Review: Go ReadyMade - Skip It

As you know, I'm always on the lookout for a quick, easy way to feed the kiddo. Between working more and running from practice to practice, it's challenging. Fast food, while convenient, is not that healthy and won't help me or my child health-wise. So when I run across a coupon to try a new meal service and it's reasonably priced, I give it a shot. Today's review is for Go ReadyMade. This service is a little bit different where you just have to stick it in the oven, microwave, grill it and eat. I was thinking, "Awesome! It's a healthy Hungry Man TV dinner." (Do they even still make those anymore?) Let's just say Hungry Man was a lot tastier.

What they claim is no prep required, heat and eat meals, delicious meals with no hassle. The box arrived, it was well packed and had the requisite ice packs.

Took everything out and there were four containers with the meals. The meat was in a air sealed package so not to contaminate anything else (that's good right?). The sauces were in little baggies and the directions were on the back of the package cover. The font for the directions is on the small side, which meant I had to pull out my cheaters to make dinner. Keep in mind, I hate wearing my cheaters (like I am right now typing this), it's a reminder that I'm getting old, lol. Which I am, but I don't want reminded of this fact 😒 First up was the Cauliflower Mac and Cheese. I popped it in the over for 25 min. My son and I tried it and it was actually tasty. I'm thinking we're off to a good start. A couple days later we tried the Steak with Cauliflower Mac and Cheese (my son had this one) and the Smoky Chicken Fajitas (I gave this one a whirl). The steak had to be opened up, which was no small feat, and cooked, I chose the grill. Decided to microwave the Cauliflower Mac and Cheese this time so I wouldn't also have to turn on the oven. At the same time I microwaved the fajita meat. Verdict...while the Cauliflower Mac & Cheese was still tasty, the chicken and the steak itself left a lot to be desired. The steak, while not fatty, was not tender. You also need to make sure that you season it well or it'll be bland.

The chicken was tough but edible due to the fajita fixin's. Not the most enjoyable meals we've had.

I decided to let the subscription continue. A couple more steak meals arrived, a couple pork and a couple pasta. One of the meals had arugula on the side, just arugula, nothing else to put in the salad and you had to provide your own dressing. To cook the meat, you had to remove the arugula and put it in a bowl or something...it just wasn't an efficient process. The meat, in each instance, you had to season the heck out of it and they still weren't that tasty plus the sauces they provided, didn't make it much better. I cancelled the subscription after a couple weeks. As with most of these meal services, the signup / cancellation process is easy. In addition, you can swap out your meals for what looks more appetizing to you. Unfortunately, I can't recommend this service to you based on the flavor of the meals / quality of meat we had. There was just something missing.

As always, let me know your thoughts on meal services / subscriptions. Next up for review: Sun Basket

Review: Greenblender - Outstanding Smoothies

I won't lie, 2017 was a difficult year for so many reasons. For years I've been plagued with weird stomach issues as well as other aches and pains. Last year it felt like my body was falling apart in front of my eyes, the daily pain affected me mentally and physically so I decided to try and dig into what was going on. One of the biggest challenges I faced was chronic heartburn and constant bloating and pain in the top part of my abdomen. I started to see a gastroenterologist to get to the bottom of my stomach issues. After eating radioactive eggs one morning (I'm so not kidding and they weren't even Gordon Ramsay's). The diagnosis was I'm suffering from Gastroparesis without a root cause. Long story short, my stomach isn't contracting enough to digest the food and then empty the stomach. A normal meal would remain in my stomach for over 12 hours. Without knowing I would then eat another meal which literally just piled on top of the one before and my stomach would distend and I ended up looking like I'm 6 months pregnant, not to mention just feeling all-around crappy. The doctor gave me recommendations on how to eat, super small, more frequent meals, stay away from a lot of fiber and fatty foods. Which I interpreted as mushy, bland, easy to digest food...not far from the truth. I won't lie, I was totally bummed.

As I struggled with the diagnosis, my weight, my overall aches and pains and my mental well-being, I began to notice ads for a service called Greenblender which sends you the organic ingredients for smoothies right to your door. I ignored the ads for a while, then broke down and clicked on one, then closed the browser window. I was in a bit of denial that I'd have to make changes. As the weeks progressed, even with beginning to change my eating habits, my stomach was still a mess. Low and behold, the ads kept popping up, so I took it as a sign to try it and chose to ignore the fact that it was because I clicked on the ad once so now all the companies that mine data knew that I might be interested. I signed on the proverbial "dotted line" and a week later my first shipment arrived. 

What I noticed first was a well-packed, insulated box.

There wasn't anything leaking and it didn't smell, which happened with other food services I've tried. They provided a nice looking pamphlet on how to make the smoothies correctly (yes, there's an order to layering your smoothies for optimal smoothiness) some ads for other stuff (like a wine service which I found odd in an organic smoothie box) and a recipe card with all the smoothies for that week. The material was pleasing to look at and was easy to understand. I knew right away this wasn't going to be complicated, I mean after all you're throwing stuff into a blender and turning it on right? I opened up the bubble wrap insulation and found they supplied sturdy plastic, reusable, fun colored straws to sip your smoothies with. Woohoo! It's the little things.

Under that were neatly packed bags containing the contents for each smoothie and under that were industrial ice packs. The ice packs will come in handy during the summer months, but right now in Erie, we've been below freezing for weeks now. No chance in any of the contents heating up into a messy goo. I was ready to get started.

There were five smoothie packs in the box that contained all of your organic smoothie contents with the exception of your liquid base and ice cubes. The amount of the ingredients in each pack are enough for two smoothies. Now, Greenblender recommends using almond milk, coconut water or just plain water for their smoothies, the choice is yours. I prefer mine with almond milk. Here's a list of smoothies for my first box with a link to the recipes:

• Warming Apple
• Hydrating Maple Protein
• Lucuma Coconut
• Wheatgrass Elixir
• Kiwi Apple Detox

I decided to be daring and try the Wheatgrass Elixir first.

I layered the ingredients as they recommended, fired up the blender and watched the ingredients swirl. As a note you don't need a fancy blender, Magic Bullet or food processor to make these smoothies, just one that can handle ice cubes. I have a super cheap blender which is working awesome. I just have to remember to unplug it after use...it tends to mysteriously turn on by itself. I know, pretty creepy right? After blending I ceremoniously removed the lid and the first whiff I got was that of fresh cut grass on a summer day. I erroneously thought it's going to taste better than it smells. Bwahahahhaha....nope. It overwhelming tasted like grass. Keep in mind I'm not a cow that loves to eat grass and I hate mowing it because I seem to get stung by bees when I do. Don't ask, I don't know why. Now I know some folks swear by wheatgrass and if you're one of them, then this smoothie is for you...and only you. On a positive note, the consistency was good, the color looked pretty, the green straw I put in it accented the green of the smoothie, but is still smelled AND tasted like grass.

Recommendation...unless you're familiar and like wheatgrass, don't use it. Luckily Greenblender allows you to go on and swap out your smoothies each week. I've been checking mine just incase this little "gem" of an ingredient pops up again. Also, they tell you if you aren't sure about an ingredient or know you don't like it, don't add it. It's a wonderful flexibility to have.

Next up was the Hydrating Maple Protein. Not my favorite because, well, I made it wrong. I forgot the coconut water and banana. I'd have to try this one again. I will say out of all the recipes listed above, Warming Apple was my favorite. It tasted just like fresh-baked apple pie a-la-mode (but without all the guilt). The other two were tasty as well. My week one was complete. I realized I had used up all my packs before the next delivery was scheduled, which was a total bummer. Since these are so easy and quick to make, I'd been making them for my breakfast and lunch. To make each smoothie a balanced meal, I added protein powder. I use Wegmans brand protein powder, but any unflavored or vanilla protein powder would work. I like Wegmans because they use stevia instead of artificial sweeteners and the cost is excellent. Voila, meal in a to-go-cup. I drink my breakfast on the way to work, it keeps me filled up until lunch and then I have another for lunch. You can't beat the cost per serving, depending on your plan it's $3.90 - $4.90 per serving, that's cheaper than most meals and it's all organic, non-GMO products.

Honestly I was skeptical at first. I was worried that the smoothies would taste like garbage and I wouldn't drink them. Worried that they wouldn't fill me up for breakfast and lunch. Worried that it wasn't going to help my stomach issues. After three weeks, I'm happy to report that the other smoothies I've had taste awesome. I don't feel hungry after breakfast and lunch and best of all, my stomach is feeling better. My heartburn is being reduced, the bloating and pain I've been experiencing is decreasing and I feel good about what I'm putting in my body. I totally miss my smoothies on the weekends, so much in fact that I'll probably begin making them with my own ingredients. I've also got my kid trying each one with me. He's found a couple he likes that I can replicate easily. As a pre-teen getting ready for those wonderful teenage years, nutrition is going to play a key part in his development. He's starting to worry about his looks and getting acne, also he wants to begin working out. Totally understand where he's coming from and I keep telling him nutrition is going to play a big part in the next few years and hopefully for the rest of his life. I'm hoping to get him started down the right path.

So now you're wondering about cost. Below are the three cost plans. I chose Fresh Start which is a week by week plan. I didn't know if I was going to like it / keep it so I selected it. I've now moved to the Healthy Habit plan because I do plan on keeping it for a while. I completed the switch via email, it was quick and no hassle. You get a 20% savings with this plan as well. All plans are automatically renewed each week, month or quarter - depending on what you selected. In addition you can postpone a shipment, great for when you're heading off to vacation and you can cancel anytime, they will refund the unused amount. Basically with all of these plans, the cost per serving is cheaper than a trip to Starbucks and you're getting an entire meal.

The other thing you may be wondering about is their customer service. You can call them, you can email them, they have a great FAQ page, their web-site is easy to navigate...I know, all good things...but what if I have a problem? Well, I did. Last week I opened up my box and one of the packs was wet and kinda slimy. I found the culprit, it was a pear. Now let me tell you, this was no longer an ordinary pear, it was a black, mangled, hot mess of a pear. It was so messy you'd scratch your head and go, "WTF?" I snapped a couple picks of the pear-that-was-no-longer-a-pear and emailed them on a weekend. In less than 24 hours Greenblender responded with an apology and a $5 credit towards my next shipment. Now that's customer service I can get behind. No questions, no accusations that I did something wrong, just a simple, "That's not acceptable." and a credit. I wish all customer service worked like this. In the few weeks I've been using this service and the fact there has only been one bad piece of fruit, you've gotta admit, that's good quality. Another thing other companies should learn about.

Overall, I'm very pleased with Greenblender and would recommend this service to anyone who likes a good smoothie, is looking to make a healthy change in their eating habits or who likes quick, simple meals. This is the service for you. If you've had similar experiences with Greenblender, I'd love to hear from you.

Something to Think About...Why Buy Packets of Taco Seasoning?

I've used store bought packets of taco seasoning for years, whether it's McCormick's or Ortega's, it was cheap and easy...no comments from the peanut gallery please. Usually I always have an extra packet sitting around and I went to grab it for the Mexican Lasagna recipe I was making and CRAP!! No taco seasoning. <-- insert frowning face here. I'm a couple beverages into my evening, so going out was not an option. That and the fact I was in PJs. No judging, they're comfy and after a long week I said bleep it and put them on early. And let's face it, the day of running to your neighbor's to borrow a cup of sugar, well, we just don't seem to do that anymore. Don't get me wrong, if I asked any or my neighbors for sugar or just plain help, they would be there for me, but honestly, the thought of asking them for taco seasoning didn't even cross my mind. Ok what was plan B going to be? Well, duh...I'll just ask Google, Google has the answers for everything. What I found was a taco seasoning recipe and I already had ALL the ingredients on my spice rack. WIN!! Mixed them up, tasted just like a packet, put them in with my ground beef and voila, Mexican Lasagna recipe was saved.

Then I got to thinking about what other "stuff" might be in those packets. A very similar situation happened to me years ago when I ran out of Bisquick pancake mix. I read Bisquick's ingredients online to see if I could make it at home. Ugh. I saw all the not so good stuff that was in that mix so I found a homemade pancake recipe that had just a few ingredients and the results were yummy, fluffy pancakes and have never gone back to using Bisquick. I've decided to take a look at the ingredients in the packets of taco seasoning and compare them with the homemade version. The results are below.

Homemade	McCormick	Ortega
Cayenne pepper	Chili pepper	Autolyzed yeast extract
Chili powder	Dried oregano	Carmel color
Dried oregano	Garlic powder	Citric acid
Garlic powder	Natural flavor	Garlic powder
Ground cumin	Onion powder	Maltodextrin
Onion powder	Paprika	Modified corn starch
Paprika	Potato starch	Paprika
Sea salt	Salt	Salt
	Sugar	Spices
		Sugar
		Sulfites
		Yellow corn flour

With that being said, Ortega is off my list permanently. McCormick, not bad but when compared to homemade, it loses. Plus with homemade, you get to tweak the ratio of ingredients depending on what flavors you like more, if you want it hotter, etc. And, you can mix up as much as you want, so you'll always have it on hand. Simply store in an airtight container and it'll stay fresh for months. Just something to think about.

Are there other store bought packets you've eliminated because you now make them at home? We'd love to hear about them.

Shop Local: Iron Empire

As my son gets older, what we can & can't do together is changing. More specifically what he wants and doesn't want to do with his mother is the issue. While I can't see why it's such a horrible thing being seen in public with your mother, it obviously is for a pre-teen boy. It's not like I'm one of those mothers who insists on hugging and kissing my kid, but it's still not cool. With that being said, I ran across Iron Empire Clothing's first ever "Kids Build a Tee Workshop" and asked my son if he wanted to do it. Surprisingly he agreed, probably because it wasn't "in public."

We came up with an idea ahead of time which helped. When we walked in we were greeted by the staff and they had a table all ready to go. They explained how to pick your t-shirt color / size and the ink and where to draw. It was very organized. My son drew the basketball player on the paper, we had a couple re-starts, but in the end he handed in the finished product. We looked around the store and picked up a couple items, they were having a sale, who could resist? They have t-shirts, sweatshirts, hats, work-out wear, all with a good selection of colors and sizes. They also work with a number of schools across the area printing spirit wear and other school-related pieces. We were also fortunate enough to meet the owners, Jamie & RJ, who talked a bit about the store, sales and what was coming Black Friday. The store location was easy to get to and easy parking, overall it was a great experience. And if you're not a shop-in-person kinda of person...that's ok, you can order on-line.

They are planning on having another "Build a Tee Workshop" which I would recommend trying. I might even create a t-shirt next time too. It was fun for my son and I to try something new and different and if he was ok hanging with his mom for it, yours might be too.

Iron Empire Social Media Sites:

Website: https://ironempireclothing.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Ironempireclothing/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ironempireclothing/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ironempireinc

Link to picture courtesy of Go Erie.

A Superhero Movie with Eye Candy for All

Growing up I didn't read a lot of comic books, I was more into Nancy Drew, The Black Stallion and then couldn't get enough of Stephen King. I knew who most of the main superheros were but didn't know the difference between DC Comics & Marvel. I'm well aware this statement just made comic aficionados cringe, but honestly when I was growing up there wasn't a lot of focus on female superheros other than making them look hot. There was Wonder Woman & Supergirl but they never did much for me as far as inspiration goes. With that, let's jump ahead to the present where DC Comics & Marvel are raking in cash because they've managed to take what was on the pages of a comic book bring all that excitement to the big screen. It appears the public loves superheros, combined with great CGI and taking on all the evil that threatens our world, it's a formula for success.

The latest DC Comics has to offer is Justice League which I watched last night. See, my son wanted to go with his friends and see Pixar's Coco which I wasn't in the mood for. So I ended up at Justice League. At first I thought it would be weird going to a movie by myself, but I saw plenty of other grown-ups doing the same thing. Phew! The movie started to roll. Overall I was entertained and it kept my attention, 98% of the time. Was it the best superhero movie, no. Did it have some good parts, yes. Would I recommend it, maybe.

Here are the three best things about the movie: 1. Superman without his shirt on, 2. Aquaman without his shirt on, and 3. Wonder Woman.

Ok, the fight scenes were fun. The one-liners were decent. But there were parts I had issues with. True DC fans, please chime in since I'm not as well versed on how the characters were truly written. I thought they could have done more character development for Cyborg, I liked the actor they cast in the role, Ray Fisher, but explaining how he got to where he is was limited. I know only a short amount of time can be aloted when introducing characters, but it seemed too short. The major disappointment for me was The Flash. Maybe I've been spoiled by watching the CW's series The Flash and have enjoyed their character development and the fact that the series didn't turn him into an uber-dweeb (for lack of better words) like the movie did. Basically he was the comedic relief and that's not the character I'm used to seeing. I did however love the Stephen King reference to Pet Sematary he made when bringing Superman back to life. But my big hang-up with The Flash was his running form. I know that sounds really nit-picky but if you've ever run, especially if you were a sprinter on a track and field team, you were hounded about your running form. IMHO there is no way that The Flash could run fast with the form he had, it's horrible. 

While I'm still on the fence about Ben Affleck's portrayal of Batman, but I do like that they gave Wonder Woman a good amount of screen time. I like the concept of each team member having to work together to win, that none of them could win alone. Overall there was more good than bad from an entertainment perspective. It's PG-13 due to the violence aspect, not a lot of profanity or blood and gore, making it an ok family movie. Do you have to see it on the big screen, up to you. An HDTV would do it justice (pun intended) and let's be honest, nothing beats being able to pause a movie when you have to pee.

Recipe Review: Thirty Minute Skillet Baked Ziti

Being a single mom presents many challenges, the one I face most often is keeping my kid fed between working and the multiple sports and activities. Heck this is challenging for any family. So I’m always on the lookout for quick, simple meals that actually taste good. One of the problems I’ve run into is simple meals sometimes end up tasting bland and then no one wants to eat them. This recipe not only uses just a few pans / utensils (easier clean up, woohoo) but my son went back for seconds, a win all the way around.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil

6 cloves garlic, minced (you can also use pre-minced from a jar)

¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes (want a bit more heat, add more pepper flakes)

Salt & black pepper to taste

1 – 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes

3 cups water

12 ounces (3 ¾ cups) ziti

½ cup heavy cream (half & half, crème fraiche or a mix would also work)

½ cup grated parmesan

¼ cup fresh, minced basil (you can substitute 1/8 cup of dried basil)

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (feel free to add more if you like things cheesy)

Tips: You will need an oven-proof skillet (deeper than a frying pan) or a 2-quart casserole dish. Measure water and pasta before you cook. Prep the parmesan and basil as the pasta simmers.

Directions

1. Pre-heat oven to 475, you’ll want the rack to be in the middle.
2. Combine oil, garlic, pepper flakes and ½ tsp salt in skillet over medium-high heat until fragrant (~ 1 min).
3. Add tomatoes, water, ziti and ½ tsp salt to skillet, cover and cook for 15 – 18 min until at a rapid simmer and ziti is al dente. Stir frequently.
4. Stir in cream, Parmesan and basil. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle mozzarella over top and transfer to oven.
5. Bake ~ 10 min until cheese has melted.

Remember: use an oven-mit when removing skillet from oven. You’re probably going, “Well duh!” but trust me, I’ve forgotten a time or two and it hurts, OUCH! The handle may stay cool when on the stove; it definitely won’t be coming out of the oven.

Ideas / Variations

• Add black olives, pepperoni, mushrooms – will begin to taste like a baked pizza
• Replace ½ cup of water with ½ cup of Vodka to make a Vodka-Cream sauce
• Add 2 anchovy fillets, rinsed and minced and sauté with garlic. Replace cream with red wine. Add ½ cup pitted Kalamata olives, coarse chopped with basil for a Puttanesca sauce.
• Serve with roasted broccoli, cauliflower or a nice tossed salad.

If you have any other ideas or variations, we’d love to hear from you. Enjoy!

Are Gordon Ramsay's Scrambled Eggs All That?

Years ago I went through a phase where I watched a lot of shows from the BBC. I came across this British chef called Gordon Ramsay and watching him just made me chuckle. Why? It was very evident he knew his stuff & it was his love of profanity. Yup, the guy swears more than a trucker / sailor / ticked off mama, his favorite word seemed to be the f-bomb. Heck, he even has a TV show called "The F Word." Once you get past the profanity, the content of what he was saying was spot on! If you're looking for truth, he's your man. Not the sugar-coated version of the truth that's prevalent across our society, the truth we say so we don't hurt someone's feelings, it's the very brutal, pointed truth that makes you cry. The kind of truth that once you get over being insulted, you realize you can actually learn something and improve yourself, kind of truth. Hard to come by these days. But I digress...

Chef Ramsay has become well-known state-side from shows like Hell's Kitchen & MasterChef. Yes, he swears, the network just bleeps it out. Lately my son and I have taken to watching MasterChef together. We discuss what the contestants are cooking, would we ever eat the food and of course, Chef Ramsay's profanity. My son, not unlike me, finds it amusing. Anyway, while we're watching, one of the challenges was to cook scrambled eggs a la Ramsay. I said, "I could do that" and he said, "I would eat that." Challenge accepted!

I had all the ingredients (eggs, butter, salt, pepper) except creme fraiche, which was easy to find. I normally use a frying pan, this time I used a pot. I normally scramble my eggs and add milk before applying heat, this time the butter and eggs went in the pot unscrambled. I usually use a whisk, I used a spatula. The biggest difference was moving the eggs on and off the burner. I accomplished that without dropping the whole darn pot on my foot. Win! At the end put in the salt, pepper and creme fraiche, then plated. Please keep in mind that it was 6:00 AM and I didn't add the fancy garnishes, like dill he suggested. I did manage to make cinnamon toast for my son.

Well, if you're looking for dry, hard scrambled eggs, these are NOT for you. They're absolutely not runny, but they are soft and creamy. Not what you usually find at diners. Verdict: Jacob liked them, but wished they weren't so soft. He said he liked mine better. Brownie points earned. I on the other hand loved them. They were light and creamy. Definitely a winner with me. We're going to try them again, I may use less butter or more eggs to try and get them a smidge firmer for the boy. If you're looking to wow your family and friends at brunch, this could do the trick.

Feel free to share and comment away. What's the best scrambled egg recipe you've every made?