What online Food delivery services do you recommend?

Scilas
Scilas Posts: 5 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hi there ~ would like to know what online healthy food delivery service you use or would recommend as most of us don't cook or have/make the time to? Mainly wanting to order 1 main meal a day. Thank you.
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Replies

  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    Sharing information about your location might help you get better recommendations. We have people from all around the world here.
  • Rhumax67
    Rhumax67 Posts: 162 Member
    I tried purple carrot. Food & recipes were very fresh & good. Expensive though. It's vegan but take a look, if you're adventurous. I didn't continue because it was too much for a single person. I had too many leftovers.
  • Scilas
    Scilas Posts: 5 Member
    I am in Orange County, CA. Thank you for info. I am not vegan and I will check it out. If you order for one and have left overs, won't you use it for the next day/s?
  • Rhumax67
    Rhumax67 Posts: 162 Member
    Scilas wrote: »
    I am in Orange County, CA. Thank you for info. I am not vegan and I will check it out. If you order for one and have left overs, won't you use it for the next day/s?

    Yes, That's what I did but as I remember it was 3 meals for 2 people so I ended up with 6 meals for the week. For me, it was a little much.
  • sjd421
    sjd421 Posts: 54 Member
    I have used both Hello Fresh and Sunbasket and like Sunbasket better. You can do 2 or 3 meals per week for 2 or 4 people. They have a good variety of foods in a good range of calories.
  • ladyhusker39
    ladyhusker39 Posts: 1,406 Member
    thecharon wrote: »
    For those days that you don't want to spend a retirement fund on food, don't forget there is always walmart. Tyson sells frozen chicken pre-cooked breasts. And they have steammable veggies as a side.

    I think everyone is familiar with Walmart's grocery section. Not everyone is concerned about the cost of food delivery services. I assume that's not an issue for OP since she asked her question this way.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    OP, are you asking about kits or about ready-made meals?

    I like cooking and can cook fast, but I get it, because if you find it stressful or don't know what you are doing or have only experience with trying to follow recipes (often people end up trying out more complicated ones too), it can seem like a bigger deal than it is.

    This is actually one reason why I hate that some are so down on foods that make cooking for a beginning more convenient. When I first started cooking regularly (many many years ago now), and was stressed about time, I did a lot of rice and beans packages (added vegetables and some feta), and lots of pasta-based meals (initially with jarred sauce and a bagged salad, but I soon realized it was easy to make a sauce).

    Bittman's basic cookbook is really good for simple and not time consuming cooking, but I also think meal kits can be a really good way to learn that cooking can be pretty easy and doesn't have to take that long, and is a stepping stone, not a replacement.

    But if someone wants ready made meals, I think that's fine too. Like I said, I enjoy cooking, but not everyone does and for some not having to cook would be worth the extra money.
  • lucerorojo
    lucerorojo Posts: 790 Member
    ladyhusker39 wrote: »
    RunRutheeRun wrote: »
    There was a thread asking this the other day. I'm always baffled by those who say they don't have time to cook, literally so many home made meals can be ready to eat in 15 or 20 mins - practically the time it takes for any ready made meal to be heated up in a conventional oven.

    That's true but if you don't know how to cook very well or aren't very confident in your skills it can take longer than someone who's proficient at it. Also it can be stressful. That's the only thing that makes sense to me when I see the "I don't have time to cook" comment. Clearly if you have time to cook from a kit you have time to cook without one (if you think of yourself as good at cooking).

    It's not just the cooking, it's the choosing meals and going to the grocery store. I'm an excellent cook--even interviewed for cooking school but decided against it-- and getting the kits saves time. I live in an urban area, do not have a car (so grocery shopping is walking), grocery stores are expensive in my city and also I work different and long hours. I rarely go grocery shopping, because that's 3-4 hours of my time, usually on the weekend--an hour or two to get there and back and the shopping itself. There are grocery delivery services that I use and it will take me 30 minutes or so to order to the groceries online, but then I have to be here when they deliver them, which is not always convenient. I like to eat a variety of foods and do not eat leftovers after one day--perhaps people would consider me picky. I don't have children, so I don't have to worry about that. Cooking for one can be wasteful when you shop yourself--you have to buy a whole thing of "whatever" and if it is perishable, usually gets thrown out because you can't use it all. I throw out a lot more produce when I shop myself unless I go shopping 3-4 times a week, but that isn't feasible with my schedule. I also don't like freezing food--I will freeze raw meat and fish and desserts (if I decide to make one) but that's it.

    The meal kits work for people like me and others who don't want to spend the time choosing what they want to cook, making a list and then shopping for it--cooking it is just part of the time spent.
  • Scilas
    Scilas Posts: 5 Member
    If you reread my post it says "as most of us don't cook or have/make the time to cook. After 11 medical appts. almost every month, physical therapy at home and working/independant I prefer not to if I don't want to cook as everything else in my home I take care of on my own! I take classes/webinars at home now instead of driving out so a bit booked and tired daily!!!!!!

    I can cook almost anything on an italian menu from scratch as I used to own a Restaurant.
  • Scilas
    Scilas Posts: 5 Member
    For those of you who eat 4-5 times a day, Atkins meals has some great choices apart from their power bars which I have for breakfast. Costco has precooked chicken which I make chicken salad with some other items, some cereal, nuts, apples/bananas, soups I alternate. Though want a main meal I don't have to prepare and fresh as it gets boring unless I go out for food.

    Thank you everyone for your suggestions :)
  • Gisel2015
    Gisel2015 Posts: 4,135 Member
    Scilas wrote: »
    Hi there ~ would like to know what online healthy food delivery service you use or would recommend as most of us don't cook or have/make the time to? Mainly wanting to order 1 main meal a day. Thank you.

    Where did you get that idea?
  • lporter229
    lporter229 Posts: 4,907 Member
    I was recently researching this very question as we are buying a gift subscription for my BIL for Christmas. There were a ton of articles with differing opinions on the subject, but the one service that was rated consistently among the top on every list was PeachDish. It appears that it leans in favor of Southern/comfort food though, so I guess it would matter if that is your thing or not. It was also stated as being among the priciest, so there's that.

    On a side note, do you have a Kroger in your area? I know you said that you don't like going to the grocery store, but our Kroger sells meal kits that are similar to the mail order service for about half the price ($12-$15 for a meal for two). Everything comes in a box with instructions and they are super quick and easy to make. The ones I have tried so far have been surprisingly good. I keep them on my radar for nights when I am short on time. It's just a matter of running into the store and grabbing a box then about 20 minutes to cook the meal.
  • Scilas
    Scilas Posts: 5 Member
    That's awesome, I will check as I believe Food 4 less pops up when I input Kroger though made a note on Wednesdays to do the weekly shopping and Costco has precooked items. A few people I go to started telling me about some local services though many had bad reviews and were twice as expensive as just going out for a decent meal. Though they mentioned that almost all restaurants that don't deliver are on other websites that will deliver for them!! I didn't know that, so I can have subway and many other places delivered!! Thank you for all the advise and Happy Holidays to everyone :)
  • jessicastanfill
    jessicastanfill Posts: 69 Member
    RunRutheeRun wrote: »
    There was a thread asking this the other day. I'm always baffled by those who say they don't have time to cook, literally so many home made meals can be ready to eat in 15 or 20 mins - practically the time it takes for any ready made meal to be heated up in a conventional oven.

    Cooking requires more time than the time actually making the food. It's planning what to eat and buy and grocery shopping. Some people don't have the time to prepare and plan

  • creatureofchaos
    creatureofchaos Posts: 65 Member
    I
    jessicastanfill wrote: »
    RunRutheeRun wrote: »
    There was a thread asking this the other day. I'm always baffled by those who say they don't have time to cook, literally so many home made meals can be ready to eat in 15 or 20 mins - practically the time it takes for any ready made meal to be heated up in a conventional oven.

    Cooking requires more time than the time actually making the food. It's planning what to eat and buy and grocery shopping. Some people don't have the time to prepare and plan
    This. Planning meals and shopping takes a couple of hours a week, and some people don’t have the time. Others have the time but value it as worth more than the additional cost of letting someone else do it for them.

    So effing what. There’s no award for your super special virtue either way.
  • stoked2b
    stoked2b Posts: 136 Member
    I tried BlueApron for 3-4 months last year. While the end result meal was usually pretty good, I'm looking for simpler recipes that take 15-20 minute meal prep&cook time not 45-70 minutes.
  • extra_medium
    extra_medium Posts: 1,525 Member
    ladyhusker39 wrote: »
    thecharon wrote: »
    For those days that you don't want to spend a retirement fund on food, don't forget there is always walmart. Tyson sells frozen chicken pre-cooked breasts. And they have steammable veggies as a side.

    I think everyone is familiar with Walmart's grocery section. Not everyone is concerned about the cost of food delivery services. I assume that's not an issue for OP since she asked her question this way.

    to be fair the OP doesn't have time to cook, but most of the suggestions and discussion refer to services that require you to cook.

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