Review Wednesday - HelloFresh (Week 12)

 As we mentioned before, we are doing these reviews a little differently this year. So today we are going to discuss all three meals for this week. (We ordered this in January of 2020.) This week we had Peruvian Lomo Saltado Steak with Spiced Fries, Greek Lemon Chicken with Herby Couscous, Roasted Veggies, and Feta, and finally, Sizzling Pork Fajitas with Roasted Peppers, Lime Crema, and Salsa Fresca.

Alright, we are starting with the Peruvian Lomo Saltado Steak with Spiced Fries. Now I made a few changes to this recipe. Instead of baking the fries in the oven, I made them in the air-fryer. I must admit I did not like them, at all in the air-fryer. I really should have stuck to the recipe. But anyone with more experience with the air-fryer may be able to make adjustments to enjoy it that way. I also didn't use the Jalapenos. I like a bit of heat but not enough to eat them just like that.

One of the things I did love about this recipe was the onions on top. I am normally not a fan of onions. But these turned out really well and they had a great flavour. They even inspired me to write a recipe. I think they would be a great addition to a French Onion Soup or even a French Dip Soup, so stay tuned for that recipe!!

The next recipe is Greek Lemon Chicken and Herby Couscous with Roasted Veggies and Feta. This one was delicious and it really had a greek theme to it. The only thing I would have changed was the Sweet Pepper, I think Tomatoes would have been a better choice, but I understand they wanted to give the dish a little crunch. To me, it seems a little off-putting and out of place. Another thing I would have liked would have been maybe some Capers or some olives, a little salt would have been nice. But again, those are just personal things. One thing I did love was the lemon. Even if you are not a fan of lemon this dish needs it. The lemon makes all the ingredients just pop and it steps the whole dish up a notch.

This recipe really was good. I think it was just combining two really good ideas into one thing that maybe would have been better alone. I am tempted to try and make a Warm Roasted Veggies Salad with these ingredients (minus the chicken) and seeing how that works out. I think it would be great and for added salt, I would make the feta larger chunks. Also, a cold salad would be great too I think using the Couscous and sticking to Greek flavours like Olives, Tomatoes, the Feta (with the olives the feta can be smaller and crumbly like above). I think they would both work really well!

And finally, Sizzling Pork Fajitas!! This one was good also. It is traditional in the sense that there is no cheese (which is how it normally is made), but I think most people (in Canada and the United States) expect cheese. So you may need to add your own if you choose.

Now what I did was I made all the components and put them on a plate. I enjoy doing this with Tacos and Nachos or anything of this nature simply because I find it easier to control the portions this way, and you can enjoy you meal without worrying about there being too much salsa or not enough meat. I also think it makes you feel like you have eaten more than if you just have two or three Fajitas on a plate.

That is it for this week, we have three more reviews to share next week! And who knows maybe we will come up with more recipes from those also!!

Multipurpose Meals

 This month that is what we are focusing on. One of the best ways to save money is to use the same ingredients as much as possible. And oftentimes that seems like the same old food over and over again. But thinking out of the box can lead to easy addition that changes a meal completely.

Today, we are going to look at Ground Beef. Of course ground beef is so versatile that it is no surprise that you can take it and transform it into a million and one different dishes. Today specifically we are going to look at "Taco Meat". And the first dish is Tacos (or Nachos if you prefer). Plain and simple you take a taco kit, plus an extra taco seasoning package. You cook up a family (or value) package of meat and add the seasonings in. Once this meat is cooked, you have the bases for multiple meals.

Simply heating up the tacos and topping them with what you like, is one meal done. But there is a lot of meat left. In fact, enough meat for two more meals! The next meal we are going to look at can go two ways. You can add rice to the leftover meat and make Stuffed Cabbage or Stuffed Peppers! For Stuff Cabbage we use White Minute Rice, for Stuffed Peppers we use an Uncle Ben's Spice Rice Bag. You simply add the rice to the meat and you have the basics for the stuffing. (For Stuffed Cabbage we add a can of diced tomatoes - slightly drained, for Stuffed Peppers we add some tomato sauce - from the taco package, and cheese.)

Make sure to cook the peppers slightly first (not fully because they will go back in the oven again), top with cheese, and then cook until the cheese is melted (if you like it browned, try putting it under the broiler for a few minutes!). Finally, we have a Taco Salad. With the rest of the meat, or even if it has the rice in it. Add it to a salad. This could even use up some of the taco toppings from the first meal! A great salad dressing too uses sour cream, any leftover tomato sauce (from the kit) or salsa, or even guacamole!

Mario Monday - Character Graphs (Week 11)

 Today we are changing things up a little. This month we are going to be releasing one graph of each character. They are all going to be holding some item found in the game. Each week (this month), is going to be a different item and character but we do have a graph of all the characters holding each item.

We want this Crochet Along (CAL) to be fun for everyone, so we will only share these four graphs for Mario Monday, but this month we will share four OTHER graphs as a Freebie Friday! If you are taking on all the crochet graphs for this CAL, you should crochet those also! If you are just picking and choosing the ones you want, feel free to browse and save the free ones if you like them.

Note that you will need additional colours this month (Black, Blue - different shade than the normal blue, red -darker than the regular red, almost burgundy). These graphs are a little larger but they will work out in another layout that we will share in the end. For now you can also used them to make scarves or you can use to follow layout 1 or 2 using these slightly larger graphs.

Today's graph is Mario holding what looks like a Potion. This potion turns into a door and sort of teleports the character to another reality where they can find mushrooms and coins!

This graph is 20 x 40 stitches and includes the following colours:

Red (Cherry)

Blue (Navy)

Skin Colour

White

Black

Lighter Blue

Background