Category: Food

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Food Experiments: Mozzarella & Mushroom Hoagies | Garden Mushroom-Stuffed Ravioli

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Food Experiments: Mozzarella & Mushroom Hoagies | Garden Mushroom-Stuffed Ravioli

Hello my friends!  I am back with week three of my food experiment with Hello Fresh.  You can read about the other weeks here.  Let’s get into it, shall we?

The Cost

This is going to sound like a complete repeat of last weeks breakdown.  But first, I need to make a correction.  I looked back over our Discover bill and discovered, haha, that I reported the wrong figures for week two.  We were charged $55.37 for week two, which breaks down as:  $27.68 for each of the meals and $6.92 per person.  Sorry for the confusion, but I want to be crystal clear on what this is actually costing us each week.  I see so many people promoting Hello Fresh, for good reason, but they never say what it actually costs.  Thanks for listening. 😀

So, for our third week the two meals cost us $69.04.  Divided by two meals for four people, that works out to $34.52 for each meal or $8.63 per person.  Again, we can’t eat at McDonald’s for that price, so we are already winning in my book.  I didn’t have to go to the grocery store for either of these meals, and the FedEx lady brought it to my front door.   Even better.

However, we usually don’t eat at McDonald’s twice a week either, so you have to factor that in to the weekly cost.

mushroom hoagies

Meal Number 1: Mozzarella & Mushroom Hoagies

This was our favorite meal, I believe, so far.  These were delicious.  I will definitely be making these again.mozzarella and mushroom hoagies I need to experiment and find out what they put in their fry seasoning.  It was really great on the roasted potato wedges.  That’s the one downfall of just using Hello Fresh’s recipes alone.  When they send you your meals, they send you everything that you would need to make it.  You can always substitute veggie stock for veggie stock, but “fry seasoning” is pretty vague.

mozzarella and mushroom hoagies

This meal was SO filling.  It was almost too much for one sitting, but there were no leftovers.garden mushroom ravioli

Meal Number 2: Garden Mushroom-Stuffed Ravioli

The Garden Mushroom Stuffed Ravioli was another hit at our house.  It was very tasty and filling.  Liv loves zucchini, but wasn’t a fan of the ribbons.  She would have preferred that the zucchini was chopped, but that’s just a texture issue, not a taste one.  It looked very pretty even though you can’t tell from my photo.garden mushroom ravioli

This is another recipe that I’ll have to do a substitution with, because I’ve never seen mushroom ravioli at my grocery stores.  But I definitely want to make this one again.  It was delicious.garden mushroom ravioli

Question:  Do you call scallions green onions?  We do.  That was a staple in my Mama and Daddy’s garden every year.  Now I need to find some green onion seed or sets……

My Final Thoughts

Our third week taught us all that we now have two new recipes to add to our meal planning repertoire.  The cost is still perplexing to me.  I have no idea how Hello Fresh calculates what they charge.  And I’m pretty certain from what I can see in the breakdown that I’m not receiving free shipping like they advertised.  The price each week is still falling into what I would budget for all four of us to eat out with, so I’m looking forward to what the remaining weeks of our trial has to offer.

If you would like to try Hello Fresh for yourself, you can use this link to get $100.00 off.  This will also give me $10.00 off too, so thanks in advance!

hello fresh

 

Have you tried Hello Fresh?  What did you think?  Did you find the value in the food or the learning experience?  I need all the details, and if you have a favorite meal from them, I would love to try that too!

 

Food Experiments: Beef & Veggie Bibimbap | Crunchy Curried Chickpea Bowls

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Food Experiments: Beef & Veggie Bibimbap | Crunchy Curried Chickpea Bowls

Hello my friends!  I am back with week two of my food experiment with Hello Fresh.  You can read about the first week here.  Let’s get into it, shall we?

The Cost

For our second week the two meals cost us $69.04.  Divided by two meals for four people, that works out to $34.52 for each meal or $8.63 per person.  We can’t eat at McDonald’s for that price, so we are already winning in my book.  I didn’t have to go to the grocery store for either of these meals, and the FedEx lady brought it to my front door.   Even better.

However, we usually don’t eat at McDonald’s twice a week either, so you have to factor that in.

bibimbap bibimbap

Meal Number 1:  Beef & Veggie Bibimbap

Beef and Veggie Bibimbap was hands down a keeper.  We will definitely be making this again.  I told you in my What’s for Supper post yesterday that we have close friends that are from South Korea.  After I mentioned that we had tried Bibimbap with Hello Fresh, he immediately called home and had his MIL whip up a batch for their supper that night and brought over a huge portion for us to compare to.

Beef a& Veggie BibimbapYou have to remember that my main reason for wanting to try this food experiment was to try new things that I know are supposed to taste like what they actually are.  Kim ran a Korean restaurant for decades and I’m telling you it was very, very close to what she made us for dinner.  She is an AMAZING cook and what I made was very comparable.

Beef & Veggie Bibimbap

Another thing that I love about Hello Fresh is the portion sizes.  They send you EXACTLY the amount of everything that you need to cook the meal (with the exception of olive oil, butter, salt, pepper, etc) and the portions are spot on.  We had extra beef because I fried Liv some tofu to go with her bowl (she doesn’t eat meat), so her portion was left over.  I had thought that I would just divide it between the three of us, but I seriously did not need it.  It was perfect the way they intended and it was extremely filling.  We loved this meal!

Meal Number 2:  Crunchy Curried Chickpea Bowls

Crunchy Curried Chickpea Bowls was another matter.   I’m calling this a fail.  Not because the meal was bad, but because apparently none of us are ready for curry in our culinary journey.

Crunchy Curried Chickpea Bowls

I can’t actually say that with any authority, because none of us had ever had curry before.  I don’t know if it was the curry or just the mixture of SO many things in this bowl that we don’t normally eat together.  It had jasmine rice with carrots, fried kale, pickled cabbage, crunchy chickpeas – which Liv and I love, I make them quite often – with raisins sprinkled over the top and a drizzle of the curry, sour cream mixture over the top of everything.  It was A LOT of flavors mixed together.
Crunchy Curried Chickpea Bowls

We should definitely try curry again, but I think I will try to find something a little more – simple – next time.

My Final Thoughts

Our first weeks meals broke down to $5.28 per person, per meal.  Our second weeks meals were $8.63 per person, per meal.  As I said the first week, I don’t know how Hello Fresh does their math, so I’m still waiting to see what the rest of the weeks break down like.

It is still very worth it to us as a family because Number One:  we can afford to pay the cost each week, and Number Two:  it’s doing exactly what I wanted this experiment to do, which is get us out of our comfort zone, to try new things, and eat more veggies in our diet.  If you are in a financial place where the cost would make this experiment prohibitive for your family, I would HIGHLY recommend that you search their recipes and make it yourself.  So far their recipes have been quite simple and easy to follow and the meals taste delicious.  If you overlook the fact that we are apparently not very adventurous when it comes to curry. 🙂

If you would like to try Hello Fresh for yourself, you can use this link to get $100.00 off.  This will also give me $10.00 off too, so thanks in advance!

Have you tried Hello Fresh?  What did you think?  Did you find the value in the food or the learning experience?  I need all the details, and if you have a favorite meal from them, I would love to try that too!

Food Experiment Hello Fresh

Hello Fresh

Food Experiments: Number 1 and Number 2

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Food Experiments: Number 1 and Number 2

Hello my friends!  For the next five weeks I am performing what I call a food experiment at my house.  I have been on the fence for quite a while about Hello Fresh.  I have watched so many people that I follow on social media order it and cook it and love it.  But I’ve hesitated.  The number one reason being the cost.  I need to state right up front, Hello Fresh is not paying me to review their products.  This is going to be my honest opinion on the cost, the taste, the ease of cooking, etc.

An invitation came in the mail about a week ago for 16 free meals with a trial run, so we decided to try it out.  Another big reason that I had for wanting to try it is to get out of my comfort zone.  I’ve had couscous in my pantry for at least eight months and I’ve been hesitant to try it.  Yes, I know couscous is VERY easy to cook, but I didn’t trust a random recipe for something that I had never eaten before.  I mean, I can grill chicken and make a pot of couscous, but what do you put on it?  Do you eat it plain?

Basically, I want to try new to us foods that I know are supposed to be yummy without paying restaurant prices for something that I may or MAY NOT like.  I chose the vegetarian option for the first week, because we eat a lot of meat on a regular basis and I would like to incorporate more veggies into our diet.  Also, Liv doesn’t eat meat, so this simplifies things for me.

Hello Fresh 16 free meals

The Cost

When you sign up, you have options of how many meals you want each week and you can choose how many people that you will be feeding.  We chose the two meal per week option for four people.  The first week I was charged $42.27 for both meals.  I don’t know how Hello Fresh does their math, but when I the code in that you see above, it only gave me eleven free meals.  Next week, my price is supposed to be $55.37.  I’ll update you each week.

We had 25 options to choose our meals from.  But, since I wanted to do veggie only meals for those two meals, it knocked our choices down to six.  This must be the norm for Hello Fresh, because when I looked over the options for week 2 there were only six options available in the veggie section too.

Mediterranean Baked Veggies

Meal Number 1

For our first meal, I chose Mediterranean Baked Veggies with Couscous, Almonds and Feta.  The instructions they give you with the card are very easy to follow, very clear and concise.  I felt like someone who hasn’t cooked very much would easily be able to follow them.  It might take slightly longer than 30 minutes if you are novice, but still very doable.  One thing that I LOVE about Hello Fresh is that everything that you need – except salt, pepper, olive oil and butter – is included in your bag.  I didn’t need to go to my local grocery store and fight through the hoards to pick up ripe tomatoes and yummy looking asparagus.  They brought it to my front door and I stuck it in the fridge until I was ready to cook it the next day.  I LOVE this.  I may say this more than once.  Ahem.

I used one sheet pan, two pots and that’s it.  I loved that I could immediately throw the small amount of packaging into my recycle bin as I cooked, so cleanup was essentially nothing.  I LOVED that too!

I had never had couscous and I really like it.  I can’t wait to find a new recipe with couscous in it to try and see what yummy meals I can make out of it.  I also love tomatoes and asparagus, so that was a hit.  I don’t think I’ve ever eaten feta before.  It’s very strong, and it colored my view of the entire meal.  I think if I made this again, I would definitely used a different type of cheese to see if I like it better.  Yes, I know that’s what makes this Mediterranean, but I don’t care, lol.  The crunch of the slivered almonds and the scallions (or green onions where I’m from) was really good too.

Denton was worried about the portion sizes.  His thoughts going into this was we had better have hot dogs or something else later for when we get hungry again, hahahaha.  Surprisingly, this meal was very, very filling.  We eat supper at – brace yourself – around 4:00 PM every day.  It’s a habit that I got into when we moved here 13 years ago.  That’s the time that Denton came home from work and the kid’s got off the bus, so that’s when I had dinner ready every day.  I’ve never gotten out of that habit, so we still eat really early compared to “normal” people.  All of that to say, I didn’t want anything later for a snack.  It was that filling.  I think I can learn to really love couscous for that fact alone.

Overall, it was a good meal.  It wasn’t outstanding, but in my opinion my experiment is bearing out – I learned that I like couscous and want to make it again and my entire family tried something together that none of us had had before.

Gnocchi with Spinach and Heirloom tomatoes

Meal Number 2

The next meal, which I made the next day, was Gnocchi with Spinach and Heirloom Tomatoes topped with Garlic Butter Breadcrumbs.  I am here to proclaim right off the bat, that I LOVED this meal.  Every time Denton and I eat at Olive Garden I get the Chicken and Gnocchi soup and this is very similar.  It has a creamy base with wilted spinach and warmed tomatoes topped with garlicky buttered panko breadcrumbs, which I love.  If you’ve ever tried my version of Shrimp Scampi with Orecchiette, the topping is very similar and I think it makes the dish.  This is the same for me.

Just like the first meal, the directions were pretty simple and straightforward.  It took around 20 minutes just like it said.  I only used one pan and one pot, so cleanup was easy.  I will definitely make this again.  I will say that this meal wasn’t as stick to your ribs as the couscous one was, but it was very filling.  I just wanted a snack about 9:00 PM. 😀

My Final Thoughts

Our first weeks meals broke down to $5.28 per person, per meal.  Cheaper than McDonald’s for our crew and much, much tastier.  So far, I am very glad that I am trying this experiment.  Our meals get delivered on Saturday evening, so I will continue next week just like I did this one and cook the meals on Sunday and Monday.  Another perk about cooking this way, is that I’m not responsible for meal planning two of our meals and I really love that.

Next week, we are having Crunchy Curried Chickpea Bowls for our veggie meal and I chose Beef and Veggie Bibimbap for our second meal.  I can’t wait, and I’ll be sure to let you know all about it.

If you would like to try Hello Fresh for yourself, you can use this link to get $100.00 off.  This will also give me $10.00 off too, so thanks in advance!

Have you tried Hello Fresh?  What did you think?  Did you find the value in the food or the learning experience?  I need all the details, and if you have a favorite meal from them, I would love to try that too!

Hello Fresh

Stuffed Mushrooms

Stuffed Mushrooms

Published on by Tracie2 Comments
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If you want an easy, delicious appetizer, or just a quick, tasty snack, this recipe for stuffed mushrooms is the recipe you’ll want to try next.  They are so good.  Here’s how I make them:

Clean your mushrooms well.

Pop out all of the stems….Put all of the caps into a baking dish…..Finely chop the stems…..Remember how I told you to use everything you pay for?  I keep the ends of my onions in a baggy in the fridge for just such purposes as this.Use it all up and you’ll have so little waste.    Meanwhile, add butter with salt and pepper to a pan….Add your finely diced mushroom stems and onions….  Begin to sauté.  Then add in 264 cloves of garlic.  Or to your taste.     

While that’s doing its thing, put four ounces of cream cheese in a mixing bowl and add your spices….Mix to combine….Add in your shredded cheese.Mix in the mushroom stems, onion and garlic mixture with the cream cheese mixture….Start stuffing the mushroom caps….   I just use a regular spoon.  It goes quickly.   When you have them all stuffed……Bake for 30 minutes in a 400* oven.  And enjoy!   Stuffed Mushrooms

Stuffed Mushrooms

Stuffed Mushrooms

Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes

Ingredients
  

  • 8 ounces mushrooms
  • 1/2 small onion
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 5 cloves garlic
  • 4 ounces cream cheese
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 1/4 tsp onion powder
  • 1/8 tsp cayenne powder
  • 3/4 cup shredded cheese

Instructions
 

  • Clean mushrooms well.
  • Pop out stems of mushrooms and finely dice along with onion; fry in butter with garlic cloves. Cool slightly.
  • Mix cream cheese, spices, shredded cheese and sauteed mixture well. Stuff into the mushroom caps.
  • Bake in a 400* oven for 30 minutes. Serve and enjoy!
What's for supper? 11.18.19

What’s for Supper? 11.18.19

Published on by Tracie2 Comments

We are starting a brand new week!  So wipe the slate clean and start fresh.  I’m talking to myself, but maybe you needed to have someone tell you that today too.  Life is so hectic; don’t beat yourself up over things that you didn’t get accomplished on your giant TO-DO list.  I’m starting a new list today and will go from here.

One of the things that I love about the Fly Lady cleaning system (which I fail at constantly) is one of her constant sayings:  Progress not perfection.   Whenever I fail at something, see note above, I remind myself of this.

Case in point, I have failed miserably at keeping an account of what we’ve been eating.  Life is hectic.  I’m trying to find better substitute words for the word busy.  Today I like hectic.  We’ll see what I come up with next week.  Let’s see what we ate last week!

Sunday: 

Roast beef dinner with all of the trimmings.  I love having this because I know that we get to have the leftovers the next day for supper.  Delicious.

Monday:

Leftover Roast beef on garlic toast.  This is so, so good!

Tuesday: 

Taco’s, Quesadillas and chip’s and salsa.  I wanted taco pie, but everyone voted NO.  They wanted straight taco’s.  Which is quicker.  But I have a feeling you will see taco pie on my list next week….

Wednesday: 

Hamburgers.  Need something quick?  This is always one of my go-to’s when I need to get food on the table pronto.  Now I just need to restock my freezer with hamburger.

Thursday: 

Tuna sandwiches.  I told you it’s been hectic.  We’ve gone into the city twice in the past week.  It makes me feel tired just thinking about it.  Living at the back end of beyond gets tiresome when you need something from Home Depot.  I looked it up, the closest Home Depot to my driveway is 1 hour and 18 minutes away.  One way.  Tuna sandwiches please!

Friday: 

Spaghetti and Alfredo with garlic toast.  My wish was for soup beans and to my horror I discovered that I didn’t have any.  How this is possible in my house, I have no idea.  They are on the current grocery list.

Saturday: 

Chili with grits.  One of Denton’s favorites.  Actually everyone in my house likes our recipe for chili.  So there is never a complaint when I make it.  I’m the only one who actually eats it with grits though.  Denton’s favorite is with a sleeve of saltine crackers.  Hayden wants tortilla chips and Liv ate hers with plain ramen noodles this time.  To each his own.  Especially when it’s that easy.

That’s it for last week.  I hope you had a great week.  What did you eat last week?  What are you planning to eat this week?  We need to eat something new, but I’m too tired right now to come up with a plan on my own, hahaha!

What's for supper? 11.18.19

Food Lion: Hellmann’s Mayo $1.99!!

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I ran into my local Food Lion yesterday on my way home to grab a couple of things and I spotted a sale hang tag on their Hellmann’s mayonnaise for $3.49.

There were three different sizes – 24 ounce, 30 ounce and 36 ounce – all for $3.49.  I grabbed five of the 36 ounce jars, because I knew that Ibotta was giving $1.50 back for up to FIVE of them.  Which makes each of those, delicious, yummy jars $1.99 each.  Woo-hoo!

You know my love of Hellmann’s mayonnaise, and when I can stock up on something that I know we are going to use in the next few months at an AWESOME price, you better believe that I bought the limit!

Do you have the Ibotta app yet?  You should get it pronto!  If you use my link you’ll get a $10.00 sign up bonus.  Woo-hoo!   Free money!

Note: This post may contain affiliate links. Check out what that means to you here. 

Quick Tip: Cereal Bags

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Last week I told you guys what I do with just a handful of leftover cereal, and this week I wanted to show you what I do with the leftover cereal bags.  About ten years ago, I found a brand new box of wax paper sheets at a yard sale for a $0.25.  A quarter, you guys!  It had over 1,000 sheets in the box.  I just ran out of them this year.  It was a sad, sad day at my house.

The main reason that I used those sheets, was to separate my hamburger patties when I put them into freezer bags each time I had extras.  They won’t stick together and create a huge clump of raw hamburger meat this way.  Otherwise, what was the point of spending all that time patty-ing them out?

Every time I empty one of our cereal boxes, I save the liner. 

I just open the entire thing up….

Like so.

Cut it in half……

Again, and again, and again, until I get the size I want.

They make perfect separators for my hamburger patties.  And they are FREE.   Which is one of my favorite words.

Quick Tip: Cereal

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At our house I buy cereal for snacks.  We don’t eat it as a breakfast food, because it just doesn’t sustain anyone at my house.  But a sweet snack?  Yep.

Inevitably there is always just a handful of cereal left at the bottom of the box.  Every.Single.Time.

Instead of putting that last handful of cereal down the garbage disposal – because NO ONE wants to eat just a handful of cereal with milk, that would just make everyone grumpy – I stick it into a baggy and put it in someones lunchbox for a sweet treat.

Now there is nothing thrown away, and someone will get a sweet surprise at lunch time.

Best EVER 4 Ingredient Potato Soup

Published on by Tracie7 Comments

Seriously.  This is the best potato soup.  Bonus that it’s so easy to make.  I love recipes like this.  Very few ingredients, it tastes amazing, and it’s easy.  It ticks all of my boxes.  Here’s how you do it.

potato

Wash and peel your potatoes.  I always buy russet potatoes.  I use them in this soup and my mashed potatoes.  They are delicious.

I always judge how many potatoes to use by their size.  If they are gigantic the way we like to use them for our Restaurant Baked Potatoes, I’ll use one per person and add in an extra just in case.  If they are smaller, I’ll use two per person with an extra two.  Make sense?

Chop them up and add them to a stock pot with chicken broth and water to cover.  You can sub in vegetable stock/broth here for the chicken broth.

chicken broth

I generally use one 14 ounce can of chicken broth and the rest water, but you can use straight chicken broth if you would like.

Salt and pepper too.  I do NOT count salt and pepper in the ingredients list.  I always have salt and pepper on hand, and actually don’t know anyone who doesn’t.

Next I add in a pinch of cayenne pepper.  If you need an exact measurement of a pinch I would guestimate half of 1/8 teaspoon.  This is going to give it an amazing depth without people not quite knowing why.  If you like heat, you can add as much as you like.  Cook everything until the potatoes are fork tender.cream cheese

This is your secret ingredient and will make this soup something you’ll add into your weekly rotation.  I like to take the cream cheese out of its package and put it straight into a bowl.   Add in a couple of large ladles of your potato water and use a hand blender to completely meld the two together.  I love my hand blender.  I got it as a wedding gift and it has literally lasted for almost 25 years now.  Then you just pour that straight into your pot.

At this point I turn the soup OFF.  I like to let it start to cool for about 30 minutes before I serve it.  This does two things.  It will drop the temperature of the soup from ‘surface of the sun’ realm to a ‘just right to eat it’ temperature.  It will also give the soup a “rest” so that it can slightly thicken as it cools down. 

This makes the best leftovers too.  If you have any leftovers, that is.  I would definitely recommend doubling this recipe, because it’s even better the next day!  Now I’m off to make soup.  Here’s the handy dandy printable:

Best EVER 4 Ingredient Potato Soup

Print Recipe

Ingredients
  

  • Potatoes. You can make as much or as little soup as you like I estimate 1 large potato per person with an extra thrown in for good measure.
  • 1 14 ounce can of chicken broth
  • A pinch of Cayenne pepper less than 1/8 of teaspoon
  • 1 Block of Cream Cheese
  • Salt and pepper to taste I don't count this as an ingredient - most people have this on hand

Instructions
 

  • Wash, peel and dice your potatoes.
  • Add chicken broth and water to cover the potatoes.
  • Add Cayenne pepper.
  • Cook until the potatoes are fork tender.
  • Put the cream cheese into a bowl and cover with the hot potato water. Blend with a hand mixer until thoroughly combined. Pour the combined mixture into the pot.
  • Turn the soup OFF. Let cool for approximately 30 minutes and enjoy!

The LAST Coffee Filter

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How is this even possible?  This is the LAST coffee filter in my house.   I knew.  I make the coffee every single morning at my house, after all.  I almost never drink it, but I make it every day for Denton and Liva.

While I was cooking supper yesterday, Denton and I were talking about it.  I actually can only recall buying coffee filters a couple of times in our entire marriage.  That’s over twenty-three years people.  It just seems that there is an endless, bottomless supply of those things.  Something that replenishes itself overnight.  Every night.  Because I don’t remember ever getting to the bottom of the pile.

Dear coffee filter fairy:  I would like to put in a request for other items to be replenished…

In other breaking news, this is the state of the coffee container.

Ahhhh, the smell of an open container of coffee.  There is nothing to rival it is there?  I love that smell.  I don’t have to drink it to appreciate that smell every morning when I pop that lid off.  It’s already on the white board of my kitchen grocery list.  Coffee.  Coffee filters.

That’s my boring update on what’s been on my mind this morning.  Coffee filters.  Maybe I should have a cup of coffee to kickstart my brain today.  Did anything extra exciting happen at your house this morning, like getting to the bottom of the coffee filters for the first time in memory?