THE AMUSED LIFE BLOG

OUR FIRST MONTH OF BOXING IN THE KITCHEN: Boxed dinners that is provided by various great options and we have paid for our boxes so these responses and reviews are completely our own and not compensated by anyone; and with that - here we go! THE COOK'S EXPERIENCE (ERIK'S SIDE/HE SAID) When my significant other suggested that we try cooking at home, I was really excited. I was thinking to myself, now I can show off my culinary skills and introduce her to the cooking of my childhood. She suggested that we try the box subscription, Hello Fresh and immediately I could hear my mother in the background of my brain saying, "I taught you how to cook, you're better than that." From a cook's perspective, I really enjoyed cooking the Hello Fresh kits. They came neatly prepared and ready to go. The instructions were so simple, it didn't take a lot of time to prepare them. I get off of work at 5:30 pm so by the time I get home and take the fur kids out for a little bit...

 AKA Feasting and Firsts...Happy Thanksgiving! FIND For most of you, and I'm assuming mostly those in the South, I have only ever had pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving. Sometimes we'd add in some French Silk pie but always pumpkin pie. However this year my significant other decided to go rogue and instead change things up. Introducing...SWEET POTATO PIE. Now this may not be momentous to any of you, but for me; it would be my first time ever to eat that pie type. I was nervous. Mostly because I'm slow to warm up to sweet potatoes. Mostly I think due to the fact that I'm a savory over sweet person on every level; but I was taking the cooking off for Thanksgiving this year so whatever the cook wants, the cook gets. I requested a sliver. I was so worried I wouldn't like it. I was WRONG. I think now I perhaps love it even more than pumpkin pie and so new tradition has been born for the family. New pie...and it's sweet potato pie with extra creamy thick whipped cream.  Y U ...

AKA: Casseroles and Caveats (When One of You Isn't a Casserole-Person) Growing up in Pennsylvania, I have always looked at casseroles as comfort foods in the fall and the winter. I love them. The ooey gooey, savory creations have been staples of my childhood years and I prefer them for ease and simplicity during busy life. They also typically are super budget friendly. However, Erik is my significant other. He ISN'T a casserole person. His family is into smoked meats and barbeques...and his mother often told him that a casserole isn't cooking saying "It's just something that you throw together hoping that it works out." So imagine his chagrin when I asked him on one of my busy days to whip up the casserole recipe I chose for this week. "Ugh...really?" Yes, really. In the meantime, he followed through. He told me that my chicken noodle bake would have been far better if I had opted for fresh ingredients rather than all pre-packaged prepared items. Ok,...

FIRST TIME RECIPE ATTEMPTS FOR THIS WEEK: Cheesy Spinach Pesto Flatbread   *****out of 5 Stars! Ina Garten's Baked Shrimp Scampi    *****out of 5 Stars! I've decided to make this more of an open format blog adventure and not feel like I have to "fail" anything per se. So instead I'll focus on the week of culinary adventures in my household. First of all, the two recipes I picked out to try were knock out of the ballpark AMAZING (links are above to the recipes). Seriously, they both were just sensational and the shrimp scampi was even better on day 2. However a word of, ahem...warning. Look, I'm just going to be real. I've been cooking A LOT lately. I've also discovered how much I use garlic in the meals I cook. I LOVE GARLIC. However...if you eat a LOT of garlic (as I have been doing)...your ahem, smelly bits may begin to smell like...GARLIC. Seriously, I was starting to worry that the garlic smell was just imbedded in the air, then I realized it was l...

FIND If you are a pizzahaulic like myself you learn that eating out is going to quickly result in a budget crunch. Now, I would NEVER in a million years not tell you to enjoy your take-out/delivery but I do suggest trying, on occasion to make your own at home. You can get all creative with the toppings and customize it to your heart's content. I've been making pizza since I was 15 years old and my first home economics teacher taught us how to make dough from scratch...and trust, from-scratch dough is THE BEST there is. However, we live in a relentless world where we're competing for time and energy so learning a few shortcuts is nothing to be mad at. That's what leads me to this week's foodie find. I've experimented with various pre-made doughs. I love Pillsbury's pizza crust when I want to make a quick calzone; but I never cared for Boboli (always had a weird "preserved for shelf life" taste to it), and as much as I wanted to LOVE the pre-made cru...