If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve probably noticed a mouth-watering array of dishes popping up on my feed recently. This usually only happens when we’ve actually managed to find a babysitter and have escaped to a fancy, grown-up restaurant (McDonald’s not included) for date night. This sadly only happens once or twice every few months and I’m sure when the second baby gets here, even less. So where did all this delicious food come from? I recently received a recipe box from HelloFresh which contained everything I needed to create hassle-free restaurant-style meals for the whole family in the comfort of my own home…
What is HelloFresh?
You’ve probably already seen ads for HelloFresh all over Facebook already. HelloFresh is a fresh food delivery service who offer people with busy lifestyles the option to take the hassle out of weekly shops and make eating healthy that little bit easier. Basically, a food subscription box containing recipes and everything you need to prepare them.
A recipe box that fits your lifestyle…
There are three different boxes available: The Family Box, Classic Box and Rapid Box. Each has their own advantages and price tags. The Family Box contains recipes that take less than 20 mins to prepare and are approved by kids. The Rapid Box contains simple recipes that take less than 20 minutes to prepare and the Classic Box has a wider variety of cuisines and recipes to chose from, veggie options available and the option for more specific preferences such as low-calorie options.
How do I subscribe and is it affordable?
HelloFresh is your rolling weekly subscription with no commitment. If you want to skip a week, cancel or change your box or recipes, that’s no problem. Simply log into your account on their app or website by the Wednesday of the week before your delivery is due (that’s deadline day) and they’ll take care of it. The cost of your weekly box depends on how you customise it. The Classic Box, for example, costs £5.83 per person, per meal with free delivery. If you get a box containing 3 recipes for 2 people is around £35.99. I understand this is a lot of money and I was a little dubious at first. That’s until I read that you can skip weeks and have more control over your subscription. We genuinely loved our experience with Hello Fresh so much that we decided to subscribe! I am far from a domestic goddess but I’m trying to develop my skills so I can prepare more interesting and healthy family meals in our new house, especially before our new addition arrives. This seemed like a wonderful way to gain more experience in the kitchen.
* Also, I have a promo code – BEAUTIFULBLUEBIRD – that gives you 50% off your first two boxes. So, in theory, everything in this box could be yours for just £17.49 *
What was inside my recipe box?
This is the fun part. Inside my box were three paper bags and a Woolcool bag full of ice packs to ensure everything remains in the freshest condition possible. Inside the paper bags where the ingredients for my three recipes. They contained everything from fresh veg, spices, herbs and stock. Inside the cool bag were all the meat and dairy products. Absolutely nothing was damaged. There was not a simple bruise on any of the fruit and fresh, the tomatoes where actually the most vibrant red, tastiest and juiciest I’ve ever come across! You can check out the suppliers they use here. There was an envelope full of various deals and leaflets plus the three recipe cards.
What meals did you prepare?
Meal 1 – Beef Ragu Rigatoni with Black Olive & Tomato Salsa
This recipe took me the longest out of the three to prepare (around 45 minutes). It contained a whopping thirteen ingredients including fresh basil, beef mince, black olives and hard Italian cheese. HelloFresh suggests cooking this meal within 3 days of delivery to ensure that everything is super fresh. It contains 4 of your 5 a day and the portions were massive. Ross took some leftovers to work the next day…
Meal 2 – Chermoula Spiced Chicken with Courgette Rice & Lemon Yogurt
I was more prepared this time and this recipe only took me 20 minutes to cook. I carefully sat and read the recipe card with a cup of tea before my husband arrived home with the baby and laid out all my ingredients in anticipation. For a novice like me, this was a brilliant time saver and allowed me to enjoy the process a hell of a lot more. This recipe was my favourite of the three and the one that took me most by surprise. I definitely was not expecting to enjoy the courgette rice but it was heavenly and had no issue scoffing the lot. This recipe contained ten ingredients including a traditional North African spice blend with paprika, chillies, cumin and lemon peel.
Meal 3 – Spanish Style Cod and Chips.
This was the simplest meal to prepare and a lovely stress-free dish to finish off the week. Containing only six ingredients including cod fillet, smoked paprika and fresh parsley, this is a recipe I will 100% be recreating. It’s not the prettiest to look at but even Penny enjoyed tucking into the homemade chips.
This experience was incredibly positive. The meals, although they weren’t options I’d usually go for, where absolutely delicious and actually very easy to prepare. This box made me try and prepare ingredients and flavour combinations that are completely out of my comfort zone. The quality of the food and originality of the recipes to chose from was also very impressive – when they say fresh, they mean it. I love that I can now keep the recipe cards and create these at my own leisure. The repertoire of recipes I’m comfortable with and skill set in the kitchen is sadly lacking but I had so much fun actually cooking and not heating things up for a change. Keep up-to-date with my Instagram here to see yummy photos of my next box and to follow my journey with HelloFresh as we beginning our subscription…
Feel free to use my code – BEAUTIFULBLUEBIRD – to get 50% off your first two boxes!
