Tag Archives: mealdelivery

Well, hello HelloFresh!

Dietitian, Food, health, health goals, Healthy Diet, HelloFresh, meal delivery, , , ,

This meal delivery box could not have arrived at a better time. My hubs and I had just gotten back from an out-of-state trip with an 11-hour travel day the day before this box showed up on my doorstep. Dinner plans? Nope! Time to get to the grocery store yet? Nope! Hungry after working a full-day? Yep! Wanting something healthy to eat after enjoying vacation food? Yep!

I mean, did you see the rhubarb pie!?

It took all the effort I had to shoot the video of opening the box as I just wanted to dig in and get to cooking a meal for dinner; but I wanted you to have the first-timer experience just like I was about to have. So, this. This is what it is like to open up your first meal delivery box. You’re welcome! 


Looks like fun, right?

If you want your own box of delicious food, you can Get Cooking Today With HelloFresh And Get 50% Off! This is a great deal and you won’t find this high of a discount without this affiliate link!

Opening the box, you will see recipe cards that give your eyes a little feast of deliciousness as there is a full page beautiful picture of the plated meal on one side and step-by-step (only 6 steps!) directions with pictures on the back. The cards also tell you what other supplies you will need to make the meal (pans, colander, olive oil, etc.), lists the ingredients in the box, and has a cooking tip. Oh, and they can send wines that pair with the meals. That’s on the to-check-out list! For those of you who do food math, there is also full nutriiton information for each meal.

The next layer contained the ingredient boxes, which were separated from the recipe cards by paper (shopping bag consistency) filled with padding. The three ingredient boxes were nestled together – thank goodness for the holes to help pull them out although I’m sure they were for freshness – and they were clearly labeled with the recipe names. These boxes are compact and I put them right into our counter-depth fridge where they took up surprisingly little room! (Note: It looks like these boxes have been replaced with paper bags – more recycle friendly!).

The last layer was the proteins (meats) which were separated from the ingredient boxes by cardboard and two huge ice packs. Seriously, these ice packs are amaze-balls! Hubs travels by car for work and usually takes a cooler to bring healthy travel/hotel room food and we are keeping these for his cooler! Bonus!!

As a dietitian, I had some concerns about meal delivery and food safety. The box arrived around 3pm but I waited until 6pm to bring it inside as many of you probably don’t work from home so won’t have the luxury of bringing the box indoors when it arrives. Did I mention I live in Florida? And we are already in the 90-degrees summer temps? So, the box had its fair share of HOT before I grabbed it and pulled it into my air-conditioned house. The food was still cold, the meats were still cold, and the ice-packs were still frozen solid with little condensation because very little melting. Food safety concerns gone.

Follow my blog because I made the first meal the same night I opened the box and will soon be posting a video and blog on the Zesty Crusted Catfish over Cilantro Jasmine Rice and Roasted Broccoli!! 

HelloFresh provided a Meal Delivery Box containing three meals to me free of charge. This is #sponsored and I was so impressed that I have joined their #affiliate program. As always, all opinions in my reviews are mine and I if love it or hate it, I’ll let you know.

Here’s that amazing 50% off deal link again – Get Cooking Today With HelloFresh And Get 50% Off!

HelloFresh Meal Delivery Box Arrives

Meal Delivery? You Betcha!

Dietitian, Food, health, health goals, Healthy Diet, HelloFresh, meal delivery, meal planning, , , , ,

As a practicing dietitian and health coach, I’ve talked to many people over the past six years about how to use food to improve health. People want to eat well and to eat healthy food – but they won’t give up flavor, enjoyment, convenience, or pay too much for that healthy food. I get it. Me too! As I’ve said before (What is This Non-Diet Stuff Anyway?) one of my few food rules is: Never eat something you don’t like! And my professional goal is “Heart Healthy Nutrition Made Easy” as it says in my web site header!

We all know that more meals should be made at home if we want to focus on our health and less meals should come from eating out whether it’s a sit-down, a fast-casual, or a fast-food restaurant. But… after my clients tell me they know this, they follow that up with how they don’t have the time… they don’t know what to make… or they don’t think they have the skills to cook if it involves more than heating something up.

Enter meal delivery services.

HelloFresh Meal Delivery Box Arrives
HelloFresh Meal Delivery Box Arrives

A few clients have told me about some meal services they have used and how it helps them with eating healthy a few times a week. I get so excited for them finding a solution that works in their lives… but I never thought about using a meal delivery service myself. I mean, after all, I’m the “food and nutrition expert,” which means I’m supposed to be able to do it all myself. Sure, in theory, absolutely. (See my ASPIRE strategy for meal planning). But I also work, have a husband I would like to spend more time with, have some hobbies I enjoy, and well, sometimes just don’t have the energy to meal plan, shop, prep, and cook! Sometimes, like you, I just want an evening (or three) to lounge on the couch after a long day, sitting with my hubs and my dogs, and enjoying a nice glass of cold white wine. Why, yes, prosecco would be great, thanks!

So, I went to the Today’s Dietitian Symposium in May and found myself live-tweeting from the education sessions with another dietitian who has the same last name! How cool is this?! I decided we must meet and we did get a chance to say hello and have a quick chat. Turns out the other Lewis RD works with HelloFresh and she gave me information which led to me getting a free HelloFresh delivery box. (Being an RD comes with all kinds of food perks!). I was excited to try it out and, as I’m learning about adding video to my blog, I thought this would be a great way to share my experience with everyone.

Setting up for video - it's a labor of love people!
Setting up for video – it’s a labor of love people!

I was so impressed with the delivery, the ease of making the meals, the convenience, and the level of deliciousness that I became an continue in this relationship. I’ll be posting those blogs/videos very soon and should be posting about one a month going forward. 

You don’t have the time? These recipes take about 30 minutes to make!

You don’t know what to make? Trust me you will be drooling when you look at some of their recipes!

You don’t think you have the skills to make a healthy meal? The step-by-step directions (with pictures yo!) take out all the guess work. In fact, these are a great tool to help you build your cooking skills and confidence that you – yes you – can get a beautiful, healthy, and delicious meal on the table!

Let me know if you have any questions or feel free to comment below!

HelloFresh provided a Meal Delivery Box containing three meals to me free of charge. As always, all opinions in my reviews are mine and I if love it or hate it, I’ll let you know.