Thursday, February 19, 2015

HELLO FRESH!

I recently posted on my Instagram account and my Facebook about a HelloFresh meal I was preparing for supper and it sparked some interest with my friends and followers. I thought I would just post the results here to provide more detailed feedback about how everything was!

This is not my first HelloFresh meal. It is my second box.

I want to start out first by saying when I saw the price initially I was like (I am a bargain shopper all the way) "Whoa! I can totally shop for less than that!" Well of course you can, but ask yourself if you are willing to pay for connivence and less prep time. Once you break down the box of 3 meals for 2 people at 69 dollars each you have a total of 11.66 per person. Not as outrageous as I thought.

I am a believer of staying out of the store to reduce the amount of money you spend on impulse buys. This takes you out of the store completely! LOVE THAT. I hate grocery shopping.

We have also cut down on over eating and food waste as a result of the portions.

I do want to give you a heads up they will charge you each week!!!!! So after your first meal as shipped out pause your account until you try the product to make sure you like it otherwise they will go a head, charge and ship for the following week and we don't want that.

Let me tell you how this meal program works:
You sign up at HelloFresh.com be sure to use my offer code so you can try 29 dollars instead of 69 dollars. Your price will vary depending on if you are getting the meal for 2 or 4 people. My price for two people is 69 dollars and that includes shipping.



Here is my referral code for the 40 dollars off! Share with anyone you would like!


Your box should arrive at the beginning of each week. It will include anything you need for the recipe perfectly portioned out. The only thing you will need in your kitchen would be things like butter, oil, salt and pepper. All of the fresh herbs, dairy, stock, meat, starches will come in your box.

Each meal is in its own separate bag so you will know what ingredients will go with what recipe.

Now on to what I thought of my meal last night!

Peppercorn Steak 

with Roasted Baby Potatoes and Creamed Spinach

Recipe

 Ingredients:
Sirloin steak
Baby potatoes
Spinach
Shallot
Sour Cream
Stock concentrate

Finished product

Overall this meal was awesome! I really like the recipe. I started at 5:15 and was eating by exactly 6:00. The fact that there is very little prep involved with these meals also keeps your kitchen cleaner.

At first glance the recipes seem to simple to be good but everything I have made was very flavorful. They are well balanced meals and the product arrives fresh.

I give hello fresh 4 out of 5 stars. I deducted one because of price and auto draft policy.

Hope this post helps everyone. If you have any additional questions you can email me at laceylgaddy@gmail.com

or find me on Instagram. @corkscrewsandcavaliers

Just to edit this post a little bit. I wanted to let you guys know that this recipe was 570 calories.

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Finally, after four years!


 Welcome to Corkscrews and Cavaliers!


So glad your visiting!



My name is Lacey! I created this blog spot in 2011. Yes, I know it's taken me years and a lot of life experiences to get off my butt and actually write but here I am, giving it a shot. It's a funny thing I choose to start blogging now, it's probably the busiest, most demanding time in my life! I'm still super excited none the less and happy to have the opportunity in this blog post to tell some you about myself, share some photos and a few of my favorite things. 
The two photos above are what really inspired me to some-what tell my story.. or document my new life... Not really sure what to call this new adventure of mine, I just know it's mine and no one else's. 
Back to the photos, Me and my brother, Stan.

I'll start out first by comparing he and I briefly. I am the caterpillar and he is the butterfly. I was always afraid of going off the beaten path where he always welcomed it. So, when life brought things to me I always let them pass me by to afraid to live a little... or a lot and he went after every opportunity that came his way. 

December 17, 2012, Stan, my oldest and closet friend, passed away, I spent a year grieving his loss and sitting stagnant, trying to figure out how in the world I could get things to go back to normal, with my parents, with my business, with friends and with me just feeling like the old me.  I finally came to the realization that I wasn't ever going to have my 'normal' again. I was never going be the me that I knew. So, I began the journey of getting to know the new me. 

January 1, 2014 came knocking at the door and while everyone was making New Year's resolutions about their new exercise routine, I decided to make a bucket list (A long term bucket list of things I wanted to achieve in my life).

Here are a few items from my list:
Move to Charleston
Attend Culinary school
Graduate
Make new friends
Be a better friend to my old ones
Judge less
Listen more
Travel abroad 
Start exercising
Own a sweet beach cruiser

Before I even made the bucket list I decided to close the business I owned, luckily I ended up selling instead. That gave me the opportunity to de-stress and re-group.  Over the course of about 6 months I worked in an office setting while I decided what I was going to do with my life. I woke up one morning, called my friend in Charleston and told her I was coming down to look for a job and apartments. I found a job and an apartment and prepared to move. I can still remember thinking how scared I was to leave my parents, my hometown, my old friends but I kept on and in two weeks I was living in Charleston!  From then on I was checking things off my bucket list left and right. If I got scared or worried about what other people thought of my decisions I would stop and think, "what would Stan do?"



I found a job at a local restaurant, hostessing and eventually serving. I moved on to my next task--the dreaded school. Yes, I had to go back but for what? and where? I went with my gut, the Art Institute, it was where I wanted to go after high school but never did. It was my chance to do it all over and I did! I'm having a blast and learning so much. Presidents list three quarters in a row :)))) Finding your passion is an exciting thing.
Photo above is an artisan pizza I created.


After enrolling in school, I began settling in to my apartment.... Just kidding! If you know me then you would know my apartment was decorated from head to toe by the end of my first week in Charleston. So, I've just enjoyed adding to it to make it perfect for me! Disgustingly clean, just how I like it! Decorating my home is probably my favorite hobby. Very much into arts and crafts as well.



During all of this transition, loving my family from a distance was just what we needed. We all began to adjust and some-what heal, if that even exist. Our relationships grew and we learned our new roles in each other lives after Stan's death. 
The photo above is of me and my precious nephew Eli, prepare to see a lot of him on here!
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I'm proud to announce I actively work on my bucket list. Adding, taking away, marking things off and continue to work at things on it like being a better friend. I'll create another post to include my new additions. 
One of my most recent purchases was a plane ticket to France and Spain! I am super proud of myself for stepping out of my comfort zone and just going for it! Look for post on my trips in March and April! ....Travel abroad...Check.

I'm thankful to have my big brother to encourage me to do such bold things everyday.
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Corkscrews and Cavaliers is a blog featuring the ups and downs of a 20 something-cavalier loving-culinary student's gastronomic adventures-grieving the loss of a sibling-low country residence, finding herself again. 

....with Cavalier in toe.


DISCLAIMER: I am not a writer nor do I claim to be! I am new at this so bare with me through the typo's, sentence fragments and just plain ol' stupid post. ;-)