It’s already been two years since our child was born. In London, where rent and nursery fees are extremely expensive, it is essential for both parents to work.
The bottleneck in this double full-time hectic lifestyle is the daily meal. It is extremely challenging to plan menus, shop, and cook every day. While I was trying to sort out this life style, a friend of mine recommended me a meal kit service, HelloFresh, and it was a game changer.
By Hell Fresh, fresh groceries are delivered to my home every week without the hassle of planning a menu, and I can cook a quick meal in about 20 minutes. I have been using Hello Fresh for about 3 months now, and I can’t imagine my life without it.
I seriously recommend this to any parenting couple who is experiencing hectic days.
What is HelloFresh
HelloFresh is the world’s No. 1 subscription-based meal kit service that originated in Germany in 2011. For a fixed monthly fee, you can have as many ingredients (meat and vegetables) and seasonings as you need delivered to your doorstep every week.
The company’s mission is “Change the way peolpe ear forever”
To achieve this, they focus on budget, freshness, taste, and sustainability. As you would expect from a company with the world’s No. 1 market share, they are very solid.
Countries with operations are Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Europe (UK, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Italy, Ireland, Spain, and Scandinavia). This is a lot.
How it works
As you can see in this video, you basically choose the number of people you need and how many meals you want to be delivered, and then you don’t have to do anything else. The menu is determined by you based on your preferences and delivered to your doorstep on a set day each week. Simple and easy as it is.
Delivery frequency, price and quantity
After registering an account, the first thing you choose is the number of people you need and how many meals you want to be delivered per week.
We use it for Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday days for 3 people including our child (2.5 years old). We shop at the supermarket on Saturday, cook any meal we want on the weekend, and microwave the leftovers on Monday. This way I don’t get unbalanced nutrition.
Price is about £50 for delivery of 4 recipes per week, for 3 people without discount (£4.1 per meal per person). Well, that’s not bad.
Source: HelloFresh.co.uk
The quantity is quite good. I am a fairly heavy eater compared to other people, but I have never had a meal that was not enough.
If I got leftovers, I can have them for lunch the next day. I never have complains about the quantity.
Recipe Type
The next thing you need to do is choose the recipe type.
There are many to choose from, including Rapid, which can be ready in under 20 minutes, Veggie, and Family Friendly, which is perfect for families.
What is helpful about Hello Fresh is that once you decide on this recipe type, it automatically determines the recipe for you. This has saved me the pain of having to come up with a weekly menu. It’s the best.
Here is a list of recipes to choose from.
Source: Hello Fresh.co.uk
How to change meals
If you change your mind and want to change the recipe, don’t worry.
Just click on “Change meals” and “Add” the recipe you like and it will be added to your delivery.
Source: Hello Fresh.co.uk
It is useful since each also states how much the recipe would increase from the current price.
When you add a recipe, don’t forget to delete the recipes already scheduled for delivery. Otherwise, you will receive one more meal than you want.
Here is a selection of recipes to choose from. This is just a part of the list and there are many more, you can imagine that it’s unlikely you’ll get bored.
Source: Hello Fresh.co.uk
What’s inside the box
Here’s a summary of how it actually arrives and what’s inside the box.
- Arrival of the box
Delivered to your doorstep on a selected day of the week.
- ラベルInside the box
Inside are bags with menus and their ingredients.
- ラベルBags of food
I am ordering four meals a week, so we receive four bags (each bag contains the number of people you ask for – in our case, three people) and one insulated bag that contains meat ice packs.
- ラベルInside the bag
This is how all the ingredients, meat, and seasonings are included. The only additional things you need are salt and pepper.
- ラベルThis is one of the examples of the week’s recipe
- ラベルCooking steps
Each recipe is only 6 steps. Easy peasy
Pros and Cons
I wrote all the good things, but there are a few things that I am dissatisfied with. Here is a fair summary of the pros and cons.
Pros
No hassle on deciding a menu every day
Perhaps this is the most important benefit. You are freed from the hustle of thinking about menu and can focus on your important stuff – work, study, and child cares.
Not getting bothered to go to a supermarket
I can’t even go to groceries store when I have crazy days. There are indeed supermarket deliveries, but I won’t be able to be at home every time there is a delivery. Hello Fresh only delivers once a week.
Hello Fresh also relieves you from the pain of going to supermarkets.
Arrive fresh
Although it is something you get delivered, the ingredients arrive fresh. For me, frozen food or ready to eat meal doesn’t really make me feel like I ate something. Hello Fresh is literally “fresh” and makes me satisfied.
Feels like eating out
This is one of the great benefits. Many of the recipes from them are that I don’t cook on a daily basis, so I feel like I’m eating out. It’s mind opening for me to add lime to curry or yogurt to tacos.
All seasonings are included
What makes me bothered about cooking is seasonings. Measuring and tasting every single ingredient is a hassle. With Hello Fresh, all you have to do is pour the seasonings that have been pre-divided into small portions. Can’t get easier.
Cons
Not always nutritious
This is the biggest disadvantage. There are sometimes only a few ingredients in the menu, so sometimes I feel like I’m missing something.
We usually add additional ingredients to mitigate this issue. We buy some of the ingredients, such as onions, carrots, cabbage, minced meat, etc, on the weekends and just put them into the cooking process.
This lets you increase the number of ingredients without having to think about the menu or seasoning. This doubles the satisfaction after eating. This additional ingredient is a must.
Kids might not eat
It is inevitable when you have small children. When my son just won’t eat, I boil additional pasta and mix it with the source from Hello Fresh. This creativity is always necessity when you have a little one.
Sometimes the menu is not to your taste
Once in a while, there is a menu that is not to your taste or the portion is too little. As you can choose the menu every week and make changes, I recommend you to have a look on the App whenever you have time.
Summary
Hello Fresh is a good choice for families who are having busy days with childcare and work.
I highly recommend subscribing to it with topping up with the additional ingredients.
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