March 2017 MissFresh Review + Coupon Code

Eating healthy involves planning, but sometimes our busy schedules make it difficult to choose recipes for the week, purchase all the necessary ingredients, and have time to actually cook after long days of work or school.

Luckily, eating well can be easy with MissFresh, a Canadian company founded in Quebec that strives to help you lead a healthier lifestyle by making eating healthy at home easy and accessible.

MissFresh delivers weekly pre-portioned fresh ingredients and delicious recipes across Canada. Each week, you get to choose from a range of different recipes and then the ingredients and directions are shipped to you overnight. This completely takes the guesswork out of planning meals, figuring out which ingredients are necessary, and making a trip to the store to purchase what you need. All you have to do is cook, and you won’t spend the entire evening in the kitchen since all meals are ready in 30 minutes or less.

There are four different dinner meal kits to choose from.

Vegetarian Box - Vegetarian recipes packed with seasonal vegetables, hearty grains, and animal-free proteins.

Chef Box - A family-friendly selection of meat, fish, produce, and grains.

Custom Box - Your selection from all available gourmet recipes including meat, fish, produce, and grains.

Kilo Solution Box - Nutritionist Dr. Isabelle Huot’s calorie-controlled selection of healthy, delicious, and tasty recipes that are developed following rigorous nutritional criteria.

Depending on the needs of your household, you can customize your meal kit by choosing 2-5 meals per week and 2-6 portions per meal. Meal kits start at $7.99 per portion with free shipping, and you can use the coupon code BEAUTYWRITER for $25 off your first meal kit. MissFresh also offers ready-to-eat snacks in four different box options starting at $14.99 per box.

I was lucky enough to try the Vegetarian Box* meal kit. Read on for my review and photos of each recipe.

Easy Mango Avocado Salsa Recipe

Since I was little, my favourite fruit has always been mango. Now that it’s summer and mangos are easy to find, I try to eat one every day and have been experimenting with different recipes. One of the easiest mango recipes that I make often is this delicious mango salsa. It’s sweet, creamy, flavourful, and refreshing.

My favourite way to eat it is with some tortilla chips for an afternoon snack, or at dinner as a topping for fish.

Recipe

Ingredients:

1 mango, diced
1 avocado, diced
1 jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped
1.5 tablespoons green onion, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
2 tablespoons lime juice
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Serve immediately or store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Pineapple Shrimp Stir Fry with Coconut Rice

I
t’s been a little while since I’ve posted a recipe, so I wanted to share my new favourite rice dish. This stir fry features a few of my favourite things: pineapple, shrimp, and coconut. It’s very easy to make and is a bit more unique than the average stir fry.

The original recipe is from Canadian Living, and I modified it to make it a bit more fall appropriate (it’s too cold to go outside to use the grill).

Recipe

Ingredients:

Stir fry
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons fish sauce
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
25 cooked jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/2 pineapple cut into small cubes
1 carrot, grated

Rice
2 tablespoons butter
3 green onions, thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, grated
1 cup jasmine rice
1 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:
1. In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat.
2. Add green onions, garlic, and ginger. Stir occasionally until softened (4 minutes).
3. Add rice. Stir until lightly toasted (2 minutes).
4. Stir in coconut milk, water, and salt; bring to boil. Cover and reduce heat to low. Cook until rice is tender and no liquid remains (15 minutes).
5. In a small bowl, whisk together lime juice, fish sauce, sugar, and ginger.
6. Add shrimp and pineapple to a pan and cook over medium heat. Pour lime juice mixture over the shrimp and pineapple. Stir occasionally for about 6 minutes.
7. Add pineapple and shrimp to rice. Mix in shredded carrots before serving.

Healthy & Delicious Chocolate Pudding

I must confess that I have a serious sweet tooth. I can’t make it through a day…or sometimes an hour…without eating something sweet. Despite how much I love the taste of sugary foods, I know that it’s not healthy to eat them all the time, so I’m always looking for recipes that will help me get my sweet fix without compromising my health.

Recently I came across a wonderful recipe for the delicious chocolate pudding that you see in the photo above. I found it on Lauren Conrad’s website which always features lots of amazing, yet healthy, recipes. I modified the recipe a bit to fit my style (see the original recipe HERE). Not only is this pudding much healthier than regular, processed-sugar-infused pudding that can be found at the grocery store, it tastes great and is a satisfying snack.

Let me know what you think if you try it out.

Recipe

Ingredients:
1 ripe avocado
3 1/2 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup maple syrup or agave
2 tbsp unsweetened almond milk
1 tsp vanilla Greek yogurt and 1 strawberry for garnish (skip the yogurt if you want vegan pudding)

Directions:
1. Combine ingredients in a food processor or blender.
2. Blend until smooth and the avocado is no longer visible.
3. Place the Greek yogurt on top of the pudding.
4. Slice the strawberry and sprinkle it on top of the yogurt.
5. Refrigerate for 1 hour before eating (this is optional but I think that it makes the pudding taste so much better and gives it a firmer texture).
6. Enjoy!

Easy Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Muffins

These muffins are super easy to make and they are a delicious way to combine oatmeal, apples, and cinnamon. Not to mention, I like to think that they are healthier than the average sugary dessert!

Recipe

Ingredients
2 2/3 cups oatmeal muffin mix (I used Quaker low fat oatmeal muffin mix)
1 cup water
1 apple, peeled and chopped into small pieces (I used a Gala apple).
1 tbsp cinnamon

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Prepare muffin tins or silicone muffin cups with a light coating of cooking spray (I used heart-shaped silicone muffin cups).
3. In a medium bowl, combine muffin mix, cinnamon, and water. Mix well.
4. Set aside 1/8 cup of chopped apple, and then add the remaining apple to the oatmeal mix. Mix until combined.
5. Spoon mix into muffin tins.
6. Sprinkle the 1/8 cup of chopped apples on top of the muffins before placing them in the oven.
7. Bake muffins for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Makes 12 muffins

Barley Risotto with Mushrooms, Spinach, & Goat Cheese

I love cooking with barley in the winter! It has a great texture and it’s a healthy alternative to white rice. This specific recipe is very easy to make, and it works well as a side dish or a complete meal since it contains a grain, a vegetable and a protein.

Recipe

Ingredients:
4.5 cups reduced sodium chicken stock
1 1/4 cups pearl barley, rinsed
1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
20 white button mushrooms, sliced
3 handfuls baby spinach, rinsed
3 tbsp. white wine vinegar
2 tsp. olive oil
2 tsp. butter
goat cheese for garnish

Directions:
1. In a medium saucepan, bring chicken stock to boil. Remove from heat, cover and set aside.
2. In a large saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Add onion and garlic and sauté until the onion becomes translucent, about 5 minutes.
3. Add barley and white wine vinegar. Stir to coat. 
4. Add two cups of warm chicken stock and bring mixture to boil. Simmer until most of the stock is absorbed, stirring frequently. Add remaining stock 1/2 cup at a time, allowing stock to be absorbed before adding more. Stir frequently. Simmer until barley is tender, about 40 minutes.
5. In the meantime, heat oil in a medium-sized pan over high heat. Add mushrooms and sauté until they begin to brown. Reduce heat, cover and cook until mushrooms are tender, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and set aside.
6. Once barley mixture is ready, add mushrooms and spinach to the mixture, stirring well to combine.
7. Spoon risotto into bowls and add goat cheese on top.
I hope that you enjoy this recipe! How do you like to make risotto?

Quinoa with Kale, Pomegranate, & Feta

I hosted Christmas Eve dinner this year and wanted to make a dish that was light, healthy, and red and green for the holidays.

I decided to make quinoa with kale, pomegranate, and feta because it is a great complement to any other dish, it’s good for you, and it features ingredients in festive colours. Not to mention, this dish is perfect to serve year round!

Recipe

Ingredients:

Salad
1 package of quinoa (255 grams)
10 leaves of kale, washed and cut into small pieces
1 pomegranate
1 cup of crumbled feta

Dressing
6 tsp honey
2 tsp dijon mustard
4 tbsp white wine vinegar
3 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Cook the quinoa according to package directions (I boil 2 cups of water, stir in the quinoa, reduce heat and cover. Let simmer for 12 minutes. Remove from heat and leave quinoa covered for 5 minutes to absorb any remaining water).
2. Allow the quinoa to cool completely (I usually cook it two hours ahead of time or I cook it the day before and store it in the fridge).
3. Whisk olive oil, white wine vinegar, dijon mustard, honey, salt, and pepper together in a bowl until well mixed.
4. Place the kale in a large bowl and pour the dressing over it, mixing until coated.
5. Add the cooked quinoa, feta,and pomegranate seeds, tossing thoroughly to combine. 



What’s your favourite holiday dish?