dinner - AnnaTheApple

March 19, 2015March 30, 2017

Hello tasty food – Hello Fresh Review

This post has been a long time coming.

[I have not been compensated for this review. I just fancied doing it.]

I mentioned a while ago that I caved into the pressure of a door-to-door salesman touting a Hello Fresh subscription discount. I was that sucker. What’s the one thing they say? Never buy or sign up to someone knocking at your door.

But it did sound very good to me (I hear your thoughts: of course it would). I signed up to the three meals for two people. My discount took £20 off for two boxes and then I could cancel my subscription or continue on at £39 per box. Note how I say per box not per week. You can decide how often you want the box delivered – whether that’s once a week or once a month or whatever.

But what actually is it? Well, it’s a food and recipe delivery service. In each box I receive the ingredients for three meals and the three recipes to go with it. The only thing you need to have is oil/butter, salt and pepper. If the recipe calls for a tablespoon of cornflour then Hello Fresh have made sure to give you a tiny container with exactly that amount. Even teeny tiny bottles of soy sauce or sesame oil. Everything is provided for in the exact amount you need.

The meat is ethically reared, the vegetables are seasonal and fresh and the fish is coastal fresh, line-caught and free from any artificial preservatives. And so far all the ingredients have been in great condition and delicious.

Also, all the packaging and the box are recyclable and you can send back (for free) the cooling wool lining (used to wrap the meats and fridge products) back to Hello Fresh so they can recycle it there.

The meals are well balanced and the portions are brilliant – and considering this is me we’re talking about (the girl with a tiny T-rex inside her) this is something.

Every meal we’ve had so far I’ve enjoyed. There was one meal, a prawn and Serrano ham linguine, that I changed slightly for me (but kept the same for Ben) as I really don’t enjoy pasta. So I served it up with roasted sweet potato fries instead and it worked perfectly.

These aren’t super fast meals though. It takes me roughly 30-40 minutes to have it cooked and on the table (though the recipes are very clear and easy to follow).

Pork loin with leek mash and onion gravy

And the meals often require more pans than I’m used to, meaning lots more washing up. However, I love cooking. I find it a great way to de-stress from work and my long commute. I make sure I read the recipe at work so I know what I’m going to do and then when I get home I just get going. I know I already have everything at hand for the meal.

Pork loin with leek mash and onion gravy

I’m also learning how to cook better. I’ve never made onion gravy from scratch before or cooked certain cuts of meat so I feel like my culinary skills are broadening and my cooking CV expanding.

Things like the above photo: I’ve never beat down a chicken breast before to make it thinner and quicker to cook (we have since bought a rolling pin rather than using a tin of chickpeas…).

Pan-fried chicken and tarragon sauce

All the meals come with their nutritional information and are around 400-800 calories per meal. They’re very balanced in protein, carbs and fat and I’m always left satisfied.

Pan-fried tilapia with chorizo roasted potatoes

At the end of the week Hello Fresh ask for feedback for the meal and you can say whether you would want it again or not. So if you didn’t enjoy a meal for whatever reason you don’t have to have it again. You can give feedback as well if there was something about the meal you didn’t like or didn’t work for you. You can also see the meals coming up for the next week and you’re able to swap a meal with two other options (I’ve now do this with pasta meals).

Pan-fried tilapia with chorizo roasted potatoes

As you can see above, I sometimes add some more veggies (broccoli in this case) to some of the meals as I can’t help myself. Not because the meals aren’t filling (as Ben never needs anything more) but because I just love my veg!

Chicken Shawarma

All in all, we’re big fans. It makes life so much easier to just know what you’re going to have for three meals in the week. You know they’re going to be filling, nutritious and tasty. It’s definitely something we’re going to continue on.

There are several options of boxes to choose from at Hello Fresh: bigger family boxes, vegetarian ones and the classic one that we have. I think it’s a good value for money for quality, delicious food.

If you’re interested, you can use this code ZVUM4A to get £20 off your first two boxes too. It’s my own referral code (I would then get £12 off my own subscription – just so you’re aware).

Do you have any questions?

Do you subscribe to any weekly or monthly boxes?

Do you enjoy cooking meals from scratch?

February 23, 2015February 23, 2015

A little bit of the good stuff

And there goes another weekend! I feel recharged and ready to do another week. I know recent research says you can’t catch up on sleep you’ve missed in the week by sleeping more at the weekend but it just feels so good to get those extra hours!

I really do try and stay up later at the weekend but by 9pm my body is fully shutting down into sleep mode. I’m not ashamed to say I do love a good early night! I got up at 7am on Saturday to get to parkrun for 8am to help set up the course. I really enjoy doing this as there’s a usual crew of people who I get on really well with and have a natter with. And parkrun itself is always good fun. Ben didn’t join this week as he’s being sensible with his leg. A good plan but I missed his company.

Netley Abbey has been getting quite popular (over 240 people this week) so it’s a bit crowded at the start. I wanted to push it so found a nice spot near the front so I wouldn’t get absorbed into the crush at the beginning. I was pleased to have taken about 30 seconds off of last week’s time so I feel I’m making progress (22:02 – cool time!). I’m not sure how much faster I’ll get on the current course though (two hills you do three times) as my 5k times will never be that speedy (for me) as I don’t really care to focus on short-distance speed. I just use them as a faster run.

After getting home, showered and breakfasted the usual Saturday chores ensued. Then after lunch we met up with our friend Nathan to go for a little walk around a lovely area called Forest Bere.

I love going for walks at the weekend. I find it can be very easy to get stuck inside when the weather isn’t that warm and just watch TV or mope about. It was lovely and fresh. We walked 2.5 miles but had to get back relatively soon as the car park closed at 4.30pm which was a bit annoying. Obviously we took Alfie too.

I how the photo captures Ben mid-stride

We treated ourselves to an Indian take away that evening, which I was really looking forward to, but it was really disappointing. It tasted really nice but the portion sizes were really small. My tandorri chicken starter was pretty much just a drumstick and everything else just kind of looked a bit stingy, you know? And one onion salad when we ordered two (I love me some onion salad). Bit of a let down for a Saturday treat!

Sunday morning I went for my long run. I suppose you could say that my ‘long’ runs at the moment aren’t really that long (especially comparing them to you lot training for impending marathons!) but I’m tying to build things up gradually as I have a while yet until my marathon. While it’s great to have so much time, I’m also terrified it’s too much time to play with and that I’ll injure myself somewhere along the line!

Injury paranoia aside, I got a good seven mile run in (average pace 8:11min/mile).

At first I felt sluggish but then I got really into it and found it really hard to make myself go slower (like I said I would) but I just found myself feeling strong, not out of breath or feeling like it was an effort. My justification is that when I start getting to 10 miles and over then I’ll force myself to take it easier and use it for time on my feet. When I’m around distances that used to be very comfortable for me as a normal run I’m happy to be a bit quicker (let’s remember these fatal words if weeks from now I’m injured…).

The rest of Sunday was fairly miserable with just continuous rain (of which I missed on my run thankfully). This meant a rather unpleasant walk with Alfie.

That face: “Why are we out here??”

I had my wellies on and umbrella and at first Alfie was happy to smell bushes and do his thing, but then he would walk as close to me as possible to get sheltered from the rain. I felt mean being out in the rain with him but he had to go!

I will do a proper post on this but I just have to mention how much I’m absolutely loving this recipe box delivery service called Hello Fresh (I’ve not been contacted to do a review by them, I’m just a very happy paying customer – though I do have a discount code if anyone’s interested!). They deliver a box to your house with three recipes (though you can do five) with all the ingredients you need to make the meals. It’s amazing.

Sunday night’s dinner was sizzling sesame beef. The recipes are very easy to follow and taste SO good. Yes there’s prep and cooking involved, but I love it and I’m learning so much about ‘proper’ cooking. The meals are nutritionally balanced which is a bonus as well. And most importantly, Ben likes it too!

And that’s a wrap. OK not a hugely exciting weekend but it ticked the necessary boxes required 😉 Except cake. There was a distinct lack of cake.

How was your weekend?

Do you like to get outside during the colder months? Or do you snuggle indoors and hibernate?

Have you ever tried Hello Fresh or something similar?

August 20, 2014August 20, 2014

Foods and Alfie lately

It’s Wednesday and amazingly I’ve just got today left at work and then Ben and me have five days off. We’re heading to North Wales tomorrow to visit my grandparents again and (hopefully, weather dependent) do lots of hiking and walking.

I’ve had to shift a few runs around but I’m hoping to get my long run done tomorrow morning before we go. It’s a four hour car journey so it’ll be nice to sit and nap chill (Ben loves driving) after completing a long run. I’m hoping to do between 10-13 miles just to keep my body getting used to that distance before going any higher. Caution is my best friend right now.

I was recently giving the opportunity to review some Beet It sport products: the Pro-Elite Bar and the concentrated beetroot shot.

I haven’t used them yet as I want to save them for Berlin. Though I will test drive a few shots before my next half marathon (7th September – Pharmalink in Maidenhead). I’ve heard some really good things about the product so I’m really excited to try it out. And I love beetroot…The goodness in these products is all down to the nitrates from the beetroot which have been shown to help with stamina and performance (source; source).

I’m considering having one of the bars as breakfast before the Berlin marathon (obviously I’ll trial this first! I’m not crazy). For the Paris marathon I took the little oat pots and made it up in our hotel room with hot water…but I’m wondering if one of these bars and a banana might be more beneficial? I think I’ll test it for the Maidenhead half. I’m just worried it might not fill me up. It’s 235 calories which seems a little low for breakfast – but with a banana as well? Any advice would be welcome!

On the topic of food, I’ve been enjoying some really random but tasty meals lately.

Sausage and Sweet Potato Hash (serves one)

Small sweet potato, grated (I leave skin on)
Half white onion, diced
Couple of mushrooms, chopped
Half a small courgette, chopped
Good handful of kale
Two sausages, chopped into chunks
Large tablespoon of cream cheese
Spices (I used a Cajun spice mix which had a nice kick)

(I think I might have had the scrag ends of a stir fry mix in there as well – basically any sort of veg goes!)

– Fry the onion in oil (my favourite is coconut oil), then add sweet potato (add a bit of water if it starts to stick to pan) and allow to soften for about 5 minutes with occasional stirring. Then add courgettes, mushrooms and kale.

– Add the spices along with the sausages.

– When the sausages are cooked add the cream cheese, heat through and then serve!

Everything Salad (serves one hungry Anna)

I won’t patronise you with a recipe as it’s fairly self-explanatory. In the mix is a whole lot of veg (carrots, courgette, salad leaves, beetroot, mushrooms, roasted sweet potato) and in that mound hidden away are chickpeas. And then covered in my favourite Caesar dressing of course 😉

Feta Chicken

Feta chicken is always a normal meal during the week at ours. Sometimes done in the slow cooker, sometimes just the normal oven. I’ve written the recipe before (find it HERE).

And here is Ben’s dream meal which he’d eat every night if he had the chance…

This is actually leftovers from his pizza meal the night before. To be fair to him, he had run 18.5 miles (this was a few weeks ago…pre-injury). He ordered a large pizza, chicken dippers, garlic bread…and then consumed the leftovers (with toast of course) the next day. Jeeze. Who said runners were healthy, eh?

So like I said, we’re off to North Wales tomorrow. I’ll be saying good bye to this furry chappy tonight as he’ll be holidaying at my parent’s house while we’re away.

Alfie selfie

I’ll miss him so much. Gives me hope that when I eventually have a baby it’ll be similar feeling – finger’s crossed, eh?? 😉

Ben’s Alfie Snapchat he sent me while I was upstairs

Hopefully my parents will send some Alfie Snapchats as he loves them so… 😉

If you get the Bank Holiday off, how are you spending long weekend?

Have you ever tried the Beet It products? Or heard about beetroot as a sports supplement?

What’s your dream meal you’d eat all the time if health didn’t matter? BBQ ribs, sweet potato fries and a whole lotta cake.

July 31, 2014

A Day in the Life of

Me! I did one of this ages and ages ago but thought I’d do another one as things have changed a bit. This was a working day last week where I was running in the morning. I don’t run every day but it’s more interesting when I do 😉

At 5.10am my Fitbit fitness tracker gently wakes me up by vibrating on my wrist. This is handy because it only wakes me up and not Ben (though, to be honest, a truck could drive through our bedroom and he’d still struggle to wake up, whereas a drip in the sink from the bathroom could jolt me awake).

I took this photo from our bed just before I got up. Our curtains have been left open just because it’s so damn hot. Also it’s nice to be semi-awake anyway from the morning sunlight when my alarm goes off.

Around 5.30am after the bathroom usuals and getting my running gear on I take Alfie for a walk.

Unbelievably this dog is raring to go at this time. What is wrong with him?? I do quite enjoy these very early morning walks with him. It warms me up for my run and it’s so peaceful and quiet outside, barely anyone else around except for a fellow ~~crazy~~ dog walker or two.

I get home and do a little 5-10min dynamic warm up before I run. I do things like leg swings and high knees. Just some moves to get the creaks from my legs.

Then off I go. Depending on the session I’ll either listen to a podcast (easy run) or music (intervals/hill sessions/tempo) or sometimes just run to sound of my own feet. I run anywhere from 3 miles to 6 miles (but this will be increasing as the weeks go on).

Then I get back and walk Alfie again as a cool down. On days I don’t run I usually give Alfie a long walk, so when I run I’m giving Alfie two short walks (we call him Double Dump Alfie – go figure!)

Then I get back and do some stretching and foam rolling while drinking some water with this stuff in it:

I got this ages ago (I only have 5g a time). It basically helps with muscle repair and you metabolism. I can’t say I’ve noticed anything really but I take it anyway! I then race to the shower. I’m usually always late at this point (where does the time go??)

Shower, wash hair, comb hair, dry hair, straighten hair – gargh I sometimes HATE my hair. So damn long and so damn long to maintain.

Acceptably groomed

Then I’m ready for breakfast!

I sort my lunch out for the day (I’ve made most of it the night before so this is just a case of popping my popcorn in the microwave and putting everything in my bag by the door). Sometimes I also prepare dinner for the evening to go in the slow cooker. This day the evening meal was coconut beef curry so I prepared all those bits and pieces.

And finally breakfast time.

Just simply oats, teaspoon of chia seeds and almond milk.

Every single day and I love it.

Then brush my teeth and off to work. I have a 45-60 minute commute to Basingstoke which is just a joy, I can tell you. Sometimes I share a lift with my dad which has it’s good points and bad points… 😉

Recently I’ve been dropping into Costa to grab a coffee (black Americano, sugar free caramel syrup – I just adore. No calories, more chemicals…yeah I know).

Then work, work, work.

This day I was in a lengthy all day meeting so I had regular drinks to keep me going. This was a cranberry, raspberry and elderflower herbal tea.

Finally lunch time comes around. I love my lunch. Sad but true. Tuna salad, salted popcorn, Greek yogurt with frozen blueberries and summer fruits.

Then work, work, work. Mid-afternoon Graz snack to keep me going.

Mmm the cake ones are the best! Though I probably do prefer the nuts ones as they keep me going longer. Then my 4 o’clock apple and banana (someone stole my banana the other day – I had one left in my fruit bowl and someone took it. Everyone claimed innocence…apparently it was someone senior. Damn them. They were lucky it wasn’t my apple!).

If I have nothing on in the evening I’ll probably go to our office’s mini gym and do a 45 minute strength workout.

I really do mean ‘mini’ gym

I tend to focus on my physio exercises that have been recommended to me in order for injury prevention (e.g. single leg squats, clam shells, core work, etc.)

Getting ready to do the ‘crab walk’ with my resistance band

Then the long commute home. I usually get home anywhere from 6.30pm to 7pm. Ben is already home and has walked Alfie so I sort my things out, pack my gym bag for the next day and get into mooching clothes. Then time to prepare dinner. This morning I’d already prepared the meal but some evenings I need to make something from scratch (like tortilla pizza, something egg based, gammon, etc.).

As I said previously, I’d prepared coconut beef curry. This was OK, nothing amazing. It filled a whole! I don’t think I used a recipe, just put some diced beef (from the meat that Ben won) with some vegetables (like chopped onion, kale, carrots, courgette, mushrooms) and added a bit of beef stock and a can of light coconut milk with lots of Indian spices. It was kind of soupy as there was a fair bit of liquid but nice nonetheless. More of a stew I guess!

Then I have two apples after dinner (always) and chill out watching some TV with Ben. I’ll have a hot chocolate and a jelly (rock and roll) before hitting the hay around 9ish to read my book and get an early night. I’m shattered by this point! It doesn’t take me long to fall asleep at all.

My day might sound boring but I enjoy it. I love running so early in the morning and I love having an easy evening where I don’t have to do too much (quality sofa time!).

What is the favourite time of your day? I love mornings. I might not be overly chatty but I get so much done and am very efficient.

Do you have night time snacks before bed?

Is your day always the same during the week? The only real variations for me are if I run in the morning or not! Also if Ben is running in the evening (he’ll never get up as early as I do to run) then I might get to watch all those amazing shows like the Kardashians 😉

March 19, 2014October 28, 2016

The worst marathon training plan

I ran three miles last night. With no pain. Before I get the trumpets playing to celebrate my return to running…I am being very reluctant to celebrate yet.

My plans last night had been to just do an hour’s worth of strength. But my foot felt good. No pain or discomfort while walking. I looked longingly at the treadmill (now you know things are bad when that happens) and thought “ahh I’ll just try it”. So I hopped on, set it very slowly…no pain. Sped it up, no pain. Full on running, no pain.

I decide to go outside. I was dressed for the gym, not running. I had no running jacket, an easy t-shirt on, no Garmin, no music…

But I just went for it. I promised myself I’d stop if there was any pain.

No pain. In fact, it felt good. Maybe a hint of a slight discomfort from the spot on my ankle – but nothing to slow me down or really niggle me. I decided to stick with three miles. All I know is that I did it in under 25 minutes as I knew roughly what time I started. It felt pretty good to go on a ‘naked’ run. And I was so happy!

This morning I saw my physio and told him I’d ran (he told me not to run until the weekend) but he said that was great. He was glad I’d gone for it as I know my body best. He went to town on the spot of my ankle that’s causing me pain to ‘break it down’ to help build it back up. My god it is UNREAL how painful that is. But he did the same last week and it honestly felt so much better a few days later. And I’m OK to run 6-10 miles at the weekend.

HAPPY DAYS! But again, no celebration just yet. I’m quietly optimistic though.

To be honest, at this point, I’m trying hard not to think about the marathon, or marathons in general. This is quite hard considering everyone in the world is training for a spring marathon (OK I exaggerate, but a fair amount of people). And for some of them the biggest thing they’re concerned about is their running mantra. Are you serious? I wish that was my issue. I’m feeling a bit bitter and miserable (has that come across…?) So, just for fun, here’s my marathon training plan for the hopeless:

Start your training injured.
Bash out an 11 miler after doing your first one miler post-injury tester.
Ramp up your mileage stupidly high – 10%? Don’t be daft: go big or go home.
Do every session hardcore. Intervals, tempos, sprints. Easy runs? What are you, a pansy??
Run through pain. Always. If you’re not crying, you’re not working hard enough.
Don’t practice your nutrition for race day. Wing it, you’re a pro.
Avoid your foam roller like it’s the devil. Tight muscles mean strong muscles.
Have no clear pace strategy. You need to size your competition up first.
RACE DAY: Try something new and exciting for dinner the night before and breakfast on the day. Perhaps something really rich and spicy that really sits on your stomach in a nice and heavy, bubbly way.
Wear those brand new trainers you bought especially and haven’t worn yet. And that new cotton t-shirt that has those crazy designs around the shoulders that sort of itched when you tried it on.
Drink lots of water all morning. So much so that your tummy feels really full and bloated. And don’t bother with the loos. Why waste your time when you could be right at the front of your corral, elbowing people out of the way.
Make yourself known on the first mile by absolutely sprinting off into the distance. 26.2 miles isn’t that far and you really want to scare your competition.

Obviously this is a joke. Though sadly I have to say that I few of those I can tick (1, 6 & 8). Ben amazes me every day because honestly he went from broken and ruined to bashing out the long runs like a trooper. He pretty much did 2 and 3. The body works in weird and mysterious ways. I’m not bitter or resentful…promise 😉

But let’s move on, shall we? We all know how sad and panicky I am so let’s not dwell in that fun place right now.

I managed to sneak some sweet potato into a meal without Ben knowing. Can I get an applause here? This is the boy that was vehemently against that type of potato. After the meal, while he was still in a blissful sate of ignorance I told him what the secret ingredient was. Well played, Anna, well played. He even said he’d have it again.

Basically I used the same recipe as my Mexican chicken slow cooker meal (recipe HERE) but changed the beans for sweet potato chunks. I much prefer it with the potato.

Last night another hit meal, not from the slow cooker though, was gammon with a fried egg and cauliflower/broccoli mash.

OK I’d be lying if I said Ben had the mash. He had onion rings instead. I made the mash with steamed broccoli and cauliflower then added a big dollop of cream cheese and pepper. Blitzed it up using a hand blender then microwaved for about a minute.

I love gammon with egg. And it’s such an easy meal. You just grill the gammon and fry the egg. Boom.

And my lovely Indian friend at work made me ‘halwa’ to cheer me up (gosh I must be a joy to work with at the moment…).

They are made from cashew nuts and ghee. There’s sweet but not overly so – more like a nutritional bar like Nakd or Trek. She suggested Ben and me eat them slightly warmed with custard.

So that’s what we did. Heavenly!

What would be your top worst tips for marathon training?

Have you tried any non-native desserts or food lately?

Does your other half like the food you eat?