goodbye hellofresh

i started hellofresh deliveries in early december. my dear friend kelly sent me three free meals so i decided to try it. at first, it was quite fun. i felt so domesticated which i haven't been in some time. and didn't know it was still in me. i was also finally making use of my kitchen tools i'd spent so much money on.

after 4 weeks of delivery, here are the meals i managed to make and take pictures of: unfortunately, i missed taking pictures of week 2, the meals didn't turn out as pretty as the pictures on the recipe looked (week 2 was: trout en papillote, coconut-crusted chicken fingers, and steak au poivre). the above meals from week 3 are (from left, clockwise): turkish meatballs with parsnip & creamy polenta; glazed pork tenderloin with caramelized sweet potato & crispy green beans; and fregola sarda & sweet italian sausage with mushrooms, wilted spinach, & parmesan. even though it took much longer to make than they tell you, i actually enjoyed all the meals in this package. these were from the last delivery. they were (from left, clockwise): quick-marinated steak with broiled balsamic veggies; pork and apple burger with rosemary potatoes & mixed green salad; and oven-roasted chicken with winter veggies, basmati rice, & lemon-thyme pan sauce. my fav meal from this batch was the pork and apple burger. even the potatoes were yummy. the other two meals were eh, which is why i decided to say goodbye to hellofresh.

first run of 2016!

this was the run the road to the superbowl about a month before the superbowl 50 at levi's stadium, about 5 miles from where i live.

there's a funny story about this run. we had 2 additional ladies join us, they were friends of kelli's. and another was supposed to join us but hurt herself playing charades the night before. i thought, how convenient! but turns out, the person who was supposed to join us is married to my brother-in-law's brother. i've spent several thanksgiving and christmas holidays with her. and in fact, she hurt herself playing charades with my very own sister! it is a small world indeed.