I haven’t eaten inside a restaurant since March 13, 2020. Sure, we’ve gotten take-out, but the limited travel means that we’re stuck with what’s in our tiny town…and that’s not much. I don’t know if it was a combination of the pandemic and the winter weather getting to me, but I got to the point where I HATED even thinking about what we would have for lunch or dinner. Sometimes it feels like adulthood is just going to work, paying bills, and thinking about what you’ll make and serve for dinner.

My brother-in-law got us a gift certificate for HelloFresh, and then I got a discount code for teachers to Home Chef, so I thought it would be fun to try out several meal delivery services (and bonus, I wouldn’t have to go to the grocery store which I absolutely despise these days – no one gives you space, or wears their mask correctly, and so I end up a huge ball of rage by the time I’m done). After looking at the menus online, we opted for Home Chef first, and the next week we got a box from HelloFresh.

For our Home Chef order, we picked Sweet Chili Coconut Shrimp with Pepper and Edamame Rice, Tex-Mex Pork-Stuffed Peppers, and Steak and Goat Cheese-Pecan Sweet Potatoes.

The first night we made the Sweet Chili Coconut Shrimp – this was an “easy prep” meal, which means it arrives with pre-chopped ingredients and an oven-ready pan for cooking. Everything was really simple to put together, but I did have to spend a lot of time rinsing off the frozen shrimp and peeling off some of the shells that hadn’t been completely removed.

Below is what everything looked like after it was cooked and served. This meal was for two people, but the portions were pretty small. I didn’t mind it (we tend to eat way more than we should), but I did feel bad for my husband to have such a small meal.

This meal tasted pretty good, but my husband kept saying, “we can totally make this ourselves.” I do think it needed a bit more flavor; however, we didn’t make the boom boom sauce. There was actually a note in the box saying they had run out of sauce, but they sent instructions and ingredients to make a sriracha sauce (this included packs of mayonnaise, which I think is gross, so we just opted out of that completely).

The next meal we had was the tex-mex pork-stuffed peppers. I thought this meal was also pretty tasty – my husband again thought the portion size was small, but I have no complaints on that. An easy fix is adding some chips and salsa for a little side dish.

My husband thought this was good, but he made the same comment with this meal – we can do this. I actually do make turkey stuffed peppers quite often; honestly, I think my recipe has more flavor to it, but I still liked this version, especially with the enchilada sauce on top.

The next meal was an upgrade since it included sirloin steak. There are always meals listed for the week that are considered premium and are more expensive than the regular meals. We thought it was worth paying an additional $8 for the Steak and Goat Cheese-Pecan Sweet Potatoes – we frequently get steaks at the store and oftentimes end up paying way more for those anyway, so this felt worth it.

This recipe required cooking the steak in a skillet, which we’ve attempted in the past with disastrous effects. I’m not sure why it worked this time, but these steaks were delicious! I’ve never made a glaze for a steak, but this glaze was fantastic and we’ll absolutely use this recipe in the future to make our steaks a bit fancier. This meal, even though it was something we’ve cooked ourselves before (steak, sweet potatoes, and asparagus is a meal we often turn to), was our favorite!

Overall, this box of meals would’ve cost $61.86, but ended up being $38.92 because of my half price teacher discount (thanks Home Chef for that!). Although $60 may sound like a lot, I think it’s a pretty good deal when you think about how much this would cost buying the ingredients at the grocery store. Another thing I really like about the meal kits is that you don’t have to buy large quantities of things that end up being wasted.

So the big question is, would I order from Home Chef again? I think my answer is “maybe.” I think $60 is a reasonable price for 3 meals for two people, the preparation wasn’t super time-consuming and didn’t require chef’s skills, and I really love that I don’t have to go to the grocery store. If the meals look good, I’d be a yes!

If you’re interested in trying Home Chef for yourself, I’d be so grateful if you used my referral code: autumnl58 OR you can get your first box half price here!

Bon appétit!