This is something I am a bit ashamed to say I have never gotten good at in our 9.5 years of marriage. So lately, especially with me working two jobs, one full time from home with two little ones, this results in us picking something up. Which is neither cheap nor healthy. Nor a good example for my daughters, who started to think dinner comes from a store/restaurant/eatery, not a kitchen. "what we gonna pick up for dinner mom?"
Enter Hello Fresh. My dear friend Lindsey turned me on to this idea of paying someone to bring meal items to my house, and I cook the preportioned ingredients to form a meal. This seemed too easy, cheating, too good to be true. J and I have talked about it for almost two years off and on, but never actually pulled the trigger (J uses this phrase a lot - as I write it, I'm wondering if maybe it's not best to write those words, but ah well) on ordering. Then we went to our neighbors' house a few weeks back and started talking about this meal planning thing. They've been getting meals from Hello Fresh for a long time and sold us on it as they busted out these rad recipe cards and talked about all the portioned ingredients and how easy it is.
So, with nothing to lose (and no cancellation fee) we ordered our first week's meals, which came last week.
oh. my. goodness.
For the first time in forever (you can sing that like Anna would, it's ok), I haven't been stressed about dinner. I don't have to worry about what to make for dinner and what to buy at the store. We pick our three meals from our seven options or whatever each week (different options each week!) and they bring three meals at a time on Mondays. (I will say, the presentation could be slightly better. But the fact that I can throw all the scraps in the bag and toss it at the end of the meal is pretty cool, so I'm ok with brown bags.)
Last week we had Burrata and Lemon Zest Ravioli
Kiwi salsa and Steak Fajitas
and creamy dill chicken.
This week, so far we have had Lemon Shrimp Risotto
and Crispy Cheddar Frisco Cheeseburgers.
And Friday night we have New York Strip Steak with truffle potatoes and green beens.
Let's take a minute to acknowledge that I am not a food photographer, so I don't even think these pictures look appetizing, and I ate the food. But seriously, 1. they all were really good, and 2. we made them!
Dinner has become fun! I'm sure this isn't a forever thing, but so far it's been the same cost or cheaper, and we are eating at home three times a week, and eating different types of foods and they have all been surprisingly good! And I can say I made dinner. Because I did. Someone else just helped me figure out what to make and delivered the ingredients to my door.
SO thankful for whoever thought up this brilliant idea of food delivery. It feels like cheating, but I don't care. I am totally sold.