I challenged meal delivery service FreshlyFit to be my WFH chef for the week
Hey internet, are you hungry? Maybe you hopped on the sourdough train or flipped some tiny pancakes during the past year. Maybe you got fancy with new recipes or supported local restaurants with frequent takeout orders. However you’ve been feeding yourself during pandemic times, there’s a good chance you’re experiencing some level of cooking fatigue at this point.
In the Before Times, one of the main benefits of meal delivery services was not having to cook after commuting home from a long day at the office. Now that your commute might take you from your bedroom to your living room, the thought of a kitchen detour culminating in a halfhearted home cooked meal might have lost its appeal.
I have never cooked as much in my small, dishwasher-less New York City kitchen as I have since last March. I’ve also never scrubbed as many dishes. So, I happily agreed to spend a week trying FreshlyFit, a meal delivery service featuring a wide menu of healthy chef-prepared options that are ready to eat in just a few minutes. Notably, all of FreshlyFit’s meals are gluten-free.
If you want to give it a try, take $18.75 off each of your first four orders with code MASHABLE75AFF through March 1 — that's $75 off, total. Here’s how FreshlyFit brought some much welcomed variety to my week.
Convenience factor
My FreshlyFit order arrived at the perfect time: I’d just come back from a long walk, hungry for dinner and mentally rummaging through my barren fridge for inspiration. The box was heavier than expected, thanks to nifty insulated packaging and two giant ice packs that give you some leeway with immediate refrigeration.
If you have a microwave, you’re in luck: just pop the meal in for three minutes and serve. I don’t have a microwave (see tiny NYC kitchen), so I went the oven heating route, which took slightly longer but yielded good results. Simply heat at 325 degrees for 25 minutes and lunch or dinner is served — no prepping, cooking, or cleaning required.
Tastiness
The FreshlyFit menu was an obvious choice for me, as I work out nearly every day and tend to crave protein. The Southwest Powerbowl was a tasty little fiesta of seared chicken, roasted cauliflower, and black beans topped with a fiery ranchero sauce — basically a fajita in a bowl (I may have added cheese and tortilla chips to the equation). My other favorite was the Sausage and Peppers entree. It won on flavor, fillingness, and riced cauliflower that lent a nice texture and may have paired better than actual rice.
Lifestyle fit
Eliminating cooking and dish duty is one less thing to worry about during a WFH day with back-to-back video meetings. Freshly has lots of options, from lean protein packed meals to riffs on popular takeout dishes. Each meal is sized for one person to heat and eat (appealing if you’ve been cooking for one for the past several months). So what’s my verdict on FreshlyFit? It’s a great way to shake yourself out of cooking fatigue, try new flavor combos, and treat yourself to one less thing on your to-do list. Because there’s already enough to think about in 2021.
