After trying out Hello Fresh, I wanted to see if I could recreate the experience on my own. Hello Fresh provides fresh ingredients in individualized bags for each meal you and/or your family chose. As it is just the two of us, we chose four 2-person meals. You can also choose 4-person meal plans for larger families. This averages about $70 per box for us. And that can add up if you’re not careful with watching the calendar.
But what if I could recreate the Hello Fresh experience and not just for dinner for the two of us. Essentially it is just a form of meal planning. So let me share with you our Dinner menu for the week as well as planning for breakfast and lunch.
SATURDAY
I initially check the refrigerator and pantry first. It’s always best to check what you already have so you’re not spending unnecessarily. We’re looking to save money while grocery shopping. And with that reminder, here’s another tip – Don’t Grocery Shop While Hungry. I don’t have official data, but it just seems that I pick up more wants than needs if this is the case.
We use a chalkboard to write out the dinner menu for Sunday – Friday. Saturdays are always leftover day or takeout day. It’s our treat for staying on task during the week. Since we live a Pescatarian lifestyle, there are at least two seafood dishes per week. I try to include some form of meat weekly as I do still have a growing teenager in the home.
Next step is to check your local grocery store flyers and apps. Here in Florida we have Publix as our local grocery store. We also have a unique family based grocery store in our area that has great deals on produce and we can’t forget about everyone’s favorite Costco. I also love to shop at the Super Target for specific brands.
Target Cartwheel is now Target Circle and offers lots of savings for both grocery and lifestyle shopping. Be sure to download the Target app today.
Here’s the grocery haul. Between the four stores, my total cost is $193.71. With that, some highlights of my savings are:
- Chips
- Roma Tomatoes
- Salmon
- Shrimp
- Tortellini
- Plant Based Crumbles
- Organic Lemonade
- Sparkling Water
- Fruit
- Shredded Cheese
- Veggie Nuggets
- Pasta
- Almond milk
- Aloe Vera Juice x2
- Blueberries
- Bananas
- Lemons x3
- Limes x3
- Onion
- Eggs
- Granny Smith Apples
- Fiji Apples
- Cucumbers
- Cauliflower
So now let’s check to see if I saved more this week than by using a meal subscription.
Sunday
After a long day of Christmas decorating, I honestly thought about changing the menu. But Rhi reminded me that the shrimp was already seasoned and wouldn’t take long to cook.
While at Costco, I picked up a package of cilantro lime shrimp. And this day it was $3.00 off. This would be the highlight of the dish. Costco also has a two pack of Five Cheese Tortelloni with Parmigiano Reggiano for $9.99. And like any Costco item, these are not small. Which also means leftovers for lunch tomorrow.
I always try to make sure whatever is cooked for dinner will produce just enough to have for lunch for one of us.
The pasta didn’t take long to cook. I added the shrimp to my Corning Visions skillet with some butter and chopped roma tomatoes. Surprisingly this made its own sauce which was amazing.
Meal one complete but there’s always room for dessert, which I’ll share more about in the next food blog post.
Monday
Today was a long day and I just wanted to come home and eat leftovers. But Rhi really wanted the Black Bean Quesadillas so I gave in. Mainly because it wouldn’t take long to make.
This is a recreation from our first Hello Fresh box. I didn’t buy the exact ingredients but managed to get close to the main recipe. Instead of poblano peppers, I used a large orange bell pepper and onions. This along with seasoned mashed black beans and our new favorite dairy free So Delicious Mozzarella and Cheddar cheese. Add all of this to half of a large flour burrito shell and fold before putting in a hot oiled skillet.
The Hello Fresh recipe called for limed sour cream. This was a fancy twist to the meal, but regular sour cream is just as good as well as none at all. But the lime juice is a recommended final touch.
Tuesday
Some Tuesday evenings I have to work evening study hall at my school. This means I need something quick and light to cook when I get home. I’m usually home by 8pm so the air fryer will be in use.
Using Costco again today. They have a huge selection of fish and this week I chose salmon. The filet cost me $21.11, but I was able to cut EIGHT pieces from it. Yes, it is just the two of us. This is a pro tip as we now have the main portion of four dinners planned.
Using my new meal planning skills, I seasoned each container differently. From honey soy to lemon pepper, salmon night is going to be great.
This night, I just picked one. Mainly because I forgot to label them so it’s going to be a surprise each time.
Salmon can be baked or pan fried. But I didn’t get home until 8pm after a long day at work, so the air fryer helped. 15 minutes on 400 degrees with flipping half way and its done. Dinner was served with leftover tortelloni from Monday.
Wednesday
Today calls for Nachos. Well guess what, I didn’t buy tortilla chips so we didn’t have nachos. But we still needed to eat. Half of the cilantro lime shrimp container remained and I added a side of jasmine rice.
Just like last time, I sautéed the shrimp in butter to bring out more of the flavor. I didn’t add tomatoes or onion this time as we wanted to enjoy the shrimp in its fullness.
Thursday
It’s Thursday and the week is almost over. We both were excited for tonight’s dinner – Honey Garlic Baked Cauliflower.
Cauliflower became a staple ingredient in our diet a couple of years ago. We had stopped eating chicken, but still wanted a buffalo wing style meal. While searching Pinterest, I found a different version of our regularly roasted cauliflower. It’s made the same with seasoning and breading the cauliflower but a new sauce to try out. Soy sauce + honey + garlic + sriracha on a stovetop. The only change I would have made is adding brown sugar.
If you like a bit of spice, this is the sauce for you. I think I’ll stick to my regular sweet and spicy or buffalo sauce for roasted cauliflower. Or just enjoying it plain with a drizzle of balsamic glaze is perfect too.
Friday
We made it to Friday! And it’s the start of Thanksgiving Break. A much needed week off of school and work is upon us.
In honor of it being Friday and my mom’s birthday, I wanted to have a meal that reminded me of home. I’m originally from the midwest, more specifically Northwest Indiana. I’m from the region and on Fridays we eat fish and spaghetti.
We’ve lived in a number of cities and states and I have heard many comments on this meal. Some say this is two meals, or these two do not complement each other. But this is home and to clarify to many, the spaghetti is the side dish.
Growing up, mom would fry the fish. I haven’t fried fish in a while but after the week I’ve had, this is welcomed. Back home we would have catfish, but a good piece is surprisingly hard to find in my part of Florida. So I use tilapia. It may not be the best fish but it’ll do for today. Boil the spaghetti while the fish is frying and it should all be done at the same time. Nothing fancy for the spaghetti, just regular red sauce. Add a piece of garlic bread and memories of home flood my soul.
Thanks mom.
This is dinner at our household. I do my best with planning but sometimes plans change. And that’s okay. As long as I can save money during the week, I’m okay with being flexible.
I mentioned earlier spending under $200. This also included items for the household and some treats for the both of us. Comparing this to $70 per box that only includes dinner, seems to be better for my budget.
In addition to the dinner plans, breakfast, lunch and desserts are also made but we’ll save that for the next food blog.
Mommy Daughter Adventures 