Hello and welcome to a new series I’m starting out: Foodie
Friday. I’ve made a fair few food and recipe related posts in the past, and
quite enjoy writing them. I’ve started to get more into my cooking of late and
have started to try out ‘Hello Fresh’, a food subscription service that will
send you exactly what you need (no more or less) to create your chosen meal(s).
I’ll be running this alongside of my brand new YouTube channel, which will have a step by step visual showing you what to do with the ingredients listed in this post. As I’ve already fallen into the routine of a plant video every Tuesday, I think I’ll start this off as every other Friday – starting today! You can find the first Foodie Friday video that covers this recipe here.
Today I’ll also be doing a review of the meal itself, as
well as my thoughts on Hello Fresh, having now used their service for a few
weeks.
The ingredients you
need to make this recipe are:
225g Chantenay Carrots
1-2 garlic cloves – depending on preference
450g potatoes
2 Duck breasts
1 teaspoon of honey
100ml of water
25g Redcurrant Jelly
Red wine stock paste
1 Bunch of flat leaf Parsley
Each serving counts towards 1 of your 5 a day, and contains
560 calories. Most of the meals I’ve had from Hello Fresh count towards 2-3 of
your 5 a day, but given that this is
very much a ‘treat’ meal and not one I would have all the time, this isn’t a
problem for me at all.
Now, I found this recipe extremely easy to follow, which was great given how delicious the meal turned out to be. It was easily equivalent in quality to what I would pay for in a restaurant, and although I did have to pay a few pounds extra per serving for this meal, it still cost no where near what it would if I ate out.
The cost of your Hello Fresh box will vary according to what
plan you are on. Mine costs £34.99 per week and contains 4 meals for two
people. This works out to £4.00 per serving – although the cost will increase
if you choose certain menu items. These items are always marked that they cost extra,
with a price per portion. I tend to avoid these unless I want a more extravagant
meal for one reason of another, be it date night, or that I just wanted a
particular meal that week.
The food comes in a large box that is fairly well protected.
Items that need to be kept cold are kept in a padded bag with freezer pack
inside. The freezer packs can be reused, and I’ve been taking the padded lining
out of the bags to use as and when I send plants in the post to keep them more
protected.
I did have one box turn up with things missing from it,
which was kind of irritating, and whilst I fortunately had the missing ingredient
in my cupboard, it does kind of defeat the purpose of having this box. There is
a section on the Hello Fresh website to report damaged or missing items, but as
I had the missing things I didn’t need to use it – so therefore can’t comment
on how efficient it is as getting the replacements to you.
All in all I’ve really enjoyed tying this box out, and aside
from the one missing item the whole process has been really easy. Now that I’m
working in the office part time again it’s really nice to be able to arrange my
box for a weekend or day I’m working at home and not have to spend time in a
supermarket when I want to get home after a long day. This box has also
introduced variety into our diet, as so far we haven’t had two meals the same.
It's brought joy back into cooking and I would highly recommend giving it a try – even if only once. So, if you haven’t already, head over to my YouTube and watch me put this delicious dish together!
