#24 Dinner in a Box and I'm Not Talking about Take Out!
I had seen a lot of ads for Hello Fresh and BlueApron. I did some diving in to see what all the type was about. Jamie Oliver works with HelloFresh and I am definitely a fan of his. After the Food Revolution show, I loved what he was about. That's what got me interested. (Good marketing move - HelloFresh!) In December (before I started the no spending month), I decided to try it. I got more than 1/2 off of my first box as a new customer so I figured it couldn't hurt. I wasn't sure how "fresh" it was going to be. When my first box arrived, the first week of January, I was excited.
I didn't take a picture when I opened it - I should have. It was well insulated with boxes for each meal on top, then a cardboard divider, ice packs, and then the proteins for each meal still very cold.
I immediately unpacked it and put it away. There is also a booklet with all the recipes for the meals included. Everything is included in the box other than oil, butter, salt and pepper. I thought maybe the recipes would be some crazy things I had never heard of but so far everything was very good. I definitely hadn't cooked the recipes in this manner but that's why people order these, I think, to try something new and out of the ordinary. The meals I have made so far haven't taken more than 40 minutes. That's what I love the most. Even the meals for 2 make plenty. Cooking for 1 means GREAT leftovers to not cook every night!
This was one of the meals -- Spicy Swedish Meatballs. They were spicy at all which was good for me. There was just Swedish spices included in the box.
If you are interested - and I hope you are- you can use my referral code:
This will allow you to get $40 off your first box and will also give me credit too! :) It's definitely worth trying. Let me know how you like it. Maybe #hellofresh should hire me to do an infomercial for them.
21 more adventures to go before February is up. I'm feeling confident I can do this.
********************UPDATE ON NO SPENDING MONTH****************************
Here I am at week 2 of no spending January. First, because I did love the HelloFresh box, I just made that part of my grocery budget but limited myself to one box for the remainder of the month. I still haven't frequented my beloved Starbucks. It's amazing that anyone wants to be around me! My boss has bought me sweet tea though. She says Sonic Happy Hour at .99 is worth every cent! LOL I ate out twice but didn't spend anything. One night some friends went to Chili's and I had a gift card thanks to my sister, Janet. The next event was before a meeting and a couple of friends wanted me to join them. We shared appetizers that were 1/2 price and they treated me. Even had I paid, it was an inexpensive dinner and a night in 2 weeks out. It's not that my budget is feeling this great influx of extra money but I'm being completely more conscience of what I am spending and asking myself if I really NEED to spend money on ______________. As I'm reading my daily emails from Living Well Spending Less, she is still encouraging organizing home. I am continuing to purge. I have 3 rooms left in my house. Of course they are the 3 rooms I am least excited about doing. I love my purged rooms so far. I'm really looking at what I NEED. There are a few things that I can't part with, but the list is shorter than it was. That's the whole point, right. Week 2 was tougher but I'm still going strong maybe not spending zero but certainly less! Week 3 here I come!