Hello Fresh 2

A few posts back I posted our Hello Fresh meals we got, the next week we got another batch because I… stupidly forgot to cancel my order… doh.

We had some really nice recipes again, although they all needed a lot of ingredients we wouldn’t usually have.

The veggie burger was lovely though, yum yum yum. Look how big it was!

The only bad thing was the a ciabatta that came with one if the recipes had mould on it! We rang up to complain and they refunded us £5 (gee big spenders…).

  And that’s all, I have now cancelled the subscription because I am destitute thanks to my poor ill car who has been mended at great cost 😦

Hello Fresh

   Have you seen those adverts on Facebook for Hello Fresh? I had and I wanted to try them out but they were a little too pricey for poor old me so when I saw a Groupon offer for them I thought I would give them a go, especially now Kimberly is around to help out. You go to their website and pick what sort of box you want, we’re both a bit fussy with meat so we chose a vegetarian box and it came in the post Thursday.

And when you open it up there’s some glossy things to read and a little magazine that I chucked because… well I don’t care what they’ve been up to at staff HQ, I want my food damnit.

We got our recipe cards included which are handy and you can reuse (at least you can if your girlfriend Kim doesn’t spill food all over them) and they come in a nice little wallet for you to store them in.

All the food is also in the box of course and they have a clever way of storing the refrigerated goods in a sort of cool pack wrap that’s biodegradable.

The first recipe we made was a courgette pasta dish (or courgetay as Kim pronounces it to my endless amusement – apparently it’s called zucchini in America) and it turned out really tasty.

The second dish was a kind of greek salad and pitta bread which was tasty but so filling, we had loads left over afterwards.

The last dish was an aubergine curry (or obbergine according to Kim, apparently this is called egg plant back home) and we both agreed this was the best one. Again the portion sizes were huge so we saved a portion each for lunch tomorrow.

All in all we both really liked Hello Fresh, it was nice to try new dishes and make stuff together, none of the meals were too difficult or took too long to make and it was nice to have everything supplied for you ready to go. If it was cheaper I would definitely order boxes regularly but as it is, I think just for treats… and for next week cuz I forgot to cancel the subscription – doh!

If anyone wants to try a box for free then contact me – I have 4 free boxes to give away?

Cooking Up A Storm

I decided the other day I would make some roast potatoes… I’ve never made roast potatoes before so I googled a recipe and found a Jamie Oliver page.

My roast potato advisor Jamie Oliver told me I should get nice things to marinate the potatoes in like garlic and the such like… what is a ‘glug’ of olive oil? I want measurements god dammnit Jamie!

I thought I’d add some onions too.

I parboiled the potatoes and then kinda… shook them… beat up the potatoes a bit… Jamie told me to.

Added some seasoning.

And they were real niiiice. But not as brown as when my mum makes them, sorry Jamie.

In other news I fancied some berries the other day.

They’re so tasty.

Berries for all!

Creme Egg Brownies

I decided as it’s Valentines Day and I have the day off to make a treat.

Feast your eyes on these, the recipe is here.

They’re so gooey and tasty, even without the eggs they’re the best brownies I’ve ever made.

Spring

Spring has sprung and I decided to celebrate my Easter holidays with some cookies.

I found this cookie dough in Sainsbury’s and thought I’d try it

All you have to do is cut up the dough

Roll it into balls and put onto a baking sheet

Then cook, how simple is that? And they tasted really nice. I may have tried some of the cookie dough raw too, so so good.

The weather here is still coldish but at least it’s dry and I can hang out some laundry outside, supervised by my little furry assistant of course. My mum and sister are also staying a few days which is nice and I managed to fit in extra hours at work so I dont feel as guilty having time off of uni.

Soup-er

We did our weekly shop at Tesco’s this week instead of our beloved Sainsbury’s and although I was a bit disappointed (they didn’t have Tunnocks teacakes!!) I did pick up a soup vegetable mix for a pound. Bargain!

And I didn’t realise just how easy it is to make soup, I popped my veg in the saucepan

Mixed my two stock cubes in water

Mixed the two and brought to the boil

Covered and boiled for 30 mins

Let it cool for a little while and then blitzed it in my blender

Then back in the pan to heat! I honestly did not know soup was this easy – I think some people must just make it look hard!

Easy Ham & Peas Risotto

When I have spare time I do enjoy cooking but I find the problem with so many recipes is that I’m a lazy cook and if there are too many ingredients I’m not interested. I’m not going out to buy chicory, fennel seeds, ground cloves or bay leaves – it’s just not happening. Yes I know it makes the recipe fancy and “different” buy I just can’t be arsed.

Imagine my joy when I see a risotto recipe with only 5 ingredients! Score!

I chopped my leek first (this was an extra ingredient as I happened to have one in the fridge and though may as well stick it in).

Then my onion.

And I fried this in spray olive oil for about 5 minutes and then added chopped ham from the deli (3 slices).

Then I gave that a fry for another 5 or so minutes.

Then I made up a litre of vegetable stock (using stock cubes obviously, I’m far too lazy to make up actual stock) and added the stock and 300 grams of risotto rice to the pan and brought it to the boil.

I turned the heat down a little, covered and left it for 20 mins stirring occasionally. Then I added my peas and left on the heat for about 3 minutes stirring.

I gave it the taste test and decided to add a little more water because I like softer rice – stir, stir, stir.

And then a bit of parmesan to finish, yummerz! I found we had way too much for two people but I think could serve 4 if there was also a small side?

And there you have it, the cheater’s risotto.

Easy Apple Pudding

I had extra apples the other day so I was googling recipes to use them up until I found that my mum had put a lovely apple pudding recipe in a recipe tin she gave me although – I don’t remember her ever making me this!

I cracked 3 eggs.

I added my sifted sugar and flour

Gave it a good whisk with a fork

I got my apples

Gave them a chop and lined the bottom of my tin (although I have a smaller tin than I needed so I used less sugar and flour). I only needed about 2 and a half so I ate the other half left over to destroy the evidence and taste test – very important.

Then I covered my chopped apples with the batter

Cooked it for 30 mins, checked and then left it in for another 10 mins

Then my apple pud was done

Tasty tasty!

Philadelphia BBQ Macaroni Cheese

You know those TV ads with recipes on? I decided I’d make some macaroni cheese using Philadelphia  (I promise I don’t advertise for Philadelphia or puff pastry, I know I talk about them a lot but I’m just weirdly obsessed – should Philadelphia or the puff pastry people wish to pay me I’m totally game).

First I cooked my macaroni

Then I got out the Philadelphia ready for mixing up, it said to use 120g of it but I thought “meh” and just tipped the whole thing in otherwise I’d be stuck with 80g of Philadelphia in my fridge I’d forget was there.

Next I added in my milk, then some cheese and salt and pepper.

It was at this point I was reading through the reviews on the Philadelphia and saw a few “nice but a bit bland” and “needs more flavour” reviews. Panic set in. I did what every good English woman would do – cupboard raid! I then came across some of the boyfriend’s BBQ glaze – perfect I thought! In it went.

Gave it all a little mix until it got all lumpy and gross.

Drained my macaroni

Then I cut up my tasty honey roasted ham from the deli counter and drained my sweetcorn.

Mixed everything together.

Topped with some cheesy goodness.

Then into the oven for 15 mins…. yummerz, it came out great and the boyfriend had seconds – a hit!