Showing posts with label fun things. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fun things. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 25

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)

Thursday, September 27

Instituting Afternoon Tea

I've been working almost full time for the past two weeks (the state won't let me work proper full time- they'd have to pay more than minimum, or give us benefits) and there are two constants when I get home, regardless of how my day went.
I am always sleepy.
And I am always hungry.

It's time to remedy this with a new tradition/habit.

Tea Time!


Tea Food Ideas:

[sandwiches] cucumber & herbed cream cheese. salmon & herbed cream cheese. ham & butter. curried chicken salad. pimento cheese. apples & cheese. avocado & cheese or turkey. tomato & mozzarella or avocado. veggie.

[savories] cheese biscuits. cheese croissants. crackers & spread. veggies & dip. shrimp toasts. meat slices. rice balls with nori. tomato bites.

[sweets] cake minis. pastries. scones with clotted cream & jam. tartlets. fruit & chocolate croissants. muffins.

[easies] toast with butter & jam. crackers & cheese. fruit. cookies.

Inspirational images follow. The internet is FULL of them, and I can't wait to get started. 

My boy and I both get home at 3 almost every day, and he never eats unless food is provided (-.-) and I am looking for a new and fun tradition-- and desperately need a pick-me-up every afternoon-- so this is perfect.
My plan is afternoon tea every weekday between 3 & 3:30. And on weekends (if we feel like it) at 4.
To save myself time, I will (theoretically) prep most of the week's menu on Sunday nights. Pre-cut breads, toppings, etc. Slice & store fruits and necessary fillers (meat, veggies, etc). Also, make bulk things like chicken salad (have I posted that recipe yet? it's amazing), cucumber cream cheese mix, etc.


My first week starts Monday, so I'm looking through pictures and recipes and working on an early menu. I'm probably not really going to stick with it, but since I'm so broke right now, I need to have a plan for affordable and reusable things and stick to it. This list should run about $15 for the week, assuming any time I use "meat", it's whatever meat was eaten for dinner the night before. This is my base idea for Week 1.

{Monday}
Cucumber Sandwiches
Fruit Bites
Cheese Squares

{Tuesday}
Crackers with Herb Spread
Meat Slices
Veggie Bites
Fruit Bites


{Wednesday}
Savory Sandwiches
Toast with Jam
Cookies

{Thursday}
Dinner Bites (leftovers)
Apples & Cheese
Fruit Bites

{Friday}
Week's Leftovers
(most likely Cucumber Sandwiches, Cheese & Crackers/Apples, Toast with Jam)



I'm excited.


Saturday, November 6

A Few of My...

I haven't spent large amounts of time on surveys since high school, but I found this one on a FLB forum and decided to take a minute to list my favorite things:



what city do you live in - Greensboro, NC


what city would you like to live in - NYC, Sangri-LA


a color you like to wear - Black, Brown, Grey, Blue


a flower you would like to grow in your garden- lilies, lavender, pink or white roses


a smell that makes you pause - vanilla, pumpkin spice, apple/cinnamon


a taste that makes you melt - vanilla, pumpkin spice, Ethiopian Tea...


your favorite meal - salad, seafood, sushi, Ethiopian, anything with lots of veggies and garlic! 


an author who has affected you - FLB and Jacqueline Carey


the magazine you read most frequently - none really, i like cooking magazines and I like to flip through anything with pictures of food and home decorating (and sometimes fashion).


music you prefer to listen to when you are alone - When I'm alone? Showtunes.


the film you could watch over and over - Pride & Prejudice, The Secretary, Coraline


a piece of clothing you love to wear - any boots with skinny jeans and a fluffy coat. Or boots with a whimsical sun dress.


your favorite time of day - Mornings when I've gotten enough sleep and have somewhere to curl up with tea.


things you like to buy - books, food, shoes...


you collect - books, boots, i used to collect Bento Boxes, but not anymore...


your strangest possession - a Sailor Moon alarm clock. 


your prized possession - Not really sure. My newly finished (1st draft) manuscript, maybe. And my puppies. There's nothing else I couldn't live without. 


what delights you - candles, sometimes flowers (pretty, simple, maybe exotic flowers) amazing food, beautiful things, strong gusts of wind on a sunny day. Oh, and anything created by Joss Whedon.


who inspires you - Francesca Lia Block, a lot of actress/advocates like Angelina Jolie


what inspires you - mostly nature and beautiful or epic books


a song that has affected you - Breathe Me by Sia


you love - My partner and our puppies, writing, reading, wandering, cooking, eating, exploring, traveling


the contents of your purse - Right now I'm carrying a wallet only, which has my IDs and cards, including a Red Mango rewards card, as well as coupons from Target and some cash.


things to do before you die - get published, travel the world, eat every kind of food that exists.

Monday, October 4

Kidnapped, no, but yet...

Watching: Castle
Ingesting: Cinnamon & Ginger tea
Reading: On Writing :: Stephen King

I've been away for quite a while, and holy shit how much better my life is now, I can't even explain it.
I'm out of the horrible house situation I was stuck in, I'm completely out of the obnoxiously persistent past issues that were bringing down my life, I have a job (crappy, but money-producing), and things are slowly but surely seeming to grow up and get set!

The biggest thing that will be of substance to this blog is that I am currently (just started) writing a novel this month. Yup, just this month. In the style of NaNoWriMo, I am spending the entire month of October writing the first draft of a novel from start to finish.
This means I have to write 1,613 words every day to get to my goal of 50,000 by the end. *deep breath* this is monumental and possibly impossible.
I was doing okay at first, not happy with what was coming out all the time, but determined to keep going and fix things later, but then some unpleasant computer failure Saturday night dropped me back about a thousand words, and now I'm still about two thousand behind.

But I will continue onward!


If at all interested in my progress (which I doubt anyone is, but you never know), I'll mostly be putting status updates on Twitter when they're interesting. And I'll possibly leave clips and phrases on here when I'm particularly proud or interested in them.
Also, I'm thinking about signing up for the official NaNoWriMo next month, if I don't go crazy doing it this month, so if anyone's interested in being writing/support buddies through it, let me know!


Anyway, just thought I'd stop in, say hello, and wish myself luck ^-^

<3