meredith h.

Hi, Heidi--that was actually an oops moment on my part. I usually cook the pasta separately, but I just dumped it in that last batch without thinking. It was definitely softer than I prefer, but not too mushy--maybe because it was wheat pasta it held up better?

Mrs. Zee chiming in...my main motivation for freezer friendly dinners is pure laziness. I always say I'm a functional cook--I can keep us fed day to day, and it will taste decent, but there is a certain level of difficulty where I will just give up and run for takeout. Jerry is just the opposite, so things even out nicely when he's sweating it out over a vat of fried chicken while I'm sipping iced tea and slathering bacon jam on my second (which really means third) cheese biscuit. Anyway, I have to meal plan to keep from wandering our local Price Chopper and weeping every night trying to figure out what to feed us. And it's just as easy to make two meatloaves or an extra pan of baked ziti and pop one in the freezer. Our supply of homemade veggie burgers has dwindled, so I'll probably make those sometime this week and freeze the rest for quick lunches or dinners down the road. Not fancy, but it's too darn hot and I'm not as nice as my chicken frying husband. Thanks everyone for all the nice comments!

I am loving this! The grocery pics, the bacon butties, proper fish and chips... And since you obviously got home safely, I can laugh at the driving adventures instead of hand-wringing over your safety--Mr. Kim is a champ!

"For it was HERE that my lurker wife (I’m sure she’ll pop in here at some point) first spotted my gleefully grammatically challenged wordsmithing and began to stalk me..." Ahem.

De-lurking to say that zeeman obviously values his safety, since he did indeed save me some leftovers. Delicious meal, made even more memorable because of great friends. As anyone who read Kim's blog could tell, the Shook house is a perfect reflection of their warmth and hospitality. I'm very lucky that I've managed to weasel my way into their good graces--the benefits are immeasurable. Thank you again for a great evening!

Thanks for speaking up! It's nice to hear from someone who has actually tried it. Have you had any other instant coffee with which you can compare it to? I read a review that said while it wasn't as good as freshly-brewed coffee, it was better than other instant brands. Were you by chance able to see the ingredient list? I'm wondering if they add some "extras" to it to make it more like freshly-brewed coffee. ← Hi, Prasantrin! Unfortunately (not really), I've never had any other instant coffee so I have no basis for comparison. Comparing it to freshly brewed...well, it depends. It would certainly stand up to Maxwell House, Folgers, or similar store brands--heck, I'd even pick it over regular Starbucks brew. No ingredient list or packaging was included--this was back in October, so my memory is a little foggy--there may have been a Starbucks label on the bag, but that's about it. Apparently, I'm willing to ingest whatever someone sends me without much verification as to what it is. I guess I would describe this as a weekday coffee--if you're like me and only give yourself a few minutes to get up and out the door, this is a decent alternative. When I have the time, though, I'll stick to the home roasted and the French press. I'm obviously not a coffee connoisseur--more like a coffee crackhead who'll resort to anything to get her fix--so YMMV.

Long time lurker, choosing instant Starbucks (of all things) to speak up. As an experiment, I signed up with a few survey sites to see if they actually were worthwhile, and one of them sent me the new instant Starbucks in exchange for a review. What arrived was a giant zipper baggie filled with silver foil tubes--you know the Crystal Light style single serving drink tubes? Those. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. I had zero expectations, since Starbucks to me tastes burnt and strangely oily--I'll pick WaWa coffee over S-bucks any day of the week. This didn't have that weird flavor combo--it just tasted like coffee. Didn't knock my socks off, but it didn't offend me, either. And I can kind of understand the appeal for someone in a one coffee drinker home: you heat up just enough water in the kettle for one person, pour in the packet and done. I'm spoiled by my boyfriend's home roasted stuff, but if someone gave me a cup of this I wouldn't have to gag it down.