Looked at a site with the “best five…” for 2018. Yikes- the prices all seem to be in the $10 or so range per meal/serving. And you spend a half hour preparing. For the busy professional/student- one word: microwave. Back in my day needing to cook everything in pots and pans, which then needed cleaning, was the time factor. Easy to keep frozen veggies, proteins, starches in the freezer. That’s what we do in retirement. I cook and freeze so much. Or buy ready made. I like to cook but not spend that much time at it.
We like simple meals when we are home and find the microwave convenient—2 quarts of soup at Costco are so cheap $6-10 and last multiple meals—add protein (eg rotisserie chicken), starch (bread or rice) and a salad and fruit and you have a nice meal.
If we are eating at home, I’m a fan of quick and easy unless I’m in the mood to really cook (rare most days). It helps that we are 5 minutes drive from Costco or grocery store.
Bleh. We cooked out of the microwave for four months way back when, when we were redoing the kitchen. Got very very tired of microwave food. Pretty much the only thing we use it for now is bacon, popcorn, and heating up soup.
The 30 minutes to cook it really isn’t the issue for us, it’s saving the work doing the meal planning and shopping. And with only the two of us, it works out well. The price is worth the convenience for us.
If you have a couple of older kids or teenagers, these kits are not enough food though.
This. We both work full time and it’s worth it to us. Besides, while H always eats his entire portion, I frequently have enough for the next day’s lunch or another dinner if H is out of town. I dislike cooking and have no interest in spending my weekend time cooking and freezing meals.
Not sure if this was already shared but here is an article I saw today.
If anyone wants to try Blue Apron pm me your name and email. I have about 8 free meals to send to people.
My kids and I have all used both Plated and Blue Apron. I preferred Blue Apron. However, I thought that there was an awful lot of prep involved for both. I actually like the meal kits at Kroger when I need something quick … almost everything is prepped in advance.
I read an article in Inc on Hello Fresh recently. I don’t plan to order anything from them.
@deb922, thanks for the article—it’s helpful. There was a place near our home, Dream dinners, that had folks who subscribed come to their venue to pick up things and take them home to prepare. It lasted a few months to a year.
Most of the services do not ship to HI. There are many take out options around our state because of this.
I tried both and much preferred Hello Fresh, mostly because it was simpler. I did both on a “trial” code so not very expensive. I can’t afford to do it IRL for any extended period of time though. I think they would be perfect if I were going away for two weeks and wanted to eat a few meals in each week.
@abasket, the best part of these meal plans is they provide spices I don’t normally have in my kitchen. Sometimes I’ll look up a recipe on the web, go to the store to get the ingredients and find the spices will cost more than what I sometimes pay for a whole meal. And then I’ll most likely never use them again lol. Even things like sour cream come in individual packets, I always end up throwing out my leftover sour cream after two weeks. I use it sparingly or buy it if I have friends over for nachos,etc.
Another positive is for younger people, they learn a bit about spices and cooking. My daughter just used another code I received in the mail and she was over the moon about a couple of the recipes (this girl can’t boil an egg lol). Great way to learn how spices are incorporated, how veggies should be sliced or diced accordingly, etc.
I think it would be nice to use a service for a bit of a vacation from thinking about meals. But, I don’t think I could live with the packaging and environmental implication over the long term. I might try this https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/20/dining/five-weeknight-dishes.html for adding variety to my routine.
D2 likes to cook; it’s the planning and shopping that get her down right now, with the way law school is ruling her life. Blue Apron has been a nice option for her. She would not be interested in using only a microwave. I am not that crazy about how food turns out in the microwave, either.
Last year she had a subscription to Blue Apron for a few months. She would save some of them, then invite her law school friends over for a cooking/study session. Those went over pretty well.
We’ve tried a bunch over the past year.
Blue Apron was OK, loved that you could see other users’ reviews and tips.
Plated was fine, I love that you can choose 3 servings and they have some easy desserts you can add on that are delicious.
We tried Dinnerly to see if daughter wanted to try it at school. It’s $5 per serving and very simple. She hasn’t tried it yet in her new apartment but will soon.
Martha and Marley Spoon is our favorite for taste, but there is not as much choice as I would like each week, and you have to email them each week for sodium information (I need to watch salt).
Sun Basket is the one we use the most, lots to choose from weekly, mostly international flavors. The past 4 weeks we have had produce issues, and while they issue credit, it’s getting annoying.
I canceled all except Martha and Marley Spoon and Sun Basket, and I choose each week’s service based on that week’s recipes.