Prepared meals ordered online

[nebo113]

Anyone have experience with these online meals????

[Morden]

I used to order frozen prepared meals for my parents. Is that the sort of thing you were thinking of?

[Parasaurolophus]

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.)

[Puget]

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.

[mamselle]

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.

[ohnoes]

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!"

[bopper]

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.

[nebo113]

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.

[Puget]

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).

[hmaria1609]

"Washington Post" Food section has "Voraciously" if you're looking for recipes:
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/

[mamselle]

A friend from DC and I did an "All Wa-Po recipe" Thanksgiving meal once; it was yummy!

M.

[clean]

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? 

[Nightshade]

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?

[Vkw10]

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

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.

[nebo113]

Vkw10......Thanks for the analysis.  I might be tempted to give it a try.