2/52: Hello, Fresh

I never thought I would be one of those people....you know all those food delivery businesses, right?  Why can't people just plan a meal and go to the grocery store with a recipe like in the old days, right?

Well.....

I caved!

I got to reading about some of those home delivery options, Purple Carrot, Blue Apron and Hello Fresh and I really was curious and wanted to try it out.

The past 6 months, Brian has become quite the cook and he is really getting good with meal plans and recipes.  His repertoire is growing as is his confidence.  He's also becoming more open to trying foods that he wouldn't otherwise buy or cook. 

Over Christmas, I decided that a meal delivery system might be a fun way for us to cook together, try some new foods (Brian) and new cooking techniques and squash the January Blues!  My hope was that it would not only improve our diets, but also help us stick to a budget and a plan, eliminating poor eating choices, snacking and excess fats and sugar.

Bingo!

Our first box came last Friday night with three meals for 2 people.  We cooked all three and enjoyed each one.  All items to prepare each recipe minus kitchen basics (salt, pepper, butter or oil) come pre-packaged in individual brown paper sacks with the protein/meats packaged seperately at the bottom next to two large gel filled ice bags.  Seriously, if left on your porch or kept in your pantry (if cool), the items would probably stay cold for 8-12 hours.

Will we order again?

Yes!  I can't wait for the next box on Friday night!

Enjoy!
Stacy

P.S.  We ended the weekend with a Sunday morning walk at Greenlake.

Greenlake - Sunny Sunday

Brian (the Dog father) and I looked after Elliott and Kui over the weekend as Sonja and Geoff are in England visiting family.

We took the dogs to Greenlake for a walk on Sunday afternoon. It was a beautiful day in Seattle and Brian and I loved being in the city once again.

After Emerald Downs on Saturday, we walked from Sonja and Geoff's to the 74th Street Ale House one of Brian's favorite pubs.

We had a great dinner (their chicken breast sandwhich has been voted one of the best in Seattle) and a few ales to wash it all down with. Fun day!

Enjoy!

Stacy

Greenlake

We spent some time this weekend walking around and enjoying the early spring.

We caught up with the Seymour's on Saturday morning at Greenlake for the first time this year.

It's fun to walk around Greenlake with people who have dogs!

Despite the gloom (and a few raindrops), some of the spring flowers around the lake are starting to explode.

Enjoy!

Stacy

October Saturday

We spent all day on Saturday exploring our favorite parts of the Seattle area starting with a walk around Greenlake. The fall colors are incredible and unfortunately these shots probably won’t do them justice. As far as the eye can see – the deep reds, oranges and brilliant yellows dotted the landscape. We tried taking pictures of all the different colors as we walked the 2.8 miles path around the entire lake. Fun!





Next on our adventure was a trip around the northern tip of Lake Washington (Lake City Way) to Woodinville, Washington home of Columbia Winery and Chateau Ste. Michelle. Our first stop was Molbak’s, the most incredible nursery/craft shops/Christmas (seasonal) shop on the planet. To our surprise they even have a café where Brian and I enjoyed a slice of quiche and some homemade soup. I had to drag Brian kicking and screaming from the Christmas Village, but I promised him that we'd come back closer to Christmas.

We then drove out to the two wineries located directly across the street from one another. While the tasting room at Columbia Winery is quite large and can accommodate more people, Brian and I are really not big fans of the wines. We enjoyed our 5 tastes for $5, but other than the Viognier, we wouldn’t recommend any of the other whites or reds. We enjoyed looking around at all their merchandise, T-shirts, salad dressings, etc. and could have come home with everything but their wines.





Chateau Ste. Michelle really is the jewel in Woodinville. The grounds are immaculate and are large enough to host a variety of events, so why is the tasting room so small? Saturday’s tasting were “vintage” varieties. We both really enjoyed all four tastings and came home with a couple of bottles of chardonnay.



A perfect way to spend our Saturday together under the beautiful blue fall skies!

Stace

WEEKEND at GREENLAKE

Here are some pictures from last Saturday at Greenlake. Brian and I drove up to Seattle for the day to visit some of our old haunts and no trip to Seattle would be complete without a trip to Greenlake. Thankfully there was no rain and enough daylight left for us to snap a couple of shots. Enjoy