Thanks for making this video. I live in a household where everyone is disabled and deals with chronic symptoms so we also tried hellofresh for a while because food is always a huge struggle. It did make some things easier but all in all the money we were spending was not worth the quality, quantity and type of food we were getting. We shared your thoughts about the amount of effort it takes. In my household there is only one person who has the physical ability to cook an entire meal and it was really not manageable for her even with help. Even while taking into account that everything takes longer for people with disabilities/chronic illness, it still took at least twice the predicted time to prepare, if not more. And it is much less of a problem if you're only ordering for yourself, but another huge drawback was that hellofresh did not have enough meals that could be adapted to different dietary restrictions within the same household. Because I have a lot of foods I can't eat, I didn't get to try over half of the hellofresh meals, and we would just end up cooking two things at once or ordering takeout on the same night we were using hellofresh. Regardless, there are other meal services out there and for me almost any would still be better than hellofresh because of hellofresh's anti-union stances and treatment of their employees. Hellofresh workers have been overworked and subjected to unsafe work environments where high injury and disease rates occur, on top of low wages. As disabled and chronically ill people it is our utmost responsibility to support safe and unionized work environments as we have first hand experience with how unethical workplaces will give people disabilities and actively worsen the disabilities people already have. I implore anyone to research into these issues to form their own opinion as well, don't just take my word for it. Companies love to cover this stuff up so it's common for people not to have heard about it. Side note: I really appreciate the way Elinor talks about both physical and mental health in these videos. A lot of disability/chronic illness videos don't involve the mental struggles that too often come along or happen comorbidly with physical illness.
Hi, I tried Hello Fresh. For me, it did not work because after the reduced price for one week, I ended up paying more than I would normally pay for food for me for a week because its based on two people, and I live on my own. I have arthritic hands and I had to buy the lazy garlic as they sent normal garlic that needed to be prepped which I could not do. I also cannot stand and chop vegetables like potatoes for very long as my back aches due to arthritis. So I gave up Hello Fresh as well.
I had a special offer from a friend, there are two of us in our household and I think I may have tried it for two weeks, I can't remember now. For me there was too much preparation, for instance the green beans I had for one meal needed to be chopped, and I can't do a lot of chopping so I found them quite difficult. There was too much rubbish. not all recyclable, and then of course there was the cost. When it's my turn to cook I either do really simple things or have ready meals so hello fresh would be healthier. I only cook 3 times a week anyway and my husband cooks from fresh. He helps me a lot to and even does the cooking on 'my' days as long as I tell him what we're having and what he needs to do - sometimes it's just getting something out of the freezer and putting it in the microwave!
Yeah, if I have to cook for a long time and TO WASH EVERYTHING (I don't have a dishwasher at home because the kitchen is too small, it is maybe the worst part. Luckily at my partners' there is) it doesn't solve almost anything
Hi, Elinor! Have you checked your B12, iron and vitamin D? I suffer from pernicious anemia, an autoimmune disease that distroys my b12 so I can't absorb it, also it affect other things, like iron. The symptoms can mimic CFS and other neuro conditions, also it gives anxiety and depression. Some people just have chronic b12 deficiency without autoimmune, but symptoms are the same. Maybe you want to look into that, just a thought. Many people are not diagnosed because docs don't look into this
Life debilitating mental health sufferer here, I have a decent appetite...when I eat, which may be nothing at all for a day or two due to just not wanting to cook or feel like the effort required. Firstly meal prep is king, I've got an arsenal of recipes that are easy to make that when I do have a burst of energy I will make the effort to make a large batch of food and freeze, it does take a while and afterward I'm mentally drained but that's 8-16 portions ready for me whenever. Second thing is cooking is a heavily practice based activity, I love food so by necessity cooking is kind of a half way between a chore and a hobby for me, I've gotten much better as over the years which reduces the time and effort. Lastly, recipes are good but the order in which you do things is not written well for people who struggle with cooking for whatever reason. For example, I have prepped every possible step that doesnt require using the hob from the comfort of my sofa or bed previously. You have ALL the time in the world before you put the ingredients in the pan etc. for myself when the food is cooking that's when I'm being rushed and panic 👍 hope that helps.
Recently I saw a video about a similar service called Humamy, but with microwaveble frozen vegan meals, also claimed as healthy. I checked the price and it was 7,50€ per unit with the discount and 10€ per unit without the discount. At least you just have to put them in the microwave, some dishes looked very yummy even though I food selectivity due to autism. For the same reason I'm not vegan or vegetarian but I think it's a good choice and having an easy way to eat vegan should be very good. BUT. The price is just too expensive. I can't spend this much money on a single meal, if I have too I'm going to order something at home and I can even spend less or get bigger portions to eat. I don't have a job because with my disabilities it wouldn't be sustainable (CFS, autism, ADHD), but my disabilities make difficult preparing meals, beside I have IBS and the struggle with food is even greater, my relationship with food really plummeted. Very long comment just to say I feel you. And I feel it's unfair for disabled people to have to pay so much just to survive even though when you're disabled you're more likely to have small money/be poor/need economic support from families/partners/whatever
(adding details: where I live with 10€ you can get a poke bowl with fresh raw fish. Of course other restaurants are more expensive, but you can have good stuff for less than 10€k
@@aimarshmallow6441My go to meal is lazy stir fry, noodles vary in price but bulk buying makes them incredibly cheap, I usually just go for pre cut mixed veg which is more expensive but saves so much effort. A sauce, and a portion of chicken is typically £2.49 but I can go for mushrooms as a substitute which is far cheaper. The entire meal maybe comes to £4 and it gives me 3-4 servings.
I've used hello fresh on and off (mainly coz they keep ringing me to give me a new promo code). It was good initially when I wanted to get back into cooking, I realised the quicker recipes or the ones that required the least amount of hands on prep were best. But I don't always have the energy to cook, and I don't want it to all go bad in the fridge if I realise that week I'm in a bad way. I feel I'm better off going through the meal subscriptions that are premade and ready to reheat
Not sure if this would help you but sainsburys have a meal planner type section on their website now, where you can pick recipes and add all the stuff into your order, with any changes you want to make to the ingredients. It does require more thinking than the hello fresh thing to pick the meals but a lot of the recipes i've seen on there are tray bake type things where its like 10 or 15 minutes of prep stuff and then you just whack it in the oven until its done. Again idk if this would work for you with your issues in deciding but just wanted to let people know it was a thing in case it could help anyone :)
And i imagine a lot of the recipes could be made easier by swapping out some of the stuff for precooked or preprepared things like i do for a couple of them
صديقتي اعملي رنين مغنا طيسي ثلا ثي البعاد تكون ملونه للورده واشرايين داخل الدماغ تكون الورده ضعيفه جدن لا يقدر يضخ الدم بشكل صحيح مما يسبب كل هاذهي المشكلات
It sounds good for cutting down on food waste, but if there is too much standing up involved in the preparation then it’s still using a lot of energy 😢🥱
Thanks for making this video. I live in a household where everyone is disabled and deals with chronic symptoms so we also tried hellofresh for a while because food is always a huge struggle. It did make some things easier but all in all the money we were spending was not worth the quality, quantity and type of food we were getting. We shared your thoughts about the amount of effort it takes. In my household there is only one person who has the physical ability to cook an entire meal and it was really not manageable for her even with help. Even while taking into account that everything takes longer for people with disabilities/chronic illness, it still took at least twice the predicted time to prepare, if not more. And it is much less of a problem if you're only ordering for yourself, but another huge drawback was that hellofresh did not have enough meals that could be adapted to different dietary restrictions within the same household. Because I have a lot of foods I can't eat, I didn't get to try over half of the hellofresh meals, and we would just end up cooking two things at once or ordering takeout on the same night we were using hellofresh. Regardless, there are other meal services out there and for me almost any would still be better than hellofresh because of hellofresh's anti-union stances and treatment of their employees. Hellofresh workers have been overworked and subjected to unsafe work environments where high injury and disease rates occur, on top of low wages. As disabled and chronically ill people it is our utmost responsibility to support safe and unionized work environments as we have first hand experience with how unethical workplaces will give people disabilities and actively worsen the disabilities people already have. I implore anyone to research into these issues to form their own opinion as well, don't just take my word for it. Companies love to cover this stuff up so it's common for people not to have heard about it.
Side note: I really appreciate the way Elinor talks about both physical and mental health in these videos. A lot of disability/chronic illness videos don't involve the mental struggles that too often come along or happen comorbidly with physical illness.
So the service isn't cheap and the money doesn't even go to the workers, as usual 🤦🏻🤦🏻🤦🏻 I hate this
Hi, I tried Hello Fresh. For me, it did not work because after the reduced price for one week, I ended up paying more than I would normally pay for food for me for a week because its based on two people, and I live on my own. I have arthritic hands and I had to buy the lazy garlic as they sent normal garlic that needed to be prepped which I could not do. I also cannot stand and chop vegetables like potatoes for very long as my back aches due to arthritis. So I gave up Hello Fresh as well.
Came for the advice stayed for the asmr 😂 I wish the subscription was more affordable and gluten free
I tried it but was disappointed in learning how much it was without the coupons and discounts. Also the meals are nothing like the advertised pics.
I had a special offer from a friend, there are two of us in our household and I think I may have tried it for two weeks, I can't remember now. For me there was too much preparation, for instance the green beans I had for one meal needed to be chopped, and I can't do a lot of chopping so I found them quite difficult. There was too much rubbish. not all recyclable, and then of course there was the cost. When it's my turn to cook I either do really simple things or have ready meals so hello fresh would be healthier. I only cook 3 times a week anyway and my husband cooks from fresh. He helps me a lot to and even does the cooking on 'my' days as long as I tell him what we're having and what he needs to do - sometimes it's just getting something out of the freezer and putting it in the microwave!
Great review. This just proves to me that Hello Fresh isn't suitable for me either with M.E.
Yeah, if I have to cook for a long time and TO WASH EVERYTHING (I don't have a dishwasher at home because the kitchen is too small, it is maybe the worst part. Luckily at my partners' there is) it doesn't solve almost anything
Hi, Elinor! Have you checked your B12, iron and vitamin D? I suffer from pernicious anemia, an autoimmune disease that distroys my b12 so I can't absorb it, also it affect other things, like iron. The symptoms can mimic CFS and other neuro conditions, also it gives anxiety and depression. Some people just have chronic b12 deficiency without autoimmune, but symptoms are the same. Maybe you want to look into that, just a thought. Many people are not diagnosed because docs don't look into this
Life debilitating mental health sufferer here, I have a decent appetite...when I eat, which may be nothing at all for a day or two due to just not wanting to cook or feel like the effort required.
Firstly meal prep is king, I've got an arsenal of recipes that are easy to make that when I do have a burst of energy I will make the effort to make a large batch of food and freeze, it does take a while and afterward I'm mentally drained but that's 8-16 portions ready for me whenever.
Second thing is cooking is a heavily practice based activity, I love food so by necessity cooking is kind of a half way between a chore and a hobby for me, I've gotten much better as over the years which reduces the time and effort.
Lastly, recipes are good but the order in which you do things is not written well for people who struggle with cooking for whatever reason. For example, I have prepped every possible step that doesnt require using the hob from the comfort of my sofa or bed previously. You have ALL the time in the world before you put the ingredients in the pan etc. for myself when the food is cooking that's when I'm being rushed and panic 👍 hope that helps.
Recently I saw a video about a similar service called Humamy, but with microwaveble frozen vegan meals, also claimed as healthy. I checked the price and it was 7,50€ per unit with the discount and 10€ per unit without the discount. At least you just have to put them in the microwave, some dishes looked very yummy even though I food selectivity due to autism. For the same reason I'm not vegan or vegetarian but I think it's a good choice and having an easy way to eat vegan should be very good. BUT. The price is just too expensive. I can't spend this much money on a single meal, if I have too I'm going to order something at home and I can even spend less or get bigger portions to eat. I don't have a job because with my disabilities it wouldn't be sustainable (CFS, autism, ADHD), but my disabilities make difficult preparing meals, beside I have IBS and the struggle with food is even greater, my relationship with food really plummeted.
Very long comment just to say I feel you. And I feel it's unfair for disabled people to have to pay so much just to survive even though when you're disabled you're more likely to have small money/be poor/need economic support from families/partners/whatever
(adding details: where I live with 10€ you can get a poke bowl with fresh raw fish. Of course other restaurants are more expensive, but you can have good stuff for less than 10€k
@@aimarshmallow6441My go to meal is lazy stir fry, noodles vary in price but bulk buying makes them incredibly cheap, I usually just go for pre cut mixed veg which is more expensive but saves so much effort. A sauce, and a portion of chicken is typically £2.49 but I can go for mushrooms as a substitute which is far cheaper. The entire meal maybe comes to £4 and it gives me 3-4 servings.
I've used hello fresh on and off (mainly coz they keep ringing me to give me a new promo code). It was good initially when I wanted to get back into cooking, I realised the quicker recipes or the ones that required the least amount of hands on prep were best. But I don't always have the energy to cook, and I don't want it to all go bad in the fridge if I realise that week I'm in a bad way. I feel I'm better off going through the meal subscriptions that are premade and ready to reheat
Not sure if this would help you but sainsburys have a meal planner type section on their website now, where you can pick recipes and add all the stuff into your order, with any changes you want to make to the ingredients. It does require more thinking than the hello fresh thing to pick the meals but a lot of the recipes i've seen on there are tray bake type things where its like 10 or 15 minutes of prep stuff and then you just whack it in the oven until its done.
Again idk if this would work for you with your issues in deciding but just wanted to let people know it was a thing in case it could help anyone
:)
Its wayyy cheaper than hello fresh too cos it's just a food shop but slightly more structured
And i imagine a lot of the recipes could be made easier by swapping out some of the stuff for precooked or preprepared things like i do for a couple of them
صديقتي اعملي رنين مغنا طيسي ثلا ثي البعاد تكون ملونه للورده واشرايين داخل الدماغ تكون الورده ضعيفه جدن لا يقدر يضخ الدم بشكل صحيح مما يسبب كل هاذهي المشكلات
Cfs is a hypersensitive nervous system, you can beat it
It sounds good for cutting down on food waste, but if there is too much standing up involved in the preparation then it’s still using a lot of energy 😢🥱