The Conversation (0)
Food & Drink
Freshly
I’m not fond of pre-packaged food. Many factors are involved:The singed plastic taste of the rubbery mashed potatoes and wrinkled peas I begrudgingly ate in Kid Cuisines took years to scrape off my tongue. One of those popular weight-loss systems made its way briefly into my kitchen before I realized everything tasted like the same three ingredients, and those ingredients became more nauseating with every passing bite. My local grocer sells hot food bar leftovers, and I’ve inexplicably bitten into raisin-filled seafood dishes more often than what should be legal. But when Freshly offered to send over a week’s worth of meals to try, I agreed because their promise of “Chef cooked, healthy meals” sounded like a massive improvement on my previous experiences.
The meals arrived stuffed in copious ice packs just as I was heading off for a weekend excursion, so I stuck them in the freezer to test out upon returning. A wide variety of flavors and cuisines filled the box, with everything from homestyle Golden Oven-Fried Chicken & Mash to Tikka Masala awaiting me. After telling my contact at Freshly that I had to wait to test these out, she let me know to just double the microwave cooking time to six minutes and enjoy as usual–a huge bonus since I feared I didn’t want to waste a week’s worth of food.
Once settled back in at home, I started testing out the dishes starting with Chicken Livorno with white beans and kale. I anticipated it might have degraded a bit while frozen given the nature of the ingredients, but I was delighted to discover it cooked beautifully and stood out from other prepared meals I’d tried before by being generously sized, full of flavor, and more colorful than I’d expected.
Throughout this ordeal, I found and signed a lease on a new apartment so my husband and I went into frenzied packing mode and decided to stop stocking our fridge during the process. Amid tossing things in boxes, he snuck a couple of the meals for himself (with permission) with the stipulation that I got to taste each.
Of the meals he chose that I sampled, the Almond Chicken Ginger Bowl was easily my favorite. It was strangely reminiscent of childhood for me and the special occasions when we’d go to the nearest city for dinner and I inevitably chose a sweet n’ spicy stir fry so as to appear more grown up. The tanginess of the sauce and nicely steamed vegetables made the meal feel special, more like a treat than just another lunch at home, but the nutrition facts listed assure the food within is as wise a choice as it is tasty.
The oven-fried chicken and mash was a close second, taste-wise. It included a variety of veggies I wasn’t anticipating, and the flavor profile played out like an elevated comfort meal complete with a large portion size that still clocked in at under 500 calories and kept me full longer than I expected. If you’ve ever tasted and loved one of KFC’s Famous Bowls but felt guilty indulging, this is a perfect stand-in.
I decided not to look up prices until I’d eaten my way through the Freshly box so as to stay focused on the food. This type of quality and delivery would have easily cost $200 at the store plus hours in the kitchen, but Freshly has multiple plans including one that gets you 12 meals for just $8.49 a pop. I can barely imagine cooking this type of cuisine for that price, but when you factor in the convenience and time saved, it’s even more of a steal.
Other plans let you purchase just four meals per week at around $12 a piece, which tallies up to about half what you might spend getting takeout twice a week and you’re not stuck waiting if the restaurant loses your order or gets backed up on a busy night. It’s also nice for me to know exactly what I’m putting into my body rather than relying on an overworked stranger to potentially include something that goes against my dietary preferences.
Overall, I would recommend giving Freshly a shot if you’re busy, lazy, watching your diet, or just interested in trying new flavors and combinations. There are dishes I wouldn’t have ordered myself, but each one surprised me in a fun, new way. A weekly menu lets you choose from what the chefs are cooking up, and you can always change your plan to accommodate your shifting needs.
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