Subscription Meal Box Review - Hello Fresh

Subscription Meal Box Review - Hello Fresh

I don't know why I haven't tried these subscription meal plan deals before. Probably because my sister told me to. Honestly I think the price seemed a little daunting, but I actually did the math and it makes so much more sense than what I had been doing. I did a little digging and found coupons and discounts for most of these boxes. Woohoo! I started out with Hello Fresh because, I found a Groupon deal for $30 off my first box.

I'm going to pass on even more savings to you. By using this link you will recieve $40 off your first box. www.hellofresh.com/?c=FRSTER

Here's what came in the box.

 

The three brown boxes each contained the ingredients for the meal. The large box was packed very nicely with no worry of the food going bad. There was insulation on the bottom, the meat, two large (reusable) gel ice blocks directly on top of the meat then the three ingredient boxes on top of the ice. Bonus, it's a nice solid box that I will keep for moving in a couple of months. 

The first meal I prepared was the "Blackened Catfish with Blistered Veggies and Roasted Potatoes. I was kind of sceptical about making 2 meals out of what was given, but it was more than filling enough. This was dinner on Friday night. I had the exact same thing for lunch the next day. 

The only things not included in the box that this meal called for were salt, pepper, and oil. The cilantro looked like it was picked very early, it was very light in color, but it tasted fine. I only deviated slightly from the recipe by only using half of the onion in the blistered veggies. A whole onion just seemed a bit of overkill. 

This was a great meal, delicious, easy and quick. I would have wasted more than half of a lemon, and half of an onion, but the steak recipe also called for lemon, my roommate needed onion for something and I made my favorite citrus rice later on in the week. So, no waste in this box.

Meal 2 was the Pork D.I.Y. Dumplings with Quick Pickled Slaw and Soy Dipping Sauce.

Another delicious, easy meal. 

If you've never worked with won-tons before it could take a little experimentation. My suggestion is to have a large dry surface so none of your won-tons touch. Using water to turn the flour on the won-ton into a glue of sorts can be difficult, because it will soften the won-ton and cause tears. My approach is to put water one won-ton at a time, and quickly seal it. 

These don't have to be sealed perfectly, if you had something melty like cream cheese in them you would have to be more careful. 

The cabbage I received for the slaw was very bitter, but once I made the dressing it tasted just fine, and it was very pretty. I love colorful food. The soy dipping sauce was the perfect accompaniment. I'm going to file that recipe away for later.  

I did waste a little of the slaw, it was just too much.  There were more than double the number of won-ton wrappers needed so, I put them in the freezer to make crab rangoons later. 

The final meal in this box was the Lean Green Steak Machine with a Mint Chive Dressing and Veggie Succotash. I think this was my favorite of the three. I love red meat, and those big chunks of veggies, including two of my favorites, asparagus and zucchini. Yum. 

Unfortunately, I was a bit sidetracked that day and forgot about taking pictures until I had already started eating. I never would have thought to put chives and mint in a dressing, but it was absolutely great. 

Long story short, this was a great experience and well worth the $30 I paid. Once I try a few more boxes I may return to this one on a regular basis. 

Ikea Hack Regolit, and Hemma Coffee Filter Pendant Light

Ikea Hack

Regolit, and Hemma

Coffee Filter Pendant Light

Over a year ago I bought a Hemma cord set from Ikea, like this, only white. 

I had several shades that I knew I could update and hang over my bed. Unfortunately once home, I realized not one of those shades fit correctly on the cord. So, for over a year I had this silly brown shade hanging crookedly over my bed and I have been tried to convince myself that it fits with my eclectic decor. 

Fast forward to a month ago. I made a trip, with a friend, to the new Ikea in Memphis. Woohoo! it's only 2 1/2 hours away, about half the distance of the one in Dallas. This time I took a better look at the less expensive shades and I came across this.

Kind of boring, right? But for $4.99 I couldn't pass up it's potential. I knew it could be something spectacular if I just thought about it for awhile. I dug around in Pinterest and found several ideas, but most were still a bit tame for me. Lots of white. So, I decided to turn up the volume on a coffee filter hack. 

I was going to use fabric dye, but I had some old gel food coloring in my cupboard. If I can do something for less, I will. 

I used only yellow at first adding more and more as I dyed and eventually adding in some pink to make a gradient to my filters. I took a few filters at a time folded them up and dunked them in the dye. Easy peasy. This project ended up taking about 700 filters. I only bought 400 at first. When I went back for more, I got a different brand. Here's where you can learn from me, haha. 

You'll see why this size difference could be a problem later on. After they were dyed I hung them in stacks on one of those folding dryer deals. 

I hung them up at about 8 pm and by the time I woke up the next morning they were completely dry. As you can see they aren't as vivid after drying. In each stack the outside filter is much brighter and they fade more and more towards the middle. Another learning experience. I hate those.

Starting with the lightest filters I Folded them into 4ths and glued the point to the shade. 

Pardon my mess. When I craft things tend to get out of hand. 

Here's how far I got on the first batch of 400 filters. 

Here's where the filter size difference could have been a disaster. I decided the best course of action was to bend the tip a little farther up to compensate. 

The colors were off in my gradient too, so I started from the other end using the brightest filters and worked back to the middle. 

It kind of looks a bit like a clown head at this point. 

The gradient isn't the best in the middle, but once lighted, it's not near as obvious. 

I'm pretty proud of this one. 

I'd love some feedback, any thoughts on making it easier or better? Thanks, for stopping by come back soon. I promise I will have more fun stuff soon. 

Introduction

This blog is for all of you fellow crafters that don't fit in the crafter mold. You know who I mean. Not the peaceful, quiet, meek, things that bake healthy snacks for mini Yorkies (no matter how adorbs they are). This is more for people who just like to build things, change things, use power tools, shake things up a bit. I swear and like black leather. I like a little edge and a lot of color in my crafts. I want people to say "Damn, that is fucking awesome! Where did you get that?!" So I can reply with, "I made it. Want one?" If I didn't lose you with the F-bomb, we're probably kindred spirits. I hope you stick around to see what I make get a few ideas, checkout some of my likes and dislikes, and maybe help me out when I'm stuck for ideas or teach me a better way to do things.