My Secret to Easy Dinner & An Offer From HelloFresh!

HelloFresh Cheesy Meatball Sub

Figuring out dinner every single night is a constant struggle. I can’t imagine how that equation evolves once kids are in the mix. I guess I’m the typical wife who gives the “I don’t care” answer, and then Kalyn chooses something that is always the WRONG choice (amiright?!). Dinner is always our biggest disagreement. Ha! Long story short, we’re indecisive, we hate grocery shopping, we’re foodies, but we don’t like eating out throughout the week. We literally have at least one night a week we like to call “scrounge for yourself”… and you can probably guess how that goes. Well, I’m letting you in on a little dinner secret we’ve been using for quite awhile now, HelloFresh.

Cheesy Italian Meatball Sub

I was super excited to connect with the folks at HelloFresh because I’m already a customer. If you’re new to the system, here’s a little overview of how it works… each week you make meal selections based on your dietary preferences and family size. The following week a box of fresh ingredients shows up at your door, along with detailed instructions on how to make each dinner. They even suggest the order in which to make the meals, so you can enjoy the ingredients at their freshest. My husband and I have a lot of fun making the recipes, trying new foods, and testing our culinary skills. It’s sort of become our way to wind down each day and spend quality time together cooking, then sharing a meal. I don’t think we’ve had a bad meal delivered to us since signing up over a year ago (I like those odds). I also really appreciate that we control the schedule and can skip weeks at any time while we’re traveling or have special events.

This week, our menu looked like this: cheesy meatball subs, chopped chicken salad (with avocado lime dressing!), and salmon with baby potatoes and basil pesto. I thought it’d be fun to share one of the recipes with you guys and give you a feel for the portion size. My favorite of the three was the chicken salad, but Kalyn insisted I share the “bomb” meatball subs. I typically don’t eat red meat, but I have to admit these were really good.

HelloFresh Meatball Sub

Cheesy Meatball Subs, serves 2:
10 ounces ground beef
2 po’ boy rolls
1 cup crushed tomatoes
1 yellow onion
2 garlic cloves
½ ounce basil
½ cup mozzarella cheese
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
*olive oil, salt, pepper (you’ll need these 3 things for all HelloFresh meals)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Finely dice the onion and garlic, then proceed to chop the basil leaves. Make the marinara: heat a drizzle of olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic, tossing until soft- around 5 minutes. Reserve half of the onion and garlic mix in a medium bowl. Add 1 cup crushed tomatoes, 1 cup water, the chopped basil, and 1/2 of the Italian seasoning to the post with the onion mixture. Bring to a simmer, then season with salt and pepper.  Make the meatballs: add the ground beef and remaining Italian seasoning to the bowl with the reserved onion mix. Season with salt and pepper, then thoroughly combine with your hands. Form the mixture into 6 large meatballs.

Place the meatballs into the simmering marinara and cover for 8 minutes- flipping halfway through. Uncover the meatballs and simmer until the marinara is thickened and the meatballs are cooked throughout- approximately 3 more minutes. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese on top of each meatball and cover them with another layer once the cheese has melted. Split the rolls and place in the oven to toast prior to serving. Spoon a large dollop of marinara onto each roll, followed by 3 meatballs, additional cheese, and garnish the dish with extra basil.

Cheesy Meatball Sub

HelloFresh is offering a promo for Room for Tuesday readers… use code TUESDAY35 for $35 off your first box at HelloFresh.com.

I actually think it would be a great gift to surprise someone with dinner! Maybe that will be my new thing… sending HelloFresh boxes to friends and family, just because. If you guys have questions about how it works- let me know, I’m happy to help and compare my experience. Also check out a fun interview I did with HelloFresh on their website! It includes some pretty funny memories- like my biggest fail in the kitchen (it was a BIG one). Have you tried this before?

*This post is brought to you in collaboration with HelloFresh. All content, ideas, and words are my own, and I’m an actual paying HelloFresh customer. Thanks for supporting the sponsors that allow us to create unique content while featuring products we truly use and enjoy.

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2 Comments

  1. Jaclyn Lorimer says:

    Hi Sarah!
    Is this a subscription type service, where you sign up once and it auto-delivers? Or can you choose when you want them sent to you? I love the idea but probably wouldn’t want to do it each week!
    XO, Jaclyn

    1. Hi Jaclyn! It is a subscription type service, but I don’t like to have it delivered every single week… it’s nice because you can make yours schedule or click “skip” to opt out. We’ve been traveling so much lately, it’s sort of turned into a once a month thing for us, but I love the convenience of getting it whenever I want. Hope this helps! xo, Sarah