Hello Fresh

I've tried Tesco's home delivery, Riverford Organics, Ocado and many more "solutions" to the problems of juggling children, a full time job and the ability to create a lovely homemade supper for all the family.  But even then most evenings I do find it hard to bring the contents of the fridge together - or I'll have run out of a particular ingredient, and I can guarantee that by the end of the week I'll have a rotting cucumber, fizzy pot of hummus and sprouting potatoes to recycle.

So when my Hello Fresh box arrived yesterday, I was really excited about what I'd been sent.  You see, you don't even have to think about what you're ordering.  You simply select the number of meals you want for the size of your family (with options for vegetarians and exclusions for nut and other allergy issues).  We've been sent three recipes with all the ingredients pre-measured in little packages: a teaspoon of powdered coconut, a small bag of basmati rice, 15 cashews.  You don't need scales, there's no wastage and the portions were spot on.

I'm also being taken on a journey of food discovery.  Although I can cook and love good food, we all get stuck with a few family favourites. And with a fussy easter it was great to break out of a narrow range of ingredients.  So not only am I going to be cooking a number of new foods, I'll be learning a few new techniques in the kitchen. Chutney mum here I come!  The ingredients too looked "fresh" and appeared locally sourced (where relevant), and very much underpin the commitment of Hello Fresh's core principles: fresh, local and good quality.

We did a quick (and unscientific) straw poll in the office, and felt that £39 per week all in (or £4.95 per person) was a not-too-expensive spend on fresh produce - especially if that includes good, organic meat or fish couriers to my door.  The equivalent ingredients at Tesco came to £3.71 per head, but that doesn't include any value on my time or transport costs. So although this is a luxury service, families will be on a budget per week, knowing that for at least three nights everyone will be properly fed with a home-cooked meal, and that there is no wastage or little extras creeping into the trolley.

Time is a pressing factor for all busy parents, so I really do value the fact that I haven't had to scour the supermarket aisle to find all the ingredients, and it states that each recipe only takes 30 minutes from start to finish.  It was spot on yesterday, and I even remembered to warm the plates.  One curious anomaly though.  The Chicken Teriyaki recipe card, with each step beautifully photographed, suggested I chop a clove of garlic in step 1, but then failed to tell me what else I should be doing with it.  I threw it in anyway.  The family taste verdict commented on needing a little more sauce, but it could have been my cooking too, and being distracted by a small child whilst the sauce was busily evaporating.

I was also interested to see that each recipe has been carefully balanced to provide between 500-750 calories.  So many recipes (and TV cookery programmes) don't think twice about adding copious amounts of butter, cream, salt etc.  So for families looking to eat a healthy balanced meal three times a week, this could be the thing to keep everyone on track.

Interestingly, in Sweden (the home of forward planning), 6% of households sign up to a similar local service, and I can see this being a logical catering solution for many families.  Ordering the 3 meal per week offer, still allows me room for the kids favourite (pasta and cheese) and a roast at the weekends, with leftovers taking up the slack as and when.

For more details about delivery areas and to order visit www.hellofresh.co.uk.