Meal Subscription Boxes

I want to start out by saying that I love this company. We experienced this box last week and loved it so much that we purchased another for next week. The recipes are quite good, better than Hello Fresh and Plated for sure.

The Contents:

Preparation:

I usually start my day with coffee or a V8 Energy. Since my smoothie was really thick and powdery-tasting (thanks a lot, Greek yogurt), I added V8. It thinned out the smoothie and added a boost of caffeine.

Price Tag: $9.95/serving. As usual, you can pause or cancel your subscription at any time.

Meal Choices: They offer 14 total meal choices, 3 of which are breakfast/snack options. Unique! Vegetarian, vegan, dairy-free, soy-free, nut-free, gluten-free, low calorie, and low carb options exist.

Here's a screenshot of a couple recipe choices (click for larger pics). The steak and mac and cheese meals convinced me to buy a second box from them instead of moving on to the next meal delivery company. I said it before with Hello Fresh, but these recipes really speak to me!



Coupon Code: Would you like to try Home Chef? Click here for $30 off your first delivery, plus free shipping.

Box Contents: Here's a peek inside my delivery:

Recipes right on top, outside of the liner so they stay dry and flat.

Cool packs wrapped in paper to contain moisture:

Lots of cold packs surrounding the meat:


I've reviewed three companies now, and all three use different liners. This one a fiber blend that had absolutely no directions as to how to dispose of it. Since my recycling bin says nothing about fibers, I chose the trash for this.

Pan-seared pork chops with pineapple-serrano relish and spicy cheddar grits:

Charred garlic-lime chicken with avocado salsa verde and spiced honey-butter corn:

Juicy Lucy burgers with tomato-red onion jam and charred romaine:

The Contents:

Preparation:

Char the romaine, wishing you hadn't cut off the ends:


Make the tomato-onion jam by sauteing the onion, sugar, balsamic, and chopped tomato.



Assemble the burgers by shaping the meat into extra-flat patties. Place half of the cheddar in the center, then fold up the beef to create a new patty. Gently flatten. I'm not sure if this was Mistake #2, but since my patties later went on to explode on the stove, I'm guessing I didn't seal my burgers well enough.




 Exploding patties, still rare inside :(


Make the garlic-balsamic dressing by whisking together mayo, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper:



Toast the buns. This almost became a horrible Mistake #3. The oven beeped the same time the microwave beeped to signal that the burgers were done. I was removing the burgers from the stove and turned off the oven timer. Two minutes later I remembered that I hadn't taken out the buns. I'm lucky they weren't completely burnt!

Final Product:

The Verdict:

See my next post for a Hello Fresh wrap up. If you are thinking about purchasing Hello Fresh, use coupon code 3GYARN at checkout. You will receive $40 off of your first box. Basically, for the price of one meal, you will receive three. Be sure to pause your account for a week or two to give yourself time to decide if you want to continue deliveries. If you like HF, unpause your account to keep receiving three meals every week. If you do not, cancel your account with no extra fees.

The next Hello Fresh recipe is charred garlic-lime chicken with avocado salsa verde and spiced honey-butter corn. The spiced honey butter was INCREDIBLE and will probably become a staple in our household.

The Contents:

Preparation:

Final Product:

The Verdict:

The first recipe I chose to make was pan-seared pork chops with pineapple-serrano relish and spicy cheddar grits.

The book reads, "The unexpected sweet-and-salt combination of cheesy grits and tangy pineapple salsa is what makes this dish special. If you have a grill, these juicy pork chops would be the perfect reason to fire it up!"

The Contents:

Preparation:

Final Product:

The Verdict: