How’s your weekend going so far? As you can imagine, with only 4 weeks until the baby arrives, things here are pretty chaotic. My baby box arrived last week (here) and we’re spending today decorating it and getting Penny excited for the new arrival. This week I made a Wet n Wild order at Beauty Bay after their recent restock and finally got my hands on THAT foundation and highlighter and also spent the money I had been saving from all the sponsored opportunities I’ve been lucky to receive on decorating that baby’s new nursery. Thank you so much for all your support, especially with these posts! I realise that I used to exclusively write about beauty and I’m so happy that you seem to be enjoying all my new lifestyle content – so far! Anyway, regular readers will know that I recently subscribed to HelloFresh, a weekly fresh food delivery service. To find out more information about costs, meal plans, suppliers and subscription options, check out my previous post here.
Even though this service is a little on the pricey side, for our family’s needs, it has been worth every single penny. My culinary skills and creativity in the kitchen are sadly lacking and we found ourselves stuck in a food rut. Buying the same stodgy meals, throwing out food entirely or buying take out. HelloFresh is helping me to slowly build my confidence whilst also building my repertoire of recipes in a fun, stress-free way. I’m properly proud of the meals I’ve been making. Sorry to sound like a 50s housewife, but I’ve also been getting a kick out of preparing meals for Ross that he’s been genuinely impressed with!
Here are the three dishes I prepared this week –
Garlic Prawns with Mini Roast Potatoes & Walnut Parsley Pesto
I’m not really a fan of seafood but HelloFresh has been pushing me to try new things recently. Even though Ross said that this is his new favourite recipe (it changes weekly!), I’m still on the fence about prawns. The texture just isn’t for me, however, even I could appreciate how delicious the homemade pesto and mini potatoes were. This was a lovely, light and fresh summer dish and one of the easiest I’ve made so far.
Persian Chicken Dhal with Red Lentils, Minty Yoghurt and Cumin Rice
This curry is actually more like a stew, my kitchen smelled amazing as the combination of coriander, turmeric and cumin bubbled away. You also have the option of adding additional chillies for extra heat or a dollop of mint yoghurt if, like me, you can’t handle anything too spicy. I’m usually awful at making rice, I either make way too much or it’s stodgy as hell, even I couldn’t muck-up their easy instructions.
Pork and Feta Ozotto with Leek and Courgette
Okay, I admit I didn’t look closely enough at each recipes individual ingredients and I’ve definitely reached my limit when it comes to courgette! I never want to see one again! Thank goodness I planned next week’s meals out a bit more carefully. I’d never tried Orzo before but I’d definitely have it again. It’s short-cut pasta, shaped like a large grain of rice. I also like how the sausage meat came pre-seasoned to cut down on prep time. All three dishes this week contained two of our five a day and took just over half an hour to prepare.
For next week’s meals I have selected: Parisienne Chicken with Chickpeas and Couscous, Prawn & Chorizo Spaghetti with Fresh Vine Tomatoes and Sweet and Sour Beef with Egg Noodles. There are also vegetarian options available too.
What recipe do you think looks most delicious?
Feel free to use my code – BEAUTIFULBLUEBIRD – to get 50% off your first two boxes!
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