Hello Fresh! An honest review of a meal delivery service.

Hello and good evening everyone!

So in my last post I mentioned that I would be starting with a meal delivery service to help with my weight loss and after 4 boxes I think I have enough information to determine if this is something I would continue with.

My husband I would normally spend between $300-$500 a month on groceries and it’s just the two of us. Once we became empty nesters we started eating like college kids who didn’t have a budget. We ate everything from polishes, burgers, crab legs, chips and dip, pop tarts, eggo waffles and occasionally a well balanced meal. Our kids wondered where these goodies were when they lived at home.

Even though we spent this money on food we would often find ourselves asking the hardest question of the day “What do you want to eat for dinner?” and neither of us knowing the answer, or not wanting what the other wanted. This would lead to arguments and eventually eating out.

Enter Hello Fresh

MY SUBSCRIPTION

I receive 5 meals a week for two and the boxes include enough food for my husband and I. My first 3 from Hello Fresh were meat and veggies and the the last box was calorie/carb smart. I went with the meat and veggies box because my husband normally will not eat food outside his comfort zone, but our boxes contained so many different types of food that even he was surprised by what he liked. One meal contained Couscous (something he swore he would never eat) as a side. I watched as he ate each bite finally giving it his seal of approval and told him he had just eaten couscous he was too stunned all he could say was it was good.

Was it any good?

Here are a few of the dishes that I made and a few of the recipe cards (I have one soda a week with my meal).

I really did enjoy my boxes. Even when the meal was “meh” it was still creative and different and that is something that I needed. I consider myself an experienced little cook so the directions were not hard to follow and I often added a little extra spice to the meals in addition to the salt and pepper recommended for a kick. Everything was tasty, flavorful and easy to make.

PRICING

I don’t have much to say about the pricing except I am waiting for the other shoe to drop. My current subscription was with a discount of $119 of I think 5 boxes so I have one more box left before I get shock of my life. My first box was $59 and each box seemed to increase $20. My last box was $79.99 plus shipping. If the weekly price is upwards $100 a week I may have to pause.

PROS/CONS

Here are the things I like about my Hello Fresh box.

Variety-I don’t have to come up with some creative recipe and we are not eating the same meals over and over.

I always know what’s for dinner– I stage the bags in my fridge in the order I plan to eat them and place the card on the fridge with a magnet. I open my fridge pull out a bag and that’s what we are eating and I avoid arguments with my husband about what we’re eating. “You wanna know what’s for dinner? Go look at the fridge!”

Quick and easy– Most meals that I have made are 30-45 minutes tops. I open the bag everything is there (sometimes).

No wasted (cooked) food. When you order for two you will get what should be enough for two. There is no extra anything. You will get one serving of meat each and you better be happy.

I don’t have to go shopping , make a list, stand in line, deal with other shoppers. the food comes directly to me.

What I don’t like:

I HAVE TO COOK!!!!– Look Hello Fresh is exactly what it says FRESH! Everything needs to be wash, dried, chopped, peeled, cubed, salt and peppered. There are nights when I come home and I am not in the mood to drizzle oil in a pan on medium heat or wash and dry produce. I have worked up a sweat making some of these meals.

Some of the veggies arrive a little wilted, bruised or soggy. This so far has been rare, but it has happened. I have had soft potatoes with huge black dents, wilted Thyme and parsley, flaccid carrots that lost their orange luster and squishy mushrooms. I just toss them, but I have less materials to work with.

I could probably make this on my own. I look at these recipes and they are so simple. I could really just go to the market and buy the ingredients needed to make every meal, but I don’t and I am not sure why I feel bad about that.

There is no other food in the house. We don’t have anything else to eat in the house. We eat from a box now. My daughter came to visit and was looking for something to eat in the fridge and pantry there was nothing available to put a snack together. She was S.O.L.

Holy Sh!t the CALORIES! The first 3 boxes were meat and veggies and the portion sizes were not bad, not too big, not too small. The calories for many of the meals are between 750-1300 A SERVING!!!! I did not know this at first I thought I was dividing the calories by the amount of people eating until one day a meal just didn’t add up. I called customer service and even reached out to @hellofresh on twitter just to confirm what customer service said the calorie amount on the front of the cards is for one serving…OMG I was doing damage. I switched to the calorie smart meals which are between 650-1000 calories… not better but I am working with it.

Final thoughts

I like Hello Fresh. I like the convenience, variety and ease of meal planning it provides. I will be trying out the family friendly box next. I think I need a balance between meats & veggies and calorie/carb smart. As far as helping with losing weight the jury is way out on that. I have watched a few YouTube videos and I think I have figured out how to fit this in and meet my goals, so I will see with the next box. One really good thing I can say is that I loved that I was able to get my picky eater husband to try so many things that he’d written off and that we haven’t had to fight about what’s for dinner.

Until next time my friends 🙂

If you have tried Hello Fresh let me know what you like and don’t like about it. Were you able to incorporate it in your weight loss goals? Let’s chat!

AnnisaMarie