hours. These meals are meant to be for two people, but this was a huge amount and I ended up eating it for three meals. Stretching that dollar!

I plan on keeping my membership for Blue Apron and trying to do one shipment a month. I skipped the last few weeks but have another shipment coming soon. 

Pros:

- Pushed me to cook outside my comfort zone again

- Super clear, easy to follow recipes (with beautiful photos)

- Very fresh, seasonal ingredients (and you can check the website to see where they come form)

- Delivery was easy and included

- Not THAT expensive comparably

- Meat and fish are air sealed so it stays fresh even if you don't cook it immediately 

- You can cancel at any time or skip meals at any time, there is no minimum or fee to sign up

- Website is very easy to navigate

Cons:

- I worry about my box getting stolen because I don't have a foyer

- Still have to supplement your week of food, and I ended up spending more money because of that...I think

- All of the recipes took me ~20 minutes longer to cook than it said on the card

- Not really a con, but you still have to do work like chopping vegetables. It's not all done for you!

Obviously the pros outweigh the cons here. I can't wait to keep trying new recipes!