Hello Fresh

So we have jumped on the bandwagon and started Hello Fresh. For anyone that doesn’t know what Hello Fresh is, it’s a company that send you fresh British ingredients for dinners. You can pick a range of different options, for example, if you’re a family, how many of you there are and if you are a vegetarian. We picked the classic option, 5 meals a week for 2, which costs £49. 

Before Jackson was born, we made everything from scratch and used to eat a variety of dishes. Like a lot of people with a new baby, we started turning to easier and more convenient meals that took the least amount of time to cook. We both thought that this would be a good way to get back into the swing of cooking. 

Monday

The box arrived and I was amazed at how much was in there. It was all packaged incredibly well.

Chris and I were actually out that evening so we didn’t cook that night, typical!

Tuesday

I had a day off cooking as Chris was off work so he fancied giving it a go. It was Pan-Fried Pork Medallions, Tarragon and Potatoes. The sauce he made was not as thick as on the picture but it did taste very yummy. If I am honest this was the meal I was looking forward to the least. Well, I was pleasantly surprised!! We did, however, make one small change; neither of us like boiled potatoes that much because, well, we find them boring!!!! So after we boiled them we put them in the in the oven for 5 mins with balsamic vinegar. 

Wednesday

We were both so looking forward to tonights meal the most. Duck Steaks with Spiced Chickpeas, Sweet Potatoes and Lemony Yoghurt. And it was delicious, something we would have ordered in a restaurant and been impressed with! The only thing was the sweet potatoes took sooooo much longer than the recipe stated! 

Thursday 

Tonight we had Chermoula Chicken with Chorizo Lentils and Roasted Peppers. My only criticism on this was I think that chicken thighs would have worked better than chicken breasts. However, Chris told me afterwards that it was supposed to be with thighs (I had got them mixed up with the breasts from another meal) oopps!!! In the rush of the evening I saw chicken and took it out of the fridge before checking it was the right one! The chorizo and lentils worked so well together though. 

Friday 

Tonight on the menu was Sage and Butternut Squash Risotto. Chris was not impressed that it was a meat free meal (the only one of the week). However, his turned out to be one of our favourite dishes!! Even had a bit of butternut squash to give to Jackson. 

Saturday

I was out for dinner with my family and Chris took this opportunity to have his pizza fix! 

Sunday 

So the finial recipe of the week was Lime Roasted Chicken with herbs and Feta Couscous. This had chicken thighs instead of chicken breasts, due to my previous mix-up. This was delicious; I loved the strips of courgette and the different herbs in this dish. Yummy!!!

We loved all the meals this week and none of them were too complicated and it defiantly stopped us from running to Sainsbury's to get a quick meal or ordering a take away.  

Let me know if any of you have tried it and what your thoughts are. Also if any of you want £20 off your order let me know your email. 

Love Sophia xx

P.S - this isn't an ad, just thought I would share my genuine thoughts. 

Flying with a baby

We have recently come back from a holiday to Greece visiting some family and... we survived the flight with a 4 and ½ month old!!

We were both a bit optimistic about how Jackson would be on the flight and also how we would be....

Jackson was amazing, so I thought I would share a few tips that I found worked for us.

TIPS

1.     Be prepared! Have your baby bag ready, make sure its tidy so you can easily find everything. You don’t know if there will be a delay so make sure you have enough nappies, wipes, bottles etc.

2.     Relax… as easy as this sounds, it can be difficult with traveling with a baby. Try leaving a little bit earlier so that you have plenty of time.  Babies can play off how you are feeling so if you are relaxed and happy then hopefully so will your baby.

3.     Try to time your baby's feedings around take off and landing to help with their little ears. This isn’t always possible so, if not, try to giving them a dummy.

4.     Plan how you will travel around the airport with your baby. For us, we took the car seat and baby carrier (our backs where broken by the end!).

5.     Make sure you have all of their favourite toys and you have rehearsed all their favourite songs!

6.     Layer your baby's clothes. On the fight out, it was very hot and the way back a little cold. At least with layering you can take some items off and put back on when needed.

7.     My most important tip is ignore the snotty people. Lets be honest, before I was a mum and I saw a baby near me on a flight, there would be a little sigh in my head, which I think is normal. For me, it’s the people that give you the nasty looks or speak loudly, trying to make you feel bad, that are the ones to sigh about!

Love Sophia xx