Have any of you tried a meal subscription? If so, what do you think?
http://wtop.com/food/2016/02/meals-in-a-box-are-they-worth-it/slide/1/
Family gave my in-laws a big gift certificate for munchery (https://munchery.com/) that also has a cheaper you-cook-it option. Mother-in-law isn’t up to cooking anymore, so she orders the ready-made meals, but her daughter tried a couple of the you-cook-it-yourself meals for them, and liked it. As with any such service, a lot of the “worth” depends on your budget, eating/cooking/shopping habits. I think the convenience is HUGE for my in-laws… even my 26-year old daughter admits to occasionally using munchery when she’s too tired to think about dinner.
Last fall I got about a months’ worth of Blue Apron deliveries as a present. The biggest problem with them in our eyes was that they had too many carbs and not enough vegetables. They came too often for me, but you could actually control that by just cancelling your order every other week. I thought their middle eastern spice mix was weird - it didn’t taste like anything I’ve had in the Middle East or that I’ve made from cookbooks. The spicing for things that should have been hot was very cautious.
That said the food was pretty good and apart from some underripe avocados ready to cook and fresh. They introduced me to a bunch of interesting grains. (Freekeh for example.) As an experienced cook I did make adjustments.
To me they seem ideal for a young professional who is short on time for shopping, and whose spice and staple supplies are minimal. It’s a great way for someone who knows the basics of cooking to get outside their comfort zone.
I could have written much of mathmom’s post only inserting Hello Fresh for Blue Apron. S and DIL subscribe and gave us 2 weeks of free meals. I was very skeptical but will admit the meals were pretty tasty and I will hold on to the recipes. All meals were able to be prepared in about 30 minutes. I do think there is an excessive amount of packaging, they are a little light on veggies and the prices steep, if you don’t need the convenience of having someone shop for you.
This describes DIL exactly! She says as an inexperienced and reluctant cook, she is learning to expand her abilities and gaining confidence. You can pause your subscrition on weeks you don’t need them.
A friend of mine used one recently-her husband had fallen and broken several bones and couldn’t leave the house easily, so her daughter ordered these meals for them. My friend really enjoyed it (I think it was called Freshly or something like that, I sent her an email to check the name). She said it was nice not having a lot of food waste, and it was nice having everything prepped so she just assembled it. She’s a competent cook, but said she enjoyed the break from all the prep work.
It was Hello Fresh.
I am getting my first delivery from Blue Apron tomorrow. Bought a groupon. I’ll keep you posted.
We did our first 2 Blue Apron meals this week. DH is the cook. He just wanted to add some variety to his old standards. We will probably do more. The two we had were pretty good; agree a little heavy on the carbs. DH thought they needed more spice, but I’m having acid reflux problems, so it was good for me.
I can see the attraction because, although I enjoy cooking, I’m not a big fan of the grocery shopping part and its easy to get stuck in a rut.
I haven’t tried them however because I’m frugal and it is more expensive than going local and because all the packaging bothers my environmental senses.
I do follow a lot of online recipe/cooking websites and use pinterest to find new recipes to try.
Another idea is something like http://emeals.com/ which provides menu planning and grocery lists. It doesn’t save you the hassle of grocery shopping but has the benefits of trying new recipes and saving the work of deciding what to cook and making a grocery list.
I just tried three vegetarian meals from Hello Fresh. I liked it except for one major thing - the amount of packaging was incredibly wasteful. So I made the decision not to continue with the service. I need to stop being lazy and get myself to the farmer’s market instead.
I have a friend who is a vegan and she recently signed up with a company called The Purple Carrot–all the meals are plant based. Mark Bittman (How to Cook Everything) is one of the founders. She is happy with it.
Just finished cooking my second Blue Apron meal (both freebies from a friend). Meh. As @mathmom said, too high in carbs & low in veggies for us. This last one was also bland, but the online forum gave suggestions on kicking it up a notch. I won’t continue the service.
How much do these things cost?
The one I trialled (and then cancelled), was $10/meal. So the weekly options are: 3 different meals for 2 = $60, or 2 different meals for 4 = $80
I’m torn because on the one hand Hello Fresh doesn’t waste any food (I throw away a lot of uneaten food in the fridge, like the rest of a basil plant or the extra zuccini in a package), but you have more packaging waste.
At this point I’m really bothered by all the food that goes bad before we can eat it, whereas I’m hoping some of the packaging stuff can go in the recycle bin (does anyone know if it’s recyclable?)
What is the benefit of these “meal subscriptions” over making a quick stop at Whole Foods or other grocery and picking up some sushi and a salad or other freshly prepared meal?
Most grocery stores have a “prepared foods” cold case with main dishes and sides that just have to heated up. What time you spend on making the stop you gain by not having to do any assembly or cooking at home.
That’s why I think it’s ideal for someone who wants to learn how to cook. You can also control the spicing more. One of our local grocery stores has great food, but the other one really uses way, way too much salt. I don’t think eating sushi regularly would be very healthy - too much mercury or PVCs for nearly all fish. And it’s a lot of rice.
Where I live, none of that packaging could go into the recycling bin, but food scraps, wilted herbs, and uneaten zucchini are welcome in the yard waste bin.
“Meal in a box” provides a quick and easy way to prepare something gourmet that you would not normally make - by eliminating the ingredient gathering steps.
I think the draw is variety; no or limited decisions; and opportunity to learn to cook and/ or explore new ingredients.
I’ve been using Blue Apron for a few months now. The pros include not having to think about what to make for dinner (always a head scratcher for me), really taking me out of my comfort zone regarding menus, using different spices, vegetables, cuisines, ect., not having to buy a whole bottle of a condiment when I need a few tablespoons, not wasting extra leftover food, and they have been for the most part very fresh and tasty. You also have the option of canceling the weekly delivery if you don’t like the menu or are out of town, ect. For example I ordered only one week’s delivery for the month of December. They email you weekly to set up or cancel your order. The downside is too many sandwiches, and root vegetables, although that may be the product of the season and you still have prep time. Yes there is a lot of packaging but it is all recyclable and they will even pick it up and recycle themselves. I have really enjoyed opening the box, sorting each meals ingredients into one bag, then just pulling one bag out to have everything at my fingertips to cook for dinner.