I remember when I was a kid, one of the best parts of the day was coming home and smelling dinner in the oven. It was just one of those things that I came to expect, and I'm a bit ashamed to say that it never even occurred to me that my mom might be stressing out trying to find the time to cook us that dinner. It always seemed like she had everything together. Now that I'm a parent, I'm realizing that probably was not the case. Somehow, though, she found her secret formula for making us think she did. After years of running to the grocery store at the last minute, prepping the inevitable overcooked meal in the crockpot, or even running through the fast food line after my kids' soccer practice, I think I've finally found my secret formula that helps me look like I've got everything together: HelloFresh.
HelloFresh
In case you, like me, are new to HelloFresh, it is a meal subscription kit that sends you everything you need for a home-cooked and delicious dinner. The meat, vegetables, seasonings, recipe card, and nutritional information...it's all in there. They even send everything pre-portioned for less waste and easy cleanup. Literally all you have to do is pull it out of the box and get to cooking!
Now I'll admit, I was skeptical at first. I'm one of those people that believes if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is. I've tried my fair share of products that promise to make your life easier, but in reality just clutter up your house or take a bunch of your money. So I was worried that the food might not be great, or the veggies wouldn't be fresh, or worst of all...my kids wouldn't eat it. But miraculously, none of that happened. In fact, what did happen was that I actually had the time to sit down and eat with my kids.
A Healthy Timesaver
You're exhausted. You worked all day, picked the kids up from school, helped them with their homework, got them to their sports practice or music lessons, and by the time you get home again it's almost 8:00 and bedtime is supposed to be within the hour. The parent rat race is not fun, nor is it a sustainable lifestyle. Honestly, I find it downright exhausting most days. Thankfully, most of the meals on the HelloFresh site take no longer than 30 minutes from start to finish with quite a few coming in at or even under 20 minutes. I've literally sat in the parking lot waiting for take-out longer than that.
They even have quick clean-up meal options which might be even better than the quick prep ones. I hate going to bed with a dirty kitchen, so I usually stay up scrubbing it down. It might not be much, but that extra 30 minutes at night means momma gets a glass of wine and a Netflix show to wind down. I am always on board for that!
The Meals
HelloFresh has a few different options that you can choose from when ordering your meals. All of them look delicious and I took a little bit of time scanning each menu and the different options available. Ultimately, I decided I wanted to give the "Quick and Easy" category a try. It promised fast, healthy meals for busy weeknights and the options looked like meals my kids would actually eat (or at least try without turning their noses up at immediately).
Ok, so what did I cook!? Well, HelloFresh will give you 50+ options each week, so there are some serious choices. We might have actually been a tiny bit late to soccer practice due to having too much fun choosing! On top of picking out your meals, you also pick how many meals you want and for how many people. I decided to give the three meal option a try and ordered the One-Pan Santa Fe Chicken Tacos, Epic Nacho Mac 'n' Cheese, and the Peachy Keen BBQ-Rubbed Pork Chops. They were all absolutely fantastic! My kids loved both the mac 'n'cheese and chicken tacos, and the BBQ-rubbed pork chops are already going back on my list for another round. Total win!
1 of 3
I know that families come in all shapes and sizes, but on the HelloFresh site it only gives options for two or four people. If you have a larger family, then HelloFresh recommends placing a double order in order to receive the correct amount of food. Our situation is actually the opposite due to my husband traveling half the month for work, but since HelloFresh only gives you the exact amount of food needed, that fourth serving actually makes the perfect lunch for my kids the next day. I literally just divide it in half, throw it in their lunch box with some yogurt and fruit, and stick their lunch boxes in the fridge. Having a healthy lunch made the night before (with no additional work) felt unbelievably stress-relieving.
Verdict
I'm sold. The biggest game changer for me after ordering HelloFresh was the time it saved on those busy weeknights. When my husband is traveling and it's just me running them all across town, I would do anything to add a few extra minutes to the day (well, until bedtime that is!). It took me no longer to throw a few ingredients in the pan while my kids showered than it did to run through the fast food line. Plus, I can't even begin to explain how much happier it has made me knowing that my kids had a healthy meal before going to bed instead of one filled with empty calories. At this point I'm hooked and can quite comfortably say that HelloFresh saved my weeknight sanity.
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