Cost: $69/week for 3 meals for 2 people (or $129/week for 3 meals for 4 people) for the "carnivore" option. $59/week for 3 vegetarian meals for 2 or $109/week for 3 vegetarian meals for 4 people.
Details: Each week Hello Fresh chefs offer a new group of meals to choose from. You select your meals and delivery date. Hello Fresh ships the recipes and all the ingredients to your doorstep in insulated packaging to ensure freshness.
My current cooking skill level: I consider ordering pizza or making a box of Shells & Cheese to be cooking. I HATE cooking and think it's a complete waste of time! I hate going to the grocery store, I'm a picky eater, and I have no creativity when it comes to planning meals. My husband however is a great cook (especially when it comes to grilling)! Since we got married many years ago, he's wanted me to cook, which is why I decided to try this subscription box. I pick the meals and Hello Fresh sends everything to me. Easy enough, right?
My current cooking skill level: I consider ordering pizza or making a box of Shells & Cheese to be cooking. I HATE cooking and think it's a complete waste of time! I hate going to the grocery store, I'm a picky eater, and I have no creativity when it comes to planning meals. My husband however is a great cook (especially when it comes to grilling)! Since we got married many years ago, he's wanted me to cook, which is why I decided to try this subscription box. I pick the meals and Hello Fresh sends everything to me. Easy enough, right?
As I mentioned in my last Hello Fresh blog post, I was a little nervous about receiving meat thru the mail, but everything was shipped in a sealed, Styrofoam container. The meat was separated from the veggies and shipped under ice packs. I carefully inspected everything when I took it out of the container.
What I Ordered: For my second shipment from Hello Fresh, I chose Smoky Adobo Chicken Tacos, Seared Provencal Steak, & Pan-Seared Pork Chops.
Here's a look at the booklet of recipe cards that explained this week's box theme:
My First Meal: Pan-Seared Pork Chops with Summer Vegetable Kebabs & Oregano-Mint Pesto
Ingredients: Pork chops, zucchini, red onion, garlic, Yukon potatoes, mint, oregano, lemon, and a red bell pepper
Time to Cook/Make Meal: 40 minutes
Difficulty Level (according to Hello Fresh): 1 (out of 3)
The Process:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Soak wooden skewers in water.
Halve, peel, & slice the red onion into 1/2" wedges. Halve, core, seed, and remove the white ribs from the bell pepper and cut into 1" cubes.
Unfortunately, the red pepper had some mold on it, so into the trash it went. I LOVE red peppers so I was bummed! There was no time to worry about that though, because there was still a lot of cooking to do.
The directions said to mince the oregano and mint leaves. I put them into the Kitchen Aid chopper gizmo and voila.
Next I cut the potatoes and zucchini into 1" squares. The directions said to "zest" a lemon and halve it and then cut it into 4 wedges. I didn't know what it means to zest a lemon, so I skipped that part and cut it into wedges instead. Grated the garlic with my handy-dandy mini grater as well.
2. Assemble the kebabs
Combine the garlic, 1 1/2 T olive oil, and a pinch of salt & pepper in a bowl. Drizzle over the skewers and roast on a baking sheet for 20-25 minutes.
4. While the pork chops cook, make the oregano-mint pesto: in a bowl, combine the oregano, mint, garlic, olive oil, and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper.
Serve the pork chops alongside the veggie kebabs. Squeeze a lemon wedge over the veggies. Spoon the oregano-mint pesto over the pork and enjoy!
The Verdict for Meal #1 - Other than the red pepper issue, this was a fun dish to make. The pesto sauce was soooo good! And it was fun to make the kebabs! Making this dish definitely taught me some new skills. I definitely will make this dish again in the future.
Here's the Actual Recipe:
Side note: I called Hello Fresh about the red pepper. Customer service was really friendly and they gave me a $5 credit towards my next box.
The Second Meal - Seared Provencal Steak with Three-Bean Salad
Ingredients: Sirloin steak, tomato, shallot, parsley, green beans, wax beans, Cannellini beans, (Herbes de Provence and white wine vinegar)
Time to Cook/Make Meal: 30 minutes
Difficulty Level (according to Hello Fresh): 1 (out of 3)
The Process:
1. Remove the steak from the refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature. Halve, seed, and chop the tomato. Mince the shallot and parsely. Trim and halve the green beans and wax beans. Drain and rinse the cannellini beans.
2. Blanch and shock the beans by filling a medium bowl with ice water. Boil the green beans and wax beans for about 3 minutes, then remove from water with a slotted spoon and transfer to the ice water to shock them.
3. The next step involves making the vinaigrette. I am not a fan of white wine vinegar though, so I skipped making this. (See full instructions below for steps on how to do it).
4. Drain the green beans and wax beans and add the vinaigrette. Season with salt and pepper and set aside to marinade.
5. Heat 1/2 TBS olive oil in pan over medium-high heat. Season steak on all sides and sear for 5-7 minutes per side.
6. Thinly slice steak against the grain and serve along side the three-bean salad.
The Verdict for Meal #2 - The steak tasted great and the beans were nice and crispy! I wasn't a fan of the cannellini beans, but my husband loved it, so that's all that matters.
Here's the Actual Recipe:
The Third Meal - Smoky Adobo Chicken Tacos with Mango Slaw & Lime Crema
Ingredients: Chicken breast, flour tortillas, lime, sour cream, cilantro, mango, avocado, red onion, chipotles in adobo
Time to Cook/Make Meal: 40 minutes
Difficulty Level (according to Hello Fresh): 2 (out of 3)
The Process:
I'll start off by admitting I put these ingredients in the freezer again when the three meals arrived since I planned on making this one last (and realistically, I knew it would take me at least a week or two to make all three meals). This time, I pulled everything out of the freezer and made it within 2 days of it thawing. Once again though, the fresh fruit and herbs turned to mush when thawed. Lesson learned: DO NOT FREEZE FRUIT/VEGGIES!! If you do, use it the same day it's being thawed. I went to the grocery and bought another mango and avocado, but used what I had in my cupboards/fridge for the rest rather than buying all the ingredients again.
1. I put 1 TBSP cilantro in a bowl and chopped up the red onion I had left over from Meal #1's kabobs and pealed/sliced the mango into thin strips.
2. To make the lime crema, I combined the sour cream, lime juice, and salt and pepper into my new small bowl from Birchbox.
3. To make the mango slaw, I combined the mango, red onion, cilantro, lime juice, and salt & pepper into a medium bowl and tossed it (with my new salad hands from Birchbox).
4/5. Next, I butterflied the chicken breasts and rubbed both sides with the adobo sauce.
6. Combine 1 TBS olive oil and cook chicken for 5-7 minutes per side.
7. While the chicken cooks, heat the tortillas and halve, pit, and scoop out the avocado flesh into a bowl. Season with salt and pepper.
8. Thinly slice the chicken and create your taco.
Verdict for Meal #3: This meal was amazing!! The flavors went so well together! I had never eaten mango or avocado before. Wasn't a fan of the avocado, but I fell IN LOVE with the mango! The mango slaw was so good and the adobo sauce gave the chicken such a good, spicy flavor. This was by far my favorite meal out of the three! The husband loved it too!!
FINAL VERDICT: These meals were definitely easier to make than the last box (maybe because I've been cooking more since my initial box arrived). I really enjoyed making these meals too and it still feels like I'm taking a cooking class in my own kitchen. There was the one red pepper issue, but Hello Fresh's customer service was really friendly and gave me a credit to make up for the inconvenience. I'll definitely continue to subscribe to this box when my budget allows!
**Click here to receive $40 off your first Hello Fresh box.**
Have you tried Hello Fresh yet? If so, what did you think?
All of the ingredients were bundled together by meal as well, which made things easy to find.
Ingredients: Pork chops, zucchini, red onion, garlic, Yukon potatoes, mint, oregano, lemon, and a red bell pepper
Time to Cook/Make Meal: 40 minutes
Difficulty Level (according to Hello Fresh): 1 (out of 3)
The Process:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Soak wooden skewers in water.
Halve, peel, & slice the red onion into 1/2" wedges. Halve, core, seed, and remove the white ribs from the bell pepper and cut into 1" cubes.
Unfortunately, the red pepper had some mold on it, so into the trash it went. I LOVE red peppers so I was bummed! There was no time to worry about that though, because there was still a lot of cooking to do.
Next I cut the potatoes and zucchini into 1" squares. The directions said to "zest" a lemon and halve it and then cut it into 4 wedges. I didn't know what it means to zest a lemon, so I skipped that part and cut it into wedges instead. Grated the garlic with my handy-dandy mini grater as well.
2. Assemble the kebabs
Combine the garlic, 1 1/2 T olive oil, and a pinch of salt & pepper in a bowl. Drizzle over the skewers and roast on a baking sheet for 20-25 minutes.
There were plenty of leftover vegetables, so I put them all on the baking sheet and roasted them all.
3. Add 1/2 tablespoon olive oil to a large pan. Cook pork chops on medium heat for 4-5 minutes per side. Season each side with salt and pepper.
4. While the pork chops cook, make the oregano-mint pesto: in a bowl, combine the oregano, mint, garlic, olive oil, and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper.
Serve the pork chops alongside the veggie kebabs. Squeeze a lemon wedge over the veggies. Spoon the oregano-mint pesto over the pork and enjoy!
The Verdict for Meal #1 - Other than the red pepper issue, this was a fun dish to make. The pesto sauce was soooo good! And it was fun to make the kebabs! Making this dish definitely taught me some new skills. I definitely will make this dish again in the future.
Here's the Actual Recipe:
Side note: I called Hello Fresh about the red pepper. Customer service was really friendly and they gave me a $5 credit towards my next box.
The Second Meal - Seared Provencal Steak with Three-Bean Salad
Ingredients: Sirloin steak, tomato, shallot, parsley, green beans, wax beans, Cannellini beans, (Herbes de Provence and white wine vinegar)
Time to Cook/Make Meal: 30 minutes
Difficulty Level (according to Hello Fresh): 1 (out of 3)
The Process:
1. Remove the steak from the refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature. Halve, seed, and chop the tomato. Mince the shallot and parsely. Trim and halve the green beans and wax beans. Drain and rinse the cannellini beans.
2. Blanch and shock the beans by filling a medium bowl with ice water. Boil the green beans and wax beans for about 3 minutes, then remove from water with a slotted spoon and transfer to the ice water to shock them.
4. Drain the green beans and wax beans and add the vinaigrette. Season with salt and pepper and set aside to marinade.
5. Heat 1/2 TBS olive oil in pan over medium-high heat. Season steak on all sides and sear for 5-7 minutes per side.
6. Thinly slice steak against the grain and serve along side the three-bean salad.
The Verdict for Meal #2 - The steak tasted great and the beans were nice and crispy! I wasn't a fan of the cannellini beans, but my husband loved it, so that's all that matters.
Here's the Actual Recipe:
The Third Meal - Smoky Adobo Chicken Tacos with Mango Slaw & Lime Crema
Ingredients: Chicken breast, flour tortillas, lime, sour cream, cilantro, mango, avocado, red onion, chipotles in adobo
Time to Cook/Make Meal: 40 minutes
Difficulty Level (according to Hello Fresh): 2 (out of 3)
The Process:
I'll start off by admitting I put these ingredients in the freezer again when the three meals arrived since I planned on making this one last (and realistically, I knew it would take me at least a week or two to make all three meals). This time, I pulled everything out of the freezer and made it within 2 days of it thawing. Once again though, the fresh fruit and herbs turned to mush when thawed. Lesson learned: DO NOT FREEZE FRUIT/VEGGIES!! If you do, use it the same day it's being thawed. I went to the grocery and bought another mango and avocado, but used what I had in my cupboards/fridge for the rest rather than buying all the ingredients again.
1. I put 1 TBSP cilantro in a bowl and chopped up the red onion I had left over from Meal #1's kabobs and pealed/sliced the mango into thin strips.
2. To make the lime crema, I combined the sour cream, lime juice, and salt and pepper into my new small bowl from Birchbox.
3. To make the mango slaw, I combined the mango, red onion, cilantro, lime juice, and salt & pepper into a medium bowl and tossed it (with my new salad hands from Birchbox).
4/5. Next, I butterflied the chicken breasts and rubbed both sides with the adobo sauce.
6. Combine 1 TBS olive oil and cook chicken for 5-7 minutes per side.
7. While the chicken cooks, heat the tortillas and halve, pit, and scoop out the avocado flesh into a bowl. Season with salt and pepper.
8. Thinly slice the chicken and create your taco.
9. Serve tacos with remaining mango slaw to the side.
Here's the Actual Recipe:
FINAL VERDICT: These meals were definitely easier to make than the last box (maybe because I've been cooking more since my initial box arrived). I really enjoyed making these meals too and it still feels like I'm taking a cooking class in my own kitchen. There was the one red pepper issue, but Hello Fresh's customer service was really friendly and gave me a credit to make up for the inconvenience. I'll definitely continue to subscribe to this box when my budget allows!
**Click here to receive $40 off your first Hello Fresh box.**
Have you tried Hello Fresh yet? If so, what did you think?
XOXO,
Stephanie
Stephanie
These look like really good recipes - definitely not as fussy as the Blue Apron ones! I have a $40 Hello Fresh gift card from the spring FabFitFun box and I'm excited to try it after reading your reviews :o) Next time you're at BB&B, get yourself a microplane - it's like a mini cheese grater you can use to zest a lemon, or grind nutmeg when it's eggnog season ;o)
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