The rest of the Blue Apron meals

Spiced meatballs

I thought I'd go ahead and finish up my review for all three meals we've now cooked and eaten through Blue Apron. On Monday I wrote about the salmon, which was truly yummy and my favorite of the meals so far.

Tuesday night, we had the spiced meatballs with summer squash salad you see in this photo. It, too, was quite good although probably my third favorite of the three meals. It's in third place not because of any deficit of the meal or recipe but because the other two were so good.

Last night we had the chicken stir fry which Kent had cooked ahead on Sunday. We figured of the three dishes, it would probably store the best for a couple of days and we were right. The rice is cooked in water plus a little reconstituted coconut milk and that added a touch of sweetness and creaminess to the meal. It's a slightly spicy dish, and I think if we were to make it again I might want to dial the spice up just a little bit, although honestly it was yummy as made.

We've skipped delivery this week (remember, we weren't sure if we wanted any more meals) but the following week, we'll be trying these:

• Tomato-basil burgers with green bean/tomato salad
• Taiwanese Three Cup Chicken with Rice
• Whole Grain Spaghetti with Corn, Cherry Tomatoes and Mascarpone Cheese

I'll let you know what we think.

Fit Bit Flex after two weeks

The verdict: I love it.

You might remember that I did a compare & contrast with the Jawbone UP. Here's some updated results:

• I wasn't sure which sync process I would end up liking better, the Fit Bit (which automatically syncs to your computer, and has to be manually synced to the phone app but only certain phones are supported -- mine is) or the Jawbone UP, which syncs to the phone (only certain supported phones) but only by plugging in the jack. Now, just over two weeks later I prefer the Fit Bit sync process.
• Putting the Fit Bit into sleep mode is still slightly hit or miss. I'm not sure if there's something in the way I tap or what but sometimes I have to try a couple of times to get the Fit Bit into the sleep mode. 

Fit Bit also sends you emails when you hit goals (like getting 10k steps in a day) and also a weekly summary of your progress. You can tap the band and the lights blink to indicate how many steps you've gone so far that day. When you do hit your 10k steps, the arm band buzzes and does a cool light display to let you know you did it. I am a little surprised at how motivating it is to get those badges or check the online dashboard for my progress.  I think you can set it to buzz if you haven't moved in a while, although I haven't done that (yet).

Finally, here's a picture I completely forgot to post on the compare & contrast post:

Fit Bit is black and on the left;
Jawbone UP is blue and on the right.

Compare & contrast

I got into the fitness device craze . . . I wanted to get a Fit Bit Flex but it was back-ordered six to eight weeks. Lacking any patience, I bought a Jawbone Up, then realized I really did prefer the Fit Bit Flex instead. So I returned the Jawbone Up.

Some friends were interested in a comparison of the two devices so here you go -- my completely unscientific and utterly personal opinions:

Click the picture for a better view

One friend specifically asked if I thought the device is motivating me. I'd say yes, although I was already pretty motivated. It's just a nice, visible reminder that I'm committed to getting back to the level of fitness I had three years ago. With both devices, you get feedback either on your phone (Jawbone Up) or on the phone dashboard and by email (badges for achievements from Fit Bit). Yes, it's silly but it's still kind of nice and surprisingly motivating.

Both devices track my sleep (no idea how they know I'm asleep but they seem to be pretty accurate). I liked that the Jawbone Up told me how much deep vs. light sleep I got but on the other hand, the Fit Bit seems to recognize that I'm a restless sleeper (was restless eight times last night)

I also like that I can look at the Fit Bit dashboard on my phone and see where I am with my eating plan and activity plan for the day. After a couple of weeks, I should be able to identify trends with the goal of improving my health.

Have you tried any of these? What do you think?

Kindle v Kindle

Fire is on the left, 3G on the right

I got my Christmas present from Kent early—in fact I got it before we left for Virginia. That’s because I have zero patience and once he informed me that he would be getting me the new Kindle Fire for Christmas, and I’d made the financial objections only to be overruled, I asked if we could get it Right! Now! So I got my present early. Yes, I know I'm spoiled.

My mother called this morning asking some questions about the difference between the Kindle 3G, which I also own (hey I am Gadget Queen) and this one. We had a good conversation and I told her I’d also post pictures of them both here on my blog plus give a quick assessment on how they compare.

The screen on the Fire is amazing. We watched lots of short videos on You Tube last week and they looked great on the screen. Streaming like that does drain the battery, and I haven’t yet looked at ways to store videos or movies on the device although it can do that.

The touch keypad is fine but I wouldn’t want to type lengthy posts on it. That’s mostly because I prefer keyboards and I'm really fast with them. I’m less speedy with a touchscreen keyboard.

See how well the 3G handles
the light from the flash?

Reading on the Fire is different from reading on my 3G Kindle. First, it’s backlit. Second, instead of buttons on either side of the screen, you tap the right side of the page to advance in your book and the left side to go back. The search function works as well as the 3G search function. I will take my 3G Kindle when we go places where I’ll be reading outside—the e-ink does so well in direct sunlight and doesn’t strain my eyes.

If I get a job where I travel the way I did with the last job, I’d take the Fire. When I travel, I’m generally not creating content while in the air and if I need to do that, I’d use a work laptop.

With my hand as a reference for size.

The Fire is perfect for consuming content which makes sense since that’s what it’s designed to do. If you expect a powerhouse processor, first reexamine why you are considering a Fire—start by asking yourself what problem you are trying to solve.

If you want to create content, get a different device. This isn’t the device for you.

If all you want to do is read, get a plain jane Kindle, which handles that task beautifully.

If you want to keep up on your personal email, check Facebook or Twitter, read your favorite blogs and maybe play games like Angry Birds, then give the Fire a good look.

If you’re an Apple fan, I can’t help you.