I am starting to build a routine for my process of putting together these recipes: 1) cook the Hello Fresh meal with the suggested ingredients, 2) re-create the meal with healthier options, 3) research the nutrition information for the replacement meal, 4) enter in the nutrition information into my spreadsheet (I found a good resource on-line for calculating nutrition per serving), and 5) add the meal to my Passion project recipes Google document. So far I was able to complete this whole process with my first meal, "Tasty Veggie Spaghetti." I am hoping that each week I can try at least one new recipe, so that I have a collection of about a week's worth of meals that I could use by the end of the project. From there, who knows where this will take me?
Overall I am finding most of this routine working. It took quite a bit of time to research how to calculate the nutrition information by serving, and keep track of the nutrition labels. Originally I forgot to track the nutrition labels when I was cooking with the healthier ingredients, so I had to go back and look up the labels (I would NOT recommend this!) Now that I know to track the nutrition information as I am cooking, I am hoping this will be quicker with my next meal. Writing down the recipe took a little time, as I really had to think through each step, but was sort of fun because I could add my own ideas to it! The challenge for me this week has been finding time to actually blog about my experience, so hopefully that will become easier with this routine in place. I am including a copy of this week's meal, "Tasty Veggie Spaghetti," so if you try it, please let me know what you think! I also am including a few websites that I found helpful in researching the nutrition information. Enjoy!
I love cooking!!! It is so much fun. I use an app called Tasty (and I think they have a YouTube channel) to make dinners and party foods. The one thing I need to check is the nutrition numbers as well; specifically the sodium count. I have had a history of kidney stones and I need to be better at making my own foods and not so much fast food. Please tell me how your veggie spaghetti turns out, it sounds delish!!
ReplyDeleteMatt,
DeleteI will definitely check out the Tasty app! The veggie spaghetti was really good! Of course, I forgot to take a picture of it, so I will have to try it again and get a picture! I made it with whole grain pasta and red lentil pasta and it was pretty good. I also am watching my sodium too--I try to use unsalted ingredients all the time and just season with other things instead. Thanks for the feedback!
Yes! Jennifer, thanks for your feedback! I would love to share as many as I can! I have been looking through the recipe posts and am seeing some cool ideas! What has been surprising to me with the carbs is all of the foods that have added carbs that I didn't know about--like spaghetti sauce. So now I make my own with low sodium tomatoes and spices and really don't use the sugar. I try to use more of the veggies and spices to season. I can't wait to see more of your recipes!
ReplyDeleteHi Maureen,
ReplyDeleteHave you found that you are able to cook these recipes quickly since you have been receiving the Hello Fresh deliveries? Also, do you find that Hello Fresh is budget-friendly? What has been your favorite healthy recipe that you have tried out this far? How often have you been trying new, healthy recipes, every day for dinner or just a few times a week? I agree that cooking healthy food is rewarding, but I feel that at times it calls for a lot more ingredients to get it taste just right.
Look forward to hearing from you,
Morgan
Hi Morgan, thanks for your comments and sorry it took so long to get back to you. For 4 people and sometimes 5 I feel like the HelloFresh has been pretty friendly budget-wise. I usually order 2-3 meals per week with sometimes extra proteins on the side and I can keep it under $120 for the week. I originally signed up with a coupon code to get 10 free weeks earlier this year to just try it because I was literally going crazy trying to cook for my family during the week. So I usually make the recipes every OTHER night, and then either have the leftovers or do something simple in between so I am not cooking EVERY night. That's where I use the extras like pre-cooked chicken or Asian salad for a quick meal during the week. These are extra to add on to the regular meals but I use them as smaller meals throughout the week and still can stay within this budget. My favorite recipes from them so far have been the veggie penne bake and the chicken sausage rigatoni. My daughter likes the shrimp and zucchini ribbons with jasmine rice. Overally we have been pretty pleased. I think the trick with the recipes is adding enough spices to season them to make them taste good. I was worried about the same thing--healthy and tasting good--but have found that I have been able to make it work. Thanks for the questions!
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