Meal Kit Delivery

[GinnyPNW]

Does anyone do meal kit delivery? Now or even in the past. If so, which one(s)? And, what do you think of it?

Asking as I'm considering subscribing to one. I've been looking at Martha Stewart & Marley Spoon menus and they do have some interesting offerings.

Thanks for any & all input!

 

[Kathleen]

I did one for lunches many years back. I wish I could remember which one, but it was a very long time back. My issue was that there was ONE item that I did not want to have - ground poultry. It seemed every week, they "forgot" and sent me something with ground poultry. Turkey meatballs, meatloaf made with ground chicken, etc. I liked the flavor of ground poultry but, for some reason, it always returns in an unhappy way for me. I ended up canceling the subscription after 1/5 of the meals they brought me had to be given away.

It was my ONLY issue with them. But sadly, one they could not correct.

 

[GinnyPNW]

I did one for lunches many years back. I wish I could remember which one, but it was a very long time back. My issue was that there was ONE item that I did not want to have - ground poultry. It seemed every week, they "forgot" and sent me something with ground poultry. Turkey meatballs, meatloaf made with ground chicken, etc. I liked the flavor of ground poultry but, for some reason, it always returns in an unhappy way for me. I ended up canceling the subscription after 1/5 of the meals they brought me had to be given away.

It was my ONLY issue with them. But sadly, one they could not correct.

With the Martha service, one does choose which meals one wants. I've looked at others in the past, for MIL, and they all seemed to require an order process?

Thanks for the reply!

 

[Aunt Bea]

I don’t use them but IMO they should come under the heading of entertainment and not meal solutions.

Some of them would be fun/educational ways to explore different styles of cooking.

If I was looking for convenience I would start at a large market and look at the variety of prepped vegetables, individual portions, etc…

 

[GinnyPNW]

I don’t use them but IMO they should come under the heading of entertainment and not meal solutions.

Some of them would be fun/educational ways to explore different styles of cooking.

If I was looking for convenience I would start at a large market and look at the variety of prepped vegetables, individual portions, etc…

Here in farmland...we haven't too many choices for markets. There are Kroger stores, Albertson's/Safeway, Winco and Walmart. Sigh. I will say that there is an attraction for moving to an area where there are other options! But, if & until we can do so, I'm just looking for some inspiration...DC is a great resource, but, frankly, I get lost with so many choices...LOL.

 

[GotGarlic]

Here in farmland...we haven't too many choices for markets. There are Kroger stores, Albertson's/Safeway, Winco and Walmart. Sigh. I will say that there is an attraction for moving to an area where there are other options! But, if & until we can do so, I'm just looking for some inspiration...DC is a great resource, but, frankly, I get lost with so many choices...LOL.

The Kroger in my city started carrying meal kits in the deli area. Have you checked there? I haven't tried any yet.

 

[GinnyPNW]

The Kroger in my city started carrying meal kits in the deli area. Have you checked there? I haven't tried any yet.

Our Freddie's has a small selection of pre-cooked meals (think TV dinner, upgraded...meatloaf, etc) and then in the meats area, they have bulk frozen things that one "scoops" to take home. Neither one is particularly interesting to me...but MIL does buy those pre-cooked meals sometimes. Mostly she buys the buck-99 things in the freezer section. You know the ones, with like a lifetime of salt allowances in each package!? I talk till I'm blue in the face!

I'll take another look around...thanks, GG!

 

[dragnlaw]

Up here we have HelloFresh. Is it available in your area?
I used it but for my budget it is expensive. They were great meals though!
Here is the link Hello Fresh, meals - you can check it out and see what they have. If you don't have it there at least it will give you an idea on what to maybe look for there.
The food really is fresh. The instructions are great, you still have to cook but is it ever easy!
They also have these neat glossy printed sheets with the instructions for each meal. You can use these for a menu plan later. Win win!
You can put it on hold, you don't have to order each week.

LOL, for me, being alone, the smallest order (if I remember correctly) are meals for 2. So I would call up a friend and say 'Supper tonight! which would you like!

 

[GinnyPNW]

Thanks, @dragnlaw. We do have Hello Fresh and a few others. I will check it out. I have friends that love the convenience...and some of them are what I call, "foodies." As mentioned elsewhere, here in the rural areas of the PNW are options are somewhat limited. In markets and in restaurants...and a number of other things, not important here....LOL.

 

[dragnlaw]

They were delivering to my farm out in the boonies. But they will let you know if you are not in one of their spots for delivery.
The food comes in really nifty cardboard boxes that are lined and have ice packs. Great for you camper!

 

[GinnyPNW]

They all seem to deliver to my area. It seems the most popular are Martha & Marley, Hello Fresh and Dinnerly. Blue Apron maybe not so much. Dinnerly is supposed to be the most budget friendly. Sadly, their meal plans are not so different from what I already make. And, shopping isn't really so much of an issue...except that I have to rotate stores as each one has their pluses and minuses. So I think comes down to comparing M&M to HF.

It seems that the delivery day of the week is the same for both: Tuesday. Which could be helpful with camping...although the boxes, not so much. (Psssst, dragn, the camper has a dishwasher...and it's name is not Mikey... ...and a decent fridge too.) If we are going camping, we tend to leave on a Thursday.

Decisions, decisions...

 

[taxlady]

I have a friend who uses Hello Fresh. She just doesn't have the energy to go shopping much with work. She likes it and says that it is cheaper than ordering out.

 

[larry_stewart]

I did a Vegan one ( Purple Carrot) years ago. They were not prepared meals, but the ingredients and instructions to prepare them. I did it primarily to help me expand my taste buds. I ran into having the same things over and over, so I figured, let someone else select what Im going to eat 3 times a week and maybe I'll learn something. All the ingredients came along with a nicely printed recipe card with step by step instructions ( with pictures). Initially I liked it, and got a few good ideas from it, but over time, I found it to be repetitive. Not that they specifically repeated the same exact recipe, but just very similar recipes. There was always be some kind of taco, or pizza, or power bowl.... The other problem I had was that all the stuff was delivered on Wednesdays . I have the most free time to cook on Sunday through Wednesday, but Thursday and Friday are close to impossible, so I had to do all my cooking on Wednesday or else it would go bad by the time I had to cook it on Saturday. Fun while it lasted , and dont regret it, but I had had enough. I actually did visit the company and owner to get a tour of how they do things. It was very interesting. They had a few chefs on hand who would search for, and try out recipes. They wanted to make sure it was something that could be done in 45 minutes or less. Once they perfected everything, they would send the package to their staff, who were of all different cooking experiences, to make sure that it was easy to follow and could be done in the amount of time suggested. Once it passed that test, itt would go into rotation. they had 2 dispatching locations ( one on the east coast and another on the west coast) so fresh ingredients could be shipped in an acceptable amount of time to still be fresh. They also had a Photography station where they would take all the pics to print on their recipe cards. They eventually teamed up with Tom Brady to create a ' Tom Brady line of meals' so you can eat the way he eats... The company eventually sold for about 15 million to one of the larger meal companies.

 

[thymeless]

It's always looked like a disturbing amount of packaging waste.

 

[larry_stewart]

It's always looked like a disturbing amount of packaging waste.

I kinda agree. Many people label vegans with being more concerned about the environment and stuff like that, but when we got our weekly package, everything was wrapped in is own separate plastic containers minimal o no recycled things. Maybe it has changed over time, but back then, there sure was a lott of packaging.

 

[Katie H]

I did one for lunches many years back. I wish I could remember which one, but it was a very long time back. My issue was that there was ONE item that I did not want to have - ground poultry. It seemed every week, they "forgot" and sent me something with ground poultry. Turkey meatballs, meatloaf made with ground chicken, etc. I liked the flavor of ground poultry but, for some reason, it always returns in an unhappy way for me. I ended up canceling the subscription after 1/5 of the meals they brought me had to be given away.

It was my ONLY issue with them. But sadly, one they could not correct.

 

[Silversage]

I have tried several of them. Home Chef, Blue Apron, Martha Stewart, Hello Fresh, and 1 other I can't remember.

Blue Apron is a LOT of work. They greatly underestimate the prep time. Food was edible, bit never as good as described.

Home Chef had a lot of variety and the best recipes. Food was pretty reliable, and I still make a few of their recipes on my own. I don't know if they still do, but they moved into a lot of selling meat and fish bundles.

Martha Stewart was the worst. Recipes were BLAND. Much of the produce looked to be on its last legs. Customer Service terrible - theiy would only give credit on future orders, not a refund to your credit card.

Helllo Fresh had the best quality, by far. Recipes were simpler than most of the others, but good.

I haven't used any of them in the past 3 years, so things might have changed, but that's my 2 cents.

 

[dragnlaw]

all you can do is try. They ususlly have start-up specials, my Hello Fresh was a hefty 40 or maybe even 60% off your first order. I had a gift coupon from my son for $60 dollars, plus the start-up special left me with an over 50% credit. Basically my first week was free, the second week 1/2 price and I paid full for the 3rd after whick I quit. But checking the on-line menu showed as Larry said, there is a pattern, a frozen meal, a pasta, etc.
If I remember correctly, my first frozen was a pasta? then 2nd frozen were some pork chops. All easily done. Nice for trying the odd new dish here and there, but then, again as Larry said, it is sfuff you might usually make - but it is all ready to go, quick, quick - open, dump, cook, eat.

 

[GinnyPNW]

All great input...thanks to each of you for your time and posts!! I think I may look around for a local place. I know they have all sorts of locals that deliver already made (from research for MIL)...maybe there are some meal kit places too. Although, now, I'm kind of thinking that what I really need/want, is more of an inspirational "club"...ha, ha. Read thru, pick recipes for the week, click "add to shopping list"...go shopping...

 

[dragnlaw]

Isn't that called a "Personal Chef"?