A Box of Tricks or Pure Magic?

Having recently signed up to a food box delivery, Hello Fresh, I thought I'd share my thoughts with you. I was persuaded to sign up on my own doorstep by a very nice representative who was also a vegetarian (they do meat and fish boxes too). I undertook to pay around £25 for a vegetarian box containing 3 meals each serving 2 people along with the 3 recipe cards.

The following Monday a large brown cardboard box arrived containing fresh veggies, some fruit and herbs, storecupboard ingredients and some well insulated fridge foods along with the recipes. Everything looked fresh and had good use by dates.

I cooked the first recipe that night and got my non-vegetarian daughter to share the meal. The portions were generous and we actually stretched it to 3 portions to include my son. Delicious! And so the week went on. All meals are made using produce from the best British suppliers and the idea is that food is cooked from scratch, reduces food waste and gets good food from farm to fork in the shortest time possible. The food was indeed tasty and I have learned to use some ingredients I would not habitually buy and combine them in different ways. The recipes are easy to follow and many items are already weighed out for use. The scheme is now endorsed by Jamie Oliver.

Now for the downside. I am the only vegetarian in my family so had to persuade someone else to eat the other portion. I found that the recipes used numerous pans and took 30-45 mins to cook which became a juggling game when trying to make a meat/fish based meal for the rest of the family at the same time. I have been left with bits of ingredients which I thought might be incorporated in the next meal but weren't. I sometimes eat out in the evening or sometimes have a main meal out at lunchtime, eat takeaways or simply just fancy a jacket potato with cheese and beans for tea. This meant that by Sunday I was panicking about using the food and not wasting it so I had to use up the ingredients and follow a recipe dictated by the scheme. As the rest of the family tucked in to a Sunday Roast I was having a Chinese based meal!

Two of the meals I cooked - Hoisin Stir Fry with Rice, Yellow Pepper & Sugar Snap Peas and Rustic Butter Bean Cassoulet with Herb Dumplings.

So I have had my 2 weeks worth at a total cost of around £50. This was the trial period. If I continue the price goes up to around £35 a week. For me, it just isn't working out and so I shall pause or cancel my deliveries. However, if your family are all vegetarians it would probably work out quite well. I do think the concept is good, the ingredients fresh, if you don't leave until the 6th day, and the recipes inspiring. I shall definitely go out and shop for the ingredients and revisit the recipe cards!