Subscription Boxes!

If you've been reading my blog for awhile, you may have noticed that recently I've been posting less about what I make and more about new restaurants that I'm trying. I feel a tad guilty about this, but part of the reason is that I've had less time to cook now that I'm in 3rd year of my program and it's rather stressful. And when I do cook, I now enjoy simpler dishes and often don't put effort into making my food look as good as I did before...but hopefully I'll start having more time soon.

During Step 1 studying season, I pretty much ate only cafeteria food (since I studied on campus from morning to night), with the occasional restaurant date with Khoi. And the only food I would cook would be from subscription boxes, since I pretty much stopped grocery shopping altogether. I collected pictures from some of the dishes I experienced and overall, I would definitely utilize these services again and again whenever I anticipate a rough week.

Least favorite - Plated. My beef with this one is that everything tasted too...healthy. And I like healthy, but I don't want to compromise taste because I want to love what I eat. This one just didn't do it for me.

Miso ginger pollock - pollock is a type of fish

Pork with beets - I learned that beets is my least favorite vegetable

Ricotta corn empanadas - needed more flavor

Middle Ground -- HelloFresh. I thought this service was alright, as a lot of the dishes were hit or miss. I saved the recipes for the dishes that I liked.

Brioche shrimp rolls - this was top notch

Smokey adobo chicken tacos - also good, I liked how fresh everything was

Poached cod in chorizo fennel broth - this tasted awful and took forever to make, which defeats the whole purpose of subscription boxes :(

Favorite - Home Chef. This is a Chicago-based company and people there understand good food. I loved each dish. 

Blue cheese crusted sirloin steak - beautiful and flavorful

Shrimp and grits - simple and tasty

Cajun blackened chicken - my least favorite of the three but 'twas fine

I haven't ordered a subscription box in awhile, but when I do again in the future, it'll be Home Chef or another company I have yet to try (Blue Apron and PeachDish are at the top of my list :D)

October Recent Eats/Updates

Last weekend, I took a trip to Long Beach, CA for a vacation conference. It definitely was a much needed break from school life. Here's some photos from my trip, as well as a few other eats from earlier this month. 

Long Beach -- there's no such thing as fall in SoCal.

My poster/ my baby! It was a best poster finalist, so I got a spiffy blue ribbon and all :D

Ran into Ted on the Long Beach boardwalk, such a cool dude

My dad joined me on this trip, and took me out to sushi at Octopus. The food in LA is so tasty and affordable (if you know where to look), and they even had tempura green tea ice cream (!) for dessert.

We also went to eat lobster with my sister at Newport Seafood Restaurant, one of my favorite places in Socal

I made it back just in time for Halloween festivities ^^

Khoi took me to El Arepazo to celebrate me being back in town. Their food is amazing, and the tres leches cake especially is to die for. 

We also got ramen at Menya (the best ramen place in Columbus) on the morning after Halloween. Warm soups the morning after a late night out is one of the most amazing things ever.

And a couple photos from earlier this month...

A group of my friends hosted a sushi night at home,  after we bought a bunch of ingredients from Tensuke (they have some amazing sushi-grade fish). Presenting here -- the Sunshine Roll. It tastes as ridiculous as it looks.

Date night with Khoi at Vino Vino. Their pasta menu is wonderful and they have some of the best mussels that I've ever had, but what truly drew this place over the top is their creme brulee flight for dessert. Then again, I'm a creme brulee fiend and would eat it multiple times each day if possible.

I've been eating out a lot and spending quite a bit of money recently. With the holidays coming up, I'm planning to have a No Spend November and avoid eating out at nice places and buying clothes for myself (until after-Thanksgiving sales at least), in order to offset those holiday costs. Wish me luck...