Hello Fresh and some depressing news

Let's start with the depressing news.  It's not my depressing news and it's not even my business.  But I wanted to say something brief about it anyway.  One of my favorite bloggers is getting divorced.  I know that doesn't seem like a big deal, especially since I don't even know her, but I was taken by such surprise that I can't help but mention it.  The worst thing is, they seemed so happy.  The perfect couple.  It just reminded me that you have no idea what is going on in other people's lives.  Yeah, I only knew her through blogging and you can easily share only the best aspects of you life, so no one has any idea about the bad stuff.  However you can do that in real life too.  Do we really know what is going on in the lives of our friends and family? Who seems perfectly happy but really is walking around in a state of depression?  It's just another reminder to not covet the lives of others.  Even though our life may seem like a huge struggle at times, everyone struggles.  Even if they don't show it.  We have to trust that we are living the best life for ourselves.  And no one's life is perfect.

Ok, enough of the serious talk.

I now want to talk about something completely different.  A meal service.  A few weeks ago there was a Groupon for a meal delivery service calls Hello Fresh.  It was $35 for three meals a weeks for two people.  It sounded fun so I signed up.  And it turns out I love it!  My first meal box came on Wednesday and this is what it looked like.

It was left on my doorstep and had this bright green sticker on it.  When I opened it up I was excited to see the fun stuff inside.  On top were three beautiful recipe cards (so I could make the recipes on my own if I wanted).  The cards are large and very easy to read and follow.

Inside the "cooler" part of the box were all the ingredients divided by the meal.  Each meal had a bag and inside were the produce and spices needed to make each recipe.  Everything was labeled and already portioned out, for the most part.  There were some things, like onions, where they gave you the entire onion and you only needed to chop half of it.  Not a big deal though.

If you get the regular box, there are five meal options and you can pick three.  Usually it's three different types of protein, like fish, chicken, and steak.  They also have a vegetarian option, but they only have three meals for that each week so you don't get to choose.  The recipes always sound good, so it's probably not a big deal.  This week I got Oven-Fried Chicken, Pan-Seared Citrus Salmon, and Ginger Sesame Steak.  

Here is the salmon I cooked on Sunday night (I know I already showed this picture but I wanted to point it out again).

The thing I really like about this service is that you get complete meals.  I am not really great at fixing complete meals.  I tend to spend so much time on my main item that I don't have time/energy for side dishes.  So we'll have spaghettei or chicken curry with rice - but rarely do we have a protein, carb, and vegetable.  And with these meals, it's super easy.  They include the main item plus ingredients for side dishes.  And it's not too horrible to try and cook them all.  When I made the oven-fried chicken it came with  sauteed mushrooms and kale.  I NEVER would have ever made that (I hate mushrooms and kale), but I cooked it and ate it and it wasn't half bad.  The salmon came with a summer salad that included arugala, red onions, tomatoes, and green beans with a citrus dressing (which you made from fresh oranges and limes).  It was very delicous.  Even Ivan commented on the salmon and the dressing (he only ate the tomatoes).

So, what are the negatives?  The price.  I got my week on Groupon, but a regular week for two people costs $59.  It's not too pricey when you think you get three meals for two people (and they are good portions, the chicken breasts were large enough for both of us, and Ivan eats a lot), but it's a lot to pay.  I tend to spend about $120 a week at the grocery store and even if three of my meals are already paid for, it's still hard to make it out of there for much less.  If I used half of my grocery budget on Hello Fresh, I would only have $60 left for regular stuff.  Plus, there aren't usually left-overs from the Hello Fresh meals and that means I have to figure something else out for lunches.  Not the end of the world, but not the cheapest route.

The good thing is you can pause your shipments and not get them every week. I think I might still get them every once in a while, because they are good and make mealtimes more interesting.  It's a fun way to find new recipes and try new things...and the meals are healthy and quick. 

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Do you ever buy anything from Groupon?

Would you ever do a meal service?



P.S. I wasn't paid to do this review, it's just my own experience.