What Do You Think of This Idea?

That is one of the last things I want. Ever.

It'd probably sell, though. Whether it would actually stick or work for most people is a whole other question.

Yeah, I understand that meal planning and cooking is a lot of effort for some people. I do enjoy it though. Thought: would likely only work in the US as just eating small cold bites outside of dinner and not cooking anything is quite common in parts of Europe. I just want to get my fresh croissant, or two slices of bread and good cheese for breakfast and lunch, not cook anything.

Is it impossible to cook for one in the US (assuming that where you are)? Because I cook for one and have no problem. Yeah, I often eat the same dinner two days in a row, or I cook a big stew and put a few portions into the freezer, but my cooking hardly ever takes more than 30 minutes and involves very few leftovers. Including fruit and grains I easily get close to 40 different plant-based things per week. I mean, if a veg is every so slightly wilted you can still eat it, and especially in winter they last for quite a while in the kitchen.

If I cook a single serving, it’s mostly frozen ingredients because I can just scoop a handful. This week I made gnocchi with roasted Brussels sprouts and blistered tomatoes and I’m on day 4 and probably just throwing away what’s left. Same with the sheet pan pancakes I found a recipe for. Both recipes I like, but just can’t deal with the proportions. Other than some kind of single piece air-fried meat and frozen veg or a salad kit, I can’t imagine what would be a single serving or two of something. It’s honestly easier not to eat at all some nights.

I don't even find it difficult, let alone impossible.

Maybe being vegetarian makes it easier, I don't know because I've never been other than vegetarian in adulthood. From being married to an omnivore and from childhood, I understand that fresh meat/fish generally spoil faster, may come in grocery stores in standard-ish sized chunks that may involve more prep/storage, and maybe other issues. Maybe that creates roadblocks, maybe not.

I also understand that a lot of people now literally don't know how to cook, but I'm totally comfortable with cooking, and happy to do it most of the time without recipes. I'll admit I turn to formulaic things like frozen veg + protein + sauce/seasonings when I don't have time or feel tired or whatever. But I have enough experience to understand how to cook a lot of more complicated things without a recipe, plus how to read a recipe to figure out what I call the "structural ingredients" (the things that need to be in certain proportions) then adapt the other ingredients to my taste. I feel like that experience is somewhat empowering.

I wouldn't like this kind of service because I don't necessarily even know what I want to eat until I'm in the midst of cooking it. I almost never pre-log, maybe just pre-log dinner if I'm not sure whether I'm getting in enough protein or something like that.

All of that plan-y, formulaic stuff is totally alien to my personality and preferences, let alone someone else making the plan. Just no.

I'm also with Neanderthin on this one: While I'd be interested in a report on how my genetics and microbiome and what-not relate to good personalized nutrition, I want that to be done by a respected health care provider or university nutrition lab, not a grocery purveyor.

Some of my friends have used the meal kit services to learn to cook, or to broaden their cooking skillset/experience, or to have meals 2-3 times per week that were seasoned/prepared very different from their usual without buying big bottles of spices and other ingredients that they wouldn't use up (since the kits contain pre-measured amounts).

I'm sure there's a market for this, if it could be done adequately, even though I don't want any part of it myself. My tastes and preferences for sure aren't a thing other people share, and I honestly don't have an emotional investment in persuading others to share them. Variety in tastes and preferences is part of what makes interacting with others interesting, in my world.

I think it's Home Chef that has heat up meals at my grocery store. They just need a final cook in the air fryer and many are a good size for about two meals for me. I've done the mail order Factor meals that come fresh and just need to be heated up. Those weren't too bad, but the order quantities never quite worked out for me. There's a company in town that does crockpot meals that you just dump and go and they're really good—but are family sized and some of the ingredients don't always freeze well. I also found a fitness company that did premade meals, but they were in a cursed building that no one stays in business at for very long. (Seriously, so many places have been there—it's got to be the building!)

It's just a challenge to find food that's tasty, healthy, and convenient for single portions. It was so much easier when I cooked for a household than it is dealing with food for one!