Balanced Meal, Balanced Life

That is the motto of Healthy Habits Kitchen. 

I don’t know about you, but there are so many times during the work week where the last thing I want to do is have to prep and cook dinner.  Then there are the nights we don’t eat until after 8pm or we opt for the ‘every man for himself’ route and end up having sandwiches or frozen burrito salads…not that there’s anything wrong with that ;)

This is where Healthy Habits Kitchen steps in.  They basically take all the prep work out of dinner…cut the meats, veggies, and herbs, makes the sauces, and portion it all out for a delicious HEALTHY meal that you can cook up in as little as 10 minutes!  Yes Please!

This past week I had the pleasure of visiting their office/kitchen in Wellesley, MA and chatting with Sue, the owner and founder.

I loved hearing how part of her inspiration was her stack of recipes that she had torn from magazines or online…3 years worth.  Sound familiar?  Brian only wishes I could go through my magazines faster and throw out what I don’t want.  I swear I’ll organize them someday!

There were other similar companies out there…ones which prepare dinners for busy people, however Healthy Habits Kitchen is just that…it’s Healthy!  You can feel confident that the meal your eating has been carefully planned and reviewed by a Registered Dietician, and the nutritional information is provided for all their meals, sides, and even cookie dough's!

There were 3 women working the day I stopped by, and I was told they prep anywhere from 50-100 meals a day!!

The end product is neat, organized, and will guide you through dinner with simple instructions.

You could even plan a fun event with your friends and come prepare your own meals together here at the Kitchen!

Sipping some wine of course.

I was thrilled when I was given my own fresh meal kit to take home and try out for myself.

Generally the meals are freezer ready, but I was able to get a pack of Pork Diane that was still fresh in the refrigerator.

From the April Menu… Pork Diane: Pork medallions served with a classic French sauce of mustard, lemon, chives, Worcestershire sauce and seasonings.  Nutritional Info (for 6 servings): 162 cals, 6.6g fat, 389mg sodium, 0g fiber, 23.5g protein.

  In my package was:

• fresh pork tenderloin, cut into uniform-sized pieces
• a package of lemon pepper
• a packaged of dried chives
• a container of sauce!

The ingredient list was also very short, so I knew exactly what was in that sauce and it sounded delicious.

I seasoned the pork, heated my pan, and added the butter…yes BUTTER.  See they know how to do it… you can most definitely still cook with butter and have a HEALTHY dinner.    It’s the m-word again (moderation).

After 4-5 min per side, I took the pork off.  I wasn’t sure how done they were but the last thing I wanted to do was over-cook them. 

The sauces was then added to the pan.  The instructions say to heat for 1 min, but I think my pan was a little too hot at that point as I felt the sauce was cooking down too fast.  So instead of pouring it on the meat, I just added the meat back and tossed it around.  

I also added the chives at this point as I think they were left off the instructions…no big deal though.  The flecks of green made it even better looking.

With our pork, we made a garden salad and some whole grain pilaf!

Wow.  The Pork Diane was so flavorful, and so tender.  I don’t know if it was the high quality meat they use, or my crazy skills in the kitchen ;)…but this was the most tender pork I’ve ever had! 

I am definitely going to use this cooking method again for pork tenderloin.

I wish there was a tiny bit more sauce (mostly for my pilaf), but it was plenty to add amazing flavor to the meat.

This kit feeds 4-6 people

  Brian and I both had our dinners plus a complete meal for lunch the next day.  The 4 servings were verging on too much…I think I’d want a little more than 1/6th of the recipe though…mostly because it tasted so good!

I love to cook my own meals, and so I never thought I’d really get into something like this…oh it must be for people who can’t cook. 

I thought wrong.  I mean who am I kidding.  Sure, I’d love to make amazing home cooked meals every night, but until I can live a housewife fantasy that just isn’t going to happen.  Plus I have no problem picking up a frozen meal from Trader Joe’s to have on hand…why not these?

Plus, you can’t even compare these to a frozen dinner…so much better, so fresh, so flavorful.  Plus they deliver :)

If that wasn’t convincing enough, they also have numerous other programs going on…

• Meal Registry!  Give Healthy Food Instead of Flowers – you can contribute to a fund, where someone in need (a patient, caregiver, new mom…etc), can use the funds to purchase healthy balanced meals!
• Know any mommy’s-to-be out there??  There is an expectant mom’s boot camp on April 13th from 7-8:30 pm at the Healthy Habits Kitchen offices in Wellesley.  More info here!
• Host a Party!  Plan a meal assembly party by May 15th and earn up to two free meal kits.  They will cook and serve a complimentary dinner while you and your friends spend a fun evening assembling a week’s worth of meal kits in as little as an hour.  This is where the wine comes into play :)
• I think this sounds really fun and such a great alternative to the usual activities you do with your friends.

Thank you HHK for giving me the lowdown, AND for the delicious dinner you provided me.  I would definitely recommend this to anyone I know who lives a busy life and cares about delicious healthy food!