Need Foodie Inspiration - Food Delivery Service?

[donnamp]

Originally Posted by wishiwasinhawaii

I hate to cook (and shop for food) so I signed up for Tovala and love it! Most everything comes already prepared and all you have to do is pop it in their oven. There are a few meals that require minimal prep, but it's not a big deal at all. It's geared more for single people or possibly couples. You have to buy their oven, but they run promotional deals all the time and you can use the oven to cook anything, so you aren't limited to only making their meals.

I've also tried Blue Apron and like it. Most of their meals are easy to make. I alternate between Blue Apron and Tovala and rarely grocery shop anymore.

This is me! I don't necessarily hate cooking, I can enjoy it when in the mood for it - but cooking and shopping for food can be such a grind in the day-to-day.

Donna

[bubbles76]

Originally Posted by lreidgreen

I read this article recently:
https://www.vox.com/even-better/2350...a-7dfb32e3a032

Yea, I mostly do this, but it can be a pain to plan, prep, shop, cook, and wash dishes. The Boy Bubbles helped with meal planning this week, so that was a big help. With my job and everything else I do around the house, it was nice to turn the brain off. We still haven't done the meal delivery yet, but I'm slowly convincing Big Bubble that it is worth the investment. He still likes to eat out, but I'm trying to get away from that.

[donnamp]

Bubbles -

I feel the same way. I thought that working from home would change the way I felt about meal prep/cooking, but it hasn't. It is still a chore. Although, granted, an easier one since i'm not "packing" my lunch every day.

For meal prep sites like Hello Fresh - I'm guessing it doesn't totally eliminate your need to go to the grocery store (and it is a toss up for me which I dislike more - cooking or grocery shopping - it may actually be grocery shopping b/c then there is the whole putting away the groceries thing afterwards!). I am guessing they just send you the food for the meals you ordered, but you would still need to grocery shop for other things you may need - for other meals like breakfast/lunch, etc. Also, do the meals come with any spices you may need to prep them?

The price of Hello Fresh doesn't look too bad, until you factor in that you still need to buy other foods at the grocery store to cover your other meals.

I tend to eat the same breakfast every day and for lunch I tend to stick with the same things, although not exactly the same every day. I usually alternate between a salad or soup or leftovers for lunch.

I still may try a meal delivery site just to see how it works and maybe just order two meals and see how they are and how much I'm still needing to go to the grocery store.

My DH is likely to balk at it - saying it is not economical. But, I think the only way to see if it works is to to try and than see how much you are spending on food overall.

Plus you do have to factor in your time - if a plan like Hello Fresh, etc. can reduce the grocery shopping to maybe twice a month instead of weekly it may be worth it.

Anyway..rambling... LOL!

I agree that eating out is not a great option since you have no idea what they are putting in your food. Although, don't get me wrong, I do eat out. It also gets more expensive to eat out all the time. And i find that not knowing what to eat at home is often the trigger for getting food out.

Take care,

Donna

[JENILU]

Speaking to the post above me.. I actually order most of my other, non supper groceries thru walmart. If its not a same day item, I can get free shipping if I spend 35.00. There is a subscription but i don't know what it entails- they have same day stuff too where you can get it delivered locally or pull up at store and they bring it out, I think. I get a lot thru Amazon too. This is just right now. If I can get totally fresh with food, things may change- but fresh at my local stores doesn't seem to last a day. But even coconut milk (for some reason, some doesn't have to be refridgerated til u need to use) can be ordered online. Granted, some of the prices get really weird and outragious for whatever reason and I have to buy something else, but I am unable to get out a lot and this does help. About all we get out for is stock up on anything else when I need to go get hubby's ice tea (which, in theory, could be made at home. I grew up w/ my mom doing it herself because she drank so much.) Hubby likes his brand tho. These are just possibilities when u have to.

[Rhonda]

Bringing this back around again as we tried Hello Fresh and our first box was a disaster. I have to throw out some meat as it was delivered raw and stunk.

Luckily the box was free and I did call to complain and I thought he said I was going to get my next box free but when I placed the order it was only $15 off.

So I am giving it a second shot and if it is delivered the same way, I am canceling.

We would like to try another company but really not sure what would be good.

It's not like I don't plan, it is just we usually cook the same thing each week and thought it would be nice to have some different dinners.

Trying to figure out the top companies that delivered stuff cold and won't go bad.

[JENILU]

Green chef usually has 2 large ice bags in the delivery box. 95% of everything has been in good shape. There was 1 week I got the first 2 meals made early on and the 3rd meal I didn't get to cook till after the next week's deliveries came (too many Dr appts). It was probably day 8, and I had to throw out a little of the veggies (not much was bad from each portion). I think it was one of the days I cooked a bag of 90 second rice to go wth hubbie's and son's portions, and I ate the meal as it was supposed to be. It does seem like the quality was better the first week than it ever was after, but its never been bad. My complaints are pretty small- I do wish I had the choice, anytime I want, to reorder a meal everyone loved. I guess I shouldn't complain about portion size, I guess I never eat enough the rest of the time and it would seem more like enough. (always good to keep that 90 second rice on hand for them. I don't eat rice). If following the instructions, i never think they advise to cook the chicken or port long enough, but i am learning (fresh meat was never something I learned to cook well, and this is helping me actually. i'm learning a lot)- but with the meat, it rarely ends up like the picture because I slice the meat top make sure its done. There are a lot of cooked meat on different kinds of salad (like kale and nuts, etc), and I end up changing it around and cooking the greens (its never lettuce, lol) and it turns out delicious. (If I was just making salad, I would not feel I was getting my money's worth, altho its impossible to buy fresh salad fixings for the next day at the store anymore- everything is nasty quick, which is one reason I started doing this after the discussion here. Organic food, and staying fresh is a big win for me. (As a reminder, u can choose anything from the many menu items, but they do catagorize them as keto, fast & fit, vegetarian, vegan (I think), Medit., Gluten Free, (some type gourmet- that costs more, better meat, etc, but we have been very satisfied with meat). Its been worth it for me. We are actually eating real food and it doesn't go bad before I am up to cooking it. The only meat I've had to put in the freezer is the shrimp. For some reason, it does not like to be left in fridge.
(They also have breakfast and lunch options, but that would takeit way over my limit, and I don't think they are the best, unless u really need help with portion control or buying food in general. My husbands superior (Office Mgr?) at work got one of our coupons (I can do that for a free box for u or 150 off or something if I have email), and she does 3 meals a day and loves the ease, but she has a bigger budget than me. She decided to try that instead of some weightloss clinic, as this is real food. Thats all the info I can think to give. not as excited as I was in the beginning, its like they gave us the best of the best that first week, but I do still like it after doing since whenever this thread started (Thank y'all again by the way!!)

[JENILU]

Donnamp - on saying your husband would balk. Mine was willing to give it a try, but only if it saved us in the long run. It actually did for us- we are eating real food more often, we don't have to order takeout when I am too sick to cook (my son cooks it following the instructions), and since produce is never fresh anymore after a day, we are not having to throw out food. I will say the servings for 4 just barely feeds the 3 of us, but I have never believed in counting calories, and so also balked at portion control if it was healthy (I naturally would eat decent portions), but this has helped hubby and son a lot in that (wow, didn't mean to sound like a snob there. I just don't get hungry and have to be so careful with blood sugars, I never eat much - and nope, not skinny or even a healthy at the dr's office weight. Surgeries, menopause, meds and insulin totally take care of all my efforts, lol, but I still want to be healthy...and there she goes rambling, I'll shut up. Anyway, for us, it saved us money. It never looks like it going in but all we're not throwing away and getting good meals totally made up for it - ordering pizza (the place had keto pizza for me), plus paying the delivery service, we were paying 70.00 just to get food delivered. Eating out for me and hubby ran high too and then gas on top of that.
(i lived half my life buying whatever was available at the bent N dent store or dollar store, so I know. I hope I am not sounding like, "oh everyone can do this" please forgive me if I am)

[PeakFitness]

Originally Posted by bubbles76

Happy New Year vidiots! Not sure if I asked this question before, but I'm ready to commit this year. Makes it easier because Big Bubble is on board.

I'm ready to subscribe to a food delivery plan for inspiration. There are so many options - Hello Fresh, Green Plate, Hungry Root, etc. I would like a plan with the following:

• Simple, quick, easy to cook recipes
• Variety of options, but focusing on vegetarian.
• Fresh ingredients.
• Financially affordable. Okay, I know that is subjective, but I'd like to be able to feed lunch and dinner for a family of three for less than $200 week.

I don't plan to stick with this long term, but I am looking for cooking inspiration. I figure if I like what they send me then I can replicate at home. If I don't, I won't have a cupboard full of ingredients I'll never use again.

Also, if you have suggestions for websites or vegetarian cookbooks I'd love that too.

I've done Dinnerly and HF. Dinnerly was better food, more variety. But the packaging wasn't great, ice would melt, box would get wet, food would defrost. I'd have to throw it out. HF had less variety. Like the same chicken breast, just with different sauces. Less vegetarian or vegan options. Steak always cost extra. Same carrots as a side dish all the time. But better packaging and no leaks. CT

[lreidgreen]

Originally Posted by Rhonda

Bringing this back around again as we tried Hello Fresh and our first box was a disaster. I have to throw out some meat as it was delivered raw and stunk.

Luckily the box was free and I did call to complain and I thought he said I was going to get my next box free but when I placed the order it was only $15 off.

So I am giving it a second shot and if it is delivered the same way, I am canceling.

We would like to try another company but really not sure what would be good.

It's not like I don't plan, it is just we usually cook the same thing each week and thought it would be nice to have some different dinners.

Trying to figure out the top companies that delivered stuff cold and won't go bad.

My son and DIL have been doing Hello Fresh since she is studying for an intense licensing exam and they don't have time to cook right now. They seem to like it.
I am still getting Factor meals and there have been one or two duds but it has been mostly excellent. Everything is prepped, you just microwave. They say you shouldn't freeze the meals and there is a use by date that is about one week after it arrives but I went a few days past that and it was fine. The meals come packed with two large ice packs that have kept everything cool but then again it isn't exactly hot here in the winter.
I keep saying next week is my last week but it is just so darn convenient! DH likes the meat and sauces but is not crazy about the side courses. But he is fussy about certain veggies.

ETA: I mentioned upthread that I didn't like that RealEats didn't take back the ice packs. Well Factor does not either but they say the gel inside is non toxic and you can throw it away in garbage. I don't want to do that and they said it can clog your drains, so I asked if I could just put in in the soil outside or on the grass. I have been doing this from time to time but I mostly just chuck it. I offered it to friends or the food pantry but no one needs more of these things!

[Rhonda]

Update: We got our second box and much better. Even though if it was hot, not sure it would have lasted. Everyone was still cold so it all went into the fridge.

We did enjoy the meals from the first order and I just went with the meals they had picked as they all sounded good. Won't be doing that again as they are high in calories.

I also figured out why I only got $15 off, I have to use all the discounts before my credit comes into play. I didn't realize I had to weeks of discounts. Next week I chose meals from the fit and healthy menu.

Hubby enjoyed it also, even though it is the same meat we have each week, the dishes are different and that is what is nice about it. We get into a rut of eating the same dishes each week.

So we will do it for a little bit, it is convenient as all ingredients are in the package.