There are a bazillion food preparation boxes on the market. I was a bit hesitant to order a Hello Fresh box as I was uncertain whether or not my gluten free family could eat anything in it. In addition to being gluten free, we are peanut free as well.
This particular food service company sends you the ingredients as well as recipes for 3 complete meals for 2 or 4 people depending on the box you choose. We can see the ingredients before we pick the meals for our box so we can see if we have replacement ingredients. Liquid aminos for soy sauce and so forth.
I hesitantly purchased the 2 person box at first so as to not have to throw out gobs of food if we indeed could not eat it. Boy was I pleasantly surprised at the outcome. Each recipe easily fed my family of 4 , including my dancer. If it looked like it wouldn’t be enough, like say hamburgers, it’s easy to increase the portions with ingredients on hand.
After selecting which Hello Fresh plan in addition to the number of meals you would like, you get to choose from 7 recipes. This was a game changer for us as one of the 3 original recipes was not a good match for our dietary needs. I was able to easily trade the pasta dish for a rice one as well as see the ingredients for the others. I did not change it unless we clearly could not make substitutions for our dietary restrictions. The website makes this so easy by listing under each recipe if it is gluten, nut or dairy free. I love that feature.
Madison made the recipes from start to finish. She has minimal cooking experience but we are working diligently on it. This should testify to how easy the recipes are to follow as well as the fact that all the ingredients were packaged for her. She didn’t need anything from the pantry to sub gluten free. Everything was in the bag to make the recipe. I was happy with that scenario. Beyond delicious! Oh and done in under 30 minutes.
The recipe steps were written clearly as well as pictured if you happen to be visual people like everyone in my family. A person will minimal culinary skills could have easily made it with no assistance. It would make a great activity to build positive episodic memories with independent life skills.
Now for the financial info. It’s pricey. We couldn’t do this on a weekly basis. $69 for a box with 3 meals is not going to cut it here in Autismland. Was it worth it? Absolutely! Just out of our price range is all. This would be a great option for a stay at home date night or for a fun family activity once a month but I can’t envision forking out that kind of money on a weekly basis. We have to afford autism after all. Not that I think the value isn’t there for the box. For our family this would be a luxury item.
All in all, it’s a great company with a great product! The concept is innovative and has value. It’s a great way to have a fun time with the kids as well as try some new recipes. It would be a much appreciated gift for a new mom or someone who is under quarantine but still needs to eat. Our family enjoyed it very much.
Want to save $40 off your first box? Click here for a referral link. You save and I get credit which makes Madison happy!
