HelloFresh Review

Hey lovelies!

I just wanted to post a quick review of my new favorite thing in the world. HelloFresh.com

Love food? Check this out.

One box. Three meals (more, really). Free shipping.

 It's a food delivery service that sends you a box every week-- out every other week, or once a month, however you want, with all-- and I mean all-- the ingredients for three meals per week (for two or four people).
Free shipping, too!

It's a little expensive for a tiny budget like mine- though there are ways to get money off, such as my coupon code below, as well as account credit- but we went out on a limb and ordered the first box as a luxury and time saver and just for the fun of it! 

We don't need to grocery shop so much, don't need to argue about what we should have for dinner all the time, and it comes with easy to follow recipe cards (with photos) that make it fun to try out these recipes that we'd never have thought to make!

Every Tuesday night I'm eager for my box to come in (it gets here on Wednesday mornings) and every Wednesday night I can't wait to find out what the next box is going to be (new menu is up every Thursday)!

Did I mention that it comes with virtually everything you need for each meal? All you usually need are the tools (pots, pans, dishes) some oil, and some salt and pepper.

Everything you need!

Everything else is in the box! Recipes, fresh meats, veggies, fruits, spices, plus condiments, garlic, garnishes, everything!
Everything's wrapped individually and kept together in bags for each meal, so you just put the bags in the fridge (pantry items seem to come in separate bags) and pull out whichever bag you need for the meal you want to make!

The menu is changed every week, with options for you.
There's three vegetarian meals, or five classic meals that you choose three meals from. It's a great variety and change, but still with choices and all delicious.

And so far almost every meal has actually made enough for us both plus leftovers, so we're actually getting more than three meals out of it.

The photo recipe cards are really cool because, A) they're pretty and easy to read and reusable and just adorable, and B) they make it really easy for my beau to cook, even though he's not usually good at it, AND we get to collect them, so we'll have this cute little pile of recipes perfect for a hand-made cookbook, so we can make our favorites over and over!

Recipe cards from our first box (classic). The Kofta was so good! And the salad was fun!

And because each meal is meant to be made in less than 30 minutes, it's a restaurant quality meal that's quick and simple, so we don't feel that "I wanna go ooout!" craving as often (so the money part balances out a little since we go out to eat less).

If you don't like the service (or can't afford it all the time) all you have to do is either set it on pause until you want another box, or just cancel it. No questions asked (except maybe a quick 'why') and no hidden fees or commitments.
That's really what got us to do it. Knowing that we could choose when we would get a box, based on what we could afford or wanted.

Our Vegetarian Box recipes this week. Note there's even nutrition info!

Also, as a side note, their customer service is really good so far.
It takes a while for them to get back to you sometimes, but they're really nice.
In our first box, we were missing the main ingredients of one of our meals (the mushroom risotto, which we still plan on making), and when we told them, they credited our account for a third of the original price (which means that much off a future box!).
We were impressed with how quickly they resolved it and how nice they were.

These photos are from our first two boxes. I love how fresh everything is, how creative and healthy the meals are, plus how cute it all is! 

And the variety means we're always trying something new and different all the time!
Today was pasta with escarole and mushrooms, tomorrow is african peanut stew made with eggplant and peanut butter on top of quinoa, roasted sqaush after that. So cool! Next week is seared steak with tomato/olive ragu, spicy chicken linguine, and artisan sausages with fresh mashed potatoes.

We've loved all the meals so far, and anything we didn't love, we worked out how to adapt it in the future, such as a different herb, an added side dish, or a different ingredient.

So, to sum it up.
Classy, gourmet food that's easy to make and delicious, delivered right to you.  Healthy, fresh, and delivered. Comes with literally everything you need.

I love it love it love it.

Great for busy foodies or those looking to learn how to cook new things (or at all).

AND for $20 off your first box, use the code 9Y42J5 when you check out.

It brings the price down a lot, which is really great to just give you a taste of it!
If you're not sure about whether or not you want to keep going, just put your deliveries on hold while you're deciding, and they won't charge you a thing until you want another box (or not)!

Try it! 

www.HelloFresh.com

Edit:: the coupon code recently changed; make sure you use the correct one (9Y42J5)

Worlds of Taste {5} :: Pink Smog

Worlds of Taste

Part {5} :: Pink Smog

(Francesca Lia Block, 2012)

"I got myself a bowl of Lucky Charms. The pink hearts, yellow moons, orange stars, and green clovers ached my molars as the milk turned rainbow colors." (1)

"...watching the clock and eating the lunch I'd made-- an apple and a pack of orange cheese spread and crackers." (5)

"I got a can of Tab, sleek and sweaty with cold. ... I drank my Tab. It tasted like sweet liquid metal." (11)

"I heated up some frozen mac and cheese for us and sat next to her..." (11)

"I brought her Brazil nuts and ginger ale and red licorice. I would have tried to cook but I always burned the grilled cheese sandwiches or let the rice bubble over. The only thing I could make was instant mac and cheese but she didn't want that and neither did I. I wished she had taught me to cook when I was littler and she was happy..." (25-26)

"... the cute waiter sand me Cat Stevens songs and brought me a Cobb salad and a piece of birthday cake." (29)

"They served veggie burgers and sprouts and hibiscus lemonade. Carney's was a hot-dog place inside and old train car. Butterfield's was a sunken garden at the bottom of the stairs, like someone's run-down mansion where you could have elegant brunches with quiche, fresh fruit, and champagne among lacy trees." (33)

"We ate little pieces of raw fish and candied ginger and my parents had cocktails and wine." (35)

"They stay in a tiny, lovely Victorian hotel on a steep hill and eat fettuccine at an Italian restaurant." (49)

"I ate my peanut butter and jelly sandwich and she massacred her apple. I offered her half a frosted Pop-Tart but she looked at it like it might bite back so I quickly returned it to my lunch box." (57)

"Bobby and I got ice-cream cones but Lily didn't want one and I didn't push-- she looked as if I were going to stab her with my swirly pink-and-white confection." (71)

"...afterward we made Pillsbury chocolate chip cookies and at the whole batch... I have to admit chocolate never tasted so good." (101)

"...we were home stuffing our faces with the 3 Musketeers bars Bobby had brought over for trick-or-treaters..." (123)

"...her mother was a professional housewife who liked to cook elaborate meals to entice her daughter into eating. The huge, fatty dishes only made Lily starve herself more." (132)

"I wanted to make her soup but I was a lousy cook and I knew she didn't want any either. ... He... came back with a large green apple and a cup of peppermint tea with lemon and honey." (133)

"I wanted to make pancakes, bacon, and scrambled eggs for dinner. Sometimes it cheered me up to eat meals at the "wrong times"." (134)

""We'll have pressed turkey and cranberry jelly and pumpkin pie under the cuckoo clocks, okay?"" (137)

"When I was little he liked to take me to Norms Coffee Shop for hamburgers and vanilla shakes that we ate in the vinyl booths,... or ...you could make your own toast at the toasters at your table. We had ice-cream cones at Wil Wright's.... Farrell's where they made a huge ice-cream birthday concoction called the Zoo that was covered in little plastic animals. ... We sat down under the wooden birds and ate the orange sticky buns the restaurant was famous for, as well as turkey dinners with pressed turkey and cranberry jelly and mashed potatoes." (145)

"In the same way I ate a double-scoop pistachio-and-cherry ice-cream cone and then had popcorn and a large Sprite at the movie theater..." (147-148)

"...bought ingredients to make pasta with pesto sauce and a spinach salad with walnuts and dried cranberries and balsamic vinegar..." (161)

"I was going to make turkey sandwiches, green beans with candied almonds, yams with marshmallows, and cranberry sauce." (161)

"...we drank the cold, bitter white wine from plastic cups and chewed Bubble Yum to take the edge off." (166)

"We hate gnocchi and ravioli, Indian curries and samosas, pork buns and chow mein. ... while we went to buy oranges, milk, and cornflakes at the corner market." (183)

The Worlds of Taste series here is a collection of all the mentions of food that occurs in the books of Francesca Lia Block. Sometimes accompanied by photos from the web, or sometimes just colored with glitter and shine, these posts remind me of the luxurious world of food within the FLB books. Read others at Worlds of Taste {3}: Weetzie Bat, or {4} : Ecstasia