I purchased a new item at Fresh Thyme Grocery store last month from Cook Simple Meals. It was Tamale Pie and one of the best ones I have ever made. I couldn’t get enough of it! In addition, it was so simple to make even my 8 year old could throw it together based on the instructions on the back of the box. I enjoyed the meal so much that I contacted the company. They sent these meals for us to review and share with you as well!
PLUS a coupon code JUST for Whisk Together readers.
You get 10% OFF plus free shipping on your entire order. So even though they may have these at Fresh Thyme grocery store, I can have them shipped to my house for FREE! Woo hoo!
Why Cook Simple Meals?
1. No artificial anything. All real food.
2. The meals use quinoa, spinach, broccoli, lentils and other healthy items. The Strogonoff for example uses black bean pasta.
3. The bags inside that contain the meal also have measurements on the side – so you can measure the water right there in the bag instead of getting out another dish.
4. My favorite is the Tamale Pie.
5. My husband’s favorite is the Cowboy Chili after adding some hot sauce for more heat. Without hot sauce it is rather mild. I like that because we can always add our amount of hot sauce.
6. All the meals can be made in 30 minutes or even faster.
7. My daughter – who loves mac and cheese – LOVED the cheesy broccoli.
8. I like the suggestions on the box to make it your own. I liked the Sloppy Joes in our pizza pocket crust.
They are more expensive than making it all yourself. But I like having these boxes on hand to make a quick meal which is far cheaper than going out to eat for the four of us.
If you want to try just ONE of the meals, I would suggest the Tamale Pie.
Speaking of wholesome and natural ingredients, here is Day One of the Green Smoothie Challenge I am doing. There is a 10 Day Smoothie Challenge in the book I received for Christmas which provided a grocery list and menu list for a different smoothie for each of the 10 days. The very first one was very good! We love green smoothies and always looking for a great recipe. The internet contains a plethora… but some of them I wonder if anyone actually tried because they taste terrible.
Here we will only post the good ones that we all liked – even the kids!
To make this a meal replacement for lunch or breakfast, I add a cup of plain Greek yogurt, 1/2 cup cooked beans (usually white like Great Northern beans), or peanut butter for added protein.
- 2 cups water
- 2 cups baby spinach leaves
- 2 bananas
- 1 cup mango (or frozen or thawed from frozen)
- 1 cup pineapple
- Blend all of the ingredients and drink!
- For a cold smoothie, have one of the fruits frozen like sliced bananas or pineapple tidbits.
