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There are a lot of companies out there doing CSA shares or meal prep kits. I like the idea of them but I often feel boxed in with the ingredients that I would get. Family Dinner reached out to me and I was excited to try them because I liked all the options that I had seen on their website. You pick your share and have it delivered to your house on Saturdays. There is no commitment, you can pick and choose when you want them to deliver. You can choose an omnivore share, a vegetarian share, a pescatarian share or a paleo share. The ingredients are local and they even send you recipe ideas to help you with the ingredients you receive. You can get a half share (great for 1-2 people) for $59, a whole share (good for 2-4 people) for $89, or a double share (for 4-6 people) for $139. So this is what I received – as you can see, the double share is ENORMOUS! They deliver to your home in these great insulated bags and you can even track your delivery online. Not going to be home? You can have the driver leave the delivery in a cooler that you leave out.

Here’s the rundown of the goods:

Omnivore Protein –  Steak, Ground Italian Sausage from Feather Brook Farms; Salmon from Red’s Best; Chevre from Valley View Farmstead Cheese; Greek Yogurt and Eggs from Brookford Farm
Fruits and Veggies – Berries, Apples, Delicata Squash, Boston Lettuce, Juliette Tomatoes and Rainbow Carrots from Busa Farms; Potatoes from Brookford Farm; Kale from Brookford Farm
Grain -Orecchiette from Law of Pasta; Baguette from Iggy’s Bread
Special Treat – Nuts from Q’s Nuts; Granola from Iggy’s Bread

So here’s my thing. Veggies. I’m gun shy about them, I don’t think I even like them all that much, and I’m at a loss most times to know what to do with them. Growing up we didn’t eat a lot of veggies (except garden salads, which I promptly passed on), so as an adult, I wasn’t very adventurous about them either. But these ones I can handle, onions, peppers, kale, squash, leeks, eggplant and corn.

I’ve been in a cooking rut, to be honest, since the baby, we have been eating out a lot because I’m just too tired to cook. This delivery really inspired me (will I go out and get these things on my own…probably not, but it was a good run while it lasted, right). So first off I made a sausage and eggplant pasta. I took the Italian sausage and browned it on the stove. I diced the eggplant and tossed it with some olive oil and then added it to the pan. I cooked up the orecchiette and tossed them all in together with some tomato sauce (it was a shortcut – if I had more time I would have done San Marzano tomatoes, basil and maybe some chicken stock). Topped it off with some of our own Parmesan cheese and dinner is served. I had a good 6 portions of this, so it was really nice to eat these as leftovers later in the week.

For breakfasts we really enjoyed eating the Maple Greek yogurt from Brookford Farm with the granola from Iggy’s. Top off with your favorite fruit, these days we are ‘on’ blueberries, and it makes a great way to start the morning.

These could have looked prettier but they certainly tasted delicious. Delicata squash on toast – 3lbs of squash, peeled and cubed. Olive oil and chili pepper flakes to taste. Heat oven to 450 degrees, toss squash, olive oil and flakes together an place on baking sheet covered in parchment paper. Cook for 15 minutes. On medium heat on stovetop, heat olive oil in pan and add 1 sliced yellow onion. Cook for 15 minutes. Add in 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar and 1/4 cup of maple syrup. Cook for another 15 minutes. Combine squash and onions in bowl and spread over toast.

For the real recipe, check out the NY Times Jean Georges Squash on Toast. I tried this plain and then tried it with ricotta cheese (you could use mascarpone too) – both ways were delicious. I could also see adding some bacon on top for more depth of flavor.

The steak from Feather Brook Farm was delicious, we grilled with with a little Bosari for seasoning. My daughter will eat anything in sight, she hasn’t met a food she doesn’t like yet (the faster she can get it all in her mouth the better haha), but my son is a bit more….not picky, but selective. He’s one of those kids that doesn’t like his food touching his other food, otherwise, he probably won’t eat it. He isn’t really a meat eater, but did happen to enjoy a few bites of steak with some pilaf from our pantry and some broccoli (kale was a little too scary for him…and ok, me too).

I made egg ‘muffins’ with the eggs from the share along with leeks and the pepper – so simple and easy – great way to make things ahead for the week.

And I always have to have a delicious dessert, so I made baked pears. I sliced the pears in half and cut of a little sliver on the back side so the pears would sit nicely on the baking sheet. Take out the seeds with a melon baller or a spoon. I sprinkled with a little cinnamon and drizzled with some honey. Most people use walnuts but I decided to go with honey roasted almond slivers…just because. 350 degrees for 30 minutes and dessert is done! How beautiful are these?

Top with ice cream and it looks like you’ve spent all day in the kitchen making this dessert!

Use my code: GRUB50 for 50% off your first order!

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post. I partnered with Family Dinner to write about my experience with their service. All product was provided complimentary. All opinions are my own.

The post Family Dinner appeared first on A Little Bit About a Lot of Things.

When Laurin started the company she wanted to have the meals be easy to prepare, they had to be healthy, the price of the meal had to be reasonable, and they had to be kid friendly. So how does the service work? You go on the website and you fill in your preferences: what size family are you trying to feed and where you like to shop. The website bases your weekly menu on your food preferences and what is on sale at your local market. Every week you get a weekly dinner plan with 5 dinner ideas delivered straight to your inbox. You can shop ahead or you can order your groceries online and have them delivered by your local grocery store (if available). Want even more savings? The website also links you to online coupons for the items you are shopping for that week.

You can print out your weekly menu and then print out your shopping list. So this way everything is easy and all in one spot, if you need lemon for 2 of the 5 recipes, it puts lemons on the list just once – can’t get any easier than that. Not cooking all of the recipes you got this week? You have the option to delete the ingredients you don’t need off your shopping list.

If you read my blog, you know I’m not much for cooking. So I headed over to Leah‘s house and we made a recipe together. We made a simple chicken dinner with orzo and a spinach salad. I was completely impressed at really how easy the recipe was to make. The chicken was flavorful and tender – even my kids would probably have eaten it, and the spinach salad and orzo were done in the blink of an eye.

Head over to The Dinner Daily website to get your 14 day free trial and see for yourself how you easy meal planning for the family can be.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary subscription to The Dinner Daily. All opinions are my own.

The post The Dinner Daily appeared first on A Little Bit About a Lot of Things.

I bet that you never want to look at another pot after just cooking that AMAZING Thanksgiving meal. Am I right? Well here’s a great option if you just want to whip up something quick and easy. Just Add Cooking. There are a ton of meal delivery options out there, so why choose Just Add Cooking? I know Amanda Mayo from her days at Pantry. I liked making those meals, and making these meals felt similar (easy to follow recipes and not a lot of cook time).

So how does it work? You pick what size box works for you, cooking for two or cooking for 4. You pick the recipes you want to create for the week. We picked with Polish Potato and Sausage Stew, the Beef Teriyaki and the West African Peanut Stew. Order by Wednesday and your meals are delivered on Sunday. They drop off your meals and send you a text that they have been dropped off (just in case you’re not home). Just Add Cooking works really hard to support local farmers and producers – my box came with organic cabbage from Kitchen Garden Farm in Sunderland, orange potatoes from Atlas Farm in Deerfield, Kielbasa from New England Charcuterie in Waltham, and organic sweet potatoes from Next Barn Over Farm in Hadley.

All the ingredients are pre measured, so you don’t have to think about a thing. The recipes all come with a level of difficulty, cooking time and caloric information. I found that the beef teriyaki, which was marked medium, was actually super easy to make. So my welcome packet gave me a suggested order to cook things in. I started off with the Polish Potato and Sausage Stew. The brown paper bag has all I need to make the recipe, so I don’t have to worry that I’ll leave something out or mix up the ingredients with something from another recipe. There was very limited prep that i needed to do. Wash the potatoes, cut the kielbasa and onions and that was about it. Now granted, I rarely cook these days, so mine did not come out looking like the beautiful picture on the recipe, and you know what, that’s ok. What matters is that it was easy to make on a weeknight, it tasted good, and even my picky eater tried some and liked it.

They give you a copy of the recipe so you can make it again at home if you liked it. If you want to see how I made this recipe, check out the recipe on the Just Add Cooking website.

My second recipe I tried was the beef teriyaki. To be honest, I had to look up what mirin was, it’s not an ingredient I ever use in cooking. In case you don’t know either, it’s a staple in Japanese cooking, a type of rice wine with a lower alcohol content and a higher sugar content. You can find it in your local grocery store near the soy sauce. I had to admit that this was the easiest thing that I made. And it was AMAZING! I’ve already made it again on my own and people RAVED about it. Something about that sauce (the mirin probably!). Check out the recipe here. My other confession is that when I made it, I was contemplating not sharing it and eating all four portions myself. I can’t say enough good things about this recipe, oh and wait, it’s gluten free if that’s your thing. They have a whole bunch of gluten free meal options available.

Want to try Just Add Cooking for yourself? You can use my special code: Debbie30 for $30 off your first box. Head over to the Just Add Cooking website today.

Disclaimer: I was invited to try Just Add Cooking for this post. My box was provided complimentary. All opinions are my own.

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