A Week of HelloFresh Meals

At the end of July, I found a discount deal on Groupon that was just too good to pass up: a week of meals from a company called "HelloFresh" that were delivered right to my door with perfectly portioned ingredients to ensure there's no waste. I was really excited to try this out because it eliminated the guess work with meal planning, saved me a trip to the grocery store, and seemed like a new way to get excited about cooking. Due to my hectic schedule and a few unexpected things that popped up soon after the meals were delivered, I wasn't able to start cooking until after the weekend, but that's another great thing about HelloFresh... They send ingredients that will remain fresh for an entire week!

When you register with HelloFresh, you will be given the upcoming meal selections one week prior to your actual delivery and you have 2 days to decide what you'd like to be sent... There are always 3 default Chef's Selections plus 2 optional meals which are also available, so you basically have 5 meals to choose from. BUT you're only given a specific window from Tuesday 12pm until Thursday at 11:59pm in which you can make any adjustments so, if you forget or decide not to swap things around, you are automatically sent the Chef's Selections. I didn't initially realize this but was  happy with all of the standard meals, so I wasn't really that disappointed that I'd missed out on the other 2 options.

There are also two types of boxes that you can choose from: The Classic Box (includes beef, chicken and fish entrees- with options to swap for vegetarian selections) or the Veggie Box (all vegetarian) and both contain 3 meals. From there you can decide if you want those meals to each feed 2 or 4 people and the price will be adjusted accordingly. Since I was just cooking for myself, I chose the option for 2 people and ended up eating each meal as dinner on the night it was cooked and as lunch on the following day. This turned out to be the perfect set-up for me this week because I wasn't able to get to the grocery store last weekend, due to my Dad being in town on Saturday and spending all day on Sunday with Lambit.

Since I wasn't going to be home during the day when my box would be delivered, I requested that it arrive at the office so that I could store everything in the fridge until I was ready to go home that evening. Upon delivery, I was pleased to see that everything had been packed in an insulated box with huge ice packs, which ensured that the contents remained properly chilled while in transit between the HelloFresh kitchen and my own. When the box arrived at my workplace, everyone was curious about what goodies I'd received, so I took the time to unpack everything and put it on display, which definitely made a few co-workers envious!

Pan-Seared Citrus Salmon with Summer Salad

(Salmon over arugula, cherry tomatoes, green beans, and red onion with a citrus vinaigrette)

Oven-Fried Chicken with Sauteed Garlic Kale

(Panko-breaded chicken with kale, mushrooms, and onions + a white potato with sour cream)

Ginger-Sesame Steak with Scallions and Basmati Rice

(Marinated steak, scallions and zucchini with seasoned basmati rice)

So, there you have it! That was my week of delicious meals, pre-measured and packaged, delivered fresh and straight to my door! Everything was easy to make and, of the 3 meals, the Oven-Fried Chicken and Garlic Kale was my absolute favourite dish- but I'd definitely make all of them again. And, thanks to HelloFresh and the colourful recipe cards they include with your delivery, I can remake these dishes any time I'd like! If you think you'd like to try out the HelloFresh meal delivery service for yourself, feel free to visit their website (www.hellofresh.com) and use my special code ----->>> DFA8V8 <<<----- to get get $20 OFF your first delivery!