I unfortunately don't have pictures of everything I've had this week - the gremlins are having a field day with my picture placements - but I will include those that I have available.
Monday May 16th was the start of an interesting week of meals.
Breakfast was Roasted Poblano Pico De Gallo Omelet with Queso Bianco & Whole Wheat Toast.
Lunch was a Philly Cheese Steak Whole Wheat Wrap with Sauteed Bell Pepper and Mozzarella Cheese. Remember that commercial "Where's the Beef"? Exactly what this reminded me of. It tasted good but I didn't find any meat.
My snack was Mini Whole Wheat Sweet & Sour Sloppy Joe. There was so much "meat" that it needed more whole wheat whatever - but that does seem to be a problem - NY does not seem to understand portions or combinations of items needed for an entree. Granted this was a snack - but seriously, under that mound of meat is a little piece of bread/crostini and there was still meat in the cup!
Then came dinner, Grilled Chicken Breast with Raspberry Chipotle Sauce with Orange Glazed Baked Yams and Honey Glazed Beets.
Dessert was White Chocolate Chip Cappuccino Cheese Cake ........ they still do make the best cheesecakes. At least some things remain consistent.
These were from Tuesday May 17th.
My breakfast was the Fresh Fruit Salad, but all I have a picture of (or the only one I can find) is a rather nasty looking banana ...... and I'm sure you don't want to see that one.
Lunch was Whole Wheat Pizza Topped with Tri Color Bell Peppers and Mozzarella Cheese & Marinara Sauce. I have always like the pizzas - they have some of the most interesting "toppings". This one, although not that unusual, was very good.
Baked Sweet Potato Stuffed with Spinach and Gouda Cheese was a good bridge to dinner.
This was dinner of Szechuan Style Chicken Stir-Fry with Bamboo Shoots and Shredded Carrots, Chinese Black Rice and Roasted Green Asparagus. This was not one of the better dinners. The chicken was not chicken, it was tofu, and the sides were either overcooked/old/undercooked. As I said not a good dinner.
May 18th brought a hope for a better day from the NY kitchen.
Breakfast was the Ham and Asparagus Strata with Whole Wheat Bread. Now I had this entree before and absolutely LOVED it. As you can see here this was an "afterthought" addition to my bag of meals. The entire meals had 1 small dice of ham and a small dice of asparagus cut in half. The egg and "cheese" didn't even cover the entire piece of bread ........ 3"x2"x1" was no where near enough to constitute a breakfast serving. To say I was disappointed (and hungry) is an understatement.
Lunch was the Fresh Salmon Salad with Green and Red Tomato, European Cucumber, Baby Lettuce and Citrus Ponzu Dressing. The greens were a little wet, before the dressing was added, and the red and green tomato was rather interesting since it wasn't either - it was a "partially" ripened tomato that was sort of green and sort of red. And yes the cucumber consisted of 2 thin slices of cucumber. Come on NY what is the problem? I guess the cat's away so the mice are playing again ........ and NOT in a good way.
Dinner was Chicken Breast and Basil Pesto Roulade with White Bean Puree and Steamed Broccoli Rapini I will admit when I saw this in the container, I was not at all happy. But at this point I was hungry and decided I had to eat whatever was there. I was pleasantly surprised - this was a good meal. The chicken, that really looked rather blah in the container, had a nice flavor almost throughout, because of the Basil Pesto that was INSIDE a good part of the chicken.
The Cranberry Orange Muffin was a good snack, but not enough to quell the hunger from the unsatisfying breakfast or lunch. I bet if I had cut this in half and toasted in the grill pan with a little ICBINB it really would have rocked!
Dessert was the Lemon Zest Tea Cookies. I have had these before, and until recently, it was always only 1 cookie. Now we seem to get 2 on a regular basis - these are soft and chewy and very tasty.
May 19th's dawned with the hope of the kitchen getting their act together again.
Breakfast was a Mexican Style Omelet with Green Salsa, Sour Cream, Chives, Cilantro & Whole Wheat Toast. The omelet itself was really thin but the salsa and sour cream made this pretty good.
I had a new entree for lunch Grilled Skirt Steak and Nopatitos Salad with tomato, cucumber, spring mix and cilantro lime vinaigrette. I did take the skirt steak out for the salad and cut it into bite sized pieces before putting back into the salad but was pleasantly surprised with this salad. The Nopatitos almost looked like green beans in the container - but had a nice bite to them and were definitely NOT green beans! I really enjoyed this lunch - hopefully this will appear again before my time with TFD is finished.
My snack was Whole Wheat Chicken Tortellini with Fresh Basil - NOT a snack I would ever get again. It tasted like the refrigerator tortellini you can get in the grocery store - but totally dry and crunchy - not even close to satisfying.
Dinner was Mediterranean Lamb Meatballs with Red Onions, Green Chiles, Cranberries, Cashews and Cucumber Yogurt with Pesto Pearl Barley and Portabella mushrooms. I had this before, and thought that this was not improved over the weeks. The cashews were whole, which made everything fall apart and to be honest, had better flavor before. The Cucumber Yogurt was so watered down it was like pouring colored water over the top. No this is NOT going to be added again.
Dessert was a Hazel Nut Espresso Muffin - not a bad ending to the day - but I'm not sure where that picture ended up.
Friday May 20th was a toss up of entrees.
Breakfast was a fruit salad that was not one of the better fruit salads I've had. The strawberries were sitting in either water or juice (not sure which) that made them rather soft, the grapes were a mix of sweet and sour, the pears were a mix of brown and white, firm and overly soft. The mango was diced so small I wonder if it was fresh or canned?
I had hope for the BTM Panini for lunch. Even though it was a half of the roll - why I have NO idea really - but the mozzarella was a "full size" slice and the basil was a nice size piece - not a dice. I did heat it up (after this picture) in a grill pan to make a real "panini". It really needed something. It was a "flat flavor" that even the tomato didn't do anything for. But this could have potential. Next time I will add my own salt and pepper to see if it helps with the "flat" flavor quality.
My snack was artichoke bottoms with cheese - these are always really good. I could probably make a whole meal with these and a whole wheat ciabatta roll!
Dinner was a beef kabob with roasted artichoke hearts and garlic spinach and arugula I'm not sure how I felt about this one. The beef kabobs were more substantial than anything I've had this week for dinner and the artichoke hearts are huge! I think I need to have the spinach and arugula again to decide if I like it or not.
If you want to check out the other pictures that people are posting of their meals - from kitchens all over, although it is mainly NY, CA and Chicago, you really should check out their photos on Facebook. This are pictures that clients post of what they have received for the day. I sometimes check these out when I'm trying to decide what to have in the coming weeks. That way if something is "new to me" I can see what to expect. I will admit, I usually look for those from the NY kitchen so I have an idea about what I will get, since kitchen similarity/consistency hasn't worked, in my opinion.
Wow, these posts make me hungry every time.
ReplyDeleteHugs & love,
Mimi