Fresh Ingredients and Recipes Delivered Right to Your Door!

Having a hard time fitting hearty, home cooked meals into your busy schedule?   Sometimes you just need a little reprieve.  Constantly dining out can put a dent in your wallet and cooking that quick macaroni and hotdog dish all the time is not the healthiest choice for your family and can adversely affect your health.  Well, relief is here.

This past week I was given the opportunity to review the fabulous weekly meal delivery service, Home Chef, formally known as Relished.  Let me tell you, this is no ordinary meal service.  With Home Chef you receive chef prepared portioned kits packed with fresh locally sourced food along with instructions on how to prepare each meal!   The ingredients, anything extra you may need (i.e. salt/pepper/oil), calories per serving, drink pairing and a step by step instructions with pictures are all included on the recipe sheet provided for each meal.  The recipe is printed on glossy card-stock and is meant to last but if you happen to lose it or it somehow gets ruined you can visit the Home Chef site, chat with one of their knowledgeable & super friendly customer service reps, and they will send you the link to your recipe.

With a weekly subscription you can receive up to 5 meals with your choice between 2, 4, or 6 servings.   Each menu consists of about 9 different meal choices, including vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, nut-free, and dairy-free options.  So there is definitely something for every family.  At $9.95 per serving, Home Chef can totally fit into any budget, if used as a supplement to your regular meal plans (ordering 2-3 meals a week).   If you find yourself having a hard time fitting this service into your budget after signing up, skipping weeks and canceling is super easy.

For my review, I was sent three 2 serving meals. The timing of this review could not have come at a better time considering Little Miss A’s arrival in just 6 short weeks, I have not really felt like shopping or cooking.  Here are the meals we chose:

Hoisin Glazed Salmon

with Snow Pea Stiry Fry and Micro Greens

Jumbo Stuffed Shells

with Tofu Ricotta and Fresh Herb Tomato Sauce

Dijon Crusted Pork Tenderloin

with Quinoa & a Creamy Mustard Mushroom Sauce

Because the Hoisin Glazed Salmon contains seafood, I decided to cook that first (all ingredients are fresh and not frozen).  Preparation was fast and simple.  The entire recipe including plating the dish took about 30 minutes.  Hubby was impressed with the look and most of the taste.  He stated that while the salmon was fresh and tasted so it also tasted farm raised, not a problem for some but we prefer wild caught.    Although this meal was not a favorite, I am glad we tried it.

The next dish was by far the favorite; Dijon Crusted Pork Tenderloin.  This recipe was a little more complex then the first but it was still pretty simple.  Hubby does not like mushrooms so I just omitted them.  While he said that it was hard to taste the Quinoa, it was the perfect “healthy” filler for this particular dish.  Cooking according to the directions, the pork came out nice and moist and was very flavorful.  This recipe is definitely going in to our monthly meal rotation.

The third and final dish was the family favorite.  Although it was only supposed to feed 2 people, it actually fed 3 and there were plenty of leftovers for Hubby’s lunch.  This meal was super filling.    Since I am unsure of the “dangers” of tofu during pregnancy, I stuffed mine with mozzarella (yum!).  I will not always cook it with Tofu but it is nice to know that Home Chef now offers such a diverse menu, for people with restricted diets.

Overall, this is a great service and well worth it.  Home Chef not only does the shopping for you but they guide you through the entire recipe; from prepping all the way to plating the dish to make it look professional.  And bonus, they now list all of the ingredients needed, so you can make your favorite dishes time and time again.  I appreciate that there is minimal measuring too.   I absolutely love that I did not have to shop for the ingredients…I cannot even begin to count the times I have forgotten an ingredient or two that has ruined my meal plan for the week.  With these recipes, I prepared restaurant worthy meals.   Coming from someone who does not necessarily enjoy cooking these recipes are super awesome and actually a joy to prepare!  Saving me the trouble of having to plan every single meal, shortening my grocery list, and making my measuring cups nearly obsolete…sign me up!

Disclaimer:  I was provided one week (3 meals) of service for the purposes of review.  All opinions are 100% my own and may differ from your own.