Mindful chef recipe boxes: review

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Eating healthily always seems like such a good idea. Cooking from scratch and using fresh ingredients. Eating more vegetables and avoiding processed food. But then, you realise there are a few things you need from the shop and you’re short of time. So, it’s much easier to grab something quick. Pizza, pasta. Oodles of carbs. And the cycle of eating mindlessly continues. In 2015, Mindful Chef set out to change all this. They deliver all the ingredients you need to follow the recipes you choose. All healthy, fresh and high quality food.

About Mindful Chef

Mindful chef describe themselves as a “health-focussed food box company.” They source ingredients from small farms in the UK. Grass fed meat, free range chicken, fish caught in UK waters and naturally cultivated vegetables. They try to help customers cut their intake of refined carbs and sugar, so recipes are based on fresh vegetables instead of processed carbs. For every meal sold by Mindful Chef, they donate a school meal to a child living in poverty.

Mindful chef minimise the packaging they use and encourage customers to return ice packs and insulation for recycling. By sending exactly the right amount of ingredients, they also help to reduce food waste.

Ordering from Mindful Chef

Ordering from Mindful Chef is incredibly simple with no contracts or obligations. Every week, customers can choose between 16 recipes. Six of those will be vegan and they’re all free from both gluten and dairy. All recipes are approved by nutritionists and can be purchased for one person, or for the whole family.

When you order, you pick the day you want the box to be delivered. If you’re not in, you can choose for them to leave the box somewhere. Mine have always just been left under the shelter at the front of our house. It’s so convenient not having to be at home to receive them.

Our month of recipe boxes

We’ve been trying out mindful chef recipe boxes throughout January. Every Monday, our box has arrived containing two vegan meals. Each one is an interesting, tasty meal based on fresh ingredients, all of which are provided. Everything needed for the recipes is contained within the box except for salt and pepper, oil and cooking utensils. All the recipes mention using ‘sea salt’. We don’t have that, so I just used a bit of table salt instead.

We’ve been having the family boxes so the children have been eating the meals as well. I’ve been surprised at how much they have enjoyed it, their vegetable consumption has definitely increased this month. There was only one meal that Lia didn’t like and that was my fault. It was spicy lettuce boats and I didn’t read the instructions properly when it said to add the chipotle paste ‘to taste’. I missed that bit and lobbed it all in. The rest of the family enjoyed it but that level of spice definitely wasn’t to Lia’s taste.

On a couple of occasions, one of the ingredients was missing from our box. Both times, it was something quite minor that I managed without. I’m sure they would have been happy to send a replacement if I’d looked through the ingredients in advance and let them know. Aside from that though, they have been brilliant. They even put a couple of extra things in the box, a natural energy drink and some dark chocolate treats which were nice to try.

The start of a healthier lifestyle

Like most people, I’ve tried to eat a bit healthier during January. Our Mindful Chef boxes have definitely made that easier. Not least because I haven’t had to think about what to buy or what to cook. Avoiding processed carbs with our evening meal has made me less inclined to reach for carbs and sugar to keep me going during the day. Our bathroom scales are somewhat dodgy, but they definitely think I’ve lost over half a stone this month.

Whilst I haven’t been actively trying to lose weight, Mindful Chef has been just one of the lifestyle changes I’ve made this month. I’ve also been running every day, sometimes twice a day. I made it a habit by replacing my daily dog walk with a run. The dog seems to be enjoying the extra exercise too. Additionally, my husband and I have been doing dry January. All these things combined have made me feel a lot healthier this month and I’m hoping that they’re sustainable lifestyle changes rather than short-lived fads.

How to order Mindful Chef meals

If you’re interested in trying out Mindful Chef, head to their website for more information and to choose your meals. For a discount, enter PLUTONIUM25 at the checkout to get 25% off your first four boxes. You can set up a weekly delivery containing between two and five meals. There’s no contract or commitment, so if you try it and it’s not for you, it’s easy to cancel straight away. They also offer a money back guarantee if you’re not keen.

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