Jessica’s Recipe Bag Review
Most of us are trapped in a cycle of being seriously strapped for time but also having a desire to eat well which helps to explain the rise in healthy meal deliveries. It can be extremely difficult after a long day to find the energy to go out and shop for ingredients and plan a healthy meal. Many of us (I’m really hoping it’s not just me!) fall into the habit of getting to 7pm and realising how hungry/potentially starving we are and just grabbing the first convenient meal we can get our hands on, regardless of its nutritional value.
Jessica’s Recipe Bag is a refreshingly unique concept which most definitely takes the stress out of healthy evening meal times. You order your bag online and can choose the weeks that you want them to be delivered. In your bag you will find nutritionally balanced recipes with all the ingredients too! There are a few ingredients that aren’t included and are recommended to buy beforehand but they tend to be things such as spices and herbs that are quite useful to have in your cupboard anyway.
The bags are delivered every Monday evening between 5-9pm and you can choose between a Couples Recipe Bag – 3 meals for two people or a Family Recipe Bag – 4 meals for 4 people. It is only service available within Greater London.
This was a concept developed by Jessica Andersson, a working mum living in London. Jessica is a qualified nutritional therapist and an experienced cook that specialised in meal planning for individuals and families, health coaching and nutrition education – i.e. exactly the right person that you want planning your meals!
I have been lucky enough to review the Couples Recipe Bag option for Jessica’s Recipe Bag and I wanted to tell you a little bit about my experience. Be prepared for a bit of celeriac confusion and a dish I was so proud of I basically thought I was Jamie Oliver.
Day 1
King Prawn and Tomato Linguine with Spinach
The doorbell rang at about 7.30 pm and my housemate and I greeted a very cheery delivery man who handed over our Jessica’s Recipe Bag. When we upended the bag we were surprised to find more food than we had expected…there were lots of vegetables, some meat and then some little pots containing things like tomato puree, olives and parmesan cheese. The couscous we needed was already weighed out and in perfect portion sizes. It felt very personal and the small touches that were made were lovely. It was very well presented and everything looked extremely fresh. Then, we got on to cooking our first dish, King Prawn and Tomato Linguine with Spinach.
The recipe cards give you a difficulty scoring (I’m pleased to say mine were all ‘easy’ recipes) and they also tell you how long the preparation time is and actual cooking time.
The Prawn Linguine was easy to make and didn’t require too much effort with the ingredients all being pretty much put in the sauce and left to simmer.
The final meal was absolutely delicious. We opted out of putting as much chilli in as the recipe suggested due to one of us being a bit of a spicy scaredy cat. The prawns were extremely fresh and juicy and capers really made the sauce stand out. If I were to make one change it would be to swap the white tagliatelle for wholemeal…but that’s the beauty, you can make changes where you wish.
Day 2
Chicken Lemon and Olive Casserole with Couscous
I was really looking forward to this dish and I wasn’t disappointed. Chicken with lemon couscous was definitely my favourite of the three. I even made it again at the weekend for my friends, who were also very impressed! It was simple but had so many amazing flavours in that it tasted like it’d taken hours to prepare. This is most definitely a recipe that I will be making again and again.
Day 3
Lamb with Celeriac Mash and French Veg
As an ex-vegetarian red meat still isn’t a favourite of mine so I guess this was my least favourite dish but one my housemate did enjoy. Celeriac was a new vegetable that I’d never cooked with before and something that didn’t look overly appealing. However, after a quick Google and see that the BBC described it as an ‘unsung hero of the vegetable world’ I was all for it! It was quite difficult to cut but was a great workout – classic fitness company comment! The fan (see photo above) was promptly put into the kitchen after the celeriac workout. The celeriac mash was probably my favourite part of the dish, it was delicious.
I would advise checking the sell-by dates on the food when it is delivered as this was the meal we should’ve cooked first. By the time we got to cook it, unfortunately, the lamb was past its a sell-by date and we had to buy more. My fault entirely, they do warn you numerous times via email and on the recipe card to check dates but what can I say…excitement took over!
Jessica’s Recipe Bag makes it easy to eat well and gives you inspiration to cook things you’d never considered yourself. It’s strangely exciting when you receive the bag, it’s like Christmas for food lovers! If you would like to find out a bit more about this great company click here. They are doing a great deal at the moment where you get your first couples bag for £29 rather than the usual £49 and your first Family Bag for £45 rather than £69. Jessica’s Recipe Bag really is the future of fuss-free cooking!