Being a mum of young kids is challenging, between school, activities and my own work commitments some things have taken a back seat – like cooking dinner. Unfortunately, dinner time recently has consisted of a lot of frozen foods and pasta, which isn’t the healthiest or most exciting. I wanted to actually sit down with my family and enjoy a nice dinner more often, especially with Mother’s Day coming up.
I was talking 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 is 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 supermarket, 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, 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 fries/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. 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 supermarket! 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 un pause 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 supermarket.
It takes the stress out of trying to decide what to cook and having to go out to get ingredients. And having such a variety of recipes available allows us to try new things we never would have tried before.
Dinner time has become something the family always looks forward to. With the convenience of preparing meals in just 30 minutes most nights and occasionally having the kids join in, I find myself spending more quality time with them than ever before. Which is exactly what I wanted for Mother’s Day.
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! HelloFresh helps us enjoy more time together. I can see us using it for a long time, even after Mother’s Day is over.