Disappointing Dishes

When a friend posted a 50% off coupon to a meal prep business I had bought some meals from during early Monkey2 pregnancy, I jumped for it. This time not only did I chose from their delicious menu, there were some extra sides thrown in, and delivery to my door! I just unpacked the box, confiscated the crumbly packing material the Monkeys, and put everything in the freezer.

The meals were all assembled in ziplock bags, frozen, ready anytime I wanted to unthaw and cook them up. The experience several years ago was so good I got into making my own freezer ready assembled meals for awhile.

First meal: marinated steak. It was huge! It filled my family sized Foreman Grill. When I checked on the steak, to my dismay I discovered after a year and a half of use, this grill has developed a cold spot on one side. Part of the steak was cooking merrily along, while the other part was as pink as when I plunked it onto the grill! So after cutting, rotating, and otherwise working around the nonworking part of kitchen equipment, I had two steaks done to family specs: done for the kids, less done for my husband and myself. The potato fries, sliced in large thin coins, cooked in the oven in about eight minutes. The fries were great! The seasoning was delicious, so whether crispy or slightly wiggly (since some slices lay on top of each other during cooking), they were all eaten up. The steak however was disappointing. The tough veins of fat ran through it parallel to the plate, so they were in every bite, plus I found the marinade did nothing particular to the meat. Definitely sticking to the grass-fed and my own marinade, found in the starter recipes that came with a little outdoor Weber grill purchased some years ago.

Meal two: cheddar cheese chicken fingers. Chicken, cut in tenders, and breaded in ... cheez-its crackers? All I could taste were chemicals! The Monkeys were not crazy about them either. From now on, I'm so sticking with a recipe out of Real Simple magazine where I bread the chicken in multigrain crackers and sharp cheese.

I have two more meals, which I'm scheduling this week, and I hope they go a little better. Or maybe not, because I do want the Monkeys' preferring Mom's cooking more than a franchise assembled meal.