I started doing Home Chef a few months ago just before I quit my job (see previous post). I had heard about Blue Apron and started doing research on different groups that will send you the ingredients to make meals throughout the week. This seemed awesome. As someone who takes a bus grocery shopping can be difficult. As someone who lives alone, cooking elaborate meals or going through the effort of planning (and shopping) can be overwhelming and exhausting. The fact that I could have meals sent to me and I wouldn't have to buy ingredients that I wouldn't use before they went bad was extremely appealing. So I signed up and haven't looked back since.
Let me back up and explain a little bit how Home Chef works, and why I picked this one out of the other sites I looked at. There's no contract to sign. I'm sure that's one of your top concerns, as it was for me. I didn't want to be locked in to anything or paying for food I didn't want or wouldn't eat. I can skip a week or more, I just have to tell them ahead of time. In fact, I plan on receiving an order next week but skipping the next two. Most meals are $9.95 per serving, although there is a fruit basket option and a smoothie option that are both $4.95 per serving. The only requirement is that you pick a minimum of two meals to get delivery. Each meal comes with a choice of 2, 4, or 6 servings. If you spend $50 or more you get free delivery. Less than that and delivery is $10. When you sign up you can fill out a profile with your dietary restrictions. You'll get an email at the start of the week with the meals they have picked out for you to receive, but you always have the option to go in and edit your meals. You have until 12 pm CST (or is it PST? Shoot, now I can't remember) to finalize your meal, including changing your meals, your delivery day, how many servings, or if you're going to skip. Each meal comes with the ingredients already proportioned out for you. All you have to do, depending on the meal, is maybe some chopping and of course the cooking. The only things I've ever had to provide out of my own kitchen is olive oil, salt, and pepper. So why Home Chef? Price wise, it's about the same as the other ones I've looked at, if not slightly cheaper depending on what I order on any given week. First off, I picked Home Chef because I felt the meals were ones I would actually eat. You know, nothing too fancy. Secondly, there are many more options every week, about 10-12, including a seasonal fruit basket (right now you get pears and apples), breakfast, and smoothies. Every meal comes with a recipe card, so if you ever want to duplicate a meal you can. The recipe card tells you how to plate the meal so it looks pretty and gives you drink pairings. Since the smallest serving choice I can do is 2, I really get two dinners out of every meal (the day I cook it and leftovers for later in the week). I think I've covered all the basics. If you go to homechef.com you can check out all the details for yourself and check out their recent menus. (And if you know me and want my email for a referral, we should both get a $30 credit!)
But now I'm going to do a review, if you will, of the Home Chef meal I cooked for dinner tonight: Pumpkin Gnocchi in Sage-Brown Butter Cream with Candied Pecans, Sun-Dried Tomatoes, and Bleu Cheese. It's labeled an expert recipe and I did feel a bit out of my element with this one. Why? I had to make the gnocchi from scratch. Preparing the Swiss chard and sage was easy, although I didn't feel there was much I had to do with the sun-dried tomatoes. They were supposed to be julienned, but were already pretty close to that before I touched them. Then came the gnocchi. I don't know if they didn't send me enough flour or if I did something wrong, but I was supposed to work with the dough until it wasn't sticky. I ended up using up all the flour they sent me and adding a ton of my own before I felt I could work with it. But after that it was pretty smooth sailing. The smell of the sage-brown butter cream smelled like Thanksgiving, but I should've started it later I think because I wasn't sure how to keep it warm while I boiled the gnocchi. If I kept the heat on I was afraid it would boil over and if I turned it off the cream added a film on top. But I wilted the Swiss chard like a pro (maybe) and before I knew it I was plating my dinner and getting ready to eat. The prep time is listed as 40 minutes but with my issues with the dough my time was about an hour. End result? A tasty meal that I probably would not have ever made for myself. One of my friends on Facebook said that she had just paid $18 for a similar meal at a restaurant! I don't know if I'll be attempting homemade gnocchi again, but I loved the fall flavors of this meal. While not one of my favorites that I've made, I'm still pleased with the results.
