The last couple of weekends have been busy. With the holidays fast approaching and Jenn I both relatively new to our current jobs we haven't had a ton of time to enjoy the weekends. This past weekend (before Thanksgiving) has been the first one that we've actually been able to relax and enjoy. 

And we're back. I didn't expect us to be able to do another Chef Joel & Jenn until after Thanksgiving but I was able to take the stuff we had in the kitchen and do another new recipe. This is a slight variation on our last meal, the Chicken Parmesan. Instead we made a new recipe of just the Parmesan Chicken.

Along with cooking new dishes Jenn and I want to start trying new places to eat. We love our staples like Chipotle, Champagnes, El Ranchito and the like. But its time to branch out and expand our palette. Will we be successful in that endeavor? I have no idea but its absolutely worth a shot. After going to our normal 5PM service at Mariners Church we went up Newport Coast Dr to a new burger restaurant called Krave Kobe Burger Grill. 

After getting settled back in to our normal at-home routine it was time to get back to trying some new recipes. At some point during the past week we realized we never tried to cook Chicken Parmesan so we jumped at a relatively easy recipe and were off. Before we could start cooking we made a stop at Crate and Barrel and purchased some new oven safe baking dishes which we've never owned. 

We've now reached the end of our trial run with Plated. It didn't go well. Nothing we made was as good as the pictures made them look. Our biggest issue was how much prep work was involved with each meal. If we have to spend an hour prepping after working for 8-10 hours I'd much rather just order take-out. It was a good run but not necessarily what Jenn and I were hoping for. The good news though is that our final meal with Plated was also our favorite. 

Last week I posted a recap of our first of two Plated.com recipes that we were trying out for our box. That was recap was for the Sticky Japanese Wings with Zucchini Chips. We liked the meal but weren't in love with. That was alright we were far more excited for the second meal, the Creamy Zucchini Orzo. I had never had or cooked Orzo before but from what I read it was similar in taste and texture to Risotto which I love.