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.