Freshly is a gourmet prepared food subscription service that is designed to help people eat more healthfully, and can be used as a weight loss solution.
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My Subscription Addiction paid for this box.(Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes).
Subscription: Freshly
Cost: Varies. Starts at $69 and goes up to $229.00
ACTIVE DEAL: Use code LAUNCH15 to get $60 off your first four meals
CODE: LAUNCH15
Shipping is free and you can skip a shipment whenever you want. You can also schedule to skip shipments, which is really nice!
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I ordered 1 breakfast item, 1 lunch item, and 4 dinner items. Back in November, when I started reviewing Freshly, I chatted with a customer service agent because I couldn't find many vegetarian options. The agent informed me that their diet was based on the Paleo way of eating and so most of their options include meat for high protein. This is fine - if it's well publicized, but their site didn't have a lot of information on that. Last month, I did find a short article here. Several people mentioned that a few of the ingredients in the meals I ordered didn't seem to be Paleo. I am not an expert, so I will leave that to you to decide!
The shipping is fast and all of my meals came still frozen. Their packaging is eco friendly, and they give instructions on how to dispose of all of the packaging ecologically on their website. The meals have still been completely frozen in every box I've received, so their packaging is quite efficient!
Last month, a few people mentioned that it would be helpful to see the food after it was cooked, so I'm trying that this month. I will confess that two of my meals didn't get photographed, so I promise to do better next month!
Freshly's menu varies a bit every few weeks, so I can't find this one on their menu currently to link to it. I ordered this for my first box, back in November, and was not impressed at all. I decided to give it another try, on the chance that I received one that wasn't up to standard. I am glad I did! This one was such an improvement over the first one I received. It was much more flavorful! The eggs still have that slightly rubbery texture, but I expected that since they're cooked and then frozen.
Coconut Lime Salmon with Kale and Bok Choy
I didn't get a picture of this one. Since I'm a vegetarian, my husband eats the meat portion of these meals. This one was not his favorite, but he isn't a huge lover of fish. I will say - my house smelled like fish after warming this one up - maybe don't microwave it in the break room at work (I always resented the tuna fish eaters). I tried the kale and bok choy, and the sauce on the salmon, which were all very good. The kale and bok choy were full of flavor and the texture was great, which I think can be hard to accomplish in a frozen meal!
Chicken Rustica with Roasted Cauliflower
My husband enjoyed the chicken in this one, and tolerated the cauliflower (he doesn't like things that are good for him). The sauce was very rich, and one thing to say about Freshly's meals - the portion sizes are huge. They do not skimp on the meat in their meals (which makes perfect sense, since they're focusing on protein).
Toasted Almond Chicken and Risotto with Broccolini
This one was awesome. I could have eaten an entire bowl of the mushrooms they included. The risotto was good - for healthy risotto - they make it with brown rice (I usually make mine with arborio rice), so the texture was slightly different than I'm used to. Either way, this meal will be reordered when they have it again!
Chicken Livorno with White Beans and Kale
This is the second meal I didn't get a picture of. I plated it up nicely and everything...and completely forgot to take the picture. This was a lunch sized portion of herbed chicken breast with a side of white beans and kale. The portion was very slightly smaller than the dinner - I wouldn't have known the difference! The white beans and kale were outstanding - I am not a kale fan, and I liked it in two meals from Freshly this month!
Seared Pork Chop with Mustard Sauce
The sauce on this was great! According to the husband, the meat was tender, and nicely flavored. The vegetables were, of course, not his favorite part of this. I tried the vegetables, and wasn't super impressed. I think there are other ways to flavor root vegetables that stand out against the flavor more!
Verdict: As far as value goes, this is one subscription that you have to decide if it's worth it or not to you. The price per meal works out to $11.50 which is pretty steep for frozen meals, but about what you would spend if you ate at Panera, or something similar, for lunch or dinner. The breakfast meals are probably least worth the money, in my opinion - $11.50 for oatmeal is a bit much. The lunch and dinner choices have higher cost ingredients that give you better bang for your buck. I could see this service being a lifesaver if you are busy, but yet don't want to eat terribly.
I will say that their website is a bit wonky (very technical word, I know!) right now, but they do enable you to set a calendar and skip deliveries. I contacted a Freshly representative earlier in the month, because my account said that I was going to be charged for a delivery that I had indicated on my calendar I wanted to skip. They let me know that their website doesn't currently have the ability to reflect skipped months in the payment area, but they are in the process of updating it. I have not been charged for weeks that I have skipped, so I think what they're doing is working for now!
What do you think of Freshly? Have you ordered to try them out yet?
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