Note: This is not a sponsored posts! All opinions and thoughts are my own.
Welcome back to the blog y’all! Today, I thought I would share a bit of real life with you. People always assume that as a nutritionist I’ve got all things food figured out. The truth is, I’m just like the rest of you! I’m a busy mom, I have a full-time job and a side business, and I’m also an athlete. Things get complicated! I’m always looking for ways to get dinner on the table and keep it from getting old. With a family of four and a busy schedule, meal planning just takes a back seat from time to time. Too often, I find myself stuck making the same go-to recipes that I’ve made a hundred times. Not only does dinner become boring, but I also find that I start cooking some not-so-healthy meals in an effort to keep things exciting. When your children refuse to eat one more plate of meatloaf with mac n cheese and green beans, you know you’re doing something wrong!
I was doing my weekly browse of Groupon a few months ago when I came across a great deal for HelloFresh. I’ve heard some really great things about these meal delivery services that have become so popular, but as a mompreneur and a triathlete, I’m exceedingly focused on budget. Somehow, spending over $100 for a meal delivery service just didn’t sound like a good deal. Finding a Groupon was actually the push I needed to finally take the plunge and try it out.
Side note: If you’re not familiar with Groupon, I HIGHLY recommend trying it out. There are always great deals on just about everything! I make it a point to browse their site as often as I can for discounts on everything from, my favorite restaurants to activities for the kids.
So, what is HelloFresh? Simply put, it’s a meal delivery subscription service. Every week you log-in to their website, select your meals, and they are delivered to your front door containing all the pre-measured ingredients you need to make your meal. You have several options when choosing the service that fits you best. I chose their “classic” plan which includes the widest variety of meat, fish, and seasonal produce. Each week we receive three dinners for our family of four which would be a total of 12 meals. You can also choose one of their other plans which include the “family” plan that features quick and easy meals or the “Veggie” plan that features recipes containing plant-based proteins, hearty grains, and seasonal produce. You’re also able to scale each plan to fit your needs based on the number of people you’re feeding and recipes desired per week. Have a preference on meat? No problem! As an added bonus, you have the option of selecting pork free, seafood free, or beef free meals.
“We tried Hello Fresh over the course of three months. We’re now on our fourth box and I can definitely say, I would highly recommend the service.”
Our first delivery came just as the weather was warming up in Texas. I was honestly worried about the box full meat that may have been sitting on my porch for hours before I was going to be able to get to it. Foodborne illness is one of those things I fear about as much as fear spiders and crashing my bike. Luckily, Hello Fresh packs their boxes with these huge frozen packs to keep food cold and the boxes are also insulated to keep the cold in. Each meal is packed in a labeled brown paper bag containing everything you need, with the exception of the meat which is packed in the bottom of the box of the box and surrounded by ice packs. Food safety first! Am I right?
Each recipe comes with a recipe card and a nutrition card with all the details for that particular meal. There are even wine pairing notes on each card and food allergy details! I love it!
Everything is literally perfectly portioned so that all you have to do is cut, chop, mix and cook. I really loved how easy the recipes were to prepare as well. The instructions are straightforward and easy to follow. I found that almost all of the recipes we tried were decent sized portions. We ended up with leftovers a time or two which is surprising because I have a teenaged son and full gown manchild at home. They both tend to go back for seconds, but seemed to get their fill everytime we made a Hello Fresh meal.
As for nutritional content, I’d give Hello Fresh an 8 out of 10. Most meals are very well portioned and have a decent balance of protein/grains/veggies however, I’d love to see options for more whole grains and lean meats. For example, most of the meals we tried that used tortillas only used white flour tortillas. I’d love to see swaps for whole wheat or even corn tortillas from time to time.
I also discovered you can browse their website and download the recipe cards and nutrition facts even if you don’t order! I’ve been saving the recipe cards as we order new boxes and putting them in a notebook for future use. We’ve definity discovered some new favorites that I’ve added into our regular dinner rotation. It’s easy to repurchase the ingredients from our grocer and follow the recipe for a copycat dinner. Not to mention, I can make those healthier swaps when I want to.
Now that we’ve made some of those favorites more than a few times they’re even easier and faster to make!
The only downfall I’ve had so far is that this IS a weekly subscription service and you do have to log on every week to either select your meals or skip that week.
When I first signed up for Hello Fresh it was through a discounted Groupon and much much lower than the full price. A regular week of Hello Fresh meals for my family runs me over $100 which is still a little rich for my blood. Especially considering we only receive three dinner recipes for the week and still have to shop for groceries for the remainder of the week. Even though I love this service, it’s not something that I can afford to do every single week.
There have actually been a couple of times that I have forgotten to log on and skip the week and accidentally ended up spending money that I didn’t want to. For that reason I have decided to skip three weeks out of the month and receive only one box per month. This way, I can login once a month, select my meals and then go ahead and skip the other three weeks and avoid spending where I don’t need to. Plus, meals are available to preview months in advance so you can browse ahead of time and pick what sounds best!
All in all, I highly recommend this service. Hello Fresh has really made it customizable, healthy, and delicious. It’s not something that I would splurge on week after week, but I think it’s a wonderful way to incorporate new recipes into my meal planning and keep things fresh for the family. I’d much rather splurge on a healthy meal delivery service rather than dining out at a restaurant where I don’t have as much control over the ingredients and nutrition content.
If you’re interested in sampling Hello Fresh for yourself, feel free to use the promo code below to get $40 off your first week!
I hope you’re all gearing up for a great summer! I can’t wait to begin sharing more with you in the coming months. If you’re not already subscribed to my blog, please be sure to enter your email address in the subscription box at the top right of this page so that you’re the first to know when I share new funsies!
