Being a mum of young kids during these times is challenging, with having to school the kids at home, and keep them occupied and , of course, safe. Naturally, some things have taken a back seat – like cooking dinner. We’re cutting down on our trips to the grocery store, so we don’t buy much fresh produce when we go. Unfortunately, dinner time recently has consisted of a lot of frozen foods and pasta, which isn’t the healthiest or most exciting.

I was on Zoom to a friend, a mum of 3, complaining about how I was making pasta for the third time that week, when she recommended I try HelloFresh. I’d been hearing a lot about HelloFresh and for the longest time, I wasn’t sure what all the buzz was about.

The idea is grand – a meal delivery service that sends you simple preplanned recipes and ingredients in a box – Could I become one of those mums who whips up supper while the kids carry on sending toys flying around the house? Can it truly be that easy?

My friend promised me the service would make my life easier. It’s better than takeaway, she spends less time at the grocery store, and her family sits down together at night and everyone eats their dinner with no complaints. We all need a little less stress in our lives at the moment, and cooking used to be fun for me, so I decided to give it a try.

I was surprised when our first box arrived. I hadn’t expected it to come so soon! Everything was individually packed in brown bags and I grabbed the one on top labelled pizza burgers – yum.

My boys love making pizza and this was a whole new challenge for them. They were intrigued and it was cute to watch them combine the mince. While the young chefs were occupied, I made the chips. There was a note on the recipe card that said “no need to peel the potatoes” and this made me delighted.

We don’t need perfect dinners or anything fancy. We just want to eat fresh food that tastes good and doesn’t require much effort.

The kids managed to help me get the meal ready, and soon enough we were all sitting down to enjoy our Pizza Burgers with Chorizo, Chips and Salad. My husband complimented our young chefs when he dug in – the food was delicious! When he did the dishes, he noted that we didn’t use too many pans. Sometimes when I try to make a new dish I get carried away, and with the kids helping this time, we were surprised that we hadn’t made more of a mess.

So needless to say, we like HelloFresh these days. We order the Family Box and I usually get 3 nights of dinner for 4 people. It answers that proverbial question, “What’s for tea?” and it’s gotten us out of the rut of eating the same old boring plates every night. Not to mention, less trips to the grocery store! I really enjoy their tray-bakes and one-pot wonders; they’re easy to make and delicious. The service has a lot of different options for vegetarians, people without kids, and I also like how you can pause and unpause your subscription whenever you want.

We still have our staples of Spaghetti Bolognese or Chicken Nuggets, but it’s nice to know we’ve been able to eat fresher and tastier meals and get to try new recipes, with far fewer trips to the grocery store.

It takes the stress out of trying to decide what to cook and having to go out to get ingredients – HelloFresh is taking the necessary precautions to make sure their ingredients are healthy and safe.

In times where there’s not many exciting things to do, dinner time has become something the family always looks forward to. Having such a variety of recipes available allows us to try new things we never would have tried before.

The kids are loving that they’re getting to try new cuisines at home, and it’s great that they occasionally take a break from their screens to help me cook, too! The end result is best: HelloFresh helps us. It’s so convenient, I can see us using it for a long time, even after all of this is over.

Update: The folks at HelloFresh are extending a special offer to our readers! Follow this link to get $90 off in total over your next 4 deliveries!