Category Archives: Eating

Chomp it up.

Bandwagons, menu plan Monday

Kicking the week off at the grocery buffet

Disclaimer: eMeals.com has provided Nichole with a free subscription in exchange for a review. Nichole’s opinions remain her own, and she remains very opinionated about food.
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Last week’s only eMeals selection was their biscuit-topped chicken pot pie. And it was delicious. The only problem I had with it was that there wasn’t any gravy left when we had the leftovers for dinner the next night. That was pretty easy to solve, though; I just made a little more gravy to pour over it.

This week we’re trying two eMeals recipes, and next Monday I’ll share my final thoughts on their service.

Monday: The grocery store
Mondays are our craziest day this time of year. I thought about doing something in the CrockPot, but then I decided just to go with a stop at the grocery store food bar at the end of the day.

Tuesday: Chicken sausages & orecchiette with roasted vegetables
The orecchiette is an eMeals recipe. It sounds good, but I thought it might be nice to serve a protein with it.

Wednesday: Baked potato soup
Rockford has been requesting this one lately, and the high is supposed to be 41 on Wednesday. Seems like a good day for soup to me.

Thursday: Chicken Saltimbocca
Another eMeals recipe! “Saltimbocca” is means “jumps in the mouth,” according to Wikipedia, and it includes prosciutto and sage. I’ve never tried it, but it sounds promising.

Friday: Out?
The friend we were supposed to have dinner with last week had a run-in with a deer, so his car was in the shop. We’ve rescheduled for this week.
Bandwagons, menu plan Monday, partner campaign, recipes

Two-thirds of last week’s eMeals recipes were great

4 Comments

Disclaimer: eMeals.com has provided Nichole with a free subscription in exchange for a review. Nichole’s opinions remain her own, and she remains very opinionated about food.

Last week we tried a couple of eMeals recipes, and only one of them — a pasta with a pumpkin-sausage sauce — was a flop. To be fair, that’s not something I would normally even consider trying. It wasn’t terrible, but it didn’t fit our preferred flavor profile at all. It smelled amazing while it was cooking, though. I was pretty disappointed that it wasn’t as delicious as it smelled.

The Sweet and Smoky Bacon-Wrapped Chicken, however, was a big hit. Poppy said it tasted like “something a cowboy would eat,” which must’ve been a compliment because she ate it without complaint. None of the rest of us had trouble with it, either.

Sweet and Smoky Bacon-Wrapped Chicken
Author: eMeals.com
Ingredients
  • 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in half lengthwise
  • 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
  • 1⁄2 teaspoon pepper
  • 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
  • 1 tablespoon chili powder
  • 6 slices natural uncured bacon
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 3 tablespoons honey
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
  2. Sprinkle chicken evenly with salt, pepper, paprika, and chili powder. Wrap 1 slice bacon around each piece of chicken; secure with wooden toothpicks.
  3. Heat oil in a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat; brown chicken, in batches, 2 to 3 minutes on each side.
  4. Arrange chicken in the skillet, and bake 15 minutes or until chicken is done and bacon is crisp.
  5. Drizzle with honey during last 5 minutes of baking.

We also tried the Chicken Tikka Masala — which Pete thought was called “Chicken Chicken Masala” — and it received high marks, too. I couldn’t find garam masala at the store, so I found an “easy garam masala” recipe and mixed up my own. Super simple, and it was way less expensive than buying it because I already had all of the spices involved.

This week we have a couple birthdays, so we’re once again not doing the full week of eMeals recipes. I’d hate to have a pumpkin pasta scenario on my birthday. So we’re going with things we already know on the birthdays and eMeals the rest of the week!

Monday: ???
Today’s my birthday, and I think we’re going out. I haven’t decided where I’d like to go. Possibly to Firehouse Subs, because I am hopelessly devoted to their brisket & cheddar sandwich.

Tuesday: Chicken Pot Pie
I love a good chicken pot pie, and I’m really hoping that the eMeals version is just that. There are biscuits involved instead of a crust, though, so we’ll see.

Wednesday: ???
A friend asked us last week if we wanted to go out for dinner this Wednesday, but I haven’t heard back from him to confirm. So we might be going out again. But maybe not.

Thursday: Cheeseburgers
Me: Hey Pete, what would you like for your birthday dinner?
Pete: Hmmm, I don’t know. Probably cheeseburgers.

And so cheeseburgers it is!

Bandwagons, menu plan Monday, partner campaign, recipes

Two-thirds of last week’s eMeals recipes were great

4 Comments

Disclaimer: eMeals.com has provided Nichole with a free subscription in exchange for a review. Nichole’s opinions remain her own, and she remains very opinionated about food.

Last week we tried a couple of eMeals recipes, and only one of them — a pasta with a pumpkin-sausage sauce — was a flop. To be fair, that’s not something I would normally even consider trying. It wasn’t terrible, but it didn’t fit our preferred flavor profile at all. It smelled amazing while it was cooking, though. I was pretty disappointed that it wasn’t as delicious as it smelled.

The Sweet and Smoky Bacon-Wrapped Chicken, however, was a big hit. Poppy said it tasted like “something a cowboy would eat,” which must’ve been a compliment because she ate it without complaint. None of the rest of us had trouble with it, either.

Sweet and Smoky Bacon-Wrapped Chicken
Author: eMeals.com
Ingredients
  • 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in half lengthwise
  • 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
  • 1⁄2 teaspoon pepper
  • 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
  • 1 tablespoon chili powder
  • 6 slices natural uncured bacon
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 3 tablespoons honey
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
  2. Sprinkle chicken evenly with salt, pepper, paprika, and chili powder. Wrap 1 slice bacon around each piece of chicken; secure with wooden toothpicks.
  3. Heat oil in a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat; brown chicken, in batches, 2 to 3 minutes on each side.
  4. Arrange chicken in the skillet, and bake 15 minutes or until chicken is done and bacon is crisp.
  5. Drizzle with honey during last 5 minutes of baking.

We also tried the Chicken Tikka Masala — which Pete thought was called “Chicken Chicken Masala” — and it received high marks, too. I couldn’t find garam masala at the store, so I found an “easy garam masala” recipe and mixed up my own. Super simple, and it was way less expensive than buying it because I already had all of the spices involved.

This week we have a couple birthdays, so we’re once again not doing the full week of eMeals recipes. I’d hate to have a pumpkin pasta scenario on my birthday. So we’re going with things we already know on the birthdays and eMeals the rest of the week!

Monday: ???
Today’s my birthday, and I think we’re going out. I haven’t decided where I’d like to go. Possibly to Firehouse Subs, because I am hopelessly devoted to their brisket & cheddar sandwich.

Tuesday: Chicken Pot Pie
I love a good chicken pot pie, and I’m really hoping that the eMeals version is just that. There are biscuits involved instead of a crust, though, so we’ll see.

Wednesday: ???
A friend asked us last week if we wanted to go out for dinner this Wednesday, but I haven’t heard back from him to confirm. So we might be going out again. But maybe not.

Thursday: Cheeseburgers
Me: Hey Pete, what would you like for your birthday dinner?
Pete: Hmmm, I don’t know. Probably cheeseburgers.

And so cheeseburgers it is!