I was such a bitch about these at first… why pay such a premium for a recipe and its ingredients. After all, I’m a good cook. But then, life has happened, and I was in a serious processed food rut. Basic, bland, and likely frozen.
My review after four weeks of Hello Fresh with three meals a week? Overall, I really like the concept. There’s about ten decent sized versions out there and so I’m thinking of trying Marley Spoon next – after all, I like Martha Stewart, lol. I’m sure I’ll try Hello Fresh again, for now we’re doing one more week of them… to use up my credits for missing ingredients in the second and this past week – I only ended up having to buy a bell pepper this last week, I was able to work around week two’s missing cheese (had some) and this past week’s missing sour cream (used 1/2 from another meal this week that had sour cream.) Nothing that will stop me from using them again in the future if I don’t try another I like better.
It worked so well for me because I like to try different recipes & flavors… and pre-cancer M did too. He tries a bit of almost all of them after I make them, then takes more if it tastes okay to his ever limited food palate. I’d say he’s eaten a half serving of a third of them, a quarter serving of another third of them, and been a pass on the remainder. I then eat the leftovers as lunch so it’s actually working perfect for me. M then eats cereal, ramen, or hot dogs. If he gets real ambitious he’ll make chicken nuggets and/or french fries in the air fryer. Mac & cheese used to be in the fallback list, but it’s moved to the no column too, as have most things with cheese.
I would look at a recipe, but the effort of making a list of meals, compile the shopping list, go shopping, just to make a meal that M would probably not like? Nope. Frozen nuggets or a pot pie is fine… But the convenience of clicking on a picture & description I like and all the ingredients just show up in a box? Perfect. The meal kit helps me to eat stuff I like & not give in and eat like a 10 yr old boy which is where M’s stomach is at.
Hey, at least he’s still eating. We’re at quantity, not quality, stage for M. However, if I focus on quality, not quantity, perhaps I can have at least twenty-five healthy years more.