My day-to-day life is pretty hectic, I run two student organizations, have an internship, and am a full-time student on top of it all! Because of this I am extremely busy all the time, and find it hard to make time to make healthy meals for myself. This leads me to eat fast food and other unhealthy options more frequently.
I’ve been wanting to make a change to my eating habits for a while but struggled with finding the time or energy to do so. This is when I was introduced to Factor by a friend of mine.
Factor is a meal delivery service similar to that of Hello Fresh, but in this case, the meals are pre-made and ready to eat after reheating.
While Factor can be on the pricier side, (upwards of $90 per box, delivered weekly) it truly does make a difference in the life of a busy college student.
I have to compliment Factor on their ease of shipping and packaging! The Factor van delivers my box directly to my doorstep, avoiding additional trips to the mailroom!
The packaging is very user-friendly. It isn’t too heavy to carry despite everything inside of it. When you open the box, there are ice blocks in plastic on the top, bottom, and sides, along with insulation. Included are also instructions for recycling the box and everything inside!
Onto the packaging of the meals. Each meal is packaged individually in microwave-safe plastic containers. They also each have a cardboard cover on them, clearly explaining the meal and its contents.
MEAL REVIEWS
Herbed Greek Chicken and Tomato Penne
Garlic Herbed Chicken and Creamed Corn with Bacon Green Beans & Peach-Apple Crumble
This meal was advertised as a dish brand new to Factor, so I was very excited to be among the first to try it!
Factor described the meal by saying, “This hearty meal features our juicy garlic-herb grilled chicken breast nestled in a bed of sweet creamed corn and finished with a dollop of rich garlic-herb butter. It’s served with a side of green beans tossed with bacon. You’ll also find a luscious peach-apple crumble dessert with a maple-pecan-oat streusel topping for dessert.”
Let’s start with the main entree, the Garlic Herbed Chicken. The flavor of this chicken was honestly better than other chicken I’ve had in previous Factor meals. The creamed corn was served on top of the chicken, which added even more flavor to the dish.
Next, we have the green beans. I am a green bean lover, and I loved this addition to the meal! The added bacon was a great pairing.
Lastly, we have the peach-apple crumble dessert. This was my first time having a meal from Factor that featured a dessert. I thought it was a fun addition, and I was excited to try it! Overall, I wouldn’t recommend this dessert. The combination of peach and apple, along with the toppings, didn’t combine right to me, and left a weird taste in my mouth. If the dish was just apple, I feel it would have been more enjoyable.
OVERALL REVIEW
Overall, I recommend Factor to any busy college student who finds it hard to maintain a healthy diet. With this being said, I think that if you do not struggle with finding time to cook or eat healthy, you may want to pass on Factor. Its high price point may be difficult for some college students to maintain, and it could be more cost effective to just plan meals on your own.