Anyone have experience with these online meals????
I used to order frozen prepared meals for my parents. Is that the sort of thing you were thinking of?
We looked into them out of curiosity a few years ago (I think we tried a one-week sample thing), but the cost just wasn't worthwhile. The prep time didn't seem much lowered, either. (Besides which, their vegetarian meals were decidedly uninspiring. Plus, I enjoy cooking and I'm not half bad.)
Do you mean meal kits? I never understood the appeal of those. I guess maybe they're good if you're trying to learn to cook? They seem wildly over-priced compared to just buying groceries, and I can make a pretty good meal myself in half an our or less with less fuss. I also tend to batch cook so I can have leftovers for several more meals.
For actual prepared meals when you really need something fast and easy, there are some pretty good frozen options available in the grocery stores (Amy's, Evol, etc.), so I'd just keep some of those on hand instead of ordering something special (and again probably over-priced). Add a salad and call it dinner.
One of my adult students, a single mom with a demanding job and 2 sweet but often needy ADHD/spectrum boys uses them as a sanity valve.
Fresh veg, instructions, and healthy recipes mean she's not worrying about additives, she doesn't have run to the store (it's unsafe to leave the kids at home) and doesn't have to think hard about dinner with so much else going on.
I gather she spices them up for more flavor, but finds them usefully adequate as needed.
Another friend, a chef,, started a home-catered meals service for families, celebrations, and day-to-day events. It went well enough but didn't take off as swiftly as he needed it to in order to meet his family obligations, so he's wound it down.
He was the source of the Moroccan Chicken recipe I shared awhile back; I and a friend agreed to be "guinea pigs" for that event--yum!
M.
I researched a lot of these for my parents and found two solid options. One was Seattle Sutton, which lets them order from a huge number of options and has been around forever. Another was a local service that had a smaller selection but still had lots of choices that met multiple dietary demands, delivered twice a week, and had some sort of a pickup window in case they wanted to do that themselves.
They wound up going with their local grocery stores. They all (in various configurations) make their own entrees and will deliver same day. They liked being able to go in and look at the choices before they ordered.
It was like a more productive version of office hours. "Here are your choices." "Okay! I'll do something else!"
People think:
I want to cook dinner and not get take out, but I have run out of ideas and want something different and healthy.
Quote from: bopper on August 27, 2021, 07:07:13 AM
People think:
I want to cook dinner and not get take out, but I have run out of ideas and want something different and healthy.
That's me. Guess I'll pull out my cookbooks.
Quote from: nebo113 on August 28, 2021, 06:06:56 AM
Quote from: bopper on August 27, 2021, 07:07:13 AM
People think:
I want to cook dinner and not get take out, but I have run out of ideas and want something different and healthy.
That's me. Guess I'll pull out my cookbooks.
NYT Cooking is great if you are tired of your cookbooks-- you can sign up for email newsletters to get new recipes every week (there is a new veggie one that's been good).
"Washington Post" Food section has "Voraciously" if you're looking for recipes:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/voraciously/ (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/voraciously/)
Here's the link for the e-mail newsletter:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/food/2021/02/10/easy-recipe-newsletter-free/ (https://www.washingtonpost.com/food/2021/02/10/easy-recipe-newsletter-free/)
A friend from DC and I did an "All Wa-Po recipe" Thanksgiving meal once; it was yummy!
M.
My sister in law reports that they have been using one of these services, but I dont recall which one. She indicates that my brother has lost weight (which he needed to do) because the portions are measured so there is less for him to overeat.
My bride never really learned to cook, so I am contemplating giving something like this a try for a while so that she has some experience in the kitchen. She asks to help in the kitchen, but my kitchen isnt really big enough for 2 (I have an island close to the stove, but her mom's kitchen has much more room and in my smaller kitchen she is in the way.
So i am interested in what people's experiences have been, and if they dont mind, sharing the cost and the 'terms and conditions' (like do you have to order so many or so much a week- is this a subscription type model or order what/when you want), and how long will it store?
Chiming in just to keep in the loop in terms of recommendations. I keep getting these "free 12 meals over 6 boxes" promos from Hello Fresh and am intrigued. I love to cook, am a decades-long vegetarian and adherent of the Moosewood cookbooks, but am intrigued by the possibility of opening up some time for myself to work later into the evening some nights. As a vegetarian and someone who cooks 30 of 31 dinners in a 31-day month, I think we actually spend much more on groceries than one might expect. I'd like to know if any of these services are worth the expenditure and whether they ultimately save time?
My brother sent me a code for $100 off Hello Fresh, so I'm trying it now. The code is applied as $70 off first order, $15 each off second and third offer. You have to provide a credit card to sign up. The code does not cover shipping, which was $8.99 for my first shipment. Here's a code if anyone wants it. https://www.hellofresh.com/pages/share?c=HS-HDOA19GF7&utm_campaign=clipboard&utm_couponvalue=100&utm_invitername=Virginia &utm_medium=referral&utm_source=raf-share (https://www.hellofresh.com/pages/share?c=HS-HDOA19GF7&utm_campaign=clipboard&utm_couponvalue=100&utm_invitername=Virginia%20&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=raf-share)
I've cooked and eaten two meals. The first was a vegetarian meal, with a middle eastern slant. The recipe card was extremely easy to follow, with a list of cookware needed, time tips, and a photos of each step. I needed salt, pepper, olive oil, sugar, and water; all the other ingredients were in the meal package. The second meal was labelled "gourmet" and cost extra. It was also a bit more complicated to make.
Both meals tasted good. The portions were reasonable, filling without those extra large portions many restaurants serve. They took me a bit longer to prepare than the recipes indicated, but I'm not a good cook. They also created more washing up than my typical fare, but the meals were much better than my usual fare.
Our initial assessment is that it's cheaper than restaurant meals of similar quality, but a bit more expensive than the lower quality meals we usually make and eat. It's also more time consuming than our usual home-cooked meals, which tend to rely heavily on frozen veggies, grains and beans prepared in big batches on the weekend, and bottled sauces. We see several values: learning new cooking skills from the recipes, less expensive than restaurant meals we tend to eat a couple of times a week, portion control, and nice variety of flavors without having to stock up on stuff we won't use often.
Partner and I agreed to order two more boxes, both to use rest of the coupon code and to give Hello Fresh a fair assessment. We can choose 3 or more recipes a week from 20-25 choices, let them auto ship 3 selections, or skip a week. We're going with a Thursday delivery, so we can cook on weekends. I doubt we'll use the service weekly, since neither of us cares enough about what we eat to devote 30-45 minutes a day to cooking and cleanup, but it might be a good option a couple of times a month instead of eating out.
Vkw10......Thanks for the analysis. I might be tempted to give it a try.
Quote
My bride never really learned to cook, so I am contemplating giving something like this a try for a while so that she has some experience in the kitchen. She asks to help in the kitchen, but my kitchen isnt really big enough for 2 (I have an island close to the stove, but her mom's kitchen has much more room and in my smaller kitchen she is in the way.
I hope you don't actually tell her this in these words.
I'd feel unwanted and discounted if someone said something like that to me.
It sounds like you see her as an intrusion, not someone you've welcomed into every part of your life, including the inner temple of your sacrosanct kitchen!
Just sayin'...
M.
(...goes back to meddling in lives nearer and more visibly in need of her services...)
One thing that helped me when I got married was taking a subscription to Food & Wine magazine, and making something different for dinner every night out of it. Saved recipes we liked, and tossed the magazine after the new one arrived. I also would fill in with recipes from cookbooks.
Eventually we developed favorites and I learned a lot of general tips and tricks.
QuoteMy bride never really learned to cook, so I am contemplating giving something like this a try for a while so that she has some experience in the kitchen. She asks to help in the kitchen, but my kitchen isnt really big enough for 2 (I have an island close to the stove, but her mom's kitchen has much more room and in my smaller kitchen she is in the way.
I hope you don't actually tell her this in these words.
I'd feel unwanted and discounted if someone said something like that to me.
It sounds like you see her as an intrusion, not someone you've welcomed into every part of your life, including the inner temple of your sacrosanct kitchen!
Just sayin'...
Hot pans and frying beacon for instance, are safety hazards. especially when someone is blocking you in... and as neither of us is svelte, when we are together, we might be as big as 3 skinny people in that small space.
Im still trying to get her to turn the pan handles so that they are neither sticking out into the isle, or over another hot item, or using the smallest pot on the biggest burner.
Im also trying to have her 'think ahead' so that everything is ready about the same time.... dont put the Bertelli bag in the pan to start (which takes 12 minutes to cook/heat up), and preheat the oven to 400 for garlic bread (which itself takes 10 minutes or so) so that you can put the bread in the oven which takes 8 minutes.
OR you get your bread 10 minutes she serves the dish!
OR start the rice at the same time you start the frozen PFChangs
I think that she gets excited about the main dish...
OR I can also say that THIS may be what her mom taught her! Her mom grew up in another country and I frankly dont know if they had as many burners. she will cook some sides long in advance, and then have to microwave the sides to heat them back up as they have been cooked sometimes for hours!
But it could also be that I have been cooking for myself for probably close to 50 years!! So there IS a skill gap, and I m old and set in my ways! But she knew that when she accepted the proposal, and I made it clear that I wasnt a 'fixer upper' but an 'As Is'
I'll chime in on Hello Fresh and that kind of service. I've tried that and Blue Apron. Although I do like to cook and cook some more complicated meals at times, weeknights are not that time. What I liked about these services is getting a box of exactly the ingredients I needed, minus standard cooking items as Vkw10 mentioned. I didn't have to buy an entire bag of carrots for one carrot (just as an example). Some of the ingredients were ones that I probably couldn't have found at the grocery store, so it was nice to try different spices or vegetables. I liked the recipes from both about the same. They were uniformly tasty and reasonable portion sizes (probably helpful, as I like to eat more of things that taste good than I should). The recipes are pretty easy to follow if you have cooked before, although there are some basic cooking tips that are not always included that could be useful to those who do not cook often or in a particular way. As an example, a friend using Blue Apron did not know at what point to put the oil in the pan and got it a little smoky and had to start that part over. My busy RN daughter who is vegan uses or used Green Chef and seemed to like that one a lot.
I don't think it was mentioned here already (?), but the three services I talked about all have recipes on their sites, so you could take a look to see what is typically required and what kinds of meals they tend to offer. As was noted here before, prep and cooking times are not always quite on the nose, but I have found that to be true for lots of recipes. Definitely read the recipe through thoroughly first and get everything ready before you start.
Anyway, I would use these types of services again, though there are so many more these days than when I was using them that it might be hard to choose!
I have not used any services that deliver meals prepared in advance, but I hope this helps.
I have been relying on prepared meals from the grocery store deli, ordered via their own website. It is then delivered by one of the big food delivery operations like DoorDash or Instacart. I only did this since I was stuck at home caring for my mother. The selection was not the greatest but I like the food.
I tried Hello Fresh for a little while with a coupon. It was tasty and relatively straightforward, but more time than the way that I usually cook, which is to make a big batch of food over the weekend and freeze it. I'm glad I tried it out during a period when I had more time to cook during the week, but I don't think I would use this service again. Also, I imagine the recipes would get repetitive after a while, though maybe they switch up the options every few months.
I also once got a gift certificate to a local place that delivers frozen meals, so all you need to do is put them in the oven. They were delicious (restaurant-quality things, but frozen and cheaper) and extremely easy to get ready. Not worth the money out of my own pocket but I would be excited if I got another gift certificate there.
Quote from: nonsensical on September 13, 2021, 02:36:22 AM
I also once got a gift certificate to a local place that delivers frozen meals, so all you need to do is put them in the oven. They were delicious (restaurant-quality things, but frozen and cheaper) and extremely easy to get ready. Not worth the money out of my own pocket but I would be excited if I got another gift certificate there.
Sounds like you really enjoyed these, nonsensical. They do sound good in many ways.
If you can swing it budgetwise, why not treat yourself? Give a gift certificate to yourself, you're worth it.
We've also used meal kits and can recommend. While more expensive than typical grocery shopping, it is cheaper than a comparable restaurant meal. We loved the additional variety it provided when we lived where there weren't a lot of restaurants or now, when we're still hesitant to go out. Also like that it gives me just the right amount of ingredients I wouldn't otherwise buy (e.g. fresh herbs). The subscription is flexible and you can skip weeks when you're too busy or there's nothing interesting on their menu, but you do have to be on top of maintaining your subscription to make this work. I tend to order a box (3-4 meals) every 2-3 weeks.
I'll also second the sentiment that you do need a basic level of cooking skills to be successful. I do a lot of Googling, "how do you cut up a ______?" In addition, the "estimated time" seems to be geared towards someone who has better knife skills than I do; recipes that require a lot of cutting things up take me significantly longer than the estimate.
On the other hand, I actually found that I enjoy taking the 30-60 minute break from work to cook, and that I learned some new tricks.