STILL LOVIN' MY BLUE APRON

I never, ever thought I would keep doing this. I figured I'd take advantage of the free week they offered me, and that would be it. They'd never sucker me in -- an experienced cook who had no need for their step-by-step instructions and little video tutorials. And yet here I am, months later, ordering a box filled with the ingredients for three meals almost every week, unless we are going to be out of town or have too many evening functions going on. Why? Because the food is so damn good, that's why! And because I don't have to think about what to cook, or drive over to stores in Austin to round up a bunch of obscure ingredients that I may not ever use again and will end up languishing in my frig or pantry until they are way past their expiration date. Here is what we ate this week.

Spicy Pepper and Ricotta Calzones with a Cucumber, Romaine and Feta Salad

Sautéed mini sweet peppers plus tomato sauce, olives, peperoncini and ricotta made up the filling.

The dough comes pre-mixed, so all I have to do is roll it out.

Photo-Bomber!

Sugar Snap Pea Risotto with Mascarpone Cheese and Mint

I'd always heard that making risotto was super tedious, but their method allowed you to add all the rice and liquid at once.

The epitome of spring goodness, sweet sugar snap peas and fresh mint.

And for a rich, creamy counterpoint to that spring green, mascarpone cheese, butter, and a sprinkling of parmesan.

Last, but not least...

Roasted Pork Tacos with Spicy Pinto Beans & Lime Sour Cream

All this for maybe an hour to one and a half hours of my time, three nights per week. If you have a sous chef who helps with the chopping, it goes even faster. When you consider that we usually have enough leftovers for a fourth meal, and that there were no trips to the grocery store, no time spent pouring through recipes and making grocery lists, and no time trying to figure out how to do what and when, to get it all to come out ready at once, I'd say that's a pretty fair trade off. Most important of all, less time wandering the aisles trying to think what to cook means less chance of ending up with a cart full of really unhealthy impulse buys. Just sayin'.