Review

Sun Basket Week 2

Posted by Lisa Eirene

We are enjoying the Sun Basket recipes so far. This post is about week two’s recipes.

A reader commented on my last post about the waste of these meal services. I wanted to comment on that. With Blue Apron I remember feeling like the waste was pretty bad (and kind of a turn off for me). But so far with Sun Basket they seem pretty good about limiting waste. The box arrives and each of the three meals are packed in a paper bag (so we recycle it). There are a few plastic bags for certain items but overall there is not a lot of packaging or waste. I’m pretty happy with that.

Week 2

Lettuce-wrapped lamb sliders with sweet potato “fries”

610 calories, Paleo, Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Soy-Free

This meal was by far my favorite of the boxes we’ve had so far. I absolutely LOVED the flavors. The tahini/paleo mayo sauce was super flavorful and delicious, too. I loved the lettuce cups. I’ve seen a lot of those types of recipes but it never worked well when I tried it because the lettuce always ripped so it didn’t work well as a cup (or bun substitute). But the recipe described how to do it: basically cut the base off the head of lettuce and then carefully peel the leaves off. It worked a lot better and they didn’t rip.

This recipe was a home run and we will definitely be making again in the future. I’ve seen ground lamb at Trader Joe’s on occasion so I will try and look again next time to see if I can find it.

Hungarian pork meatballs with cauliflower “rice”

630 calories, Paleo, Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Soy-Free

The second recipe was the Hungarian meatballs. I’ve made cauliflower rice a bunch of times and I’m a fan. So far the meals have been pretty good overall and the portions were right. In this one there seemed to be a lot of cauliflower rice so we ended up making it 3 servings and I had some of the leftovers for lunch the next day.

I’ve never worked with watercress before and honestly, I don’t know what it really added to the dish. It didn’t really taste like anything to me. Maybe I’m wrong?

Everything worked with this recipe but it felt a little dry and it needed some kind of sauce. I ended up adding some Goddess Dressing to the meatballs and that helped.

Steak with bagna càuda anchovy sauce, broccoli, and radishes

690 calories, Paleo, Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Soy-Free

This was a very interesting recipe. Sure it was steak and veggies, which we do often on our own, but sauteing the broccoli was a new technique for us and radishes are not something we eat–like ever. I’ve pickled radishes a few times before and that was good but I can count on one hand the times I’ve eaten radishes. It was nice to try something new!

The steak was tender and delicious and I absolutely loved the anchovy sauce! I wasn’t sure I would but it was really flavorful and went great with the steak and vegetables.

I have a discount code, if you want to use it!

On The Lake

Posted by Lisa Eirene

I had the pleasure of a girl’s weekend with my bestie, Rachel! Last year we rented an Airbnb on the water in Shelton (very remote, very peaceful). This year we rented a place on Lake Steilacoom in Lakewood, Washington. It’s between Olympia and Tacoma. I’ve honestly never been–I’ve just seen signs off the freeway. 😉

The place we rented was the basement apartment of a house right on the lake.

I arrived a little before Rachel on Friday afternoon and after unpacking, I sat outside in the sun and read my book next to the lake. It was peaceful and quiet and beautiful.

When Rachel arrived we got some food at the nearby Trader Joe’s and then cooked dinner while catching up. We made goat cheese ravioli topped with Autumn Pumpkin Alfredo sauce–sounds a bit weird but it was tasty! Not too overpowering in either direction.

We drank wine, we talked late into the night, we ate the homemade popcorn the owners gave us and then went in the hot tub. It was a really nice, relaxing evening!

Saturday we both slept in (amazing!) had breakfast and lots of coffee:

And then I went for a run. The place we rented was right on the water and the neighborhood was very nice, but the streets were narrow and windy and not safe to run on. I asked the owner if there was any where I could go and she recommended Fort Steilacoom Park.

Apparently it’s a nice place for all kinds of activities and when I showed up there were tons of people doing stuff. There was some kind of event going on, then there was a soccer tournament and there was a huge dog park area, which looked cool.

There were a bunch of trails. I ran on the gravel/dirt trails a bit until I found the paved path:

It was a beautiful fall day, slightly crisp but not too cold. The sun was out, the leaves were turning. The paved path went around the lake and it was flat and clean and very nice. There were lots of other walkers, runners and bikers. It kind of reminded me of Greenlake in Seattle.

 

It was a nice run. I felt pretty good. I wasn’t in a rush, either, just enjoyed the scenery. Rachel was going to the store to get a few things and she said no rush, so I looked around a bit and found a cool old ruin:

I did a little more running and then headed back to the car. I did just under 3 miles and felt great!

I stretched and then drove back to the house (about a mile or so away), showered and then we kicked back with Pandora tunes and played board games a bit. Then Trader Joe’s honey goat cheese on crackers and some soup for lunch. We played a few rounds of Ticket to Ride.

Then chick flicks on Netflix! We decided to order takeout for dinner and picked up Italian food at Casa Mia. It was pretty close to where we were staying, so that was nice. Rachel got the mushroom risotto and I got spaghetti noodles with pesto and Caesar Salad. The portions were pretty big so we had lots of leftovers. It was a weekend full of carbs!

Then more hot tub time:

And bed. Sunday I hit the gym and then drove home to Portland. It was a fantastic weekend! I really needed the girl time and time to catch up with Rachel (and time to relax and do NOTHING) but I was feeling a little homesick. I missed my boys! I got home just in time for Logan to wake up from his nap!

It felt good to be home. 🙂