I had been hearing good things about Hello Fresh, several of my friends had taken advantage of a Groupon offer to receive a box but as I’m not much of a fan of following recipes it always put me off a little, however when I received a £25 Hello Fresh voucher in the Royal Parks Half Marathon goody bag I decided to give them a try
After browsing their website I decided to order the 5 meal, 2 person option, meaning I only paid £24 for the 5 meals, you are able to see what meals you will be sent on your chosen week and a couple of the meals listed stated SWAP beside them so as their were 7 options I presumed you would be able to request which meals you wanted, unfortunately this wasn’t the case, I found the website quite confusing if I am honest, so after placing my order and not being able to work out how to select my meals I called them, while their customer service agent was pleasant, their response was that only customers selecting the 3 meal option get a choice – That makes perfect sense, pay less, get a choice, pay more and get what you are given, to say I was disappointed is an understatement, there were two dishes in particular I knew my husband wouldn’t be keen on, it just seems poor customer service to make the swaps available to some but not all
After the initial ordering disappointment I have to say I was thoroughly impressed, the delivery turned up in my chosen time slot, I was amazed by all the colourful ingredients included, and the attention to detail, of measuring all of the spices into mini pots to be used per recipe.
Unfortunately after I had placed my order my plans for the week changed meaning I wouldn’t be at home to cook for several nights so many of the items were placed in the freezer until I would be able to use them
This was the weeks menus I received
Hearty Toulouse Sausage Cassoulet
Greek Style Nachos Grande
Oven Baked Mediterranean Hake
Vietnamese BBQ Chicken Skewers
Italian Shepherds Linguine
My two favourite dishes were actually quite a surprise to me, the Vietnamese BBQ Skewers was one I knew I would love
The 2nd dish was however a BIG surprise, the Oven Baked Mediteranean Hake, neither my husband or I particualarly like fish, in fact it is not something we would ever buy, so I decided if we were going to try it I would need to make a few cheeky tweaks to the recipe & created fish & chips with a chunky tomato sauce which was absolutely lovely
Would I recommend Hello Fresh, well its funny you should ask as I had been thinking of ordering a one off box as some of the recipes we tried previously are now firm favourites in our house, but would I make regular purchases, unfortunately the answer there is no, but not for the reasons you may think.
I work awkward hours, meaning there isn’t a single delivery slot available where I can guarantee someone will be home, and because of this cooking from scratch for the two of us often isn’t practical, we tend to batch cook, casseroles, curries, bolognaise at weekend so we have home made ready meals waiting for us at home
I loved the fact the Hello Fresh made me follow a recipe something I never do, I loved the fact that Hello Fresh made me try foods I was convinced neither of us would eat, the produce was all of good quality the recipes were easy to follow and contained full nutritional information for each meal & I think a 3 meal box would make a lovely present for any foodie friends but it is not for me on a weekly basis
If you are interested in trying a Hello Fresh click here to receive £20 off your first box
** I originally wrote this post on the 30th January and scheduled it to come out mid February, obviously things have changed for me a little since then meaning I am currently not at work, so I am at home to receive a delivery of lovely fresh ingredients and also to spend a little more time cooking so I have placed another order, I will let you know in a few weeks what delicious dishes I receive **
Project Healthy Fit Me 