Week 1- Hello Fresh!
Hello Fresh! Last week Matt & I received a free week of Hello Fresh meals!(Thanks Kelly!!!) This includes 3 FULL meals for 2 people. With our schedules, it totally made sense to try it and get some new ideas for new recipes. We were VERY impressed and have decided that when we have a crazy or hectic week, we will continue using the service. We have decided to skip this week since we are not home often after work and I feel like it would go to waste- and that would totally defeat the purpose.
Night #1- meal 1. Risotto and shrimp with asparagus. So shrimp and asparagus are two staples in our house so I knew I wanted to include this in our box.(OH did I forgot to mention they give you choices and you get to pick 3? Best option ever!!!) We try not to have any type of heavy carbs at night, but I thought well- I do love risotto so let's give this one a try. For the first meal we have ever gotten from them, this was totally a 10 out of 10. Every single ingredient was SUPER fresh. I can tend to be picky about my shrimp (I get that from my mother) but I was so impressed... and on top of it all-- there were 20 SHRIMP IN THE PACKAGE! Yes, 20. I was so surprised as 10 shrimp a person is a lot, but hey- no complaints over here.
Night #2- meal 2. Thai spiced pork and rice noodle stirfry. One thing about this dish is I do wish that I would have saved myself some for lunch because although these meals are meant for 2 people, this dish was heavy but FANTASTIC. I did eat it all, however I could have absolutely saved even a little for a small lunch the next day. I loved this one for the toppings and the presentation. They gave us fresh limes to squeeze on top of the dish and an awesome sauce and peanuts. This was JUST like a noodle dish from a Chinese restaurant. I would give this an 8 out of 10. Only reason for my rating would be because of how heavy I felt the dish was. The rice noodles were great, but I didn't realize how filling they would be. The pork, which I am not always a fan of-- was cooked to perfection and the spicy seasoning was perfect.
Night #3- meal 3. So we skipped Wednesday night as we had plans and made our last meal for the week on Thursday. This was an apricot chicken with green beans and cous cous. I have to say the same for this one as meal #2. I wish I had saved just a little bit for a smaller lunch. I do realize the serving sizes are for 2 people, BUT I am not always used to eating such a large meal so I feel that if I take a little bit off my plate once it's made- I will have a perfectly sized lunch for the next day. I would give this an 8 out of 10 too. I don't LOVE apricot, however it was perfect on top of chicken. The chicken pieces they gave us were HUGE and I loved the way we cooked it. Green beans were fantastic as well, and again- we aren't used to eating a carb or ricey starch with dinner so while I did like the cous cous, it was a tad bit dry and I didn't finish it all because I felt like it was just a little bit too much for dinner.
Overall- Hello Fresh gets an 8 out 10! The three meals were great! Flavorful, great portions and it's fun to cook things in the kitchen that you aren't used to cooking (I do have to admit, Matt did most of the hard stuff-- and the one thing I will say is you end up using ALOT of bowls, utensils and pots and pans during the making of ALL of these meals!)
We will be giving it another go next week since we got $20 off. The more we order, the more free boxes we get to give to friends, so I'll be definitely sharing it with anyone interested.