Eating Healthy can be FUN

Ever get stuck in the mundane same old, same old menu plan?  You know what I mean. Here you are, planning out the dinner meals for the week and it seems it's the same items you had on your plan the week before last. It's okay. It's normal. We all have those go-to items that we just rotate on the reg. We might do this out of laziness (It takes time to look up ideas on Pinterest - you know, after you have already scrolled through the entire news feed of fun "I have to try that" crafting ideas). We might do this because of budget. In either case, it happens - and - that's okay.

When I plan my meals for the week, I try to make sure that they are as healthy as possible and with variety. This isn't always the case. Actually, I'll pretty much eat the same things for breakfast, mid-morning snack, lunch and mid-afternoon snacks all week. Dinner, on the other hand, has to be something different every night. (I also rather not cook two separate meals either. One for me. One for my Littles'.)  The problem with this is, especially if you are fairly new to healthy eating, unless you get creative in the kitchen, it can sometimes be B O R I N G! And what happens when it gets boring? We fall off the wagon. Hey, it happens. It has for me. And then, I got back on.

So, when I found myself starting to fall back into the "rut" of the same old, same old dinner meals I decided to search my news feeds, check out my challenge groups and scroll Pinterest for some new meals that sounded healthy and fun to eat. I am also now at the point in my life where my nutrition is pretty much in check but I want to expand my horizons. I want to play in the kitchen. (Btw, I was NEVER a cook.) I recently learned that cooking can be fun and actually quite therapeutic. Okay, Okay, Okay there is one more reason why --- I wanted to try new recipes for date nights. Really, I mean, look at all those reasons. It's a win-win.   That's when I saw "the post" on Facebook from a good friend about this home delivery service called Hello Fresh.

It was only about two months ago before I started noticing advertisements on highways or the occasional post on social media about these various at home delivery company's.  The concept is pretty awesome but they can also be quite costly. Since I am a newly single Mom to two young ones I have to be very strategic with my funds. I didn't think that I would want to try this type of service only to get hooked on it and then disappointed because I had to give it up. However, just like most things, different companies offer different features and this one was right up my alley.

When my friend told me that she could offer me a $40.00 off coupon on my first order, that I could chose what meals I wanted and that I could even delay weekly deliveries, well, I just had to check it out. This is when I realized Hello Fresh was going to be my Sous Chef. This company offers farm-fresh ingredients so you can feel comfortable knowing that your vegetables are all organic- free of any pesticides, etc and your meats are not pumped of any added hormones or antibiotics or anything of that nature. Not only are the ingredients farm fresh they are also each individually packaged for precisely what you need for each recipe. Each box offers three meals a week (recipes provided) for either a family of two or a family of four. Each of the three meals is packaged separately.

Ingredients that were in the bag for the Apricot Chicken Recipe

Contents of the box - 3 packages of meal ingredients for each of the three meals. These were on top of thin piece of card board that was placed above the meats for the three meals.

What I also love about Hello Fresh is that not only are their products farm fresh but they really put some thought into their shipping.  Instead of using very expensive, very non-environmental friendly ice packs, they used frozen disposable, recyclable water bottles. They really won me over with this one. 

Hello there my pretty.

Used as ice packs

I was so excited to give these recipes a try!  I went and made the Apricot Chicken the other night. The meal took about 40 minutes to prepare. All the ingredients provided were exactly the amount we needed. The instructions were very easy to understand.  I couldn't believe how fresh the ingredients were and how easy it was to create this healthy, colorful, delicious meal. What was even better was that I really felt like a professional chef. (Remember I said I don't cook?)  Now, I ordered the Classic Box for a family of two. After the meal was made we saw we definitely had enough for two meals. I also had plenty of left over of the Swiss chard/couscous side dish (not pictured). About two and a half extra servings. The chicken was just the right amount to fulfill two meals. 

My plate!
Apricot Chicken on a bed of a Swiss Chard/Couscous side

Plenty for the two of us.

As I mentioned above, the end result was a very delicious smelling, very tasty and full of flavor meal that we were quite satisfied with and are still raving about. What I really enjoyed about this was that this was a very healthy, very clean meal. I even tried ingredients (Swiss chard) I've never had before - which was another reason why I was looking into the Hello Fresh. I wanted to expand my pallet with trying other ingredients I typically wouldn't purchase at the store and might not even consider in a restaurant. And you cannot beat three organic, healthy meals for only $29.00 (Free Shipping always) I have two more recipes to try this week and I can't wait. I am sure I will love them just as much as I loved this one. Next week's recipes? Well, I skipped next week. As much as I loved the array of recipes to select from, I am not going to have much time to cook next week so I paused delivery. (Love this feature. No extra fees for doing it either)

My post today was not to be so 'product review' geared but to share my experience into the world of expanding my pallet in a healthy eating world. To let you know that eating healthy does not have to be boring. Eating healthy can be FUN. Eating healthy can be DELICIOUS! Get creative. Throw some ingredients together that you wouldn't normally. It might be a hit! Or it might be a flop! (been there, done that) But at least you'll know. It doesn't always have to be green beans, chicken and brown rice. Put a little PIZAZZ in your cooking. Start small and add some spices. It's really not that hard to do and if you are stuck in a rut like I was, try a first time deal like this and give it a shot. You can always cancel (easy peasy). Now, get your pen and paper handy, grab those fun recipes, get the ingredients and go PLAY in the kitchen and have FUN! (Yes, we had fun while making this.)  Bon Appetit!

In Fitness and In Health,

Kathie 

*The links in this post are my referral link. Not only will you receive a discount off of your order but by you placing an order through my link, I will get a discount on my next order also. Thank you in advance if you chose to utilize it. :)