How HelloFresh Freshened Up Our Lifestyle

It's the ultimate relationship dilemma. You and your S.O. get home from work seriously starving, but you can never decide what to have for dinner!

My husband, Zack, and I used to just land on Seamless after bickering for twenty minutes or so. Ordering seemed so simple, but became too expensive to maintain, and made it easy for us to overeat. Let's be honest, does anyone really save the rest of that pad thai for lunch the next day? That's why we were so excited when our friends started inviting us over for home-cooked meals—something that was clearly missing from our lives.

We had no idea our friends Ryan and Julie liked to cook, or had time to think up/look up a recipe, and go to get everything on their commute home to start cooking! For me, it just wouldn't happen. Turns out Ryan and Julie get their recipes and ingredients sent to them by HelloFresh, the meal kit delivery service that lets you to cook simple, pre-planned recipes at home without having to hit the grocery store. (Score!) My friends had been singing its praises too, and after all the rave reviews flying around, I finally signed us up.

The first of three recipes in our box was simple to prepare, and simply delicious: the Winner Winner Chicken and Orzo dinner, which Zack and I had so much fun cooking together. I sliced the zucchini, tomatoes and mozzarella, and roasted them on a baking sheet, Zack cooked the orzo, and I butterflied and seasoned the chicken, which was super easy: just cut, season, olive oil the pan, and sear. We sprinkled everything with Parmesan upon plating (also included in the shipment), and voilà: A deliciously fresh, home-cooked meal in less than 30 minutes!

I can't express how fulfilled I felt from prep to plating to eating. It was super easy (there were only six steps clearly listed for us), and it was satisfying for more than just our tummies, making it a meal to remember. Doing something for our bodies and our minds (rather than binging on chips and Netflix) was a much better way to spend our time together.

HelloFresh motivates me to cook 3 meals a week with and for my husband, and has been great practice for me. Not only am I preparing food for just the two of us, but also practicing my skills so I can impress my friends and family. And signing up for HelloFresh was the first step.

Here's how it works: when you sign up, select the number you'll be cooking for and your dietary preferences. I subscribe to the 2-Person Plan, which gets me a large box each week each with 3 inventive meals delivered to our door. We're a silly couple so when I'm cooking, Zack sometimes chants: "babes is in the kitchen." I summon him over to help a bit, but I like to do most of it on my own. You can also opt to skip shipments, which is easy to do on their site or app, and can cancel at anytime. But as soon as I got into the habit and the fun of cooking, I didn't want to stop because it became a part of a healthier and happier routine. It's exciting, keeps my hands busy, and it becomes a fun activity whether I'm cooking for myself, or cooking for more. Sometimes, I throw on some music and flip some veggies in a pan (cha, cha, cha).

After using the service for months, we're totally sold. We now eat at the table like adults, and found a way to spend quality time together. I don't know if we can take full credit for how excellent the meals are, but we're certainly proud of what we're cooking and eating. Days when we cook with HelloFresh are better than days when we don't. That's how I know the service was just right for us.

Poll Results

― nomar, Saturday, 18 February 2017 00:40 (eight years ago)