Meal Kits? Have you tried them? What are your thoughts?

Options
Lotusstarr
Lotusstarr Posts: 112 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I keep seeing these meal kit services, pop up some nationwide and I've found a few local ones as well. Have you tried them? What's your thoughts? What's the portion sizes look like, are there leftovers? I imagine it would take a lot of the guesswork out of dinner. It sounds great for those days when I just don't want to think about what I'm cooking I just want to cook it, but at the same time don't want to end just going with the normal box meals. I like food... real food. Anyhow, I wait for your replies. :smiley:
«1

Replies

  • BekahC1980
    BekahC1980 Posts: 474 Member
    Options
    Imo I would rather eat cardboard it would be tastier
  • TaraTall
    TaraTall Posts: 339 Member
    Options
    I explored the idea for about 30 minutes, went to sign up, saw the final price, bailed. It's nothing more than meal prep done for you so - unless you think you'll pay for this for the rest of - ever, I'd take a class in meal prep or healthy cooking and do it yourself.

    If it's in your budget, can I borrow $100? Jk, but if it's in your budget, I know it's a popular thing for people who don't "have" time to do your own.
  • svsl0928
    svsl0928 Posts: 205 Member
    Options
    You don't learn the value of portion control using a prepared meal.
  • annaskiski
    annaskiski Posts: 1,212 Member
    Options
    We do Blue Apron. I'm not sure what @BekahC1980 is referring to....(maybe frozen food?)
    Blue Apron dinners are like gourmet meals. I have to warn you though that they are NOT short cuts. They are a lot of chopping and lots of pots and pans used LOL.

    We do love it though, and eat much healthier now because of it. (Lots of healthy vegs in every meal).
    We even signed up for the accompanying wine service. We've discovered a lot of great new wines as well as a result.

    They ARE pricey (about $60 for 3 meals for 2), but you don't have to get it every week if you don't want to.
    You will be introduced to lots of foods you may not have heard of, or at least have never cooked before.

    I like to think of it as a gourmet cooking class.
  • annaskiski
    annaskiski Posts: 1,212 Member
    Options
    Reading other answers, maybe we are discussing different things.

    The service I'm talking about sends you recipes and groceries. They are not "Time Saving", and you certainly learn portion sizes....
  • BekahC1980
    BekahC1980 Posts: 474 Member
    Options
    annaskiski wrote: »
    We do Blue Apron. I'm not sure what @BekahC1980 is referring to....(maybe frozen food?)
    Blue Apron dinners are like gourmet meals. I have to warn you though that they are NOT short cuts. They are a lot of chopping and lots of pots and pans used LOL.

    We do love it though, and eat much healthier now because of it. (Lots of healthy vegs in every meal).
    We even signed up for the accompanying wine service. We've discovered a lot of great new wines as well as a result.

    They ARE pricey (about $60 for 3 meals for 2), but you don't have to get it every week if you don't want to.
    You will be introduced to lots of foods you may not have heard of, or at least have never cooked before.

    I like to think of it as a gourmet cooking class.

    OP asked for personal though but I used medfast
  • annaskiski
    annaskiski Posts: 1,212 Member
    Options
    BekahC1980 wrote: »
    OP asked for personal though but I used medfast

    So I'm guessing you guys are discussing prepared meals, which is not what I am referring to.
    Feel free to ignore my posts :)
  • JodehFoster
    JodehFoster Posts: 419 Member
    Options
    annaskiski wrote: »

    So I'm guessing you guys are discussing prepared meals, which is not what I am referring to.
    Feel free to ignore my posts :)



    I think you had it right the first time, exactly how I interpreted too. I don't think $60 for 3 meals for two is all that bad...I was curious as well, mostly because there doesn't seem like there would be much of any waste with these "kits". Assuming enough for each meal & no leftovers?

    Do they come w/ complete nutrition shown as fully cooked?
  • sullus
    sullus Posts: 2,839 Member
    edited February 2016
    Options
    "Meal kits" is pretty wide, so I'm not exactly sure what you are talking about.

    The frozen grocery store kind ("You just add the meat!!") are kind of nasty. However, our local butcher shop does monthly sessions where for about $150 you get a session led by a cook (ok ok ok .. some rep from a seasoning company, who happens to be able to hold a knife) and prep the ingredients for 6 meals. Each meal is about 1.5 lbs of meat plus seasonings, vegetables, etc. everything gets pre-prepped, bagged up and is freezer ready. Cooking process usually just follows a simple procedure (brown the meat, add bag A, cook for a few minutes, add bag b .. etc) These usually turn into dinner for 4 + 2 lunch portions. These would seem to be exactly what you're looking for. I THINK the company that put them on in my area was Wild Tree.

    At $25 per meal (just over $4.00/serving), its a on the expensive side. I can go to the grocery store and recreate the recipes for more like $12 per meal. It was a fun thing to go to one night (did I mention that they provided the wine?), but I don't think there was much value add in terms of the food or flavors; especially if you're already a decent cook that can get a meal on the table.

    If you're just looking to take the guesswork out of dinner or have some things ready to go so you can execute dinner in a half hour on a weeknight, I find that shopping on Sunday mornings and spending sunday afternoons doing prep cooking or pre-gaming a couple meals works great for me.
  • annaskiski
    annaskiski Posts: 1,212 Member
    Options
    Hi @JodelFoster
    Typically we don't have leftovers, though the meals are pretty filling.
    I paste the links for the recipes into the recipe importer, and MFP spits out all the nutrition info. Usually you just have to add in 2 tbs olive oil, which is the only thing they don't send you.
    Each meal is typically 500-700 calories. You can look up Blue Apron in the tracker, you should see some meals for an example.
  • debrakgoogins
    debrakgoogins Posts: 2,034 Member
    Options
    I recently did extensive research on this. I am getting ready to have major surgery and was looking for an easy way for my husband to take over all meal planning and cooking. I ultimately decided on a program that is frozen and prepared meals called BistroMD. However, in my research, I found that of all the companies offering home delivery, Blue Apron and Plated seemed to get the best reviews.
  • 6502programmer
    6502programmer Posts: 515 Member
    Options
    By "meal kit", I assume you mean things like Blue Apron. We use it, mostly because I take the bus/train to work every day, and don't have the capacity for bringing a whole lot home from the grocery store. We do the family plan, which is $70 for 2x meal for four every week. The meals are usually tasty, fairly nutritious, and always between 600 and 800 calories. It works well for us. It would cost less to shop for those meals, but the tradeoff is worth it, to me. We trade time for things when we work, and we trade things for time when we play. I'd rather pay the convenience fee to get ingredients and recipes delivered to me.
  • annaskiski
    annaskiski Posts: 1,212 Member
    edited February 2016
    Options
    Here's a link to upcoming week's menu's. You can choose 2 person or family.
    I think anyone can see the link to the recipe cards, so you can see how much work they typically take.

    https://www.blueapron.com/pages/sample-recipes

    These are the ones we are getting this week:
    https://www.blueapron.com/recipes/lebanese-lamb-beef-arayes-with-roasted-broccoli-labneh
    https://www.blueapron.com/recipes/roast-chicken-with-mashed-potatoes-maple-glazed-carrots
    https://www.blueapron.com/recipes/mexican-spiced-salmon-with-black-rice-avocado-orange-salad
  • annaskiski
    annaskiski Posts: 1,212 Member
    edited February 2016
    Options
    Actually there is a link to the whole cookbook. I wasn't logged in, so I'm guessing anyone can see this:

    https://www.blueapron.com/cookbook

    Ahh maybe I was logged in sorry....
  • Lotusstarr
    Lotusstarr Posts: 112 Member
    Options
    Yes, sorry I was speaking of a meal kit like Blue Apron, HelloFresh or Plated etc. I don't mind cooking but after putting together a meal plan for over a year my mind gets a little bored. Sometimes it's nice to have a good meal that's not something I'd have to think about. IE I can make Truffled Cremini Mushroom Chicken with Polenta + Roasted Broccolini and Delicata Squash but coming up with a week these recipes is sometimes exhausting. I do however normally have leftovers so I typically only make 3 meals a week.
  • whirlygigs16
    whirlygigs16 Posts: 6 Member
    Options
    I tried Hello Fresh a couple of times. I liked that all ingredients were premeasured without any leftovers. The taste was good overall, and I tried a few things that I would never have thought of on my own. Ultimately i cancelled because the meat was lower quality than I am used to.
    They do have all of their receipes free on their website.
  • Lotusstarr
    Lotusstarr Posts: 112 Member
    Options
    I typically spend around $100-$125 a week for groceries for a 2 person household so $60-70 sounded about right. However if those meals won't extend a bit it would definitely increase my costs.
  • Lotusstarr
    Lotusstarr Posts: 112 Member
    Options
    annaskiski wrote: »
    BekahC1980 wrote: »
    OP asked for personal though but I used medfast

    So I'm guessing you guys are discussing prepared meals, which is not what I am referring to.
    Feel free to ignore my posts :)

    Not Prepared meals just ingredients delivered with a recipe to follow.
  • Lotusstarr
    Lotusstarr Posts: 112 Member
    Options
    debrakgoogins wrote: »
    I recently did extensive research on this. I am getting ready to have major surgery and was looking for an easy way for my husband to take over all meal planning and cooking. I ultimately decided on a program that is frozen and prepared meals called BistroMD. However, in my research, I found that of all the companies offering home delivery, Blue Apron and Plated seemed to get the best reviews.

    Thanks!
  • Lotusstarr
    Lotusstarr Posts: 112 Member
    Options
    6502programmer wrote: »
    By "meal kit", I assume you mean things like Blue Apron. We use it, mostly because I take the bus/train to work every day, and don't have the capacity for bringing a whole lot home from the grocery store. We do the family plan, which is $70 for 2x meal for four every week. The meals are usually tasty, fairly nutritious, and always between 600 and 800 calories. It works well for us. It would cost less to shop for those meals, but the tradeoff is worth it, to me. We trade time for things when we work, and we trade things for time when we play. I'd rather pay the convenience fee to get ingredients and recipes delivered to me.

    Exactly, Thanks!

Categories