Cycling Related

Dunckle made delicious cauliflower cheese with added mushroom and smoked bacon.

I've just come in from a ride. I am off to a neighbours in 1/2 hour, and they will ply me with food and drink. As I am watching my diet (and want to indulge without guilt this evening), I can't eat anything now, although I am ravenous.

This thread is not helping!

A friend has gifted me a box of HelloFresh.

What should I try first?

I would go with the leek and potato gratin, it's cold out and that is a plate of comfort.

I decided that was as good a criterion as anything. It was a tasty treat. However, the recipe had 22 grams for saturated fat per serving - more than the NHS recommends for women per day - so I halved the amount of cheeses, bringing it down to around 15. It still tasted very cheesy, so I am not sure what I have lost.

What I have gained in 20 grams of "Italian hard cheese" and 62 grams of goat's cheese in my freezer.

I also preceded my meal with a bowl of veggie soup, as the 1.5 serves of veggies didn't bring me close to my 5 a day.

TL;DR: HelloFresh is probably not for me.

With regard to the recommended daily intake of saturated fat, may I refer you to Lullabelle's photo of my cauliflower cheese and label it as 'Exhibit A'.

Dunckel wrote: ↑

4 years ago

With regard to the recommended daily intake of saturated fat, may I refer you to Lullabelle's photo of my cauliflower cheese and label it as 'Exhibit A'.

Can I repeat, ?

The HelloFresh dish for 2 contains 165g of cheese, + 100ml of creme fraiche, which is equivalent to another 100g of cheese. That's 1/4kg or well over half a pound of cheese. It's very likely that the cauliflower cheese - which is obviously a cheesy indulgence - had less cheese in it. At worse case it probably has about the same amount of saturated fat per serving, and a lot more servings of 5-a-day because cauliflower counts as a veg, and the gratin was mostly potato which doesn't.

Everyone should enjoy indulgences now and then. But HelloFresh is designed for daily eating, for taking the thinking out - creating tasty and appealing meals that are easily prepared. Their market are people who are time poor but want to eat well. To meet the NHS guidelines, during the rest of the day you had this meal, you have to eat at least 280g of fruit/veg, at least another 25g of protein and no saturated fat. While that is possibly doable, is the sort of person that orders this really going to find time to sit down to a grilled chicken salad for lunch and with a calculator to realise they need to?

This has worked out brilliantly for my friend who is working from home, and has health issues that means that she runs out of energy after about 8 hours. Time spent at the supermarket is time she can't spend earning money or doing something she enjoys. She had a problem over summer that she was eating off the allotment, and practically having no protein to the point her health suffered further. This has helped her eat better and having to prepare it is also good for her, as it gets her away from her desk. But now I think about it, she's relying on it to give her a balanced diet. I don't think it's actually doing that. However the diet is much better than it was before, and I know she is well aware of 5-a-day, so I won't say anything negative about it to her.

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I expect this was one of the least balanced meals on the plan, so it's probably an unfair indictment. Beyond that, I was impressed with the package. It seems to be high quality fresh ingredients, the instructions are clear and simple, the food is appealing. It's not even that expensive, at 5 meals for 2 for £42 (ie £4.20 a serving). It all arrives in a box, with cupboard ingredients in sealed paper bags with the recipe numbers on them, refrigerator items packed in a separate insulated bag with ice blocks. You can follow the recipes on the cards or on an app. It's real cooking, so you learn techniques and ideas that you can use without the deliveries.

All packaging is single use, including the insulated bag, so there is a fair amount of waste plastic.

My friend has been using them for months, so she was able to give me a free box. I apparently have £20 vouchers, which mean you could order 2 servings x 3 meals for £9.99 delivered. If anyone wants to, after this negative review HS-ZVOQHW5OJ

(that will give me a £20 discount too. I probably won't order from them again, unless I can get 6 meals for £9.99!)

I think we have to take into account that dietary advice is changing - particularly in relation to fat.

I'm doing the 'Our Path' diet. It's essentially a low bard, high(er) fat diet that's approved by the NHS. Cheese and other dairy plays a big part in the diet, along with other healthy fats/oils.

The meal does not fall into any diet I know of. It's cheesy potatoes. Not low carb, not paleo, not keto, not Mediterranean. Is there a high starch, high cheese, low micronutrients diet?

(I can't find any description of the ourpath diet)

Joan wrote: ↑

4 years ago

The meal does not fall into any diet I know of. It's cheesy potatoes. Not low carb, not paleo, not keto, not Mediterranean. Is there a high starch, high cheese, low micronutrients diet?

(I can't find any description of the ourpath diet)

There’s a link to the Our Path Diet in my post. http://www.ourpath.co.uk

Regulator wrote: ↑

4 years ago

There’s a link to the Our Path Diet in my post. http://www.ourpath.co.uk

Yes, but I can't find any description of the actual diet on that page, or by googling.

Joan wrote: ↑

4 years ago

Yes, but I can't find any description of the actual diet on that page, or by googling.

Try the FAQs. https://www.ourpath.co.uk/faqs

I am not being obtuse, but none of those questions seem to be be "what is the diet?" or "what can I eat on ourpath?" I clicked a couple of questions, and they didn't answer that.

The NHS link to it is no more help. https://www.nhs.uk/apps-library/ourpath/

Joan wrote: ↑

4 years ago

I am not being obtuse, but none of those questions seem to be be "what is the diet?" or "what can I eat on ourpath?" I clicked a couple of questions, and they didn't answer that.

The NHS link to it is no more help. https://www.nhs.uk/apps-library/ourpath/

What's your nutritional advice?

The nutrition advice has been developed by a team of UK-based registered dietitians. We provide broad guidelines rather than set meal plans, which you can then adapt to your preferences and way of life. Our focus is on cutting down on processed foods and added sugars, and building your meals around proteins, healthy fats and vegetables rather than refined carbohydrates. There is no cutting calories or food groups involved.


There's also a whole section of the FAQs devoted to the programme. As well as quite a bit in the Guides section (e.g. https://www.ourpath.co.uk/guides/nutrit ... -diet-plan)

Joan wrote: ↑

4 years ago

The meal does not fall into any diet I know of. It's cheesy potatoes. Not low carb, not paleo, not keto, not Mediterranean. Is there a high starch, high cheese, low micronutrients diet?

(I can't find any description of the ourpath diet)

A pound of cheese is a lot of cheese, and I say this as someone who is going to the Cheese Club Christmas Dinner tonight.