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I thought my third week of Freshly was going to be just a normal week, but no. I didn't get free meals delivered, but my delivery was going to be delayed a day due to bad weather. I received an email from Freshly's customer support asking me to let them know when it was delivered and gave me $10 credit on my account.
My week 3 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 had $25 off my third week's order of 6 meals (plus free shipping), which makes the meals $5.83 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 third week, I'm going to drop the rating to 2 since the meals weren't very different from the previous week.
Rating: 2/5
Taste
Meal 1: Hot Chicken Bowl
The hot chicken bowl was pretty good. The quinoa mixed with the chicken and vegetables was a good combination. The chicken was tender and had a good flavor from the seasoning in the bowl. It wasn't too spicy, so if you don't like spicy food, this should still be ok for you. The quinoa helped make it a little more filling. This meal, like the others, is gluten free.
Meal 2: Homestyle Chicken with Butternut Mac & Cheese
I had this meal in week 1, and it was pretty much the same this week. The chicken was really tender and juicy. The breading was quite good with some nice seasoning. The butternut squash macaroni and cheese was pretty good paired with the chicken. I would just want more cheese, of course. The green beans were plain but still had some crunch to them. And again, this meal is also gluten free if that is a dietary restriction for you.
Meal 3: Buffalo Chicken
This meal was good. The buffalo chicken was good, but the real star was the loaded mashed cauliflower. The mashed cauliflower had a lot of turkey bacon crumbles and cheese on it: it was really good. The chicken was tender and the buffalo sauce was hot but not too hot. This meal is also gluten free.
Meal 4: Rustic Chicken with Pearl Onions and Mushrooms
The rustic chicken was pretty good. The pearl onions, carrots, and mushrooms with the gravy was a little mushy, but still tasted good with the chicken. The chicken was tender and juicy in this meal, too: they seem to use good quality ingredients in all of their meals. The potatoes were good and not too soft: they had a little bit of seasoning on them that wasn't overpowering.
Meal 5: Cauliflower-Shell Bolognese
I liked this meal so much in week 1 that I ordered it again this week. They don't skimp on the ground beef bolognese and it is a filling meal. It had a rich tomato flavor and Italian seasoning, so it was very flavorful. It even had a decent amount of cheese, which is saying a lot coming from me. You also can't even tell that the shells are made from cauliflower.
Meal 6: Chicken Teriyaki
The chicken teriyaki was alright. I wouldn't have minded a little bit more chicken, but it tasted ok even with brown rice. The teriyaki sauce was just ok, but it could have used a little more of it; I ended up adding a little but of soy sauce to my meal. I forgot to take a picture of the back of the package, so I'm not sure of the nutritional information.
Overall, this week was pretty good. Not really any of the meals were super memorable, though, so this will be an average rating.
Rating: 3/5
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: Hot Chicken Bowl
Meal 2: Homestyle Chicken with Butternut Mac & Cheese
Meal 3: Buffalo Chicken
Meal 4: Rustic Chicken with Pearl Onions and Mushrooms
Meal 5: Cauliflower-Shell Bolognese
Meal 6: Chicken Teriyaki
Rating: 5/5
Overall Rating
This was a good week for the Freshly meals. Nothing to memorable, but they were all really pretty good. The meals are pretty filling overall and good quality ingredients. As with the previous weeks, I'm not sure on cost of ingredients if you were to make the meals yourself, but it is hard to cook single serving meals. You'd probably get more out any ingredients you purchased, though.
Week 2 Overall Rating: 3.5/5
