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So....my second week of Freshly was interesting: I received two boxes instead of one. I'm confused, so I open both of them. One of them is my meals for this week and the other one is some of the same meals I had last week. Hm. weird. So then I look up at the name on the packing sheet, and this box is supposed to go to someone in Nebraska.😳
So I call Freshly to let them know about the mistake: I believe it was Tyrone that took my call. I explain the situation to him and he looks up the order and starts laughing and says through his laughter, "Well, 'X' had called to say she didn't want this week's order, so it shouldn't have been shipped in the first place! So, enjoy the extra meals! They freeze, so they're good for up to two weeks! We appreciate you called and letting us know about the mix up!" So I had 6 extra meals this week for free!
So Freshly's customer service gets 5/5 coffee cups!
My week 2 meals were the following:
Packaging
Thea meals are packed the same each week. The meals are packed in a cardboard box with recyclable cooling packs on top of and below the food in a bio-degradable denim "cooler." The cooling packs make the box kind of heavy, though, so just be warned.
Rating: 4.5/5
Cost
Without discounts and coupons, the following meal plans are available:
For the 4 meals, they are $12.99 each, the 6 and 9 meal plans are $9.99 each, and the 12 meals are the best value per meal at $8.99 each. I also had $15 off my second week's order of 6 meals (plus free shipping), which makes the meals $7.66 each.
An average of $9.99 for a single serving microwave dinner is kind of expensive considering that you can get some pretty good ones these days, like Amy's or Fit Kitchen, for about half the price. So for the regular pricing, this will be kind of a low rating.
Rating: 1/5
Meal Variety
There is a pretty good mix of meals available for selection with pork, chicken, or beef options I haven't seen very many vegetarian meals available, though. There are about 30 to 35 meals available each week as options. However, a lot of the meals seem to repeat each week, which seems to limit overall options. They will periodically introduce new meals, though.
For the second week, I'm going to drop the rating to 2.5 from 3.
Rating: 2.5/5
Taste
Meal 1: Beef & Veggie Meatballs
The beef and veggie meatballs are on a bed of mashed potatoes made from red-skinned potatoes. The meatballs taste pretty good. The mixed in vegetables are interesting but not distracting. The addition of potatoes was interesting but good. The potatoes were creamy and tasted good. I can't place the gravy, but it wasn't a typical brown gravy. The broccoli was kind of mushy and bland, unfortunately. It didn't seem as filling as some of the other meals I've had, or maybe I was just having a hungry day. This meal had 550 calories and is gluten free. Overall, this meal was pretty good, and I would order it again.
Meal 2: Mexican-Style Shredded Beef
I really liked this one despite it having a small amount of cilantro in it. The masa cakes were really good with a nice cornbread texture and flavor. I chopped them up and mixed them in with the shredded beef mixture. The spices with the shredded beef mixed with the corn, black beans, tomatoes, and green chilies gives a nice southwest flavor. The beef is tender and had a nice smokey flavor. This meal is pretty filling and makes for a good lunch. I would, of course, add more cheese, though. This meal has 460 calories and is also gluten free.
Meal 3: Creamy Cashew-Coconut Chicken
I didn't like this one. I can't place it, but I didn't like the taste of the cashew-coconut sauce. There is a little bit of cilantro in this meal apparently, but I don't know if that was it or a combination of the flavors. Judging from the other similar meals in this week's order, I think it's the coconut milk mixed with the cilantro, since I think I like Thai curry, which I believe uses coconut milk. So if you don't mind the coconut and cilantro, you'll probably like this one. I was still kind of hungry after eating this one, so it didn't feel as filling as the other meals. This one has 550 calories, and like all the other meals this week, is gluten free.
Meal 4: Creamy Cashew-Coconut Veggies
I didn't like this one either. It's very similar to meal 3, so I didn't like it. The vegetables mix and rice itself was good, but, again, it's the sauce. Same reasoning as with the cashew-coconut chicken meal. This meal also didn't seem as filling as some of the others either. This meal is 470 calories and gluten free.
Meal 5: Coconut Curry Chicken Bowl
Mistakes were made this week.
I didn't like it. See the previous two meals.
Meal 6: Sicilian-Style Chicken Parmesan
I ordered this one again to give it another shot. The chicken in this meal was better than last time and nice and tender. The cheese still slid off the chicken and kind of blended with the sauce, but eh, oh well. The broccoli was better in this one that in the other meal this week at least and wasn't as mushy, but it was still bland. I'm still not sure if this one is gluten free or not (it probably is), but it does only have 410 calories.
Bonus Meal: Sausage Baked Penne
Since I received the extra meals this week, this is the only one that I hadn't ordered myself before. Freshly definitely doesn't skimp on the meat in their meals. There was a good amount of sausage in the meal and an ok amount of cheese. The pasta was just right and sauce with the tomato and spinach pieces had a good flavor. I don't know what kind of sausage they use in their meals, but it's really good. I didn't record the calories for this one or if it was gluten free or not, but it's probably around 600 calories and is gluten free.
Because of the influx of the coconut-whatever meals this week, it wasn't a good week for me for the taste. Totally my own fault for overloading on those this week since I thought it sounded good, but it's going to negatively affect the rating on taste for the week.
Rating: 1.5/5
Ease of Prep
All of the meals are done in the microwave in just a few minutes and then need to sit for 2 minutes. Super quick and easy.
Meal 1: Beef & Veggie Meatballs
Meal 2: Mexican-Style Shredded Beef
Meal 3: Creamy Cashew-Coconut Chicken
Meal 4: Creamy Cashew-Coconut Veggies
Meal 5: Coconut Curry Chicken Bowl
Meal 6: Sicilian-Style Chicken Parmesan
Bonus Meal: Sausage Baked Penne
Rating: 5/5
Overall Rating
I didn't enjoy most of the meals this week unfortunately. The quick prep and packaging helped save the rating the week. The meals that I did like were really good, though. They use good quality ingredients and don't skimp. I'm again not sure how much it would cost to make the meals yourself, but some of them could be more expensive ingredients wise, and then you have to prep and cook. Pasta and rice are pretty cheap, though, so you can probably make most of the meals and get more servings if you bought ingredients yourself.
Week 2 Overall Rating: 2.5/5