I've written before about dyspraxia and the importance of good nutrition. I have to take good care of my health and energy and eating well is a crucial part of that.
But when it comes to Can't Cook v Wont Cook I sit firmly in both camps!
I'm not a good cook, mainly because I can't sit still long enough so I wander off to do something else and burn dinner. My daughter jokes that she knows when dinner is ready because the smoke alarm goes off and friends cringe if I invite them over for a meal.But I'm old school enough to know that we need fresh fruit and veg and take aways are a treat not a daily meal.
Both me and my daughter love food and have a very healthy appetite so the last couple of years I have been making myself cook. One of the problems is I get bored with the same meals, I need new, simple inspiring ideas because I run a business, I'm busy and easily slip into default mode of a daily jacket potato with baked beans - nice but hardly a balanced diet.
I know that it's all so much easier if we plan the week's menu and go shopping so that everything I need is there when I want it. But I just haven't got into that habit.
Then someone gave me a voucher for a meal kit from Hello Fresh. I ignored it. Then last week as I was tidying my desk I found it, went to throw it in the bin and then decided to check it out.
Hello Fresh are a German company now trading in the UK (don't mention Brexit). Their model is to deliver a full kit to create 3 meals for 2 or more people. Their options are a Classic box, Veggie box or Family box. So I ordered the veggie box for 2 and was actually pretty excited as I awaited delivery.
When my box came on Monday it felt like Christmas ripping it open to see what had been sent. Initially I was a bit confused there are 3 brown bags which are unlabeled, but I figured out they were colour coded to the recipe cards.
Then I read the recipe cards and a bit Meh; risotto, roast veg and soup. I cook this stuff already, boring!
I was on my own that evening so decided to make the leek and pea risotto as my daughter isn't a risotto fan and I set about exploring how it all works. I like the recipe cards, it's a good step by step layout that makes it easy for me to follow and less likely to make a mistake. Looking at some complaints on twitter it seems that they have made them bigger recently.
I did wonder off once while the risotto was cooking, even though the instructions warned me to stay with it and so it did burn it a wee bit, but I rescued it and - it was flipping delicious. The textures and tastes were perfect. I really have not ever cooked anything that good myself.
I mentioned that I have a healthy appetite and so I tried to eat seconds, but just couldn't, I was stuffed. However that meant I was excited to know it was waiting for me at lunch time Tuesday. As there was still some left over Tuesday evening my daughter also tried it and scoffed the lot as we were preparing the other two meals, mexican soup and Leon roasted vegetables.
Again I wasn't inspired by the idea of either of those meals, Neither of us really like parsnips and I eat a lot of roast veg already, but having loved the leek and pea risotto I kept an open mind. The roast veg are accompanied by Zahtar Freekeh (never heard of it) and orange and apricot yoghurt. It was AMAZING! We both ate it all and again we were stuffed, but not the stuffed like with a take away where 20 minutes later you can eat it all again, these seem to be well balanced meals with flavours that excite.
As for the mexican bean soup three of us shared that and again it was perfect and plenty.
I wasn't going to order any more as whilst they are a good price at £6 per person per meal that's not mid week tea budget, but I've changed my mind for these reasons...
- I have thoroughly enjoyed cooking
- The food is fresh and healthy
- All the meals so far have taken under an hour to prepare and cook
- We just love eating them!
- The servings are generous
- The recipe cards are sturdy and can be saved with your cook books
- There is no waste what so ever (much to the dog's disgust)
- A lot of their packaging can be re-used
- This is a good option for us 3 nights a week.
This morning I remembered that I had learn 3 new recipes on my 100 things to do in 2017 list. I've ticked that off now.
I really like their transparency as a company. All the meals are on the website so you can see what's coming and you have control over your account, skipping a week or cancelling whenever you want. Also all the recipes are on their site and can be downloaded, so if you wanted you could just do it yourself.
And the downside - I was missing a couple of items in one of my meal packs and their twitter feed shows there are some delivery issues now and again, which would be frustrating, but they have someone on twitter dealing with customer care issues every day.
All in all they get a thumbs up from this dyspraxic working momma!
If you would like to try it out claim £25 off your first delivery with this code
