Week 3 of HelloFresh

This is the third week that a HelloFresh Box arrived at our home. I went a little crazy and ordered five different dishes.

Zucchini and Lemon Linguine with Basil Pesto and Goat Cheese
HelloFresh Description: We love zucchini all year long here at HelloFresh, and this dish combines some of our favourite flavours. Sweet snap peas, zucchini and basil pesto combine in this delicious linguine pasta! A little squeeze of lemon at the end brings the whole dish together!

My favourite part of this dish is the pesto and goat cheese combination. After enjoying this for dinner, I told hubby we could totally make this again!

Chicken Tikka Masala with Peppers and Garlic Rice
HelloFresh Description: Bold tikka masala and creamy coconut milk coat tender chicken and sweet peppers in this quick and easy curry! The aromas will make you want to dig in before this hits the table.

I hate this dish! Ugh! Why? It's making me eat more rice than I should. It's so creamy and delicious.

Mediterranean Falafel Sandwich with Tzatziki and Side Salad
We're celebrating veggie night with this Mediterranean-inspired sandwich! Packed with pan-fried falafel, creamy hummus, briny pickles, spring mix and tzatziki, it checks off every flavour box!

This is an unfortunate meal. The falafel for the falafel sandwich wasn't inside the box. So I had to be resourceful and use the frozen meatballs we had in the fridge. Well, the hummus was delicious.

Chinese-Style Beef Bowl with Garlic-Ginger Rice and Green Veggies
HelloFresh Description: Chili Garlic Sauce adds a spicy and zesty kick to this bountiful beef bowl. Taking a pic for the 'gram? #putaneggonit!

My only regret with this dish is not adding the whole packet of chilli garlic sauce it came with. It's sweeter than I'd like, so the chilli garlic sauce would have been a big help.

Carb Smart Tagliata Steak Salad with Basil Pesto and Arugula
Fresh Italian flavours, without the starch. Hearty steak, drizzled with sweet balsamic vinegar, tops a zesty salad with a pesto dressing. Steak and Parmesan bring lots of protein to the table in this satiating supper. Carb Smart is based on a per serving calculation of the recipe's carbohydrate amount.

The best part about this dish is the zucchini covered in basil pesto. It's so delicious!

Random Thoughts

Looking at the pictures of the dishes this week, I can't believe how much more vegetables and greens I'm eating since using HelloFresh. We still do our once-a-week grocery, but it's mostly for bread and frozen items we can enjoy for meals that we don't have HelloFresh. We (two-person) enjoyed all five dishes for eight of our meals outlined below:

1. Saturday Dinner: Carb Smart Tagliata Steak Salad with Basil Pesto and Arugula
2. Sunday Lunch: Chinese-Style Beef Bowl with Garlic-Ginger Rice and Green Veggies
3. Sunday Dinner: Mediterranean Falafel Sandwich with Tzatziki and Side Salad
4. Monday Dinner: Chicken Tikka Masala with Peppers and Garlic Rice
5. Tuesday Lunch: Chinese-Style Beef Bowl with Garlic-Ginger Rice and Green Veggies
6. Tuesday Dinner: Zucchini and Lemon Linguine with Basil Pesto and Goat Cheese
7.  Wednesday Lunch: Chicken Tikka Masala with Peppers and Garlic Rice
8. Thursday Lunch: Zucchini and Lemon Linguine with Basil Pesto and Goat Cheese

As you can see from the list, I divided the meals, so essentially, we only eat half the serving for some of the meals. This is intentional for diet purposes. It is difficult to lose weight, especially for someone like me who loves food, so HelloFresh helps with my health journey.

HelloFresh Promo Code!

For a limited time (until September 29), save $100 with my code HS-PAL5157JZ!

* This offer entitles you to a total of $100 off HelloFresh: $50 off your first box + free shipping, $20 off second, $20 off third. Upon redemption, you will be enrolled in an auto-renewing subscription which you may cancel at any time, in accordance with our terms & conditions. Delivery fees may apply for subsequent orders. Please check HelloFresh.ca/FAQ for more information.

Week 2 of HelloFresh

Happy Saturday! I can't believe this is the second week of us ordering from HelloFresh. I now understand better why people enjoy the service so much. We get to enjoy restaurant-quality recipes for a fraction of a cost. The best part for me is the nutritional information and good portions. I divide all serving into two, which solves lunch and dinner, plus I only eat half of the calories.

Bacon and Mushroom Linguine with Spinach and Thyme
HelloFresh Description: Velvety mushrooms and smoky bacon are a savoury match made in pasta heaven! A cheesy and creamy final touch will take your taste buds to new heights.

Cal Smart Italian Wedding Soup with Turkey and Parmesan
HelloFresh Description: The soup we all know and love has gotten a Cal Smart makeover! All of the classic players are here, with DIY, herbed turkey sausage mix and a deliciously hearty mix of veg and pasta. This is sure to please!

Mediterranean Gnocchi with Bocconcini and Oregano
HelloFresh Description: Gnocchi gets a Grecian makeover! Fluffy pan-fried gnocchi get tossed with salty feta, tomatoes, spinach and fresh bocconcini for a Greek pasta upgrade! All we can say is "Opa!"

All three dishes were surprisingly delicious, and I didn't need an oven for any of them (I don't have an oven). Plus, hubby has been super helpful in preparing all three dishes, and it's such a great bonding time.

We both work from home, and after office hours, we would do a YouTube cardio video for exercise, then prepare our HelloFresh dinner. I save half for lunch the following day and enjoy the rest for dinner that night.

Thank God for allowing us to work and earn to be able to afford this service.

Want to try HelloFresh?

For a limited time (until September 29), save $100 with my code HS-PAL5157JZ!

* This offer entitles you to a total of $100 off HelloFresh: $50 off your first box + free shipping, $20 off second, $20 off third. Upon redemption, you will be enrolled in an auto-renewing subscription which you may cancel at any time, in accordance with our terms & conditions. Delivery fees may apply for subsequent orders. Please check HelloFresh.ca/FAQ for more information.

Trying HelloFresh Again

Last September 2020, I wrote a post on why HelloFresh doesn't work for my household. This week we gave HelloFresh another shot because I'm on a "diet," and HelloFresh provides nutritional information that helps manage my food intake.

I address each counterpoint below.

1. Hack to make HelloFresh feel less expensive

This time I ordered 3 meals per week for 2 persons. I still think it's expensive, but I found a hack that will make it more tolerable. The serving portion and calories for each meal are big (when you're on a diet), so I divide each meal into four instead of dividing each meal into the recommended two. We eat half for dinner, and the rest I put in the fridge for lunch the following day. This technique allows me to stay under my calorie intake, making spending for HelloFresh more acceptable. 

It solves both lunch and dinner! If you're working from home and have to think about meals and household chores between calls with customers, it's quite stressful and overwhelming, so solving both lunch and dinner definitely helps.

3 meals for 2 people

Price per serving: $11.49

Shipping: $9.99

Total Price: $78.93

When you sign up using this link, you will get $90 off.

2, 3, and 4. Choose better recipes

In the previous post, I said it's too much effort. However, I realized that if I choose dishes that don't need many utensils, the effort is not too bad. Plus, hubby helps with cutting the vegetables and our way to bond in the kitchen.

The recipes we chose this week were delicious. Better than the experience a year ago, so I am excited to try more dishes.

Cantonese-style Noodles with Beyond Meat
I love the sauce and the crunchy vegetables. It's delicious!

Not Nonna's Chicken Cacciatore with Cavatappi and Basil
My favourite part of the dish is the chicken!

Summer Turkey Bolognese
My least favourite of all the three dishes this week.

5. Packaging

They have improved packaging a lot. For some reason, it felt like there's less waste this time around. Or I just chose recipes that don't have a lot of plastic.

I will continue using HelloFresh, but I need to balance using it and our weekly grocery run. Also, I have a small fridge and don't have an oven, so managing my limited space is always a concern.

My honest HelloFresh Canada review: Why HelloFresh doesn't work for me?

I ordered HelloFresh because a friend gave me a discount code. I got 4 meals for 2 persons for free, and it arrived yesterday.

I cooked two of the four meals already, and below are my reasons why it doesn't work for me.

1. It's expensive.

4 meals for 2 costs $89.99 + shipping. A hundred dollars for 8 meals, which means each meal costs $12.50. It's cheaper than takeout but definitely more expensive than my weekly grocery budget, which is more than sufficient to feed us for all our meals (7 days x 3 meals per day).

HelloFresh receipt

2. It's too much effort.

I cook at home, and most of what I prepare is family-style, which we can reheat for x number of meals. Using HelloFresh so far is too much effort. I cook, and we eat it for one meal. I'm exhausted, and hubby is exhausted from cleaning all the tools I used.

3. It's not that delicious.

Either I'm bad at following the instructions, but the food is alright. It's nothing to "wow" about, but if I'll justify the $100 per week as a replacement for my takeout food budget, then no. I'd instead order takeout—no effort and definitely delicious.

4. The recipes are complicated.

I tried to order recipes that don't require an oven because we don't have one. I made a mistake and ordered Caprese Pasta with Fresh Mozzarella and Roasted Mediterranean Veggies, which apparently require the veggies to be roasted. I also have Pork Parmesan Patties with Sweet Potato Mash and Green Beans, which I'll cook tonight.

I have tried two recipes, and below is my feedback for each.

Black Bean Tacos and Tomato Pepper Salsa with Beyond Meat and Crema

It's my first time creating a salsa, and it's the best part of the recipe. The lime and cilantro are great flavours with the taco. It came with 6 tortillas, which isn't enough. We actually have extra salsa and filling. The filling is dry. I realize I really don't like Beyond Meat, which is unfortunate. The first taco was great, but by the third taco, I find everything too much.

Pulled Buffalo Chicken Bowl with Quinoa, Corn, Avocado and Feta

This is easier to prepare, except that I have no idea how to peel and cut the avocado.  Other than that, it's filling, but not something I would want to eat again.

Pulled Buffalo Chicken Bowl with Quinoa, Corn, Avocado and Feta

Pork Parmesan Patties with Sweet Potato Mash and Green Beans
The pork parmesan patties are the best part of the dish. It's so good, I'm planning to make it again in a bigger batch.

Caprese Pasta with Fresh Mozzarella and Roasted Mediterranean Veggies

5. Too much packaging waste.

Everything came in a big HelloFresh box. Each meal is individually packaged in its own paper bag, some ingredients are in plastic, and there's ice gel packaging at the bottom of the box to keep the meat fresh, but it clogged our sink. A big facepalm because the ice packaging says it should be drained, so we just put it in our kitchen sink.

For now, we'll continue doing grocery run once a week and I'll continue cooking family-style food we already love.

Have you tried HelloFresh? How's your experience?