#food |

As many of my friends know, I’m a food aficionado. No. Joke. I’m a mix between a Food Network star and an 8 year old. From whipping up fun, new creative dinners to delicious desserts to eating Lucky Charms cereal, potato chips and a Bloody Mary…I cover it all.

That being said, I can also be quite picky and lazy when it comes to preparing food (reference the Lucky Charms for dinner comment above). Quick, easy, yummy meals – um, yes please!

**Blog Update: Relished Foods has been rebranded to Home Chef even better… now have a larger selection of meals than ever before (8 to choose from every week), with options to satisfy a range of dietary preferences like gluten-free, vegan, and vegetarian. Check out their latest menu!

Enter Relished Foods. ***read through the entire post to receive a special offer!

As their website states: Fresh Ingredients and Recipes Delivered to Your Door. No confusion there, nope, none at all.Their Director of Product & Growth recently contacted me, offering me the opportunity to try it out! Sure thing.

I was impressed with his responsiveness and when I mentioned that I don’t eat red meat, they accommodated! Fast forward to last week, I find a box outside my door.

Opened to find (padding and ice packs) and 3 paper bags with clear labeling, 3 individual meats (vacuumed sealed and frozen), and 3 separate recipe cards.

Talk about making things easy! Literally, everything was pre-portioned/measured, garlic cloves were peeled, all ingredients were clearly labeled. Insert happy dance here!

The first night, I made the Panko Crusted Cod. Simple, fresh, delicious. Cod is usually not my first choice, but I was craving more!

A day later, I made the Quinoa and Roasted Vegetable Salad with Pan Seared Chicken. Quinoa, you’ve won my heart.

I’m a checklist person by nature so here is a recap of the PROS and ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT

PROS:

Convenient – definitely makes it easy for city dwellers (especially those that don’t have a car).
Fresh ingredients – there are some ingredients I wouldn’t necessarily have tried immediately (brussel sprouts, quinoa, lamb), but having them right there as part of the meal makes it tempting…
Easy – from the preparation to execution, all of the steps are clearly outlined on the menu cards (even a bachelor guy addicted to ordering pizza could handle it).
Delicious – never would I have imagined enjoying panko crusted cod that much.
Wine – I do love that there was suggested Drink Pairings (warning: when suggesting Pinot Grigio or Pinot Noir…it is an OPTION, no need to drink both, as I did. Hey, I don’t discriminate).

ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT

Videos – I’m a visual person, with, I’d say, a significant background in food. The menu cards are certainly a big help, but perhaps videos (of preparing the meals) on the website or YouTube would help the less-experience foodies.
Tools needed – I’m an organized person. I like to gather all supplies needed at the beginning. The menu cards do list out the Ingredients supplied as well as What You Need (i.e. salt, pepper, oil…) but listing out tools needed such as knife, saute pan, cutting board, foil can help us slight OCD folks.
Details – as mentioned, this isn’t my first food rodeo. I have on hand at least 3 different types of oils and 4 types of vinegar. When the menu card indicates I’ll need oil – suggesting what type of oil would be nice.
Sweet tooth! I love desserts. Desserts, may or may not love me 🙂 It would be awesome if along with the meals there was an option for simple desserts.
Dietary needs (ok totally NOT me, again…reference the Lucky Charms and potato chips for dinner comment) – there’s a huge trend in diets/healthy meals. Having a separate menu line for Paleo or Gluten Free could attract a larger audience. Or perhaps even indicating which meals are Paleo- or Gluten Free- friendly (like on the Applebees’ menus saying such and such item is Weight Watchers friendly)

Excuse me while I go prepare the Lamb Meatballs with Creamy Polenta and Tomato Ragout (who wants to join me?!)

Ok, so I’ll enjoy the yumminess by my lonesome, but that doesn’t mean you too can’t relish (see what I did there?!) in this. You can save 50% on your first order by using discount code ‘Wits&Pieces‘ at checkout (only valid for 1 week from today). Come on, get going…you know you want to. Guys and gals, easy way to impress your significant other!

If my blog doesn’t wet your palate, go ahead, check ’em out on Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, or on their blog. Happy cooking and eating!

DISCLAIMER: I am not a professional photographer. The images were taken with my cell, very hastily, I might add, as I was starving!

Recently, I had a house (condo/apartment) warming party. Granted, it was 6 months after I moved in, but hey…better late than never! Me and my OCD self planned and prepped for a good month prior to the shin-dig (insert single jokes here). Menu, color scheme, drinks, oh my! Over all, the party was a success – bringing together all different groups of friends.

Back to my menu and color scheme and drinks. I opted to do a black/white/silver/zebra theme. Plates, napkins, silverware, displays, candy, labels, even my outfit. (insert second round of single jokes here).

I’ll apologize now – I forgot to take photos of EVERYTHING (too busy being a hostess!)

Apple Bars. Can you say ‘only 3 ingredients’?!

Caprese Skewers. Italians do it best.

Lemon Mousse. Lemon Mouse in mini martini glasses. Lemon Mousse in mini martini glasses with chalkboard label.

Just a sampling of alcoholic beverages available.

The bloggers (and longest lasting party guests!)

I also had homemade pulled pork sliders, warm corn dip, orange glazed turkey meatballs, homemade chicken nugs, homemade cheese sticks, mint cheesecake brownies, peanut butter cookies, trio of dips and chips, vodka soaked gummy bears (and you KNOW the gummy bears were black and white. Ok not really black – but grape and black cherry), pumpkin dip, ham salsa pickle roll-ups (for my friend Raine…not sure anyone else was able to try any!), and a mojito bar! I was worried I didn’t have enough food or drinks.

To all of those who attended, ate, drank and warmed my house (condo/apartment) – I THANK YOU!

Until my next soiree…cheers!