If you are sick of food that you can cook with your eyes closed, or the cheap bottle of Barefoot Merlot (I love you barefoot) you drink every week, LOOK NO FURTHER.

In this segment of Twins Trying Things, we tackle: Hello Fresh‘s “#1 Meal Kit Delivery Service” and their new paired Monthly Wine Plan. And we give you our HONEST opinions on them.

LETS GET DOWN TO BUSINESS

The food Section:

Ordering your delicious food box. In 4 easy steps. Starting at $7.49 per serving.

OK, so initially it sounds easy, and fairly affordable. And it keeps popping up that if I checkout now, I can get 8 free meals. How hard, and expensive can it really be? We tried out Hello Fresh meals for one week. Heres what happened.

The buying process:

1. Choose Preferences
   1. Meat and Veggies
   2. Veggies
   3. Family Friendly
   4. Calorie Smart (650 cals.)
      1. # of people
      2. # of meals per week
2. Enter your shipping information
3. Enter your payment methods
4. Choose your meals. Select available dates when it should be shipped.

Our selected plan:

1. Meat and Veggies
2. 2 people
3. 3 recipes per week
4. Meals: Korean Beef Bibimbap,

Price with “8 free meals:” $36.00 with taxes

Price without “8 free meals:” $60.93 (53.94 for the meals, 6.99 for shipping)

Packaging and Shipping:

The good thing was, we were able to choose which day the food was shipped on. We worked around our busy work schedules and chose a day and an estimated time, and they showed up. The box is just like Hilary’s, and it came insulated with gel packs to keep the food fresh. THE ENTIRE PACKAGING IS ALSO RECYCLABLE! (besides the inside of the gel pack, but if you click, you can see the appropriate way to dispose of it.)

3 brown bags, with designated stickers-to-meal were inside of the box. As well as instructions on how to make each meal, and gel ice packs.

The meals:

Okay we finally get to the fun part. How do they taste? How long did they take? Is it worth the money?

We decided to make ease and only discuss and review ONE meal. (if you want to know how the others taste, feel free to reply)

KOREAN BEEF BIBIMBAP

Prep time: 10 mins

Total time: 30 mins

Calories: 840

The full detailed instructions show how to prep each food, what you need to get from you pantry, and a step by step picture and word instruction on how to cook each food.

AS WELL AS which wine (from the wine box) to pair with this meal.

Each food was separately packaged. Including the meat. We would suggest to make sure you eat these right away, or in a row due to the meat. But if you don’t, make sure you pop the meats in the freezer and store all the other ingredients appropriately.

OVERALL OPINION:

The taste: Good. Soy sauce was added to the meal for more flavor, but besides that, we give it an 8/10. They did give the CUTEST siracha packets too.

The Time: Estimated time on the paper: 30 mins. Our time: 45/50 mins. This was mainly from prepping everything, including all of the food that was not given, as well as appropriate cooking items (pans, utensils etc.)

The price: Okay, if you get the free meals. Without it, it rounds out to be a little more that $20 for the meal. If you have most of the ingredients at home, and only need to buy beef and veggies, it would cost half the price.

The worth: Again with the price, if it normally didn’t cost $60.00 each week, it would definitely be worth it. However if you can afford it, and are unable to go food shopping for the week, this is a good way to eat healthy* and it could be a fun bonding time with whoever you are eating the meal with.

The best part of these are the recipe sheets, because if you do like them, you have the paper you can always work with (and increase servings if need be.)

*calories claimed to be 840, but it was never explained if that entails the entire portion or each serving. The amount of food given was also very small, which is probably a way for you to buy more servings, because you wouldn’t be able to share this with a third person.

The Wine Section:

Just as easy as the food selection… “Tell us what you feel like drinking’ ‘Enjoy 6 bottles, delivered to your doorstep.”

The buying process:

1. Choose Your Preference
   1. Mixed Wine Plan
   2. Red Wine Plan
   3. White Wine Plan
2. Enter your shipping address
3. Enter your payment method
4. Look at selected items

Not too shabby, they do however advertise A LOT for their paired meal plans. Luckily we did that one first! And had ANOTHER coupon for half off the wine!

Our Selected Plan:

Mixed Wine Plan.

Price for Wine Box Originally: $89.00 + taxes (A MONTH)

Price for Wine Box with Coupon: $44.50 + taxes (FOR ONE MONTH, THEN $89.00 FOR THE NEXT)

Packaging and Shipping:

When ordered, we were expecting the box to ship as quickly as the meal plans. That was not the case. A confirmation email was sent, however an estimated arrival date was given, 10 days from the ordered date.

Already, that was sort of annoying. An order number was given, however you are unable to track the package until it has been accepted by a carrier. In this case, a day before estimated arrival date.

OK, so when the wine was finally able to be tracked, it was on its way, which was exciting.

NOTE: The box requires an ID and signature when delivered. Someone 21 years or older has to sign for it. So if you are under 21, plan wisely… or don’t drink at all.

ALSO, the box is HEAVY. 20 pounds heavy.

The Wine:

When delivered, there is not a select page for the MIXED selection. They are dispersed on both pages, like shown.

Once you look in the box, you are able to see which ones you have, and what you can pair it with.

Heres what we got:

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

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3 white

1. Futtitinni- 2017 Futtitinni Terre Siciliane/ IGT Zibibbo
2. Abalone- Abalone Brut Cava
3. Blumenwiese- 2017 Blumenwiese/ Rheinhessen Riesling

and 3 red.

1. Alegro- 2014 Alegro Crianza Rioja
2. Mulberry Road- 2017 Mulberry Road Cellars Lodi Old Vine Zifandel
3. Le Ruse Renard- 2017 Le Ruse Renard Loire Valley Cabernet Franc

Overall Opinion:

The Price and Worth:

This box is EXPENSIVE. But unlike the meals, these only come once a month. Being who we are, we tried to look up these wines to see actually how much they cost individually, but they are all mostly unavailable.

If again, you do have some extra money and can afford them, with the coupon, it came out to be around $7.00 per each bottle of wine.

Without the coupon, it came out to be $14.00 per bottle.

SO, if you do drink wine very frequently and want to explore new flavors and brands from around the world, this is a great way to do it.

The variety:

The company offers 8 different “Pair your Pour” options: Easy, Light, Earthy, Fruity, Bold, Rich, Bubbly, and Fresh.

We were given 4: Rich, Fruity, Earthy, and Easy.

Each type of wine pairs with a different type of meal: Fish, Curry, Cheeses, Pork, BBQ, and Lamb, and all of that information is given on the sheet provided.

We give Hello Fresh an applaud for that one.

OK TIME FOR THE FUN PART….

The Pairing:

From their suggestion, we paired the Korean Beef Bibimbap (EASY) with the Mulberry Road Lodi Old Vine Zinfandel (EASY)

The flavors of the wine include: Black fruit, Blackberry Jam, and Bramble.

It was very rich, and soothing, and easy to drink. At the same time, it was bold and full of spice.

This paired nicely with the Ginger and Garlic flavors of the dish. The powerful fruit flavor cooled off the spiciness given from the Sriracha.

Overall, another applaud to Hello Fresh!

It was an amazing and delicious experience and we can’t wait to pair another wine with another meal!!!

Are you Interested? CLICK HERE TO TRY IT OUT WITH A COUPON!

Check back for another review coming soon!

Happy eating and drinking!
“Wine and cheese are ageless companions, like aspirin and aches, or June and moon, or good people and noble ventures.” -M.F.K. Fisher

XOXO,

Crystal & Caitlyn!