Wednesday, November 7, 2018

Why We Splurge on Meal Delivery Services

Last year for Christmas Kevin surprised me with a subscription to Home Chef.  I was excited to give it a try.  Since then we have tried Home Chef, Blue Apron and Hello Fresh.  They've all been fun to try, but we have a favorite that I'm excited to share with you today.

Hello Fresh is our #1 meal delivery service.

The portion sizes are generous.
The ingredients are really fresh.
Great customer service.
Delicious meals that I would have never cooked on my own.
Large variety of meals to pick from each week.
It's like having a cooking class show up at your front door.

Since November is my birthday month, I'm giving away 

A FREE WEEK OF HELLO FRESH to 3 readers!!!  

It's a $69.95 value for each winner.  You do have to be a new customer for this coupon to work.  Just leave a blog comment with your email address telling me why you'd like to try Hello Fresh.  I will draw 3 winners on Friday, Nov 9th.

*** Contest over.  There were so many entries that I decided to pick FOUR winners instead of THREE.  All winners have been emailed.  Congrats Julie, Kristen, Stephanie and Becca!  Hope you enjoy Hello Fresh as much as we do.***

In our opinion,
Blue Apron has a small menu, we didn't love the recipes and small portions.
Home Chef has small portions, we felt like we had to add things to the meal to make it filling and the recipes were a lot of work for just an average result.

We don't have the time or money to go out to fancy dinners or cooking classes regularly.  It's pricey to pay for a babysitter on top of an expensive dinner.  So for us, a meal delivery service is the perfect splurge.  It allows us to try new ingredients, new cooking techniques and new recipes from the comfort of our home.  It runs about $20/dinner for the two person meals.  I realize this is not cheap, but it's FAR cheaper than going out to a fancy dinner + babysitter.

We try to do one box a month sometimes two.  It's fun to try new recipes, but it's also a lot of work/time in the kitchen for a week night.  These meals aren't easy and usually end up getting more dishes dirty than I would on a regular night.  That's why we splurge on these meal delivery boxes and don't rely on them to make up our dinner menus every week.

We are trying Taco Flatbread, Jalapeno Burgers and Grilled Cheese Veggie meals this week.

Here are some of our favorite meals from the past couple of months.

1. Figgy Balsamic Pork
These was AMAZING.  I've never cooked with fig jam before.


2. Beef Chiles Rellenos
I had never cooked with poblano peppers before.  They were delicious!


3. Beef Taco Loaded Potatoes
I loved baked potatoes, but would have never thought to build a taco on top.  These were so good!


4. Chicken Cheddar Fajitas
Loved the fresh jalapeno slices


5. Pulled Pork Fiesta Bowls
Homemade burrito bowls were much better than store bought ones.


6. Chicken Pineapple Quesadillas
Pineapples + sweet peppers on these quesadillas were so good.


7. Pork Carnitas Tacos
The pickled onions were amazing!

If you are interested in trying out this service right away, I do have a coupon code for $40 off your first week of Hello Fresh!  Just follow this link: $40 off to Try Hello Fresh
 



I also felt like I needed to warn you about Graze.  It's a snack delivery service that I WOULD NOT recommend.  The first box is free, but they quickly auto ship your next box for a charge of $13.99.  It is very difficult to cancel requiring at least 3 contacts to customer service to do so.  The snacks are strange and expensive.  Out of 12 snacks we received, we liked 2 of them.  I recently tried them again after giving them a couple of years to improve.  They have not improved.  AVOID!!


Have you ever tried a meal delivery service??

It's time to link up with my favorite Welcome Wednesday ladies.
Be to sure to join us with a new post or two and find some new blog friends.



25 comments:

  1. I'm in a season of life where eating homecooked healthy meals seems soooo difficult. I'd love to give Hello Fresh a try! :)
    rosieroo368@gmail.com

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  2. I'd love to try a meal delivery box. I recently went from SAHM to working full-time. A meal delivery service would help make the dinner hour a bit easier on busy nights. Thanks for doing a give away! mubarakjj@hotmail.com

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  3. I've never tried a meal delivery service before because I wasn't sure it would work for my large family. Although, it might be a nice change for a date night in!

    sandyra27@gmail.com

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  4. I would love to try Hello Fresh!I cook dinner every night and would love some "fresh" new ideas!
    Becca
    beccas812@gmail

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  5. This is the perfect time of year to not have to think about dinner!

    CORREN
    corren_88@hotmail.com

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  6. Taco potatoes!! Holy genius idea! I am going to give that a try this weekend. Oh and you know my email but here you go … sacox65@gmail.com :)

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  7. I have done Hello Fresh a few times, and enjoyed everything I made! I haven't done it because of the price, but when you put it into terms of comparing to a night out, it really isn't bad at all!

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  8. I would love to try it.
    madhuriananth@gmail.com

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  9. Would love to try Hello Fresh - we have 2 high school boys and High School Basketball season is coming up real soon - so, would be great to have some meals to make at home.

    Autumn Widmer
    autumn.widmer@zf.com

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  10. I've only tried Blue Apron and I enjoyed it but it was small portions! Would love to try Hello Fresh!!

    laurarene05@yahoo.com

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  11. we LOVE Hello Fresh! I didn't get it for so long because of the price, but have come to realize it fits so well with our lifestyle and we think the quality and ease is definitely worth the price! I wish I liked spicy foods like you guys!!!!! But even avoiding spicy, we have founds TONS of options we love. Totally agree, the Figgy Balsamic Pork is AMAZING!!!!!!!!

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  12. Cooking is an expression of love for me! Thank you for the chance to win! Kristi McDaniel myraggdyann@ yahoo dot com

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  13. I would love to try Hello Fresh! I have a 7 month old & 3 year old so having the help to prepare a nice meal for my family would be amazing. plubowsky@gmail.com

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  14. What a great and informative review! I always apply when someone is honest about these types of things. I’ve wanted to try a meal delivery service but I’ve always worried that it would just be too pricey for our family. Your meals look soooo good though!!

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  15. You really embody the pay it forward concept, it's your birthday and we benefit! My curiosity is definitely peaked my the home meal delivery bandwagon but I have been hesitant to bite the bullet. Happy, happy birthday to you!
    Amy Bartlett
    Hba9574@aol.com

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  16. We have had the Pulled Pork Fiesta Bowls and Pork Carnitas Tacos. Both were sooo tasty and fresh!

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  17. I've heard great things about Hello Fresh and would like to try it out for myself. Thanks.
    partymix25(at)hotmail(dot)com

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  18. I keep saying I am going to try Hello Fresh and never get around to it. Everything you made looks delicious.

    I did graze before too and was not impressed with the price or the snacks.

    adge629@gmail.com

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  19. I would love to try hello fresh. I have a toddler and husband that works long hours so anything to simplify our life would be great! Thank you!! kelsey.moore926@gmail.com

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  20. We've used this service and I really enjoy it! It takes a lot of stress off!

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  21. I have never tried this service. I think it would make a great date night in for my man and I.

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  22. Have never tried a meal service, I should tho, I hate decided what to cook for dinner even though I like to cook! Rrcjaf@gmail.com

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  23. I've never tried a meal service, but it sounds amazing. We have a lot of big changes coming around here, so anything to make my life simpler would be awesome :)
    jkmrugala@gmail.com

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  24. I loved Hello Fresh because it got me out of a cooking rut. But it was hard to justify the cost every week, so we stopped it.

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