Caramel Apple Smoothies with Vanilla Greek Yogurt & Roasted Peanuts Ingredients
Recipe Results 
Cuban Style Pork Chop with Ensalada de Aguacate & Citrus Caramelized Onions Ingredients
Recipe Results
Hearty Steak & Goat Cheese Salad with Champagne Vinaigrette & Pepitas Ingredients
Recipe Results
Farmer's Market Gazpacho with Avocado Microgreen Tartines Ingredients
Recipe Results
North Indian Aloo Tikki Crispy Potato Cakes with Pineapple Mint Chutney Ingredients
Recipe Results
Pan Seared Chicken Moutarde with Chervil Gremolata & Smashed Yukon Potatoes Ingredients
Recipe Results
Fresh Fruit Basket
This is a review of a subscription box we have been receiving for the last eight weeks called Home Chef. Out of the eleven recipes offered last week, I chose five recipes and could have ordered more since they were all tempting. I also ordered the fruit basket and the weekly smoothie recipe. Unfortunately, the chicken thighs and steak didn't do well during the trip here, so we had to go to the grocery store and purchase replacements. It appeared the condensation from the refrigerated ingredients weakened the cardboard box causing the bottom of the box to tear open during shipping and then FedEx taped it back together. The chicken, pork and steak were put back in three different locations in the box and not next to the ice packs. Also, a tomato was squished and half the spinach went bad. Home Chef gave me a $40 credit for the damaged ingredients. Our favorite recipe this week was the Caramel Smoothie, second place goes to the North Indian Aloo Tikki and our least favorite was the Pan Seared Chicken Moutarde.
Caramel Apple Smoothies Ingredients
Wow, was this tasty! We've never used caramel in our smoothies before since we usually only use healthy ingredients, but this was a nice treat. I was so glad the replacement drive socket for our Vitamix arrived in time to make this recipe! Their smoothie recipes are always something we look forward to trying since it usually only takes about five to ten minutes to make and even if it's healthy, it's a nice treat. Home Chef has helped us get back into the routine of making smoothies on a regular basis. It's amazing how few peanuts it took to give this drink a yummy peanut butter flavor. This recipe had 570 calories, so it was a dessert for us.
Cuban Style Pork Chop
We had not tried Cuban food before, so we were looking forward to giving this recipe a try. Unfortunately, it didn't have much spice, so it really didn't taste much different and was a disappointment. One of the tomatoes arrived smooched, so we didn't use it. The side salad was ok, but we weren't crazy about using lime juice, lemon zest and lime zest as dressing. This recipe took about thirty minutes and was 510 calories.
Hearty Steak & Goat Cheese Salad Ingredients
I had to make a special trip to the grocery store to replace the steak that went bad due to the temperature in the box being too high. I bought some thinly sliced sirloin from Harris Teeter. Only half the spinach was in decent shape, so I had to throw out about half of it. I didn't purchase more spinach and yet it was still a good portion. This recipe was ok, really nothing special about it and we didn't like the dressing since it was sour. This recipe took around thirty minutes to make and had 677 calories.
Farmer's Market Gazpacho
I planned to make this for my lunch, but put it off until the last moment since I wasn't in the mood to cook. This was ok but I really prefer Tracy Anderson's version of this recipe which uses cilantro instead of basil, red onion instead of shallot, roasted tomatoes instead of tomato juice, mixed bell peppers instead of just red peppers, rice vinegar instead of white wine vinegar and adds lemon juice, chives, paprika and cayenne pepper. Also, this should be made in a food processor rather than a blender, so that it's not totally turned into a liquid and has some chunky bits in it. This is the first time I have tried avocado mashed on top of bread and while it was ok, I really prefer slices of it in a sandwich with meat or cheese or something other than just avocado. I added red onion, paprika and cayenne pepper to the leftover gazpacho and it was much improved. This is the perfect diet recipe, if you use cayenne pepper since it boosts your metabolism. This vegetarian recipe took about twenty-five minutes to prepare and had 452 calories.
North Indian Aloo Tikki
I also planned to make this dish for lunch, but procrastinated. When I went to make it eight days after it arrived everything was fresh except the peas, so I just used the frozen peas I always keep on hand for our dogs. This was very tasty and quite unusual like nothing I've had before. I especially enjoyed the chutney which consisted of mint, red onion, pineapple, cilantro, jalapeño, lime zest, lime juice, salt and pepper. It was easier to make than the recipe looked. Perhaps another reason I put it off since it looked intimidating to me and Hubby wouldn't be around to help out during lunchtime. I ate the second portion today after warming the patties in our little oven and they were a little dried out but the chutney rectified that. This delicious vegetarian recipe took around forty minutes to make and had 457 calories.
Pan Seared Chicken Moutarde
Shortly after Hubby started this recipe he opened the chicken package and there was a really awful smell that was no doubt proof that the chicken thighs had gone bad. Since we didn't have any other chicken in the house that wasn't frozen, we put this one off until we could find chicken thighs which required a trip to two different grocery stores to find them. This recipe would have been ok if it wasn't for the awful sour lemon sauce that went on top. This recipe took about forty minutes to prepare and had 591 calories.
Fresh Fruit Basket
This was a nicely ripe group of fruit that they sent this week. I just wish they would change it up a bit since this is the third week of the same types of fruit. I just checked the new menu that they put up today for the week of July 6th and they have changed it to trail mix, kiwi, oranges, grapefruit and apples. I'm so excited! So they are listening to our suggestions, how wonderful.
Well there you have it, a review of our seventh delivery from Home Chef. I really shouldn't have bought so many recipes, but I was really tempted by them that week and had no idea we wouldn't be in the mood to cook since Hubby came down with a cold. Maybe that was the issue with the shipment, that they placed too many recipes in the same sized box. I ordered less for this week since the menu wasn't as tempting. But boy am I challenged to pick less than five items for the current menu that is up for the week of July 6th. So many dishes that I want to try! Here's what we received today:
- Southern Fried Chicken & Biscuits with Onions, Pickles & Honey Butter
- Spiced Turkey Kofta Gyros with Cool Tzatziki Sauce & Pickled Onions in a Soft Pita
- Orange Vanilla Dreamsicle Smoothie with Fresh Oranges and Vanilla Greek Yogurt
- Fresh Fruit Basket
Thankfully, they arrived safely with six ice packs, five of which were still partially frozen. Check out my reviews of Home Chef's competition: Plated, Hello Fresh and Blue Apron before you leave. Also, before you leave don't forget to claim your Free Graze Box and enter my latest Giveaway which is a Plated Subscription Box worth $72:
Plated has provided me with another free subscription box worth $72 to give away. Congratulations to Tina who won the last one. Plated will send the winner one shipment that includes all the ingredients for three recipes for two people for a total of six servings. The winner must be over 18 years old, a new Plated customer, provide me with their name and email address to give to Plated, provide Plated their credit card number in case they want to continue with the service past the first box and live in the US. To skip future weeks' shipments, visit their website & go to my account, subscription and click "skip this week" on the calendar or chose "cancel subscription".
Bargain Alert - Hello Fresh - $40 off your first box, use coupon code "YVWF79".
Home Chef - $30 off your 1st box, click here.
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Have a PEACEful Day!
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