Delivered Meal Kits

[EZEtoGRU]

I searched for other topics on this and found nothing. Apologies if this repeats a prior thread topic. I'm curious about people's thoughts about fresh meal kits that get delivered to your home. Not delivered groceries from your local grocery store but services such as Freshly, Hello Fresh, Green Blender & Blue Apron. If you have tried any of these services, what are your impressions of the freshness, quality, taste, and ease of preparation? Positive and/or negative comments are more than welcome.

 

I haven't used any of them but am giving some consideration to this for mom and me. Currently we buy groceries and cook at home 4-5 nights a week. 2-3 nights a week I order out and bring it back home. Mom likes freshly prepared home meals but we don't really like all the preparation. Hence we're thinking about these meal kits.

 

All contributions are welcome.

[+ azdr0710]

some previous chatter......

 

https://m4m-forum.org/threads/prepared-meals-cottage-industry.156152/

[+ azdr0710]

my only experience is when a neighbor wasn't going to be home and asked me to pick up her food deliveries and have at them myself.....I think hers was "Hello Fresh".......I did learn a few tips while following the very explicit directions.....all the food was there measured out and some prep was needed (tenderize the chicken breasts, mix stuff, cook, fuss around in some way).......tasted good enough for not-picky me.....probably very expensive......and I didn't like the excess packaging/plastic/cardboard.........make sure it's enough food per serving for you both.......

[Spursy]

I've tried a couple and quickly stopped both - there was too much prep for my liking. But I'm not one who thinks the journey is half the fun.

[rvwnsd]

A neighbor tried Blue Apron and was less than impressed. His complaints were the same as @azdr0710 and @Spursy - excessive packaging and overly-complex instructions. He couldn't understand how it was more convenient than stopping at the supermarket, given he had to time his schedule around their delivery schedule, lest the box sit outside in the Southern California sun.

 

He also mentioned that the portions were either way too big or not big enough.

[+ Keith30309]

I used Hello Fresh for a few months about a year ago and stopped because the recipes seeme to get repetitive. I restarted in early March because of the unknowns with grocery stores and food availability and still get them. (As it turns out that was unnecessary.)

 

The freshness seems to have declined in this second trial. Last night a recipe called for a scallion and it was rotten. Last week some green beans in a microwave bag were well past their useable life. Also, I’ve learned to avoid any steak-like product. The “sirloin“ is uniformly tough to the point of being inedible. I called them after one of the packages particularly irked me and they credited me $39 (I think).

 

The use many of the same long-life vegetable ingredients in several recipes and just change up the seasonings and preparation. You can only make so many different meals with chicken cutlets, new potatoes and green beans.

[Scorpio]

I used Freshly for 6-8 months. This is not a meal kit, but freshly prepared meals that arrived packed in ice. The menus rotate on a weekly basis and a 5 week schedule (if I remember correctly); but it is still repetitive. After a few cycles through the menus, I found that there were fewer and fewer dishes that I enjoyed, so would just purchase multiples of few items that I truly liked. Many of the dishes tended to be a little too spicy to my tastes.

 

It was convenient, but ultimately I cancelled because I grew tired of the menu and the meals were going to waste, because I found excuses to get tack out instead. Most of the packaging is easily recyclable. it arrives in a card board box insulted with material made from recycled jeans that is supposedly biodegradable. The meals are package in plastic trays similar to a frozen dinner. However, the ice packs often seemed inadequate, Several times they were completely melted and the meals were warm. Although the company refunded the money, it does leave you scramblingto replace the meals for the coming week.

 

I also used this company for several months

 

https://www.whatacrockmeals.com/

 

These are freshly prepared entrees that arrive frozen that you reheat in a slow cooker. Again, many of the dishes were too spicy so my choices became limited.

[+ Pensant]

For years I’ve used a local company called PaleoWorks, which delivers meals for the week on Sunday morning. If I could just stop buying Kettle Chips and gluten-free chocolate chip cookies as dietary supplements, I’d be even better off!

[Rudynate]

I searched for other topics on this and found nothing. Apologies if this repeats a prior thread topic. I'm curious about people's thoughts about fresh meal kits that get delivered to your home. Not delivered groceries from your local grocery store but services such as Freshly, Hello Fresh, Green Blender & Blue Apron. If you have tried any of these services, what are your impressions of the freshness, quality, taste, and ease of preparation? Positive and/or negative comments are more than welcome.

 

I haven't used any of them but am giving some consideration to this for mom and me. Currently we buy groceries and cook at home 4-5 nights a week. 2-3 nights a week I order out and bring it back home. Mom likes freshly prepared home meals but we don't really like all the preparation. Hence we're thinking about these meal kits.

 

All contributions are welcome.

 

 

 

My husband and I have used Hello Fresh for years and like it a lot. They're not perfect - sometimes delivery gets screwed up, a couple times we've gotten spoiled food, portion size is occasionally skimpy, but, for the most part, they deliver a great product and we enjoy being able fix restaurant quality meals at home without doing any shopping for them.

 

We have tried other vendors: Blue apron - food quality was OK, but portion size was - small - we both have big appetites and we were constantly hungry. Sunbasket - food quality was outstanding, recipes were innovative and interesting, portion size- tiny. We starved to death with Sunbasket. Home chef - very nice food quality, interesting recipes, portion size was generous. We ended up canceling because it wasn't our kind of food - pretty rich - heavy on butter, cream, cheese, red meat.

[EZEtoGRU]

some previous chatter......

 

https://m4m-forum.org/threads/prepared-meals-cottage-industry.156152/

Oops.

[+ LIguy]

Buy one of these and cook nice simple meals yourself. Best thing besides the Sous Vide that I have in my kitchen. Cleanup is so easy as it's non stick.

https://www.target.com/p/ninja-foodi-4qt-5-in-1-indoor-grill-and-air-fryer-ag301/-/A-54637456?ref=tgt_adv_XS000000&AFID=google_pla_df&fndsrc=tgtao&CPNG=PLA_Appliances%2BShopping_Local&adgroup=SC_Appliances&LID=700000001170770pgs&network=g&device=c&location=1023191&ds_rl=1246978&ds_rl=1248099&ds_rl=1247068&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIivaVgKvD6QIVwuDICh3W4w6cEAQYAiABEgJmpfD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

I'm not plugging Target I just wanted a picture. I bought mine at Kohl's when I had a 30% off coupon and only paid 169 with free shipping.

[MikeBiDude]

Sous Vide that I have in my kitchen.

Two thumbs up ???? on having fun cooking with sous vide. Magic!

[EZEtoGRU]

I appreciate all the comments. I'm thinking the completely prepared option of Freshly might be best for mom and me. Maybe we would order it to provide meals 3-4 night per week and see how that goes. Spicy is fine for me but mom doesn't like spicy (meaning hot spicy) foods so I'll have to pay attention to that when ordering.

[rvwnsd]

...If I could just stop buying...gluten-free chocolate chip cookies as dietary supplements, I’d be even better off!

Don't worry! The cookies are gluten-free. Everything gluten-free is good for you!!!

[+ Topseed]

I've been receiving Hello Fresh for the past 8 weeks. Decent food selection, and I'd say the portion sizes are generally fine, though I usually augment the meal with my own salad. I've learned to ignore most of their directions to "add salt". I do scrutinize their recipes for sodium content, which does take some time. I get 3 meals/week of 2 servings each; I eat the leftovers the next day. Cost is $62/week, or a bit more than $10/serving; more than groceries, but a lot less than restaurant meals. Pre-COVID, I dined out at least 5 nights/week, so the cost savings is significant. And, anything that reduces my time in the grocery store is a plus. I started out as a Saturday delivery, but HF couldn't usually make that happen. I switched to Tuesday, and the box reguarly arrives mid-afternoon.

[EZEtoGRU]

I thought I'd follow-up on this thread as we have just completed our first week of Freshly meals. We ordered six in total meaning three for each of us. The ordering and delivery process went just fine. I was home when the box was delivered on the porch so I was able to carry it into the house. The box was heavy so there is no way mom could have carried it. The meals were still nicely chilled with all the packing.

 

Overall, we felt the meals were good to very good quality/taste. Portion size was plenty for mom and adequate for me. We complimented the meals with a dinner salad on a few nights.

 

The main downside we see is the amount of packaging involved for shipping. The actual meal trays and cardboard sleeves are no issue as they are easily recyclable. However the cooling gel-packs and the denim material insulation are substantial and seem very wasteful. They claim the denim stuffing is recyclable although I don't know how you do that. Regarding the gel-pack coolers, they recommend emptying the gel out of the plastic bags and into the trash. Huh? Wet gritty gel into the trash bin?

 

We have a second week of meals coming on Tuesday. I think we will probably discontinue Freshly after that due to the wasteful nature of the packaging. It's a shame cause it could be a useful service and we did find the meals quite good. The pricing was acceptable too. They need to find a more environmentally friendly way to handle the packaging IMHO.

 

Anyway...thanks to everyone for your contribution on this thread . I'm glad we tried the service. Perhaps we will return to Freshly if they make some needed changes to the packaging of the meals.

[Rudynate]

They all struggle with the packaging issue-some more successfully than others

[EZEtoGRU]

They all struggle with the packaging issue-some more successfully than others

I'm sure you are right. It's the nature of the beast I suppose.

 

When I lived in Houston, there was a food business there called Snap Kitchen. I note they now have 17 stores in Houston alone. They do all prepared high quality meals. You can have the meals delivered to your home or you can pick up the meals at one of the stores hence avoiding all the shipping packaging. Whilst I never used their service, it seems like a perfect solution. No matter what part of town you lived in, there was a store close by where you could pick up meals. I see they are in all major Texas cities and in some neighboring states too. Shame they have no locations in Michigan.

[Rudynate]

Different business model serving a different market segment

[Daverwr]

In case you want, yet another rendition of the same. I had Hello Fresh for a few months. Things were beautifully and meticulously packaged for each use, including cute little soy sauces and such. Even if you probably had it in your frig. There is still a little bit of prep such as chopping carrots, so you won’t completely free you or your mom of that. (I don’t know about the services other than Hello Fresh.) The food was all very good. You get to select the meals in advance. I finally stopped because the food was piling up in the frig. I simply wasn’t cooking it as fast as I should. I’d go out to eat or order a pizza when I was supposed to be making chicken a’la orange.

[Rudynate]

In case you want, yet another rendition of the same. I had Hello Fresh for a few months. Things were beautifully and meticulously packaged for each use, including cute little soy sauces and such. Even if you probably had it in your frig. There is still a little bit of prep such as chopping carrots, so you won’t completely free you or your mom of that. (I don’t know about the services other than Hello Fresh.) The food was all very good. You get to select the meals in advance. I finally stopped because the food was piling up in the frig. I simply wasn’t cooking it as fast as I should. I’d go out to eat or order a pizza when I was supposed to be making chicken a’la orange.

 

 

We've been subscribers for several years. It relieves our pain points perfectly. We don't mind cooking at all. We just get tired of menu planning and shopping. Hello fresh takes care of all that. We just open the packages, follow the recipe cards and in 30 min. or so, we have dinner.