Getting Fresh

We have had a fun week in the kitchen. A couple of weeks ago Kim and Sean very kindly sent us a Hello Fresh food box gift voucher. We placed our order and the ingredients and recipes for five evening meals for two arrived last Sunday. So, each weekday this week we have been having a treat. It is something I have been wanting to try for awhile, but the cost put me off a little, so this has been a really good opportunity for us. 

How did it go I hear you ask? Overall, very well. We ordered a standard package of meals so Hello Fresh determined what we got, and in what order the meals should be eaten. We enjoyed all of them, though one or two more than others. We were impressed that with each meal there was a very good balance of flavours. All were tasty and nothing was overpowering. The portions were a good size too, and each meal felt a little special. 

On the downside, I was less impressed by the protein and carb balance. We had chicken, chicken, beef, beef, pork, and bread, spuds, rice, rice and rice respectively. I normally try and ring the changes more than that, and would like to have seen fish and a meat free meal. I do accept that we could have tailored the five meals provided but with never having done this before, we thought we would just go for the default. The other issues were that for every meal, the protein and where provided the veg, were shallow fried. I can’t remember the last time we used Burnt Toast mode on the HRV five nights in a row. Nothing was baked, roasted, grilled or boiled. There was also a vast amount of packaging involved, but this was because each meal is “self contained”, so the bag includes a packet of rice for two people for that meal. We didn’t get one bag of rice which contained six portions that we could weight out, for example. I understand their approach, but it’s just startling when we are so use to cooking with loose ingredients. 

Overall, we found it an enjoyable experience and we will keep and probably repeat some of the recipes, though none of them are unique and similar dishes can be found in appropriate recipe books. Would we do it again, with our own money? Yes, I think we would, if we wanted a treat, and might combine it with a self catering holiday. My main reservation with this is that when you sign-up on the website, you become a subscriber, so unless you take action, you will get a box every week automatically after the first order, and pay for it! I would much prefer the ability for a one-off purchase, but neither Hello Fresh or their competitors appear to offer this option.

The rest of our week has been much more routine - church activities for Nicky, a little work for me, and small loads of washing which can be dried inside due to showers or rain most days. We have seen some sun, more so towards the end of the week.

Nicky had a good Maranatha meeting at Ken’s on Monday evening, had her hair done by Doris on Tuesday morning, and ran another BHB Quilters session yesterday. Mary’s broken arm is now out of it’s sling, but she wasn’t up to the whole of the quilting session.

On Friday we started binge watching The Crown Series Two on DVD, and expect to finish it tonight. Very good, though you may already know that!

Scrabbling is happening as I type, and I have no idea if any of the words that might be banned are being used, but they are a pretty unruly bunch (they look up words before playing them!), so I wouldn’t be surprised.

I am not going to comment on the shenanigans in the National Party this week, other than to say GO JACINDA!

Take care, Rick

Another picture of the CBD from the archive, this one taken from Sulphur Beach: