Hello Fresh...by Jen

So I finally did it.  I bit the bullet and tried the “free trial” of Hello Fresh.

I didn’t go into this lightly- I read the comparisons and reviews on all the different meal delivery services and decided to go with this one.  Why?? Because people put pictures of delicious food from Hello Fresh on facebook and it made me hungry. Another reason?  I’m not a great cook (shocker...my sister got all of the cooking gene) and I thought maybe the family was tired of eating the same basic meals over and over. So in steps Hello Fresh.

First – I LOVE that I got to choose even my free meals.  That was great.  I picked 3 that looked delicious.  Mistake #1- perhaps read the prep first to see if its in my wheel house?

It then arrived in a lovely box with frozen ice packs and individual brown paper bags with the ingredients inside.  All individually wrapped.  Love that.  No sorting through the box to figure out what goes with what.  Very cool.  Also loved that even the spice packets were individual inside the brown paper bag for that specific meal.  Again, no guessing.  Love that.

It all arrived Saturday and I decided Sunday was the day.  I picked one that looks great and am going to give it a go.  Garlic Herb Tortelloni.  Yum.

Only 6 steps and says 15 minutes prep.  Perfect.  

I pull out the ingredients, I start reading the steps.  Ummmmm …  so I can slice veggies, I can melt butter.  Piece of cake.  (darn I wish this came with cake.. separate thought)..

Anyway- There were a few steps I had to google what it meant.  Yes if I looked at my sisters blog I would have seen what exactly a “shallot” was or how to zest a lemon but whatever.  So wondering if the prep time counts my time to google or call my sister/check her blog?

I then gave it a solid effort.  Followed the directions, dirtied a few dishes, and laid it all out on the plates, doing my best to make it look like the picture.  Looks pretty close actually!! That part is shocking!! Oh and the hubby was impressed by the presentation. 

Hello Fresh photo...

...my photo

So bottom line.. I did make a delicious meal.  It was indeed different than what I normally make (not that there is anything wrong with tuna noodle casserole).  I decided though to take my free week of food and not become a permanent paying subscriber.  

Reasons?  

#1. Cost.  $8.99 per serving plus $6.99 shipping for 3 meals a week.  Which is a lot for anyone as busy as we are.  If I lower to 2 meals a week it is $9.99 a serving plus $7.99 shipping.

#2. Helpings weren’t HUGE.  They were just ok.  Absolutely nothing leftover.  We are not big eaters so I actually expected to be really full off one serving.  It was just enough for me.

#3- Not super healthy.  Yes I realize tortellini isn’t going to be healthy.  But really not many of the menu choices were very healthy.  All of the ones I saw were running around 750 or 800 prepared.  That’s a little high for me compared to my norm.  I guess compared to eating out its good (or compared to my tuna noodle casserole) but not compared to my normal meals.

#4. The time it took me to make this.  I was nowhere close to their 15 minute prep.  I spent more than that reading and checking/rechecking the steps.  Oh also, I can order pizza in 2 minutes. 

I do think this would be a good way to become a better cook if that was something you were interested in… which we have firmly established I am not.

So all of these thoughts are based on my first experience.  I still have 2 more days this week of free food.  I’ll let you know how that goes.  Unless of course my sister hates this review and doesn’t want an update.  Or she wants to push me to be a better cook and wants to buy it for me.  It could be like her version of lessons.  In that case, I love it and I’m all in.