Packaging.
Due to the detailed emails, I knew exactly when my package would arrive, within a 3-hour range. Because I'm not at a 9 to 5 job, I was able to whisk my box into the house almost as soon as it arrived.
I needn't have worried.
The food is packed in a substantial cardboard box with a metallic quilted liner. Above the liner is all the paperwork: coupons for the wine option (no, we didn't do that this time...) and the large, laminated, colorful cards with cooking instructions on them. By large, I mean almost 8.5x11. More on them in a minute.
Inside the liner is a layer of packages of food, one per meal, clearly marked, with a large coldpack keeping it very cool. Below that layer was a cardboard divider, then another coldpack with the meat, all clearly marked for which meal they belonged to.
Hello Fresh seems to care a lot about the environment. The cold packs are printed with a message: "I'm recyclable! Cut me open and throw my contents in the trash. Then recycle me."
The packages of veggies and spices are all brown paper bags reading, "I'm greener than a salad bar. Recycle me."
I enjoyed unpacking it all and organized the meals in our refrigerator: each meal having one sealed brown paper bag with veggies and spices, and one pack of meat.
I would give packaging an A. I don't know how it could be any better.
Contents.
I had chosen 4 meals, each with 2 servings. The correct meals were sent and the correct ingredients were included for each meal.
The recipe we tried tonight did require that I provide a few items that surely anyone would have in his home: a drizzle of vegetable oil (we don't use vegetable oil; I substituted olive oil); salt and pepper; a tablespoon of water and a tablespoon of butter.
I was fine with that.
Our meal tonight was Cherry Balsamic Pork Chops with Roasted Potatoes and Roasted Broccoli.
They included a tiny envelope of thyme for the potatoes, and the smallest bottle you ever saw of balsamic vinegar. Also a teensy jar of cherry jelly. I love tiny things. Doesn't everyone?
The jelly jar held exactly one tablespoon of jelly. I included my watch for scale.
So far, we give the contents an A.
Quality.
I have read many Hello Fresh reviews and people have said some downright rotten things about the quality of the food.
Our experience so far has been very positive.
The potatoes were not your normal, boring ones, but red and purple fingerlings. I only had to slice them down the middle to roast them. Broccoli was quite fresh and cut just the way we like it, into little florets rather than all chopped up. (Did you hear that? The broccoli was already cut. I didn't have to do that part. 💃🏼)
The pork chops were just lovely: boneless, fresh, and nicely marbled, though not too fatty.
While I'm on quality I'll also mention the printed materials are all upbeat, professional, and expertly produced.
To date, I'll give quality an A.
Preparation.
The front of the cooking card estimates preparation for this meal at 40 minutes: 10 minutes prep and 30 minutes cook time. It was dead on.
(Pardon the little cooking smudge on the bottom!)
The back of the card gives cooking instructions.
True confession: I am a mediocre cook at best. There are a few things I make well (cough, cough macaroni & cheese, pound cake) but everything else I make fades into oblivion. It's rare that we have a really good meal.
I enjoyed following the instructions. "Oh, pork chops take 5 minutes per side? Hm."
The cherry/balsamic glaze was actually fun.
The instructions do keep you hopping, though, so I hope you are not trying to simultaneously help a child with homework or taking business calls or any of the thousand things I used to do while preparing a meal for a family.
With my sweet hubby outside weed whacking, I was able to fully immerse myself in the experience.
The directions require you to multi-task to get everything done. Example. While the pork chops were cooking I had to get the broccoli in the oven. Then I had to remove the chops from the pan and make the sauce. And so on.
It was all very efficient, though, and due to the multi-tasking it really did only take a half-hour, as promised.
Not knowing any better, I'd give the prep an A.
Presentation and taste.
My plate looked amazingly like the plate pictured, although in comparing them now I do see I sort of piled the sauce on a little heavier than they did.
Sweet hubby actually loved the taste of all the food, and I did, too. The chops were fully cooked and tender. Roasted anything, we love, so the veggies were a slam dunk. I think they did a nice job pairing veggies to match the entree.
Servings for us were just right. We are big eaters and the meal fully satisfied, although we didn't, as some have said, have enough for leftovers. As I said, we are big eaters.
Presentation and taste: A.
Cleanup.
They pretty much kept it simple. I used a bowl, a skillet, and a baking pan. Cleanup: A+.
Pros and Cons.
Pro #1: The Cloud.
In reading all the reviews I never ran across what, to me, is the biggest advantage of all.
On a daily basis I feel like a have a large cloud over my head: What am I going to fix for dinner?
This process REMOVED THE CLOUD. I loved having everything half done (measured and pre-cut) and just following the steps.
When I included the pic of the instruction card here on the blog, I imagined a reader saying, "Couldn't you just as well use a cookbook? Or go online? Or use an app?"
Here's the answer. A cookbook doesn't go to the store for me and buy exactly 2 servings of the exact ingredients for a delicious meal, with no waste.
Pro #2: Variety.
Like most people, we've gotten into a Food Rut. Baked chicken. Baked chicken with lemon. Baked chicken with mushrooms. Beans and rice. Guacamole burgers.
With all the cookbooks we have, and we do have a few, I never would've thought of Cherry Balsamic Pork Chops. Just choosing it on the computer (another process I didn't review), the mere name set my mouth to watering. It didn't disappoint.
The other meals this week include Shrimp Tagliatelli, Steakhouse Style New York Strip, and Cajun Pulled Pork. Yes, you see pork on there twice, including tonight. The other choices included lots of gluten, which I am supposed to avoid.
We've never had any of this stuff before, except NY Strips. And boy do they look nice.
Pro #3. Simplicity.
The Hello Fresh folks have no idea who is buying their stuff: a college student? A kid? A newlywed? Or, in my case, a retiree who just doesn't love to cook.
Their directions were easy to understand and required no more knowledge than knowing the difference between High heat and Medium Low. They really broke it down and I think any level cook could prepare the meal with little or no frustration.
Pro #4. Cost.
With my New Customer coupon, I spent about $50 for 4 meals for two people. In our house that's a bargain. Hubby asked me how much it would cost without the coupon and I really have to go back and check. I think it borders on expensive but as many have pointed out, you're also paying for NOT going to the store, NOT having food waste in the refrigerator, and in my case, NOT wearing The Cloud. We'll see going forward if it's doable without the coupons.
Cons.
So far, I have none.
Clearly I'm a fan, a big one, and I'm actually looking forward to preparing dinner tomorrow night. That, my friends, is a miracle.
#LoveMyLife
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