Wow, tonight's HelloFresh meal may have been the best one we've had so far!  If you've read my posts, you know that I have a love affair with tacos, and we've tried several HelloFresh taco meals.  I think we have liked just about all of them, but this Mexican Pork & Street Corn taco recipe is definitely at the top of our list!  We all thought they tasted restaurant quality, and they were the perfect amount of spicy/tangy/savory.  

My husband made this meal with my son, and it did take them almost a full hour from start to finish, but they are fairly slow cooks--it may take you less time to make on your own.  I love roasted corn, and it gave this dish such a nice flavor.  And the lime Crema was delicious!  I think these would be fairly easy to replicate on your own, if you could find Tex Mex paste and the HelloFresh Southwest seasoning.  Anyone know where you could get your hands on either of those?  The link to the recipe is below:
​www.hellofresh.com/recipes/mexican-pork-street-corn-tacos-5ffc86fc6357424697644b22?isMegaAddonsEnabled=true&subscriptionId=6713743&week=2021-W08

The meal came with lots of extra corn--enough to use as a side dish.  We would have had more leftovers, but we all loved it so much! Definitely give this one a try if you can--thumbs up from all of us!

Ratings:
me: 9.5
husband: 9.25 (he said he is leaving room for a perfect 10, but otherwise would have rated higher)
son: 9
daughter: 9.25

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It's been a little while since I've posted any of our HelloFresh meals here.  Last week our HelloFresh meals didn't arrive, due to an unusual Arctic storm.  Crazy week!  But, this week's meal was definitely worth the wait.

I think I've mentioned before that my son is a huge fan of meatballs!  So, if there is a meatball option on the menu, there is a good chance I'll get it.  I knew he would like this one, and he did--although, in full disclosure, he didn't eat a lot of the veggies.  They were very good, but he just isn't a huge vegetable eater.   My husband liked these so much that he said that I should just order them any time they are on the menu--that's a pretty big endorsement from him.

My husband made this one (with some chopping assistance from me), and said it was very easy to make.  From start to finish, it was about 40 minutes.  Another thing I liked was that this one was in the "lower calorie" category--I am always on the hunt for good lower-calorie options!  The sauce was delicious and I loved how the veggies made it look so colorful (not captured very well in my photo).  Why is it that colorful foods always manage to taste so much better to me!

So, order this one the next time you see it on the menu--you will be glad you did!

Ratings:
me: 8.75
husband: 9
daughter: 8.5
son: 8

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Mmmm....these HelloFresh burgers were some of the best burgers we've ever made at home!  So delicious, and you could easily do something similar on your own at home!  These are just simple burgers (seasoned with fry seasoning), caramelized onions, melted Swiss and a simple aioli.  We made these on the grill (because I just think that burgers taste better that way, and it was a beautiful day outside)--but I bet they would be almost as good the other way! :-)  

​My daughter and I made this meal together--another thing I love about HelloFresh is that it's gotten us more in to cooking lately, and we are all of a sudden doing it as a family.  I will definitely be trying these again sometime on my own!!  Link to the recipe on the HelloFresh site here:
www.hellofresh.com/recipes/caramelized-onion-swissburgs-5fe11fc38fc437267a30bb39?isMegaAddonsEnabled=true&subscriptionId=6713743&week=2021-W05

​These were served with wedge potatoes (as I think most of the HelloFresh burger recipes are)--but again, super simple to do!  This was one of our higher rated recipes--so definitely give it a try (at home or through HelloFresh!) if you can!

Ratings:
me: 8.5
husband: 8.5
daughter: 9
son: 8

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The first thing my husband said when he saw this meal was "it's very Hello-Fresh-y."  This Tex-Mex turkey bowl was great, but it was a variation on a very popular HelloFresh meal: rice, some kind of protein, veggies, and a sour cream sauce.  I thought this iteration of it was very good, though!  It was easy to make and not overly time consuming, and the entire family enjoyed it (no leftovers!).  Another plus was that it was less than 700 calories--wish they had more options in that category!  

​This recipe was missing the pepper that was supposed to go with it, but fortunately I had an extra on hand.  One thing I must say about HelloFresh is that their customer service is great--I didn't call them about this order since it was no big deal, but twice I've had orders that arrived incomplete (no meat included or 2 servings included rather than 4) and both times they were friendly and made it right.

I would recommend this one--the whole family enjoyed it!

Ratings:
me: 7.75
husband: 7.5
son: 7
daughter: 7.5

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Tonight was one of those nights when I had to get dinner on the table in a hurry--busy with work and didn't realize how late it had gotten!  These HelloFresh meatball subs were perfect!  The entire meal took about 15 minutes to get on the table and it was delicious!  The meatballs were pre-made, so they just needed to be re-heated, and the sauce was easy to prepare.  We even had an entire sub leftover for lunch tomorrow!

My husband is a meatball sub aficionado, and his suggestion was to add black olives and pepperoncini.  Not sure how that would work out, but that was his advice.  

The entire family liked this one, and I would consider it family friendly.  Thumbs up all around!

Ratings:
husband: 8.5
me: 8.5
daughter: 8
son: 8

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This is another HelloFresh meal that is very good, but feels like it's a bit of a variation of a theme. Potatoes, roasted veggies, and chicken breast with sour cream spread on top, and a panko mixture mounded on top.  I've had a couple of very similar HelloFresh meals, and it's easy and tasty.  (One of my favorite HelloFresh meals, a Buffalo Chicken meal, is very similar.) I've even re-created something like this on my own, adapted from a HelloFresh recipe.

In any event, this Spicy Maple Chicken meal was great--the chicken was very tender and had great flavor,  Another thing I liked was the mashed sweet potatoes--they called for a little bit of maple syrup and sour cream, which added a hint more sweetness and depth of flavor.  I will definitely be copying this trick in the future!  I love it when I learn tricks like this!

My son was just "meh" on this one, but he didn't dislike it.  Honestly, he's not a sweet potato fan like the rest of us, so that's probably what did it for him.  Otherwise, I would recommend this one.  I forgot to ask everyone how they'd rate it, but it was favorable.  Another plus: it was in the Lower Calorie category!

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My husband and I both picked the HelloFresh meals this week.  As usual, I leaned toward the "lower calorie" options, and he ignored that and went for this meal with pasta and sausage.  At 910 calories per serving, not a meal I would typically choose, but I must say that this one made a LOT! I barely had half a serving, and I was full.  So, the calorie count for half a serving wasn't bad at all.  In fact, we had about twice as much as we needed, so lots leftover for lunches!  I find that the pasta meals from HelloFresh generally have much bigger servings than the other meals.

​The prep on this one wasn't bad--about 10 minutes, as the instructions read.  I was able to put this one on the table in about 30 minutes.  It was good--everyone liked it.  But no one RAVED about, if you know what I mean.  I might possibly order this one again, as it was easy and served a lot, but it would have to be on a slow menu week.  I do love red bell peppers, and that gave this one a nice flavor. The tomatoes included were not quite ripe--maybe that would have given this dish the boost it needed.

So, order this one if you like pasta--it wasn't bad!  Ratings from us were about a 7 all the way around.  This meal was family friendly and you'll have enough for leftovers, if you're like me and don't like to think about what to make for lunch.

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Not going to lie, choosing a salad for this week's meal was a bit of a gamble with my family.  I could eat salads for lunch and dinner all week long, but my family? Not so much.  My plan was to get this one and make it for my lunches this week.  Alas, that never happened, and I ended up making this one for our dinner because I needed to use it up.

The chicken was really simple--just Italian seasoning, salt and pepper sprinkled on top and sautéed in some olive oil.  Am I the only one who didn't realize until about a year ago that you are supposed to massage kale before you eat it?  One thing I love about HelloFresh recipes is that they have very clear directions, explained in beginner cook terms--they even explained WHY you are supposed to do that (apparently it makes it more tender and less bitter).  I thought this salad was very good, and my husband (who NEVER eats salad for dinner) enjoyed it.  The dressing had a nice lemon-y flavor to it that made it taste fresh, and the prep was very easy.  I won't say that everyone RAVED about it, but no one complained and I thought it was very good.  Bonus is that it was in the "lower calorie" category.  So, order this one if you are like me, and trying to eat a little healthier as we start the new year.

Ratings:
me: 8
husband: 7 (trust me, for a salad, this is high!)
son: 7
daughter: 8 (she loves Caesar salad!)
​
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Well, it's been a while!  The holidays caught up with us--it had gotten to that point where I couldn't eat another Christmas cookie!!  So, I took a break from HelloFresh for a few weeks and ate super healthy for a nice re-boot!  Now to a more normal routine...  To ease back in to it, I opted for a couple of "Calorie Smart" meals this week, including this Bulgogi Lime Pork Tenderloin meal.  I really wish that HelloFresh had more great Calorie Smart meals, but I digress...

The veggies were pretty good.  Food seems to taste better when it looks pretty, right?  I love to make colorful roasted veggies for this reason and these were good.  The pork tenderloin was just OK.  The sauce was fine, but not outstanding.  The prep time said 10 minutes, but it was at least 20 for me...I must be a slow cook!!

So, this one was a solid "meh" from all of us.  I didn't even ask for ratings.  We did have an entire serving leftover for lunch tomorrow, though.  Would I order it again?  Probably not, but it wasn't bad.  

4.  BBQ Chicken Legs.  Another one I tried to replicate at home--with success!

​Recipe found here:  www.hellofresh.com/recipes/bbq-glazed-chicken-legs-5f3191d1fec8bd47ca115423?q=bbq+chicken+leg
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