Gousto - Everything you need to cook delicious recipes delivered!

As I mentioned back in the fall, I decided to try a meal delivery service, Hello Fresh.  I stayed with them for about six months and for the most part really enjoyed the meals and the convenience.  I had a few blips with missing ingredients, and one missed delivery (total bummer), but for the past six months, I got increasingly aggravated by the fact that they would show me 5 available options, but really only let me choose from four of them. But, of course, you can't tell which one you can't have until you decide you want it and try to choose it.  I have contacted them a few times and got the same answer each time - they know about the issue and their IT department is working on it.  Ugh! So, I decided to give a competitor a try.  The new company I am trying is called Guosto.  I received my first box this week.

My first impression, very similar to Hello Fresh, the cardboard box is neatly packed, and well insulated.  A surprise was the nifty wooden spoon that they included with my first order! Yay - love free stuff!

I laid out the ingredients and perused the recipes that I had chosen this week.  One point for Hello Fresh is that each recipe's cupboard ingredients are packed in their own brown bag. So, I can just grab one from the fridge and know that everything I need is inside (unless they forgot something again!).  With Guosto, I had to sort all the ingredients into two piles.  Took a minute or two, not a big deal.

Tonight's meal is Miso & Sesame Chicken Noodles.

The recipe card is vey similar in layout to the ones I received from Hello Fresh.  One notable difference was that often with Hello Fresh (although this was not consistent), they would include measurements for items  - for example "cut peppers into 1cm slices". I didn't break out a ruler, but it did give me an idea about the ballpark thickness I should aim for.

My ingredients were all fresh and of good quality.  Although one of my girls asked me "why did they give you a bunch of rubber bands?".  Um, those are the noodle nests!

Here is my meal all assembled:

Overall, it was easy to prepare, but like Hello Fresh, the 35 minutes prep time was a bit optimistic!  I would say it was closer to 45-50 minutes.

But, worth it! And the girls all gave it a thumbs up!

Hello Fresh - Baked Cheesy Chicken Taquito with Zesty Salad

Hello Fresh is a company here in the UK that delivers recipe boxes directly to your home. 

I was visited this past week by a lovely young lady who was a representative of Hello Fresh, offering a promotional deal. I had already heard of Hello Fresh, and had researched them briefly in the past. So a promotional deal to give them a try was tempting to me. I signed up, and received my first box yesterday.  I decided on a family box, with two meals, each serving four people. I was able to go online and choose between the options available for the week, and this is one of the recipes I chose - Baked Cheesy Chicken Taquito with Zesty Salad.

The box was filled with all of the ingredients I would need for both of my chosen meals, and recipe pages with photos and detailed instructions.

One of the appeals of the service offered by Hello Fresh was that I would receive only the amounts of ingredients needed for the recipe, and there would be no waste - no extra tortillas that would grow stale in the cupboard, or veggies that would not be used!

Another appeal is that I would stretch myself a little and try new things, maybe discover some new family favorites!

Above you see just the ingredients for the taquitos - the little cheese cubes look adorable, but I am not necessarily looking forward to trying to grate them!

I loved the detailed instructions and pictures of the various steps.  The recipe card said it would take 30 minutes to prepare and it cooks for 10-15 minutes.  So... that means I have to do all the prep in about 15 minutes. Hmmmm. I think that is assuming I am a faster cook than I am, but we shall see!

The cheese provided came in the form of three tiny blocks of cheese, similar to that I would give the girls as a snack. I thought that might make it more challenging to grate the cheese without grating a bit of finger in with it! :( But, I was pleasantly surprised that it was actually just fine.  Once I saw the amount grated, though, it occurred to me that my family would have probably liked more cheese to be included, but less makes it healthier - right?

I sauteed my onions in a bit of olive oil...

Then added the chicken and spices...

Here is the filling, with the onion and chicken tossed together with the fresh spinach and cheese and sour cream (or soured cream, as they call it here in the UK)!

I filled and rolled all of the taquitos and filled them as full as I thought I could, while (or whilst, as they say in the UK) still being able to actually roll them up properly.

Sadly, though, I had a bit of filling left over. However, that was not a problem, as several hungry children wandered through the kitchen and snagged a bit of filling until there was none left!

Here is a side by side comparison of my finished product and the sample picture provided by Hello Fresh.  Theirs is obviously the one above.  I cooked my taquitos for 15 minutes, but they probably needed a bit longer to get browner and crispier. But, the aforementioned hungry children, and the fact that I had to get one fed and out the door to her gymnastics class, precluded me from cooking mine even a minute longer!  

They were quite delicious and all of the girls gave them a big thumbs up! Even though I would guess that the complete preparation time was closer to 45 minutes to an hour, I didn't think it was unbearable.  And the finished product seemed well worth the time.   

My conclusion is that, so far, I am quite pleased with Hello Fresh.  We have one more meal to try out this week. However, I have already checked out the offerings for next week and didn't see anything that I fancied trying, so I suspended my delivery until the following week. If I continue the service beyond that will be determined by if I find anything tempting on offer.  We shall see!

Baking like we're British

Recently, the girls and I watched some re-runs of British Bake Off Junior and they were making a traditional Victoria Sandwich. So Georgia decided to give it a go!

She baked her two cakes and then prepared her buttercream frosting to spread between the layers.

Next came a layer of strawberry jam.

On top goes a dusting of icing sugar (aka powdered sugar)

It was amazing!

Here is the recipe we used 

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1997/classic-victoria-sandwich

It's been a Pinterest week for dinner...

I've been in a bit of a rut this week with regards to dinner meal planning, so I jumped onto Pinterest and let my mouse lead me to some good meal suggestions.

Crockpot ravioli casserole was yummy

http://flavorite.net/2015/09/17/crock-pot-ravioli-casserole/

Cucumber Salad - another hit!

http://www.thegardengrazer.com/2013/12/cucumber-salad.html?m=1

Chicken Picata - really delicious!

http://www.bhg.com/blogs/delish-dish/2015/05/27/chicken-picatta/

Roasted Tomato Basil Soup - yummo!

http://www.cookingclassy.com/2015/08/roasted-tomato-basil-soup/

Cheddar Cheese Muffins

Home with a sick child, has me watching episode after episode of the Great British Bake Off and itching to bake something. Combine that with trying to tempt sick child to eat, I decided to bake cheddar cheese muffins. Sadly, I'm out of eggs, so I experimented and it came out terrific!

1 cup milk

3 tablespoons melted butter, cooled

1 large egg, lightly beaten (substitute: 2 tablespoons flour, 1/2 teaspoon oil, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, and 2 tablespoons milk)

Pinch cayenne pepper

1 3/4 cups flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup grated cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350 Fahrenheit (175 Celsius).

In a large bowl, combine milk, melted butter, egg and cayenne (I used substitution noted above for the egg).

In a second bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, sugar and salt.

Stir in cheese.

Add flour mixture to milk mixture and stir batter until it is just combined.

The batter should be lumpy. (Mine was doughy).

Spoon the batter into muffin tins (buttered or lined) - filling each about 2/3 full.

Bake 20-25 minutes.

Ready to go in the oven.

Just out of the oven.

Yum!

It's Whats For Dinner! - Honey and Soy Baked Chicken Thighs

My kids squeal with delight when they hear I will be serving this for dinner!

Prep:
10 minutes
Cook:
50 minutes

Ingredients:

6 Tablespoons Olive Oil
6 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
10 Tablespoons Honey
5 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
salt and pepper to taste
3 pounds chicken thighs

Preheat oven to 425F (215 celsius)

Mix the ingredients together in a ziploc bag and allow to mix thoroughly and marinate for as long as you have - a couple hours is great, but I have done it for a couple of minutes with great results too!

Pop your chicken into a baking dish with all of the marinade and bake the chicken in a 425F oven for 25 minutes. After the 25 minutes, remove the pan from the oven, flip over all the chicken thighs, and pop it back into the oven for another 25 minutes.

Enjoy!

Foodie Love... The Pioneer Woman

So, I am sure that you are familiar with The Pioneer Woman, right? She has several great cookbooks (I own them!) and has written a bunch of children's books (Charlie the Ranch Dog - my Sophia loves them!), as well as a great book that my book club read a few years ago, "Black Heels to Tractor Wheels" (totally enjoyed it).  Not to mention, her awesome blog and Food Network television show.
Well, I have cooked a ton of her recipes, and every one of them has been great.  I haven't tried one that I didn't think was really, really good.
Our family's current favorite is Pasta with Pancetta and Leeks.  
We make it almost once a week around here, and everyone likes it... even Mikey... I mean Sophia!
We use gluten free pasta (by choice) and have done it with spaghetti and ziti. Her pictures show bow-tie pasta, so I'm thinking you can use whatever you like best.

I made it again last night, and snapped a few pictures while I was cooking (I wanted to show off my new Le Crueset pot). Sadly, by the time I had dinner ready, the girls were "Sttaaarrrrvvvviiinnnngggg", so I didn't get a picture of the meal all done, but you can see that on the Pioneer Woman's website. And, her pictures are way nicer than mine anyway!

Did I mention how easy this recipe is? It is SO easy!  You cook the pancetta...

And, while the pancetta is cooking, chop up the leeks.  

Add the leeks to the pancetta with a pat or two of butter and cook some more. 

Then add some white wine (to the pan AND your glass!) and cook a bit more.

And that's it!  Serve over pasta with some fresh grated parmesan!

If you haven't checked out The Pioneer Woman, what are you waiting for???

Glass Noodles

Have you discovered glass noodles yet? Chris had been ordering them when we went out to eat at one of our favorite Asian places, Wagamama. So, I thought I would give them a try at home.

Since we adopted a primal type of diet, the things we find we miss the most are pasta and pizza. We have found a few gluten free crusts, and have made some really great cauliflower crust for pizza. But, gluten free pasta always leaves us feeling kind of blah. It is okay in a pinch, but the texture never seems quite right. Glass noodles are gluten free, but not strictly paleo, so keep that in mind. They are made with peas, green beans and water. However, I believe the green beans are mung beans, and as far as I can tell by researching, they aren't approved paleo.  But, I figure cheating with a vegetable isn't all that bad.

So, I checked the regular grocery store here and didn't find glass noodles, so I checked Amazon. And I ordered what I thought was three packages. Only, I made a mistake and ordered twelve packages instead. Oops.

I just hoped we actually  liked cooking with them and I wasn't going to be stuck trying to foist my grocery ordering error on my family for some time to come. 

Well, what I discovered was that I am in LOVE with glass noodles. They don't require boiling, so you just boil water, and throw them in and turn the burner off. They absorb the water for a few minutes and they are all ready!  The texture is perfect and the flavor is awesome for Asian cooking.  I have made a Coconut Curry, a Pad Thai, and the stir-fry you see below.  

Yummo!  I highly recommend you pick some up. If you can't find them at your local grocery, try an Asian food store, or Amazon!

What's Cooking… Easy Blueberry Muffins

After almost three months, I am back in my own kitchen with my own crap (oops, I mean my own vast collection of kitchen equipment) and I am enjoying cooking some old and new favorites.
I made blueberry muffins today. Yummo!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder (I used 3 tsp because baking powder in the UK isn't as strong as in the US)

1/3 cup vegetable oil (I only had olive oil so I used that. There is a reason why olive oil isn't a great substitute for baking - it has a strong flavor. But, it was all I had, so I could live with it)

1 large egg

1/3 - 1/2 cup milk

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup fresh blueberries

Heat the oven to 400 (205 degrees celcius).  Line 8 muffin cups with paper liners and add 1-2 tablespoons of water to the empty muffin cups to help with even baking.

Combine flour, 3/4 cup of sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.

In a 2 cup measuring cup, add vegetable oil, then the egg, and then the milk until ingredients come to the 1 cup line. Add vanilla and whisk until combined.

Add milk mixture to the dry ingredients and use a fork to combine Do not over mix (batter should be thick, don't worry). Add blueberries and fold them in gently with a rubber scraper or spoon.

Cook for 15-20 minutes.

(Now, I am still learning the ins and outs of my oven, so my muffins took a lot longer to cook. In the first 10 minutes, they had browned nicely, but were a long way from finished, so I covered them with foil, and keep checking them at 5 minute intervals to check their progress.  They took 35 minutes to cook. Go figure!)

Chicken Soup with Lime, Avocado, and Cilantro

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This soup recipe is not only delicious, but also easy and inexpensive to prepare. In addition, it is a hit with every member of my family.



The recipe is from Budget Bytes, a great website resource for recipes. It is an especially handy site if you like to see recipes broken down by the cost of ingredients.

As you know, I am having the ultimate adventure trying to figure out how to buy groceries in England with metric measurements and cooking here with a stove that confuses me completely!!

Here is how I adapted the recipe…

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp olive oil  - I am in a temporary apartment still, with no measuring equipment, I just pour two "glugs" of olive oil in the pan.
• 1 medium yellow onion
• 2 stalks celery 
• 1 medium jalapeño  - just called fresh green chills here
• 4 cloves garlic 
• ¾ lb. chicken breast - I buy one package of 500g
• 6 cups chicken broth - Again, no measuring utensils, so I estimated here and bought 3 containers of stock - each container was 500 ml
• 1 (14.5 oz.) can diced tomatoes w/chiles - I have yet to find anything like Rotel here - so I just buy one can diced tomatoes - 400g
• 1 tsp oregano - I don't have all my spices stocked up yet, so I didn't use any of this.
• ½ Tbsp cumin - a pinch
• 1 medium lime 
• ½ bunch cilantro - called coriander here
• 1 medium avocado 

Instructions

1. Dice the onion, celery, and jalapeno (scrape the seeds out of the jalapeno before dicing). Mince the garlic. Cook the onion, celery, jalapeno, and garlic in olive oil over medium heat for about 5 minutes or until tender.
2. Add the chicken breast, chicken broth, canned tomatoes with chiles, oregano, and cumin to the pot. Bring the whole pot up to a boil over high heat then reduce the heat to low, place a lid on top, and let simmer for one hour.
3. After simmering for an hour with a lid on, carefully remove the chicken breast from the pot and use two forks to shred the meat. Return the meat to the pot. Squeeze the juice of one lime into the soup. Get as much juice as possible from the lime by using a spoon to scrape the inside of the lime.
4. Rinse the cilantro and then roughly chop the leaves. Add to the pot, give it a quick stir, and serve. Dice the avocado and add a few chunks to each bowl.

I highly recommend this recipe!