I'm a sucker for discounts, especially when it comes to trying new things. When I did the quick-math, it felt like I'd be getting a good deal so I gave HelloFresh a try. HelloFresh "aims to provide each and every household in its 9 markets with the opportunity to enjoy wholesome home-cooked meals with no planning, no shopping and no hassle required." With free shipping and a good coupon code, I divvied up $3.50/per person per meal and gave HelloFresh a try. Here's a peek into our first week and some of the pros and costs to consider. Pros to HelloFresh 1. It's easy. After a few taps on the keyboard, I selected two healthy meals for the upcoming week. Our first box came right on time. The ingredients were packaged in clearly labelled bags and kept at safe temps in the neatly ice-packed HelloFresh box. 2. It's something new. If you're stuck in a dinner rut, HelloFresh offers a variety of recipes you've never tried. Of course, we have had burgers before but I'd never made my own "jam" or oven-roasted garlic to make a balsamic vinaigrette for drizzling over an arugula salad. I'm more of a open the salad bag and dump it on the plate kind of gal. Trying new twists to familiar proteins was fun, and hubby approved of both of the new HelloFresh recipes. 3. There are no leftovers. If you're married to someone who doesn't help with the leftovers (haha) or you are one of those people, HelloFresh meals are a win because they are portioned exactly for the number of people you select. I always try to cook just what we need, knowing I won't have help eating leftovers, but that's difficult to do all the time. 4. It's a hassle-free time-saver. Now that we both work from home, and we're constantly "tagging each other in" (I'll take the boys, you go to the office), dinner can sneak up on us. Sometimes I'm catching my fourth wind and want to wrap up a project even though it's 6:30 p.m. and I probably should be shaking a pot. Having a HelloFresh bag of pre-measured ingredients in the fridge and knowing I had a step-by-step instruction recipe with pictures waiting for me, made meal prep a whole lot easier. Sometimes half the battle is deciding what to cook and then figuring out which ingredients I have on hand. With HelloFresh, I didn't have to use whatever precious brainpower I had left at the end of the day trying to figure out dinner. Counting the Cost of HelloFresh While I think it's a stretch to say it saves you money, I do think HelloFresh benefits you if you know you're going to have a busy or stressful week. Not having to think about what you're going to make is a weight lifted. It also can keep you from spending that much or more at a restaurant for something that's probably not as healthy. When it comes to cooking for two, I think it's worth a try. Plus, you can always save their pretty recipe cards and try them again using store-bought ingredients. Here's a quick breakdown of the cost if you were to buy the ingredients yourself. Creamy Dill Chicken Hello Fresh Price: $3.74/per serving (with my current coupon) $9.99/per serving (without a coupon) Assuming you have to buy most of the ingredients in the recipe, here's the cost: Fresh dill: $1.01 Yukon gold potatoes $1.98 Chicken breasts $6.00 (usually 4 servings) Green beans $1.18 Sour Cream $0.88 Chicken stock concentrate $4.42 Dijon mustard $1.50 Total: $16.97 Assuming you can get four servings out of the items above... Buy-it-Yourself Price: $4.24/serving Juicy Lucy Burgers Hello Fresh Price: $3.74/per serving (with my current coupon) $9.99/per serving (without a coupon) Assuming you have to buy most of the ingredients in the recipe, here's the cost: Tomato: $0.35 Red onion: $0.88/lb Garlic: $0.66 Balsamic vinegar: $3.00 Ground beef: $5.09 Cheddar cheese: $2.50 Cheap buns $1.78 (recipe used brioche, but couldn't find at HEB) Mayo: $2.48 (omitted, we'll assume you had this already on hand) Ketchup: $1.24 (omitted, we'll assume you had this already on hand) Arugula: $1.98 Assuming you can get four servings out of the items above... Buy-it-Yourself Price: $4.06/serving So, there you have it! If you're trying to justify giving a service like HelloFresh a try, you probably can with a good coupon! . Try your first HelloFresh box and receive $40.00 off of your first box! CODE: KENNANB Full Disclosure: I'll earn a discount on future HelloFresh meals for friends who uses my coupon code. Comments are closed.
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AuthorKennan is wife to Marcus, the other half of Marken Media Co., and mom to Jaxson, Caden, and furry Reba. Archives
March 2019
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