Meal preparation services experiences?

[Fedup]

I think one of my kid's might profit from some of the easy cooking recipes from Hello Fresh. She confessed of not knowing how to cook chicken. The other one is a reasonably decent cook, she has won awards at work for her recipes.

[splitwdw]

A friend has tried Blue Apron and she thought the meals were skimpy. She is not a big eater.
Have you searched for any meal prep. services in your area. We have quite a few in our area. They range from gourmet to down home.


I'd probably never try a Blue Apron company. I like my meals simple and not a lot of seasoning.

[HillCountry]

We used Blue Apron last year. We order 2 meals every week so that my two middle schoolers can practise cooking. The shipment comes Friday, very well insulated.

At the beginning, it will take them about one hour to prepare a meal. Later on, they can do a meal in half hour. It is lots for fun for them and they look forward to the cooking.

The meals come in various cuisine and taste decent. Eventually we put the service on hold, as the kids say their mom cooks way better :-)

[nash031]

Quote:

Originally Posted by splitwdw A friend has tried Blue Apron and she thought the meals were skimpy. She is not a big eater. Have you searched for any meal prep. services in your area. We have quite a few in our area. They range from gourmet to down home. I'd probably never try a Blue Apron company. I like my meals simple and not a lot of seasoning.

I don't really see how anyone could call the meals "skimpy." We frequently have leftovers.

[splitwdw]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nash031 I don't really see how anyone could call the meals "skimpy." We frequently have leftovers.

At least one other poster has commented that the meals were adequate or a little on the small side with no leftovers. Maybe it depends on which meal is ordered.

[Meadbh]

Quote:

Originally Posted by splitwdw At least one other poster has commented that the meals were adequate or a little on the small side with no leftovers. Maybe it depends on which meal is ordered.

I'm curious whether the size of the meals varies depending on location. How standardized are the portions? Or is this in the eye of the beholder?

[W2R]

I am hoping to get 3-4 dinners out of each of the two 2-dinner meals that I ordered from ChefD. So hopefully what I ordered will last a week.

Meadbh, the calories are listed in the nutritional info (for ChefD anyway), and do not depend on location since they are all shipped from the same place.

The 2-dinner meals that I ordered are each around 2000 calories total, so using their suggested portions that would be 1000 calories per meal. That sounds like too much for me, but we'll see!

I can't afford to eat 1000 calories per meal (for my health), so if I find myself eating anywhere near that much, then next time I may choose the Weight Watchers meals from ChefD instead of the regular meals.

[45th Birthday]

Just received this week's Blue Apron shipment.

Here's a little data to shed some light on the portion size issue. Two meals for four people each.

The chicken meal contained four six-ounce boneless chicken breasts, 1/2 pound of pasta, three celery stalks, two oz. baby greens, one red pepper and some spices and seasonings.

The hamburger meal contained 1 1/8 pounds of ground beef, four buns, one pound of potatoes, two oz. cheese, and some spices and seasonings.

Unfortunately, the pepper, a potato, and some basil were rotten. Second time this is happened in maybe six deliveries. Not good.

[W2R]

That sounds substantial to me, 45thBirthday! Thanks for the info.

OK, I was posting about my ChefD order on another forum and somebody suggested ButcherBox for meat and said their meat is really good. ButcherBox is apparently subscription only, but I love the idea of getting just meat to freeze like that and then defrost and grill now and then. So I subscribed to get a box every other month.

So, I thought I pass along that information too.

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moemg Can you pick your delivery day ?

I'm not sure but I think maybe you were talking about ChefD? When I ordered from them yesterday, they gave me a choice of about 7-8 delivery days to pick from, and I could click on one of them.

The first day they listed was next Wednesday, so I clicked on Thursday.

This was not for a subscription, but just for 2 dinners that I ordered with no subscription.

[Pilot2013]

I would love to try Chef'D, but I eat meat, and wife usually no meat, and occasional fish. Since you order dinners for 2, I would eat 1 for 1 evening, and then the 2nd one another evening. Wife would order "her" type of meals and would have to do the same.

I just wonder how well the food would "last" for 2 days.

[ExFlyBoy5]

Quote:

Originally Posted by audreyh1 I don't mind shopping for groceries and I have lots of recipes I've developed over the years. It's the in season or available ingredients that inspire new recipes. If I have to do the food prep I'm not interested in buying from a meal service.

This is my thinking. I believe that they service that is provided is just too darn expensive. I am not saying that it's not a good choice for some folks, but for me, it would be an enormous waste of money. I have heard that many of the (maybe all) of the Blue Apron recipes are available online FOR FREE.

As far as I am concerned, if I wanted to try these "new fancy" recipes then I could figure out what ingredients I need and add them to the grocery store list...after all, aren't most of us *still* going to the grocery store once a week for stuff? I don't think it would really add that much time getting the additional items at the store.

One other thought about "not being a cook". Well, I think this is baloney. I told myself for a long time that I couldn't cook. I could grill, but hey...who can't do that? Well, in retirement I thought I would give it a try. After all, I have recipes from several members of the family as well as my DW's family...hell, enough to have a different meal, everyday for the next 5 years. And you know what? There just isn't too much to it. You gather ingredients, put them together as instructed, and viola! Home cooked meal!!!

Anyway...back to the original topic.

[Moemg]

I can see using it for exotic recipes but seriously do they really sell grilled cheese kits ?

[Meadbh]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ExFlyBoy5 One other thought about "not being a cook". Well, I think this is baloney. I told myself for a long time that I couldn't cook. I could grill, but hey...who can't do that? Well, in retirement I thought I would give it a try. After all, I have recipes from several members of the family as well as my DW's family...hell, enough to have a different meal, everyday for the next 5 years. And you know what? There just isn't too much to it. You gather ingredients, put them together as instructed, and viola! Home cooked meal!!

If I can learn to cook, anybody can. Here's what I've eaten today:

Breakfast: omelette* with free range eggs, cayenne pepper, basil and cheddar cheese, coffee

Lunch: zoodles with homemade pesto, jubilee tomatoes and Andouilli sausage, garnished with Parmiggiana-Romano**. Grapefruit juice.

Dessert: rhubarb crisp*** with Greek yogurt.

I'm not having supper.

* Jamie Oliver has a good tutorial on how to make a great omelette
** My idea, based on what's in season at the Farmers Market
*** Laura Vitale (Laura in the Kitchen) has over 1000 great simple recipes and communicates them very clearly. They always work out well.

I suppose I might have spent $10 on these ingredients, but they are all fresh and most are locally grown or made, and I haven't used them all. Everything has been beyond delicious.

[audreyh1]

One of the joys of retirement is having plenty of time to cook and to shop for primo ingredients to make the effort worthwhile. We eat so well, and so healthy at home, that few restaurants can touch what we do. We rarely eat out unless traveling.

[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ExFlyBoy5 One other thought about "not being a cook". Well, I think this is baloney. I told myself for a long time that I couldn't cook. I could grill, but hey...who can't do that? Well, in retirement I thought I would give it a try. After all, I have recipes from several members of the family as well as my DW's family...hell, enough to have a different meal, everyday for the next 5 years. And you know what? There just isn't too much to it. You gather ingredients, put them together as instructed, and viola! Home cooked meal!!! Anyway...back to the original topic.

I know plenty of folks who do a lousy job at grilling - otherwise known as "let's burn that meat" - so I don't think just anyone can grill well.

I taught myself to grill after many years as an experienced cook. DH had other things to do, so I took up the art when we started RVing, and really enjoyed mastering it.

[nash031]

Quote:

Originally Posted by splitwdw At least one other poster has commented that the meals were adequate or a little on the small side with no leftovers. Maybe it depends on which meal is ordered.

I believe Hello Fresh meals are a little bit bigger than BA, but wouldn't call either one skimpy. Granted, I'm average sized and my wife is petite.

[NW-Bound]

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R I like that Chefd has an entire collection of 10 minute meals, that you don't have to subscribe, and that it delivers to every zip code in the country. ...

Really? My 2nd home in the high-country boondocks is 50 miles from the nearest incorporated town. The US Postal does not deliver mail, and I have to go to their office to get mail from a P.O. box.

When I opened this P.O. box 10 years ago after buying the home (newly built), the Post Master was not sure what Zip Code I belonged in, and said it did not matter anyway.

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound Really? My 2nd home in the high-country boondocks is 50 miles from the nearest incorporated town. The US Postal does not deliver mail, and I have to go to their office to get mail from a P.O. box. When I opened this P.O. box 10 years ago after buying the home (newly built), the Post Master was not sure what Zip Code I belonged in, and said it did not matter anyway.

Well, if I was in your location, then I'd doublecheck with your postmaster to see if you have been assigned a zip code yet, and then I'd doublecheck with ChefD to make sure they can deliver. Better safe than sorry, as the saying goes.


Here's the page where they say,

Quote:

We currently delivery to all zip codes located in the Contiguous Unites States.

https://care.chefd.com/hc/en-us/arti...Chef-d-deliver-

[Katsmeow]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ExFlyBoy5 This is my thinking. I believe that they service that is provided is just too darn expensive. I am not saying that it's not a good choice for some folks, but for me, it would be an enormous waste of money. I have heard that many of the (maybe all) of the Blue Apron recipes are available online FOR FREE. As far as I am concerned, if I wanted to try these "new fancy" recipes then I could figure out what ingredients I need and add them to the grocery store list...after all, aren't most of us *still* going to the grocery store once a week for stuff? I don't think it would really add that much time getting the additional items at the store.

For me, a big draw to this kind of service is threefold. This is pretty much in order of priority from least to first.

First, there are so many recipes out there, it can be overwhelming to decide what to try and to then plan it out. I like the idea of having a number of recipes to pick from. Chefd has more than most places. It is not too many, but gives good variety.

Second, yes, I find shopping for ingredients for recipes with a lot of ingredients to be off putting. Periodically I make some bean/chicken wraps with quite a few ingredients. Whenever I go to the grocery store I have to go find the recipe and make a list of everything I need. it isn't just get beans but X number of Y size cans of black beans, for example. This isn't something I can carry in my head. I need to take the list and go find things at the store that I don't usually buy. So, it ends up being a pain. Can I do it? Yes. Do I do it when I really want to? Yes. But, the bottom line is that there are some foods that I would make more often if the ingredients were delivered to my house and I didn't have to go buy them.

Third, and most importantly. I like the idea of these services because you get the amount of ingredients that you need to for the meal without a lot of wastage. With some recipes, they call for ingredients that I don't usually eat. I have to buy a jar to use a tablespoon for example. I am then stuck with the jar that I have no use for. If I end up eventually throwing it out then the cost of my meal is higher than originally thought because I spent to buy the entire container but only used a small amount of it. Some recipes have things, also, that I just don't find in stores or are very expensive for even a small quantity. I really love the idea of not having to buy more than I will use.