Hello Fresh! Super Fast! Super Fresh! Super Worth It?

I am enjoying my experiment with Hello Fresh. (follow that link for $40 0ff). And I am also learning several new cooking techniques. Some of my original goals have definitely been met and overall, I have been super impressed with the service and the food. The items arrive ON-TIME (which UPS seems to struggle with in my area at times) and cold. The ice pack within the box is intact with no liquid in it. The veggies are super crisp and fresh and I even got a blood orange for one recipe, something I had never seen in real life before.

Here is what is in great “taste” (other than the above):

1. Hello Fresh has gluten-free and vegetarian recipes. So far all weeks have at least 2 GF choices and sometimes 3 choices are GF. For one week, I had to choose a Premium choice to get the GF on one meal (costs extra) and one other week, I was able to choose a meal that I could easily replace the wheat-ridden item with a non-wheat alternative. But other than that, there have been good GF choices.
2. Hello Fresh has helped pull my son out of the basement. So what’s one to do when you think you enjoy cooking but your mom doesn’t enjoy it so much? You watch a lot of cooking shows for one, and secondly, you perk up quite a bit when Hello Fresh shows up at the door. So far, my son has done a lot of the work in preparing several of the meals. Its a fun project that we can do together and that we both enjoy. And of course, eating the goods afterwards is a great part of it all.
3. The ingredients are very clear. They are listed on each box and the individual pieces of each box are clearly labeled. A total WIN and greatly appreciated with food allergies in the family.
4. The food is really good. The meat and veggies are both higher quality and the recipes have obviously been tested for goodness. We have yet to have a meal that we didn’t like, although I did adapt a couple to be a little less spicy. (And forgot an ingredient or two on some others)
5. I love that there is no contract period, and I can pause a week as needed. This week and next, hubby and I are both out of town somewhat. I knew we would not be able to make all three of our meals this week so I was able to pause the week and resume it the week thereafter. I truly HATE wasting food.

Here are the things that could be different for my “tastes”:

1. Although the meat is tasty, and likely portioned to what we are supposed to eat, sometimes we need a bit more. My hubby likes to eat more than one portion (although he is thin as can be) and I tend to try and have a focus on protein so there are nights when I add some of my own stash to increase the amount of meat. I have been able to do this without adding to the rest of the ingredients, so far. But of course, I do like to keep this in mind, as it is increasing what I am spending on the meal.
2. The price per meal is a bit high. Could I make it for less? I believe so. However so far the convenience of having recipes printed out (that I can three-hole punch and save), not having to plan an evening meal and having my son participate more have been worth that extra cost. We will see if that continues.
3. Part of what makes this experience valuable to me IS the printed recipes, as mentioned above. However, some of the meals do have a special sauce that comes already prepared. So of course, this will prevent me from making that EXACT recipe again with my own ingredients. There are still many that I can make in the future without their ingredients.

For now, the experiment continues. I am learning and growing (as is my son) and this is important to me. The meals are very tasty and super fresh and I like that I am not tied to this program. If you want to try it to, you can order here and get $40 off.