so i'm sure some of you have heard of blue apron, well this is a similar service. i actually saw blue apron on either groupon or livingsocial and by the time i mentioned it to paul, the blue apron deal was gone and hellofresh was on groupon. so we got 2 weeks of 3 meals for $60 ($5/person/meal). basically the gist of it is that they send you nearly everything you need to cook 3 dinners for 2, the recipe, meat, spices, vegetables, etc. (obviously you have to provide your own butter, oil, and a few other ingredients most people should have anyway). anyway, hellofresh has 5...or 7...menu choices per week. i question whether it's actually 7 choices because maybe those are part of the vegetarian menu? i'm not sure. we got the regular box for omnivores. anyway, out of our five choices, we chose:
left: shrimp see ew recipe; right: seared steak photo
- Seared Steak & Creamy Horseradish Sauce with Rosemary-Roasted Root Vegetables
- Shrimp Pad See Ew with Broccoli, Mushrooms, and Peanuts
- Roasted Pork Chops with Balsamic-Fig Sauce, Greens, and Rosemary-Roasted Potatoes
[edit: for recipes of these three dishes, see my HelloFresh recipes folder on my google drive.]
the box included a pamphlet with the recipes for three specific dishes we chose. they have pictures on one side, and ingredient quantities and instructions on the backs.
the box included a pamphlet with the recipes for three specific dishes we chose. they have pictures on one side, and ingredient quantities and instructions on the backs.
left: shrimp see ew recipe; right: seared steak photo
there were 4 giant ice packs in here!
dinner 1: seared steak
preparation: teh paul made this one. he said it took about as long as he was expected and the instructions were pretty straightforward.
thoughts: this was really good. the sauce was awesome, and the roasted veggies and steak were great! we liked how the steak was a nice, even cut--so it cooked evenly. my only negative about this dish was that i wish it was bigger because..'MURICA. ^______^
thoughts: this was really good. the sauce was awesome, and the roasted veggies and steak were great! we liked how the steak was a nice, even cut--so it cooked evenly. my only negative about this dish was that i wish it was bigger because..'MURICA. ^______^
>w< kyoot lil soy sauce fishies!!!
dinner 2: shrimp pad see ew
preparation: i cooked this one, and boy was it a new experience. i'm typically the person that prepares everything while everything is cooking. not with this dish. this one, you literally had to have everything chopped and ready to go before turning the stove on, that's how fast paced this dish was.
thoughts: we decided that this would be the best of the three for me to bring to work for lunch, so that's why it's packed in these containers. this was really good. if i'd used more of the thai chili pepper it would have had a better kick to it, but mild was still good. a few complaints were that there's too many noodles, and not enough shrimp and veggies (more broccoli or lack of variety). otherwise, it was really good!
thoughts: we decided that this would be the best of the three for me to bring to work for lunch, so that's why it's packed in these containers. this was really good. if i'd used more of the thai chili pepper it would have had a better kick to it, but mild was still good. a few complaints were that there's too many noodles, and not enough shrimp and veggies (more broccoli or lack of variety). otherwise, it was really good!
dinner 3: roasted pork chops
preparation: i made this one, and i had more patience this time. i actually cut everything before starting to cook and it worked out great. i liked how there were two individual pork chops in the package (as opposed to the one steak above). the timing for the potatoes was a little off. you were supposed to cook them for 20-25 minutes, and part-way through throw the pork chops on the baking sheet too. but the pork chops were done around the 20 minute mark, and the potatoes needed the 25.
thoughts: this came out really good. i wish i didn't let some of the liquid in the sauce evaporate so much, then it would have been better. i'm not huge on arugula--it's interesting, but not my thing. and the dressing for it was oil and balsamic vinegar, which is also not my thing. the potatoes came out really nicely though. kind of sad that the figs were not fresh. i think they were semi-dried.
-- to anyone interested in making this in the future, "1" stock concentrate is equivalent to 8oz of stock
overall thoughts: we were very pleased with the service and the quality of the options. the only thing i didn't like was the slight anxiety from not receiving a tracking number from hellofresh. which, it did have one; it was shipped via ups.
are we going to continue our subscription after the second week? maybe, maybe not. we did agree that this would be a once in a while dinner idea so that we could try new things and have new recipes to work with....considering recently we've been eating the same 6 or so dishes over and over. not to mention, me bringing some of those dishes as my lunch to work. but between this service and blue apron, blue apron appears to be more cost-effective. the only downside is that (from what i understand), you tell blue apron your dietary restrictions and they send your meals at their discretion. with hellofresh, you get to choose from what's available that week, or just skip the week entirely.
preparation: i made this one, and i had more patience this time. i actually cut everything before starting to cook and it worked out great. i liked how there were two individual pork chops in the package (as opposed to the one steak above). the timing for the potatoes was a little off. you were supposed to cook them for 20-25 minutes, and part-way through throw the pork chops on the baking sheet too. but the pork chops were done around the 20 minute mark, and the potatoes needed the 25.
thoughts: this came out really good. i wish i didn't let some of the liquid in the sauce evaporate so much, then it would have been better. i'm not huge on arugula--it's interesting, but not my thing. and the dressing for it was oil and balsamic vinegar, which is also not my thing. the potatoes came out really nicely though. kind of sad that the figs were not fresh. i think they were semi-dried.
-- to anyone interested in making this in the future, "1" stock concentrate is equivalent to 8oz of stock
overall thoughts: we were very pleased with the service and the quality of the options. the only thing i didn't like was the slight anxiety from not receiving a tracking number from hellofresh. which, it did have one; it was shipped via ups.
are we going to continue our subscription after the second week? maybe, maybe not. we did agree that this would be a once in a while dinner idea so that we could try new things and have new recipes to work with....considering recently we've been eating the same 6 or so dishes over and over. not to mention, me bringing some of those dishes as my lunch to work. but between this service and blue apron, blue apron appears to be more cost-effective. the only downside is that (from what i understand), you tell blue apron your dietary restrictions and they send your meals at their discretion. with hellofresh, you get to choose from what's available that week, or just skip the week entirely.
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