Road testing The Mindful Chef

The Mindful Chef got in touch with me a few months back. As a rule, I don’t like to promo a lot of product, that is not why I set up my insta. I didn’t know a lot about the company but had heard of them. So I took a look into what they did and their philosophies.

I was hugely impressed with how these guys are operating their business, all locally sourced ingredients, really conscious about their own carbon footprint, so packing is recyclable and they can even come and collect it! All their meals are nutritionally balanced, healthy and fresh.

So I was very interested and decided to give them a go! I have never done anything like this before, so was quite excited to see how it all worked!

My first week and being a complete novice, I asked for them to just send me what they would like me to trial! I was surprised one day that week to find a parcel at my door as I arrived home! Inside and expertly packed were my meals for the next two evenings, All the meat stored in packed ice bags (which I have kept! They make for super handy wine coolers!) and then wrapped in wool to insulate. (This is recyclable) In two brown paper bags my ingredients for each meal. Recipe cards and a booklet of next weeks menu to pick from. ( all of which looked delicious!)

We tried the first meal that night, Thai-Style spicy beef with brown rice, we were not disappointed! It only took around 25-30 mins to prep and cook, the cards were super easy to follow and the result was a delicious, healthy and filling meal for two! As we were prepping my husband (who has a really big appetite) was concerned that the portion size would be too small! But he finished his meal fully satisfied! (Thank god!) I am not a nutritionist, but I am assuming because they are well-balanced meals that they fill you up properly? The most important thing though is my husband did not complain about not being full!!!

Another side note to add here, we have also been storing up the recipe cards to use again, as they are so good! They also contain all the nutrition and calorie info on them too, so you know what you are getting and you can easily make them again! Perfect!

Meal 2 was another success, Chicken tikka masala and cauliflower rice, again super easy, tasty and healthy. What more could you ask for! 

Week 2 

I spent some time pouring over the menu ( I love food, so just enjoy reefing about it!) eventually deciding on a fish and meat dish to try for the next week.

Again, they turned up on Monday morning and feeling like an excited child I unboxed everything to see what we had to look forward to!

We were not disappointed! Beef and chipotle meatballs with squash noodles and Chermoula cod, olive salsa and turmeric rice.Both meals were faultless! So tasty and the big thing for us ( and I’m sure most people) they don’t take ages to prep. I love cooking, but when its midweek and you are busy, food needs to also be easy and not take ages! These are brilliant for ticking that box! I also love the variety of food you get to try! It pushes you to try new things and veg that you sometimes avoid!! I wouldn't normally buy squash for instance and would never put it with beef, but wow! It was such a lovely combo, the flavours really compliment each other! 

Week three

I decided to get adventurous and try one of the Vegan dishes. I am dairy intolerant, so when I go out, do tend to opt for vegan options as they are a super easy, and it means I don’t have to explain my allergy! This was the first time I had properly attempted to make a vegan meal from scratch for myself and my husband ( a self-confessed meat man!) I can report that it went down a lot better than expected!! We made Thai chickpea burgers with pak choi. They were just amazing! Really tasty and loved the homemade sweet chilli sauce, it was a great addition and will definitely be giving this ago in the future now that we have the recipe! My only negative to this meal, my husband did have a snack afterwards as he didn’t feel full enough, but I do think this was more in his mind than anything else!!!

Our final meal was Lamb tikka kebabs with apricot cauliflower rice, once again this meal did not disappoint! Delicious, full of flavour and super simple to prep! The cauliflower rice in this was a real highlight, it was soooo tasty! I love most veg, but cauliflower is one that I don’t hate, but equally, I don’t love either! But wow!!! This cauliflower rice recipe was just amazing! We will be doing this again and often! It would be a fab accompaniment to any dish to add a little spice and flavour, or to replace rice! It was just delicious! I also did not realise how good cauliflower is for you!! Will be making much more of an effort to incorporate into our diet!

Having spent 3 weeks trailing The Mindful Chef I think the concept is absolutely brilliant! If you are someone who is busy and struggle to find inspo in the kitchen, I cannot recommend this enough! Loved the choice of recipes, and how they push you away from your usual and get you to try different things! I think of myself of quite adventurous and like to try cooking new things in the kitchen, but this defo gave me a further push, and has left me with some really great recipes and some further lessons about portion control!! This was a great thing for me to see, I think we are pretty good at it, but sometimes we do have too much, or go in for seconds! So this has made me a little more mindful!!!

Thanks for reading and I hope you found this useful! If you have any questions, just drop them below!

Thanks xx