Home Chef: Saving Mom-Sanity One Meal at a Time

One of the goals of Two and Three Quarters is to provide our readers with useful information along with a touch of our humor and snark. We want other moms (and dads) to be able to use us as a resource and think of us as comrades on the parenthood battlefield. We recently received one of our first samples for review: Home Chef, a weekly meal delivery service. Not only was I thrilled to receive a sample, but also excited to try the service because I love to cook. The following is my review of Home Chef.

My delivery arrived on Tuesday and I was pleasantly surprised at how well it was packaged. The boxes are packed to withstand sitting on a porch for several hours. This is great because if you are running errands or are at work all day you wouldn’t want your food to spoil. Or in my case, the UPS man is afraid of my dogs so he leaves packages like a ninja and doesn’t ring the bell.

All of the ingredients needed for the meals are included in the box except for some kitchen staples like oil, salt, and pepper. It took me about 5 seconds to unpack everything and put it away. This is a huge plus for me. I have been running around like crazy this week, taking our vehicles in for service, dogs to the groomers, cleaning the house just in case the Queen stops by. My parents came to town for the weekend and there is always a lot to do before guests arrive. Home Chef came at the perfect time to impress me. I’ve tried 3 times this week to do the grocery shopping, but ended up leaving before my list was through on two occasions because DD had had enough and was letting the whole commissary know by screaming at the top of her lungs. If Home Chef also delivered toilet paper I’d never have to go to the store with a baby again and everything would be right with the world.

After DD went to bed for the night I cooked our first meal. It took about 40 minutes and it was by far the healthiest, most delicious meal I’ve ever made in 40 minutes. Sherry Wine Demi-Glace Flat Iron Steak with whipped potatoes and balsamic Brussels sprouts for a weeknight dinner made me feel like it was my birthday. I was a little reluctant to make this meal for two reasons: 1) I have been ruining/over cooking steaks like it is my job the last few times I’ve tried to make them for DH. We got rid of our outdoor grill during our last move and are making due with a George Foreman for now. It is a poor substitute to cook steaks on. I followed the recipe exactly and used a skillet to cook up the steaks. They were cooked to perfection! Seared on the outside and full of juicy flavor on the inside. 2) I do not like Brussels sprouts! I think they are disgusting and smell like sweaty feet. I shutter when I see them thinking back about my childhood, having to sit at the dinner table until I ate the three little sprouts on my plate. Gag! Claire made a salad for a cookout at my place that had Brussels sprouts in it and I thought maybe she was punishing all my guests or trying to tell me, in some weird way, that she didn’t want to be friends anymore. I’m trying to be more open minded though. I ate Claire’s salad and didn’t mind the flavor. I also cooked the Brussels sprouts from Home Chef according to the recipe and actually quite enjoyed the final product. In conclusion, if you follow the Home Chef recipe card you will end up with a wonderful dinner.

The second night we had a more casual meal, but it was certainly not lacking in any flavor. Turkey chili with cheddar cheese and avocado, yum yum yum! This was definitely a new way for me to eat chili. I’m used to having chili Cincinnati style: chili beans on top of a pile of noodles. My husband calls it “spaghetti beans.” I’ll do a post in the future with the recipe. This turkey chili was a super easy meal to make; it took about 25 minutes total. The avocado and sour cream were an interesting addition. Like I said, I’m not used to so much color and flavor in my chili. It was delicious though and I’ll definitely be making it this way again.

All-in-all I really like this meal service.

The portion sizes were a big concern for me when I first opened the box. My husband always teases me about serving him “Mallory size” portions that he can’t eat. Not to say I’m a fatty fatty boombalatti, but if a meal is good I’m going to eat a generous portion of it. Now that my metabolism isn’t what it used to be I try to watch how much I eat. I was afraid there wasn’t going to be enough food for the two of us (mostly me), but there was plenty. For the first meal I added an extra potato “just in case,” but we definitely did not need it.

I highly recommend this meal service to all my busy mom friends. This will help take away some of the weekly planning and provide more time for your family….or more time for you to hide from your family. I have already signed up for my next delivery and can’t wait to try out the new recipes. If you are interested in Home Chef, please let us know and we will send you $30 to give it a try.