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Hi, friends! Happy Friday. This has been a light week on social media for me and it’s been so nice. I’ve been working on a post for Monday about goals versus resolutions that I’m excited to share with you, but today I wanted to pop in with a review of my experience with Hello Fresh!

I met the Hello Fresh dietitian, Rebecca, at FNCE. I love her energy and enthusiasm and she is so knowledgable. The Hello Fresh booth was a ton of fun, too!

In all of the recent literature I’ve read, food delivery companies are still projected to be a major food trend in 2017. I figured it was time I try one out. I’m all about home scratch cooking, but with added responsibilities this year and night clients, it’s just not feasible every night of the week. There are companies out there who work to make this easier so why not let them?

I’ve used The Produce Box and had fresh produce delivered, but I’ve have never really tried a meal delivery system before. Enter Hello Fresh.

I tried three meals: Chicken kebobs and cous cous, a barley salad, and cauliflower tacos. Honestly, they all were delicious.

1. Skewerless Chicken Kebobs over Cous Cous

This meal was ready in 30 minutes as advertised. The only thing that was missing from the cooking directions was that it didn’t mention how much water to boil the cous cous in. Fortunately, I’ve cooked with cous cous before so I had an idea and it turned out great. The seasonings and flavorings were delicious – Ed and I both loved the mediterranean spices and yogurt dressings.  Overall, this was a great meal that I would definitely recreate at home!

2. Bountiful Barley Bowl

This was my favorite meal of the three I tried. Probably because it included roasted brussel sprouts (in a way I had never roasted them!) You sauteed them first with the shallots and then put them under the broiler.

Best of all, it was ready in 20 minutes! This was so full of flavor, and offered a great meatless alternative. I loved the roasted veggies, the comfort and flavor of feta cheese, pepitas for crunch and craisins for tartness. I actually had never bought shallots before (I know it’s crazy!) but was so happy to use them in this dish. Seriously, this dish was everything I could dream of and so simple! Totally a BLT recipe.

3. Crispy Cauliflower and Squash Tacos

These were good, but more for a side. We had these along with some grilled chicken for the extra protein. In the future if I made these, I’d probably just add some chickpeas in the tacos. I liked how you could season it to your liking (it came with sides of cumin, red pepper flakes and chili powder). The creamy yogurt dressing was delicious – I’m a sucker for a creamy yogurt/lime combination.

I found way more pros than cons in using these meals.

Pros

Shipping is (always) free!

The meals give you new ideas for recipes (for example, a lemon yogurt dressing)

They have new menus  each week and you can pick from that menu

Encourages cooking and family dinners together

Saves time at the grocery store or may decrease your number of visits

Learn new ways to cook foods! (Like the roasted brussel sprouts – yummm)

You don’t have to buy odd ingredients you may rarely use – Hello Fresh sends small amounts of what you need

They offer individual, family, and vegetarian meal plans

Most dinners are made in about 30 minutes

Cons

I honestly don’t see many cons with these services.

Some people may say expensive, and yes, if you break it down, it’s probably more per meal than if you bought your own ingredients and cooked yourself. It averages out to about $10 per meal per person. But, it’s much more cost effective than going out to dinner for three meals a week!

Less flexibility if you change your mind. Maybe you ordered a chicken dish and a barley salad one week, but you’re just not feeling it.

You may not want something from that week’s menu

Not as environmentally friendly since everything comes individually wrapped and in boxes

Overall, I was very impressed with the ease, flavor and quality of these meals. It’s clear that these recipes have been well tested! I would definitely order Hello Fresh again – I was drooling looking at some of their other recipes and meals on their website. I also love how they change weekly, keepin’ it nice and FRESH! Plus, they send out great emails and newsletters if you haven’t signed up yet.

Disclaimer: I was sent Hello Fresh products to try and review. I was not compensated for my time.

Have you tried using a meal delivery system? What did you like/dislike?