Fresh 2 Def - Inside the World of Weekly Meal Kits

Food so hard

Happy New Year ya'll, Foodie Falz is backkk! After a long hiatus in a food coma, I have returned to my glory. Obviously, the food coma consisted of many things that were clearly not worth blogging about. But I come bearing gifts a plenty, because Foodie Falz has officially ventured into the vast world of online weekly cooking meal plans, dinner kits if you will. What is this vast world you ask? Is it somewhat like diet meal plans? Have I enrolled in NutriSystem and let my gluttony know no bounds? Is Jenny Craig my new meal plan of choice? No, no, and no. Or else I wouldn't know who I am anymore.

This wondrous world that I am speaking of are online food services that you subscribe to that put together various meals each week and then deliver these weekly meal kits with the exact portion of each ingredient so that one can cook and learn new recipes. Blue Apron and Plated currently seem to be the most popular websites for this, but I was able to try out HelloFresh, for just ONE dolla dolla bill yall, which seems to be more new to this industry.

My motto

You see why I do things? Cheap. Otherwise I probably never would've tried these services, but don't pay attention to that. To piggyback off that, all have relatively similar prices for these meals per week, ranging from $50-$145 with free delivery for 3-4 meals, depending on whether you want vegetarian or meat options, as well as whether the meal will feed two or four people. HelloFresh only had a 3 meals per week option to feed two people, but I know Blue Apron and Plated do things a bit differently as far as their options go. I would discuss more of the differences between each, but I've only tried one. And needed a new blog entry so this obviously couldn't wait. Again, I fail as a critic. Usually, HelloFresh is about $65 per week, but this is when you aren't lucky enough to get it for ONE dolla. See what happens when you have a blog? Deals. Andd the fact that most of these websites offer up these deals because they want people to try them out and stay hooked on the subscription every week. Which is exactly what this deal made me do, minus staying hooked.

And now for what you have all been waiting for, the food itself.  Or for this to end? Let's hope not. With the HelloFresh Classic Box, they allow you to choose 3 meals from 5 different choices. I went with the Seared Cod with Sauteed Swiss Chard and Quinoa, Herb Crusted Pork Chops with Roasted Carrots and Parsnips, and the One-Pot Mexican Quinoa. I'm fancy huh. And full of quinoa. I will now proceed to rate them from my least favorite to the most delectable, as well as my thoughts on cooking these random recipes and foods that I've never had before. A learning experience indeed.

3. The first dish I attempted to make, which just happened to be my least favorite, was the seared cod. The ingredients consisted of the following: Cod, Cumin, Coriander, Lemon, Swiss Chard, Chili Flakes, Garlic, Quinoa and Olives.

Hello, you fresh ingredients you.

That little booklet you see gave a step-by-step guide on what to do first and so on. So it really is a fun cooking lesson, and every recipe was in the easy range. Of course, when I see ingredients I've never cooked before, I become completely befuddled and take a ridiculously long time to complete the meal. And so that happened here. Personally, I needed a bit more detail in the directions, but maybe that's just me. The world may never know.

Pro-fessional

As you can see, to start I chopped everything up. And attempted to zest a lemon. Here's where google comes in handy, because if you've never zested, how are you supposed to just magically learn how!? Yeah, mention how directions, because even an experienced foodie like myself has no idea how to do most things related to food. I had also never cooked quinoa before, because again, so experienced in what the food trends are. It's not like I make Sunday sauce like an old Italian lady or anything. I added the olives with the lemon juice and the "zest" to the quinoa. Cod is also a fish I have never messed with, and I hate cumin and coriander, because my taste buds aren't multicultural. But I seasoned it anyways and followed through. Once I did the this and the that, and figured out what the hell swiss chard tasted like with garlic and a tinyy bit of chili flakes, my meal was complete. Was it the best thing I ever ate? Not even close, but I enjoyed the process and it's nice that I now still don't know how to zest well. Also, the spices were a bitt overwhelming on the fish, as I found for the next meal as well.

Finite.

2. Although the Herb Crusted Pork Chops was technically the third dish I made, so clearly I became a pro, it wasn't my favorite. And I realllly believed it would be too. The ingredients consisted of
Pork Chops, Dijon mustard, Thyme, Parsley, Brussels Sprouts, Carrot, Parsnip, Rosemary, Panko, Garlic, and Lemon.

The steps here were a bit more complex than the other recipe, since I had to mix together the crust with all of the herbs, the panko crumbs, and the Dijon mustard packets. And had to peel the carrot and the parsnip to stick in the oven. Because apparently, since I only buy baby carrots, this is a thing that's done. I'm just so knowledgeable and I can't help it.

Snip snip, parsnip.

I had also never cooked brussel sprouts, and had to cut them all up to saute. This literally took me a half hour. The amount of time that the entire meal should've taken. I cooked the pork first without the topping, then took them out and put them in the over with the topping over them with the parsnips and carrots. I then cooked the sprouts in the same pan with some garlic and lemon juice, and voila.

Restaurant Quality

My thoughts? Wayy too many herbs, they just overwhelmed the flavor of the pork. Slightly less of everything would've worked perfectly. The parsnips and carrots were quite tasty, but the brussel sprouts contained way too much lemon juice. I think in the future, I just won't follow directions as much. But I trusted HelloFresh knew......I trusted.

1. The only dish left is the One-Pot Mexican Quinoa. My favorite you say? The only vegetarian dish? Quinoa over pork!? I know, I was in shock as well. So much so, that I really only have one picture of this entire process.

Bam. Appealing to the eye.

The ingredients consisted of Quinoa, Garlic, Jalapeno, Cumin, Chili Powder, Stock Concentrate, Black Beans, Diced Tomatoes, Corn, Feta, and Avocado. This meal was so amazingly simple and fantastic it was the only one I plan to make again and again. I started the pot with some garlic and a bit of jalapeno, then added in the chili powder and cumin. You then add in the rest of the ingredients with one cup of water and wait for the quinoa to cook through. At the end, you add in the feta cheese and some avocado. If I didn't know I was making quinoa, I wouldn't have realized that's what this essentially was. There was also plenty more food than for two people, so this definitely gave me my dolla's worth.

Would I use HelloFresh again? For a good deal, absolutely. And since they always have a deal, I'd recommend trying it out. I took away some valuable learning experiences and ingredients that I may possibly want to use again. I'm interested in trying out Plated and Blue Apron as well, just to really figure out what the differences are, and obviously get a good deal. So watch out for that. All about that deal life. Now go through with the rest of your day and ponder why Honey Boo Boo got into this blog.