So, I signed up for a meal program called Hello Fresh! Because I shop a hundred times a week and still don’t ever have everything I need to make a meal. I am ALWAYS forgetting something or I think I have it already only to get home and find I don’t have it, never had it, or it’s so outdated that my dog wouldn’t eat it.

The way this program works is they send you the ingredients for 3 full meals a week for 2 people. They have other options but that’s the one I chose. You can get the Veggie option or the Omnivore option. We are weird in our house. We eat fish and pork but not chicken or beef. I will eat some beef, but hubby will not. I went for the Omnivore option because I have also adopted a low carb diet for health reasons. And most veggie options are pasta or beans, both are high in carbs and my body does not care for them much. The cool thing is they give you 5 options from which to choose your 3 meals. The first week I ordered the Shrimp Paella, Pork Laarb Burgers, and Jamie’s Spaghetti Bolognese. I know what you’re saying, those are all high carb options. Paella is rice, burgers have buns, Spaghetti?!! But the beauty of these meals is that they send you everything you need to make the meal. Everything, spices, produce, meat, all but the olive oil. And it’s all separate, so I can choose what to use and what not to use. So, while I’ll admit I ate the Paella as is, rice and all. Holy cow was it good! When I make the burgers, I’ll leave the buns for hubby. And when it’s time for the spaghetti, I’ll use spaghetti squash in place of the pasta.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s still labor intensive. You still have to wash and cut the produce. I will still have to make the burger patties (blech, I hate touching raw meat). But it’s all there, everything I need. There will be no, “Dammit, I forgot to buy the shrimp for the shrimp dish.” Or “how old is this cheese?”

So, the box came and I made the Paella first because the box said, “make me first.” I suppose because the shrimp would lose it freshness. It came out pretty good. The chorizo was a bit tough. I think that’s because I did not saute it long enough to soften it.

All produce and herbs come with. But they have to be cleaned and cut.

Sauteing of the vegetables. I did not include the onion. Because we also do not eat onions.

the stock and rice coming to a boil. The stock provided was chicken. Since we don’t eat chicken, I used veggie stock of my own.

The final Paella