HelloFresh Sub Box - Seared Steak and Homemade Baked Fries (3/3)

This recipe I think was the best, mainly because it was simple. I made a few changes to this one though. I wasn't really in the mood for fries (I don't eat fries all that much and the picky eater I live with doesn't eat potatoes), so I made mashed potatoes instead. The only other comment I have is that there was a heck of a lot of almonds in this box. You will see below I put all the sides on one plate (PE doesn't eat green beans either).

It was good, hard to mess up really and the steak was actually a good cut of beef so it tasted great. It was a nice way to end the week. The other recipes had me a little concerned and again thinking of canceling our subscription. The only complain about this one is the steak was really small. You can barely even see it on my plate! 

HelloFresh Sub Box - Herby Yogurt Marinated Turkey (2/3)

This was also an interesting one. The picky eater that I like with does not like Yogurt so he had Shake N Bake on his. This one was a little of a miss for me. I think that Marinates are like salad dressings. They should probably make them and just send them or in this case package the meat in the marinate. But I do like that it is fresh and this way we can customize them to how we like it. It's kind of a Catch 22. 

I really wasn't a huge fan of this one. The turkey was kind of fatty which is odd because I have never seen turkey have much fat on them. It was overpowered by the Yoguart and Lemon. I think Chicken instead of Turkey would be the first step to improving this recipe and probably a good spice blend also. I also didn't like the Sweet Potato Mash. I thought I would because I love Sweet Potato Fries, but these just tasted awful. Again, they were sour and just overpowering. The Zucchini was awesome though, I really enjoyed those. 

HelloFresh Sub Box - Pulled Chicken Sliders (1/3)

This one was an interesting meal. They sent eight buns for two people. So that means each person should have been able to have four sliders each. Now I am going to post a photo of how much chicken there actually was. Maybe I just filled them too much, but there really was no way you were getting eight mini sandwiches out of this. There were only two chicken legs so I am not sure how they thought we would make eight. We had a hard time making six even. Maybe if it would have been chicken breast instead, there would have been more meat. 

They were good overall. I really liked the coleslaw they had. I was a bit confused by the need for both a green mix and the coleslaw it was like a salad on top of coleslaw. But they were good. I liked that there was coleslaw left to eat just like that (the picky eater I live with doesn't eat coleslaw). It was a little spicy without the coleslaw and all the toppings but the creamy slaw helped cut the spice. 

This kind of reminds me of the chicken sandwich I make. The only real difference is the spring mix and the coleslaw. I add the bottled slaw dressing, just because I like the extra flavour and creaminess. This slaw was just mayo added. They are both good, I think it is just about preference. I also use white meat when I make chicken sandwiches instead again because that is what we prefer. 

HelloFresh Subscription Box - Week 10

This week we are back from our vacation and everything is slowly getting back to normal. This week is week 10. We have had some ups and downs that's for sure with this subscription. They are hit or miss at times. This week we ordered Herby Yogurt-Marinated Turkey, Pulled Chicken Sliders, and Seared Steak with Homemade Baked Fries. I am not sure really why we haven't canceled yet. I think it is just such a good and handy idea I want it to work and hope that each week will be better than the last. 

One thing I am enjoying about these things is that I am getting more comfortable with them. I am starting to make changes that I think would be good and would match my preferences more. I will mention the changes I made with these meals and why as I go. Some of them worked and some did not! But that's the fun of cooking and trying new things. 

Hand Sanitizer Recipe

**RE-POSTED from our Facebook Page (March 4th) **

It is no secret that Coronavirus has caused panic throughout the world. If you have visited a pharmacy lately you may have noticed that they are having a hard time keeping certain things on the shelves. Masks have basically disappeared, and now hand-sanitizer is becoming more and more in demand and it too is now running short.

Today we received an email from Mystic Moments UK (a bath and body supplier that A - Z Soaps orders from on occasion). In this email, they included a recipe for a homemade hand sanitizer.

** Please note their and our warning. This hand sanitizer is not a substitute for proper handwashing. This recipe DOES NOT include or meet the CDC 60% alcohol standards and it will not "kill" the Coronavirus. This home recipe is just to help give people peace of mind. Should they want a hand sanitizer and can't find any this is better than nothing. **

Ingredients:

Alcohol (any cheap brand vodka will do)
Aloe Vera Gel
Essential oil(s)

The recipe they use is made in a 100ml bottle.
1/3 of vodka (about 33ml)
40 drops of Essential Oils (please read the descriptions of the oils before use)
Aloe Vera Gel (added to the bottle to fill)

You can find Aloe Vera Gel online at many supplies:

Candorasoaps.ca (Canada)
Brambleberry.com (USA)
Mysticmoments.uk (UK)

Hello Fresh Sub Box - Steak Spiced Hamburgers and Disco Fries (3/3)

Disco Fries turned out to be Poutine with shredded cheese instead of the traditional cheese curd. And Steak Spice was really Montreal Steak Spice. I will say this right off the bad, this recipe was good and we all enjoyed it. But it seems a little expensive for just a burger and fries. And the cherry on top, the meat was rotten and we had to go out and buy ground beef at the last minute. Also, this bag was supposed to feed four people. And with the small amount of meat they sent, the original meat would have only made tiny burgers. We were going to have to add meat to it anyways. So if you are used to eating more than one burger, this bag would have really only fed two people.  

The burger was good, I mean basically, we just added the spice to the ground beef and made patties. No big secret there. They sent a lot of Spring Mix for the burgers, which I used but my picky eaters didn't use. So there was a lot left. 

The fries were interesting. I think I associate poutine or whatever other names it goes by, with a chicken gravy. This gravy was beef. So that was a little interesting. I'm sure that's just a personal preference though. Also, there wasn't much cheese, we prefer a lot of cheese (or curbs usually). 

 Note: this was all the fries. So this was supposed to feed four people. 

Tri-Colored Sun-Dried Tomato and Feta Pizza with Tomato and Spinach Salad (2/3)

This recipe and the next I made on the same day. I found that these Pizzas for three people were not filling enough (my Mother and the Picky Eater I live with do not like spinach so they didn't have any of the salad). For me, it was filling because I had both components. I don't know if as a meat eater this would have been filling as a supper. Like it would fill you but you would probably be hungry quicker. 

The pizza was interesting. The first step was dehydrating the tomatoes. That was pretty easy to do and something told me I should try these things out first. They were AWFUL! Now I say this because I hate raisins which is what these tomatoes reminded me of. They had just that taste. My mother is not a huge fan of tomatoes but she tried these and agreed they tasted like raisins and she liked them. Needless to say, those did not go on my pizza! Instead, I used some of the tomatoes they sent for the salad. 

The salad that went with this was just basic. They had me add the (rest of the) tomatoes and spinach to a bowl and toss with balsamic vinegar and oil. I also added some Feta to this because I didn't use all of it on the pizza and because I like Greek Salads, which is what this one had me thinking of. That being said, some black olives would have been nice. This salad just gives you the sense that it was an afterthought. Throw some balsamic vinegar in boom quick salad and they didn't have to spend any more money to make the box. 

It was all very good don't get me wrong, just the salad felt like an afterthought. It just seemed like a good way to get rid of the leftovers without adding any cost to the bottom line. Like I said even just a few black olives would have made me feel better about this salad. 

This was for lunch one day. That night I made Steak Spiced Burgers and Disco Fries (from HelloFresh). You can check that blog post out next.

HelloFresh Sub Box - Lemon Chicken and Goat Cheese [Salad] with Crisp Pear, Arugula and Citrus Vinaigrette (1/3)

Alright, take two. I already spent ten minutes writing this blog post and then I went to copy it for Blogger and accidentally pasted the link for the recipe and like that all my work was gone. This week we were still home for the holidays so my Mom was trying these recipes with us. My Mom is a picky eater herself and she didn't think she was going to like this. I didn't even think I would like all of this, I don't like pears at all. But we both LOVED this dish. I think it may be the best thing I have ever made from HelloFresh. So we had this salad tonight, and it was AMAZING. The Picky Eater I live with doesn't eat salad or anything that was in this one so all he had was chicken.

The only thing I changed for this recipe was the chicken. PE likes his chicken breaded so that is usually how we made it. It really isn't that much work, we simply season Italian breadcrumbs with salt and pepper and bread the chicken like that (you can also choose to coat the chicken in mayo before the breadcrumbs). It was very good, and the pears were much better than I expected. The only problem I had was that again, they asked for Sugar instead of sending Honey. I know Honey would work perfectly with this recipe because the had me make the same dressing with Honey beforehand. I don't usually add Sugar (mainly because we don't usually keep it in the house), but since I was home, we had Sugar and I did add it. I have to say this recipe is probably one that you do want the sweetness (unless you have your own Honey to substitute). The salty and sweet play well together and you wouldn't want to miss out on that.

Other changes I would make are just personal ones. The Goat Cheese was like a dollop of Sour Cream, except it was a little tart. I think if I was making it myself I would substitute that with Feta. Feta is a little saltier and I think it would pair well with the sweet and nuttiness. Also even though I enjoyed the warm pear, I would have probably gone with an apple instead.

HelloFresh Subscription Box - Week 9

For this week we were still at home for the holidays. So I picked meals that I thought our whole family would enjoy. This also gave me a little more drive to pick something everyone else would like. Usually, when it is just me and the Picky Eater (PE) I live with, as long as there is a protein he will eat we don't worry too much about the sides. This week my Mom also tried the meals so that was fun. We both got to try some new things and step a little out of our comfort zone. This week we had Lemon Chicken and Goat Cheese Salad with Crisp Pear, Arugula and Citrus Vinaigrette, Tricoloured Sun-Dried Tomato and Feta Pizza with Spinach and Tomato Salad, and Steak Spiced Burgers with Disco Fries. 

This week the box came in better condition than last week. So hopefully that is a good sign. It was an interesting week. I think for the most part everyone enjoyed it, even though we had to make a few adjustments. Again we had rotten meat this week so that's not good. It is really starting to become a theme and I don't like it. Last week and this week's box was almost free so it is hard to complain but there really is no excuse for rotten meat. We have been thinking about canceling for a while now, this might be the last straw, we shall see. 

HelloFresh - Sub Box - Gnocchi Bolognese (3/3)

I am going to start by saying I have never had Gnocchi in my life, and neither has anyone in my family. Gnocchi is a type of pasta but it has the consistency of a dough-like a dumpling of sorts. They are typically made using potatoes along with flour, eggs, cornmeal, and other ingredients. The Picky Eater (PE) I live with can not eat potatoes or pasta so he skilled this one, but my Mom and I tried it. (We tried this recipe on December 28th, 2019.) 

It was interesting. I found the Gnocchi a little plain. Maybe I didn't season it aggressively enough but I added salt to the water they boiled in. I also think the sauce they had me make was not great and it overpowered the Gnocchi. I think an oil-based sauce would be better, like a pesto. Also, what they call sauce is just crushed Tomatoes, Beef Broth and Worcestershire sauce. 

I saved the Red Pepper Flakes from the Pizza bag and added them to this sauce but even that didn't give enough flavour. I am not sure why they thought Pizza needed the spice and the pasta sauce didn't. But this isn't the first time I find their pasta sauce has no flavour at all. 

HelloFresh Sub Box - Fresh Mozzarella Margherita Pizza with Charred Corn and Shallots (2/3)

This was an interesting recipe. I have never had a Pizza with these toppings before. But it is a smart recipe that is for sure. Naturally, I loved the idea because I have a similar recipe that I usually make (Na'an Pizzas) There was no meat on this pizza, which didn't sit well with my family, but that's fine. My family added Pepperoni to theirs and just had a plain pizza. Again, another great recipe that is completely customizable to your family. 

I must say I was suspicious of this combination on a pizza but it was actually pretty good! And the Na'an made it filling too. The salad didn't add much though. It really didn't go with pizza and it was kind of an afterthought. The dressing and salad were good but again it called for sugar when I think honey would have been a nice addition. That really is one thing that keeps getting on my nerves, you have a healthy meal and they ask you to add sugar to it. . . kind of takes away from trying to eat healthily.

HelloFresh Sub Box - Jerk Chicken Burger and Charred Pineapple (1/3)

Whether it is Chicken or Beef, if it says burger you can bet we are ordering it. That is one thing the Picky Eater (PE) I live with loves. They are really handy because even if you don't like warm Pineapple in general or on your burger, you don't have to put it. That's what we both did for this recipe. As I said we were home for the holidays so my Mother got adventurous and tried this also. We all enjoyed it, and my Mom and I had the pineapple as a snack later on. 

As I said they are so easy to customize to your family and your taste. I know my family would prefer breaded chicken, so I just bought plain breadcrumbs and added the Jerk seasoning to that. Also, my Mom didn't want to try the Green Onion Aioli, so she used just mayo and I used the rest for the aioli. I was also the only one that eats Sweet Potatoes but you can easily change them for regular potatoes or just mix them. 

HelloFresh Subscription Box - Week 8

This week was for us was around Christmas time. And since we live far enough away from our family, we went home for the holidays. This means we spent two weeks in our hometown. As part of their Christmas gifts, we gave my mom and my grandmother some of the "Free" Box coupons they had been sending us. A few things to note about this. One, the "Free" Box was only up to $120. Two, you will be signed up for their subscription box so you HAVE TO give a credit card to get the box. Three you do not have to buy one first to get one free, and you do not have to stay subscribed. Once you get your "free" box, you can unsubscribe. Four, if you use this off you can not pair it with other offers and you will not be eligible for any offers to "new" customers. 

We paused our box at home, with is an option, but you can also change your shipping address if you'd like. Since we had more people we decided to just go with the coupon. Another thing to note is that, if you get three meals for 4 people, you will end up paying about $20 extra. NOT ALL of their meal plans are covered by this "Free" coupon.

I am not sure if it is because they were busy with the holidays or if a different packaging place handed this order but our box was beaten up. All of the bags were covered in something, I thought it might have been BBQ Sauce, but later figured out it was Worcestershire Sauce. And I had to basically take everything out and was the items they had sent. This week we had Jerk Chicken Burger and Charred Pineapple with Green Onion Aioli and Sweet Potato Wedges, Fresh Mozzarella Margherita Pizza with Charred Corn and Shallots, and finally Gnocchi Bolognese with Fresh Tomato Sauce, Carrots and Parmesan. 

HelloFresh Sub Box - Country-Style Fried Steak with Garlicky Corn and Onion-Gravy (3/3)

This recipe was interesting. I wouldn't have called it really Country-Style but it was alright. I also made Green Beans on the sides since I was trying to use up the leftovers from the other meal I didn't make. Needless to say, there were a lot of leftovers from this meal. The Picky Eater (PE) I live with doesn't eat either of these sides so the photo is of two portions. 

The thing about this Chicken-Fried Steak was that it didn't seem to have much flavour. I think true southern-fried steak has more herbs and spices in the breadcrumbs. It really just seemed like this was a basic Shake N Bake type thing. (Shake N Bake is great, don't get me wrong, but in a Subscription box, you expect a little more.) I also think the Gravy is more of a cream-based (they sent sour cream but I felt that would be better for the potatoes and PE wouldn't have had any of the sauce if it had sour cream in it). And I think that would have worked better for this dish. 

HelloFresh Sub Box - (Not so) Turkey Milanese with Pesto Greens and Creamy Potatoes (1&2/3)

On December 16th, 2019, I planned on making this Turkey recipe. I want to make clear that this was a Monday, the day I get the food delivered. The Turkey was rotten. I had to think on my feet so I took the Chicken from the other meal and used that tonight. And I think it was a good call. 

The seasoning for this Turkey was Italian seasoning mix (I added that to breadcrumbs because that's how we like our chicken). I found the Italian Seasoning would have been too overpowering for Turkey. It almost ways too much for the Chicken! The sides weren't really impressive. The Pesto Greens were just Pesto and Green Beans. It was okay but nothing beyond. The potatoes were also nothing special. They called for just butter but I added my own Sour Cream to them. 

HelloFresh Subscription Box - Week 7

This week was an interesting week (I made these meals the week of the 16th). We live away from our family and we were heading home for the holidays this week. So we really didn't do groceries. HelloFresh was bringing us 3 meals and we had plans one night so we should have been fine. Spoiler alert, we were wrong. We had another rotten meat package and we seriously started thinking about canceling after this. This week we ordered the Turkey Milanese with Pesto Greens and Creamy Potatoes, the Country-Style Fried Steak with Garlicky Corn and Onion-Gravy, and Pan-Seared Chicken with Smashed Potatoes, Roasted Green Beans and Rosemary Pan Sauce. Unfortunately, we only got to try two of these. 

HelloFresh Sub Box - Mediterranean Falafel Bowl (3/3)

I was alone for this recipe so what you see is two servings. I was a little skeptical at first I must admit. From the outside, it just looked like a salad. And I really didn't think a salad with no meat would be filling enough for a dinner meal. I must say I was wrong. I don't know if exactly half filled me, but I think it would definitely be enough per person. You may want a little something on the side like bread or buns or something but you really don't miss the meat. (I made this recipe on December 13th, 2019.) 

There were a lot of elements to this so there was a lot of work to it but it wasn't anything too difficult and well worth it. The first step was to make the Freekeh. (Freekeh is a grain that is made from durum wheat. It seemed to act and cook like a rice so I would treat it similarly.) After that, I had to make the Za'atar Carrots (this was simply tossing the sliced Carrots with oil and the seasoning they sent. While everything was cooking I made the salad, they really seemed to stick to a Greek Style Salad and interchanged lettuce for Kale. The dressing was also very easy, it was just Lemon Juice, Oil and Sugar. This one I didn't mind so much (I didn't use sugar) because the lemon really complimented the flavours. 

Making the Salad was really the most work I had to do. Once everything was mixed, I just had to add the cooked carrots and falafels and drizzle the garlic-mayo over it. It was really simple and it came together quickly. Again this is one that didn't take many dishes or pans and stuff so that is a plus.

HelloFresh Sub Box - Pan-Seared Steak with Potato and Sweet Pepper Hash (2/3)

I am just going to come out and say it, this meal didn't impress me much. (It wasn't a rocket scientist or Brad Pitt, which is pretty damn impressive.) I found it all a little bland and yet I just didn't feel like everything mixed real well. I think the concept may have been a good one but it really didn't come together well with this recipe. I made this dish on December 10th, 2019.

I really can't say anything bad about the Steak. Steak is steak, it is usually pretty good. However, this Potato Hash thing wasn't anything to write home about. It was just roasted potatoes and vegetables. And to be honest with you they had no flavour. They sent Rosemary for the Hash and I really don't think that worked. I find that though fresh is usually best when you are cooking something and hoping for the flavour, dried herbs work better. Fresh herbs (in my unprofessional opinion), are more for flavour after cooking or to infuse an oil with. It isn't exactly a pop of flavour when cooking just like that. I think all-around a spice mix would have been better. Probably the same spices you would put on a steak that way they could meld together. (This steak was only seasoned with Salt and Pepper.) I also didn't like the Au Jus. In theory, it would have been for both the steak and the Hash, but it was really overpowering for everything and there really wasn't that much. I would definitely try a different "sauce" in this case. 

HelloFresh Sub Box - Chicken Yakitori-Style Bowl (1/3)

Today I made this recipe for myself basically. The Picky Eater (PE) that I live with only had the chicken from this box, so what you see in the photos is all the other ingredients (two servings). This one really seemed odd to me, maybe it is because I am not familiar with Japanese food, but I found it wasn't really for me. 

Again, they sent rice that I am not familiar with. I followed the instructions but it still wasn't the greatest. I also don't like Ginger so I didn't add that to this dish. (This was just a personal preference, and it may be why I found the flavours not as strong as it could be.) I did enjoy that everything was fried all in one pan, that was really great and a nice change from some of these recipes. I didn't find the sauce was enough though. I added more sauce myself and I found the chicken wasn't flavourful enough. (Maybe a sauce to cook in or a rub of some sort would have been better.) Overall, it was good, once I added the Soya Sauce I found it better, maybe I just like a lot of Soya Sauce. I liked the Edamame which was a surprise to me. I don't think I would make it again but it was a good meal and I wasn't disappointed by it. 

HelloFresh Subscription Box Week 6

This week I put that Chicken behind me. I think you can give a company one pass. Maybe I waited too long to make it (even though they say it should last the week), or maybe it sat on my front porch for too long. Either way, I chalked it up to life and focused on this week. We picked Chicken Yakitori-Style Bowl with Green Onion Rice and Edamame, Mediterranean Falafel Bowl with Kale Freekeh Tabbouleh and Za'atar Carrots, Pan-Seared Steak with Potato and Sweet Pepper Hash. The Picky Eater I lived with won't really eat any of these completely, but one night he won't be home, and the other nights he will just eat the meat with a different side of his choice.

HelloFresh Sub Box - Cajun-Spiced Chicken Burger with DIY Dill Mayo (3/3)

On December 6th, 2019 I made this recipe, finally. I had to buy the Chicken for this because I threw out the one that came with it. I did complain to HelloFresh about it and really didn't get a reply. So I just used Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast. I must admit one thing before continuing. They sent a spice chart and I did not read it. So I did not put as much spice as I probably should have. That is one of the great things is you can season to your liking. Unfortunately, I thought I had put a lot and really I had not. 

The sandwich was delicious. As I said I didn't put enough spice so it didn't taste much like Cajun, which is completely my fault, but it was delicious. The buns were actually the same ones they sent for the hamburger. I wonder if that is just their go-to bun. They sent Tomatoes to add to it and Greens, along with their Dill Mayo. The Dill Mayo was nothing fancy, just chopped up Dill in some Mayonnaise, but it was good.  The Picky Eater (PE) I live with doesn't like Greens so there was even more than intended for a Salad. 

I really wasn't impressed with this salad. First of all, it was just Greens and Tomatoes, a little boring. And the salad dressing they had me make wasn't that great in my opinion. Which maybe my karma. All along, I have been saying, "I would prefer honey instead of always being asked to add sugar." Well, this time they listened, but I really didn't like the vinegar they sent. I found the Red Wine Vinegar was too strong, especially for such a plain salad. 

HelloFresh Sub Box - Pan-Seared Steak au Jus with Warm Potato and Green Pea Salad (2/3)

I am going to start by saying I made this meal on December 4th, 2019. I had expected to make the Chicken meal we had ordered and the Chicken smelled disgusting. It smelled like can Salmon, and the Picky Eater I lived with agreed, it just smelled awful. So we had to throw that out and go to the next one. (As a note: This is the first time we find the meat smelled not good, but it isn't the last time, unfortunately.) 

Now just last week I talked about a Pan-Seared Steak with Peppercorn Pan Sauce and Warm Potato Salad. This recipe is the exact same thing except they didn't send Peppercorns. So a lot of my comments are the same. Again, I would add dill pickles for a little more crunch and flavour, but that's about it. I will say one thing that is different, this time they sent Green Peas instead of the Sugar Snapped Peas with a note that commented about "in the pursuit of quality" they made the substitution. I prefer the Sugar Snap Peas, but I appreciate they're comments. Again with this one, it was kind of like a gravy more than a sauce, and you have to work with it and eat pretty quickly. (You'll see in my photo it split on me - you can see the butter pooling.)

HelloFresh Sub Box - Caramelized Onion Burgers with Garlic Aioli and Baked Cauliflower "Frites" (1/3)

This week was kind of an exciting week in my house. The Picky Eater (PE) I live with is actually going to eat all three of these meals! That is a minor miracle, to say the least. That is one of the major problems with these boxes, if you have dietary restrictions or have picky eaters, they can be hard to commit to. (Note you can always skip a week if you don't like the selection.) It's a little bit of an adventure, you are often forced to try something new or settle for certain things. Like I said before I often have the sides to myself because my PE either can't eat it or doesn't like it. I made this recipe on December 2nd, 2019.

This burger was pretty good, again there wasn't much meat. So it made two patties and that was it. The buns they sent were also a little strange, they were more like sandwich buns, and it was kind of a lot of bread for a hamburger. My PE doesn't like Greens, he doesn't like Mayo on his burgers and he doesn't like Onions, so his was pretty plan. And let's face it those are the things that make a burger look bigger than it actually is. The Cauliflower was delicious. It kind of reminded me of Mac and Cheese. Adding the Garlic-Mayo to it really made it creamy and I was very surprised. Again though the garlic was a problem. You don't really cook the Mayo so the garlic in it stayed raw, and as I said before I am not great at mincing by hand and don't have a garlic press, so that was a bit of a turnoff. Overall, a good meal I would say. The only thing I would have changed was maybe some cheese with the Cauliflower, which takes away from it being a healthy option but I think it could really rival Mac and Cheese for someone who maybe doesn't like vegetables all that much. 

(Side Note: I added a salad to this dish. You can see that in the photo. As I said my PE doesn't eat greens so there was a lot left and I had the Tomatoes from the Tomato Jam in one of the recipes in the last box. You can also see that the bun is much larger than the meat, you can't even see the meat in this photo. For reference, there was more cauliflower (285g) than there was meat (250g).  After cooking the meats shank of course and they definitely didn't cover the bun completely. Also, that was all the cauliflower they sent for two people. As you can probably tell since I added my own salad to it, there wasn't too much food here.)

HelloFresh Subscription Box Week 5

This week I really realized that they try and have something for everyone. As you may be able to tell by now they try and have one meal with the basic proteins. So, there always seems to be a Chicken Dish, a Steak Dish, a Pork Dish, a Fish or Seafood Dish, and they usually try to have an ethnic dish or something that is a little outside the box. It is nice that you can always try something different and yet still in your comfort zone also. This week I picked Pan-Seared Steak au Jus with Warm Potato & Green Pea Salad (spoiler alert, this is the same one as last week just without the Peppercorns), Cajun-Spiced Chicken Burgers with DIY Dill Mayo, and Caramelized Onion Burgers with garlic Aioli and Baked Cauliflower "Frites".

HelloFresh Sub Box - Southwestern Style Pork Tacos with Tomato Lime Salsa and Cheddar Cheese (3/3)

I was alone again for this meal, and again that was probably a good thing. The Picky Eater I live with wouldn't have eaten this anyways and again there really wasn't much meat for two people. Like the last Tacos, it was supposed to make three each, this time they look fuller because of the Salsa they have you make. I would compare these in size to Taco Bell Tacos (size-wise not taste-wise). I ate all six by myself. Again there was no side so all you had for two people was six tacos. I have friends that can eat double that alone! I made this recipe on November 29th, 2019. 

There wasn't much cheese for these tacos, which I understand. They probably wanted to stick as close to tradition as they could while giving it a little familiar twist. The salsa tasted nice and fresh, which is a good thing because it was the more dominant item in the whole dish (portion-wise). I think I liked this one a little better than last time, this has ground Pork instead of the Pork Strips so it was a little more of what I am used to. 

HelloFresh Sub Box - Pan Seared Steak with Peppercorn Pan Sauce and Warm Potato Salad (2/3)

This one was interesting. After making the last Potato Salad cold, I decided to actually try this one hot! SPOILER ALERT: it was DELICIOUS! I think it was the highlight of the meal for me and it really made me think of Warm Salads and how other salads might be perfect this way also. Really a lot of things to think about with this one. I made this recipe on November 28th, 2019. 

I am going to start with the Salad because that was the best part for me. The only thing I would have added would have been pickles. I guess it is just something in my head when I taste dill, I want pickles. But besides that it was great. The Pan Sauce was alright, I think it would have used a little cream though. It was kind of like a gravy more than a sauce, and you have to work with it and eat pretty quickly. 

(Note: I had a cereal bowl on the side of the remaining Potato Salad.)

Open-Faced Mushroom Melt with Tomato-Shallot Jam, Dill-May and Sweet Potato (1/3)

This recipe I have to say was a little odd and confusing to me. I really didn't like the thought of Tomato-Shallot Jame, especially with Mushrooms. I didn't really think that through. They only sent two Portobello Mushrooms. And looking at the photo they send, you realize only four slices of Mushroom should go on each piece of bread. Needless to say, the Jam was a filler to make it look bigger and be more filling. Again I think I was lucky I ate this alone. They did send 2 Bun, so it technically made two each but in reality that one sandwich. You can see from my photo (below), that they didn't really send much cheese either and I tried to average out the number of mushrooms on each. I wouldn't really recommend this recipe (especially for the money) but the flavour was good.  I made this recipe on November 27th, 2019. 

Overall, I would have changed a few things. Instead of the Jam, I would have used Worcestershire Sauce along with the Balsamic Vinegar and made a panini instead. These buns are great but they were a lot of bread for not so much filling. Also, I would have probably used smaller mushrooms. That way you get more surface covered with them and they tend to be cheaper than Portobellos. I also didn't like the Dill Mayo for the sandwich and it didn't really add anything to the Sweet Potato Fries either. I would suggest just plain Mayo for the sandwich and a Spicy Mayo for the Fries. 

HelloFresh Subscription Box Week 4

As I said last week one of the things I liked about HelloFresh is that they would send you little goodies in their boxes. Toward the holidays (Christmas), they would send "gift cards", these were for a free box (up to $120), you could give out to your friends and family. They also had a holiday box around the end of December that was a Turkey Dinner with all the fixing, they sent a lot of papers for that. (You can even see some in the photo below). 

This week I picked Open-Faced Mushroom Melt with Tomato Shallot Jam, Dill Mayo and Sweet Potatoes; also, Pan Seared Steak with Peppercorn Pan Sauce and Warm Potato Salad; and finally, Southwestern Style Pork Tacos with Tomato Lime Salsa and Cheddar Cheese. Two of these the Picky Eater I live with will not eat so I will be alone for those. But he doesn't eat most of the sides anyways. So keep in mind most of the time if you see a side in the photos that is supposed to be for two people (at times it is a lot and at other times it probably wouldn't be much if two people were going to eat it).

Paint By Numbers - Lakeside Cabin (UPDATE)

My amazon addiction is now in overdrive with Christmas coming! The first thing I ordered and received was a paint by numbers kit called Lakeside Cabin.

I have loved Paint by Numbers since I was a child so to find more adult/advanced versions was a great thing for me. Unfortunately, they are really hard to find in stores and hard to find online at a good price. This one was $10.00 (CAN) it was sold by Amazon.ca so it would have shipped for free if my total had been over $25. (It was not so it cost me a little over $6.00 for shipping.)

It's a beautiful picture and hopefully its fun and easy to paint!

This was very fun to paint but not as easy as I thought it would be. It took me a total of 8 days (spread out) to finish and I worked for a couple of hours on it at a time. This one was one that you had to mix colours. That was time-consuming and you really had to play around with it to make sure you got close to the same shade as before if you didn't get all the numbers in one shot. But I do love the way it turned out.

You can find this photo and other Paint by Number Paintings for sale on our website or our Facebook Page.

HelloFresh Sub Box - Oven-Baked Chicken with Creamy Potato Salad and Baby Kale (3/3)

This recipe was pretty interesting. I had never heard of a warm Potato Salad before and it wasn't something I thought would work well with these ingredients. I will say the title was a little misleading. They actually put Kale in the Potato salad so that is why I changed things up. Kale I think is kind of like Spinach in the sense that if you put hot food near or around it, it will wilt. I didn't really want this to happen so I decided to make this salad cold instead. So I didn't do the recipe exactly in the steps they called for. I made the Potatoes and cooled them so that I could make the Potato Salad traditionally. I made this recipe on November 22nd, 2019. 

I don't have much to really say about this recipe. The chicken was basically just battered and baked, nothing too special or extravagant. The only thing I would have maybe done first was pan-fried it first so that the "crust" and seasoning would have stayed on better, but that's just a personal preference. I have a few changes I would have made to the Potato Salad but keep in mind I had mine cold so these changes may not apply to a warm salad. I would have changed the Shallots to Green Onions. I find the Shallots are strong and I usually prefer to add Green Onions to salads. I can see why they would suggest Shallots for a warm salad, I think that I would fry the Shallots though if I was using them. I would have also added a little pickle juice to the Mayo but again that is probably a cold Salad thing. 

Now what I learned from this recipe is this. HelloFresh gets the freshest ingredients. This DOES NOT always mean they are Canadian ingredients. That is one of the things that I misunderstood I guess. Maybe I just assumed they would be getting items in Canada because that's where I am from, but that is not the case. And I figured this out because the pickles they sent (that I LOVED), were from America. Not that there is anything wrong with that, just if that is an important thing for you and your family, now you know. 

HelloFresh Sub Box - Mexican Pork Tacos with Sweet Corn and Lime Crema

This meal I made for just myself. It was actually pretty good, before this, I think I had Pork Tacos once in my life may be so was concerned a little that I wouldn't like them. I believe this is closer to authentic Mexican Tacos. "Tex-Mex" is what Americans and Canadians are probably used to. The main difference seems to be the toppings. While Tex-Mex usually has shredded cheese (and probably other toppings like lettuce, tomatoes, salsa, guacamole and things like that), Authentic Mexican Tacos seem to be just topped with simple ingredients, diced onions, a squeeze of lime juice, and sometimes Cremas. This is very different to what I am used to and it was interesting to try. I made this recipe on November 20th, 2019. 

This recipe was a good one, it was basically Taco Seasoning on Pork Strips. The only real complaint I had was that there wasn't much to eat. I was the only one eating so it was enough for me, but if two people would have to eat this meal, I really don't think there would have been enough.

There were about 16 - 18 strips of meat and you were supposed to make 3 tacos each (for a total of 6). That means that only three pieces could be in each taco (give or take). There were Corn and Peppers to add as toppings but to me, this really wouldn't have been enough for two people. There was also no sides so your meal was three tacos. They definitely weren't filled like the photo showed and they really weren't that filling by themselves. It was nice that you could control the spice yourself.