Meal Kits?

[smilequeen]

So, if the meal kit companies stay in business during all of this...I'm thinking of using one again for a while to minimize grocery trips for fresh ingredients.

Which one have you used that your kids will actually eat? I have one very picky kid, 2 open minded...so I can adjust for my youngest I guess if the others will eat it.

I did Hello Fresh for a while, but would try something else?

[essnce629]

We've tried Freshly, Sunbasket, Home Chef, and Plated. We liked Home Chef the best but I stopped it because they didn't have the option to chose organic at the time. They do now though, although you'll pay extra. I've been wanting to try Marley Spoon also.

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[ang79]

I did a free trial to Blue Apron and have purchased several times from Hello Fresh. The food from Blue Apron was good, but fancier than what we normally eat. My kids preferred Hello Fresh and they like helping me make the meals from there, the directions are so easy to follow. I was wondering if they will be able to stay open, as many states seem to be wanting non-essential businesses to close for the time being. Now that I am home everyday I certainly have the time to do the prep work required of the meal kits and would always be home for the delivery! But, is it risking contamination of food prepped and packaged by others?

[smilequeen]

I did a free trial to Blue Apron and have purchased several times from Hello Fresh. The food from Blue Apron was good, but fancier than what we normally eat. My kids preferred Hello Fresh and they like helping me make the meals from there, the directions are so easy to follow. I was wondering if they will be able to stay open, as many states seem to be wanting non-essential businesses to close for the time being. Now that I am home everyday I certainly have the time to do the prep work required of the meal kits and would always be home for the delivery! But, is it risking contamination of food prepped and packaged by others?

I'm thinking less risky than trips to the grocery store might be? IDK?

[gatorsmom]

I did a free trial to Blue Apron and have purchased several times from Hello Fresh. The food from Blue Apron was good, but fancier than what we normally eat. My kids preferred Hello Fresh and they like helping me make the meals from there, the directions are so easy to follow. I was wondering if they will be able to stay open, as many states seem to be wanting non-essential businesses to close for the time being. Now that I am home everyday I certainly have the time to do the prep work required of the meal kits and would always be home for the delivery! But, is it risking contamination of food prepped and packaged by others?

Ive wondered that about the washed, bagged lettuces and spinach. Should I wash it before I eat it? What about apples, kiwi, blueberries? Safe to simply rinse with water before eating?

[wallawala]

We love Meez Meals, but they have a limited delivery area.
https://www.meezmeals.com/

Nine states: Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, Indiana, Kentucky, Iowa, and most of Missouri & Minnesota. Mainly midwest, I think they are based in Chicago.

Food is fantastic and heavy on carb-conscious and vegetarian options. They really play with fusion flavors, but I've only had one meal I didn't like. Menu changes every week with only rare repeats (which kinda sucks when we have meal that hits it out of the park). Ingredients have always been fresh. I hate the shipping aspect from the Carbon footprint aspect, but it has saved me $. We order about 2 meals a week 3 weeks a month.

There is NO SUBSCRIPTION or commitment. Order only the weeks you want. If you forget to order they don't send food (but they send lots of emails to remind you).

Sometimes my kids love it, sometimes not. But as it's minimal effort to put together a flavorful home-cooked meal from home (usually under 30min) I DON'T CARE. I take any leftovers for my lunch at work and it's win-win. As you put it all together, it's tweakable generally for various eaters in your house.

I'm happy to give anyone a 50% off reference code for their first order if you PM me.

[AnnieW625]

We have Hello Fresh. I might try Home Chef as well. Dd1 helped cool dinner tonight. I would like to get Dd2 involved as well.


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[essnce629]

I'm thinking less risky than trips to the grocery store might be? IDK?Exactly! Lots of the grocery stores near me are wiped out or have 2-3 hour lines to get in or check out. No thanks! Basically the opposite of social distancing! The Trader Joe's walking distance from my house is now opening at 9am instead of 8am and there were already about 30 people lined up to get in at 7:30am.

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[pharmjenn]

I have used Plated and Gobble. Plated stopped their delivery service a few months ago, and just do kits at Safeway (they were always a Safeway product)
I like Gobble, as they are quick meals. They are based in the SF Bay Area, so I don't know if they have nationwide distribution centers.
I would say that when you start a service, it is usually a couple weeks out before your first meal, as you have to choose your meals for the following week early in the week.

[div_0305]

We've tried quite a few, but are vegetarian, so here's our experience. We miss Plated soooooo much! No one has come close to them for us. I would do their Safeway based recipes when things turn around. Our second favorite was Sunbasket, but they are too heavy on pre-made sauces, from which I learn nothing new to help me recreate that recipe later. Currently, we are doing Martha & Marley Spoon. I was hesitant to try them because it's not organic, but on the other hand, after trying our first meal yesterday, I was floored! The quality of what they sent was top notch, more than enough to feed 4 people, and super tasty. Our least favorites have been Hello Fresh, Home Chef and Green Chef. For now, we are going to stick with Martha & Marley Spoon. If anyone wants a referral discount for these, please PM me.:waving4:

[georgiegirl]

Check out local restaurants. I just got an email from one restaurant in my area that is doing delivery service. $80 for a 4 meals. Can pick from 2 salads and 4 entrees (can mix and match), plus a dozen mini cookies. It’s one of the nicer restaurants in the area.


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[legaleagle]

I've tried 5 or 6 companies over the years (some of which are no longer available). The only one we currently use and get almost every week is Marley Spoon. I have 4 kids, 2 who never eat it/super picky. My other 2 - my 7yo will usually eat most components, my 4 year old will eat the meat. DH is pretty picky too and often skips the sauces/dressings. We usually get the 2 person version and just augment the parts my picky ones will eat (e.g. add an extra chicken breast or more rice) which makes it very economical for us. Those of you lucky enough to have children who eat vegetables will likely want the 4 person meals though.

[AnnieW625]

We've tried quite a few, but are vegetarian, so here's our experience. We miss Plated soooooo much! No one has come close to them for us. I would do their Safeway based recipes when things turn around. Our second favorite was Sunbasket, but they are too heavy on pre-made sauces, from which I learn nothing new to help me recreate that recipe later. Currently, we are doing Martha & Marley Spoon. I was hesitant to try them because it's not organic, but on the other hand, after trying our first meal yesterday, I was floored! The quality of what they sent was top notch, more than enough to feed 4 people, and super tasty. Our least favorites have been Hello Fresh, Home Chef and Green Chef. For now, we are going to stick with Martha & Marley Spoon. If anyone wants a referral discount for these, please PM me.:waving4:

So what did you not like about Hello Fresh? I initially liked it because they delivered on Saturday and that their boxes were well organized (each day has it’s own bag), but now the Saturday thing doesn’t matter much as dh is home all day teleworking. We eat meat though so I wonder if that doesn’t matter as much. The only downside I have had veggie wise is Hello Fresh’a broccoli, and some weeks they have too many entree choices with potatoes.

I did look at Marley Spoon and they seemed to have a nice variety of veggies.

Are there any meat eaters here who have used them?

I would love a code as well.


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[bcafe]

We have been utilizing Hello Fresh for several months. It is easy and keeps out of restaurants when things are crazy. I initially got it because activities were every night, but since everything has been canceled I may stop it. The food has been pretty good, though my one complaint has been the sides as they are always potatoes or rice with green beans or broccoli. It is getting old.

[div_0305]

So what did you not like about Hello Fresh? I initially liked it because they delivered on Saturday and that their boxes were well organized (each day has it’s own bag), but now the Saturday thing doesn’t matter much as dh is home all day teleworking. We eat meat though so I wonder if that doesn’t matter as much. The only downside I have had veggie wise is Hello Fresh’a broccoli, and some weeks they have too many entree choices with potatoes.

I did look at Marley Spoon and they seemed to have a nice variety of veggies.

Are there any meat eaters here who have used them?

I would love a code as well.


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Hello Fresh uses ingredients that have artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives that I don't like in my food. For example, they sent tortilla strips that were multicolored--not naturally. I'd have preferred just plain tortilla strips with no artificial color. We thought their ingredient quality was overall poor compared to the other companies. For the most veggies though, Sunbasket really has the upper hand there!

[HannaAddict]

Sun Basket is the only one we’ve tried and it is decent. Wash all the produce even if it says prewashed, meat is sealed by organic provider so not handled except for the packaging and spices sealed in packets I’m sure long ago. We started it again since it is lower risk and already planned out for you, for a couple of times a week. And can order some things we can’t get locally around here too, from chicken breast to cherry tomatoes at times.


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[HannaAddict]

Ive wondered that about the washed, bagged lettuces and spinach. Should I wash it before I eat it? What about apples, kiwi, blueberries? Safe to simply rinse with water before eating?

You should always wash fresh produce even if it says “prewashed.” We don’t buy those bags of salad higher chance of food borne illness than a head of lettuce or intact hearts of romaine. In the meal kit, we wash produce well and then it is cooked and not served as a salad. Wash all other fruits and vegetables too. Even without Covid19.


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[boss1]

I would love a code for Marley Spoon, if anyone has one. I'm thinking of giving this one a try.

[legaleagle]

I would love a code for Marley Spoon, if anyone has one. I'm thinking of giving this one a try.

If you still need one, PM me

[elbenn]

My favorite is Blue Apron. The meals are good, although cooking can be a little more time consuming as some of the recipes are fairly complicated (compared to Hello Fresh anyway).

[legaleagle]

I would love a code for Marley Spoon, if anyone has one. I'm thinking of giving this one a try.

If you still need one, PM me

[twowhat?]

Another idea: Some of our local restaurants are putting together "quarantine kits" for curbside delivery. I think it's a GREAT idea and feel like more and more restaurants are trying it out! It's food that they would normally order for their own kitchens to serve to dining room guests, but instead packaged into kits for the general public. It's great because a lot of the food comes from local sources and thus helps out local farms, etc. We just picked one up today that had a whole chicken, wagyu ground beef, flank steak, sourdough bread, eggs, butter, oranges, broccoli, potatoes, half a honeydew melon, a gallon of milk, and a roll of TP LOL. Check FB for things like this - I'm sure anyone who works in IT is slammed so it's unlikely restaurants can get this info on their websites quickly, but they can easily get this info on social media quickly! They're not necessarily meal kits, but a good basic selection of protein/veggies/fruit that could replace a trip to the grocery. We tipped as if we dined in. Ordering something like this every now and then plus picking up our regular CSA veggies is a refreshing change for navigating empty grocery store aisles. We also try to order regular restaurant takeout once or twice a week to help support local restaurants...many restaurants are offering curbside delivery, and some are selling "family meal packs" - our local Black Walnut cafe is selling meal packs, all fully cooked, designed for families of 4, ranging from $26-$36 which is a great deal! We ordered one yesterday, tipped as if we dined in, and really enjoyed our piping hot Chicken Bailey dinner with mashed potatoes, garlic bread, and salad.

[div_0305]

Another idea: Some of our local restaurants are putting together "quarantine kits" for curbside delivery. I think it's a GREAT idea and feel like more and more restaurants are trying it out! It's food that they would normally order for their own kitchens to serve to dining room guests, but instead packaged into kits for the general public. It's great because a lot of the food comes from local sources and thus helps out local farms, etc. We just picked one up today that had a whole chicken, wagyu ground beef, flank steak, sourdough bread, eggs, butter, oranges, broccoli, potatoes, half a honeydew melon, a gallon of milk, and a roll of TP LOL. Check FB for things like this - I'm sure anyone who works in IT is slammed so it's unlikely restaurants can get this info on their websites quickly, but they can easily get this info on social media quickly! They're not necessarily meal kits, but a good basic selection of protein/veggies/fruit that could replace a trip to the grocery. We tipped as if we dined in. Ordering something like this every now and then plus picking up are regular CSA veggies is a refreshing change for navigating empty grocery store aisles.

I love that!! How creative and entrepreneurial spirited businesses can be! I would totally prefer to patronize our local restaurants if they do something like this!! Some of these businesses are staples around us--always giving to the community in good times--others not, so I'd only patronize the former!

[Myira]

I follow Jill and she posted a review of Splendid Spoon which is Whole Foods plant based. May be useful to those of us here that eat this way-

https://youtu.be/cnpVXso0EyE


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[AnnieW625]

If you still need one, PM me

I just tried to send you a PM and your box is full.


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[legaleagle]

I just tried to send you a PM and your box is full.


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Cleaned it out (had ones going back to 2010!) and sent you a pm.

[AnnieW625]

Cleaned it out (had ones going back to 2010!) and sent you a pm.

Thanks!


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[ang79]

If anyone has discount or coupon codes for new customers at any of the meal kit companies that are still sending shipments, please PM me! I had a coupon to rejoin Hello Fresh but it wouldn't accept it (said it was expired, though the coupon clearly said it was good until May 31, 2020). I chatted with customer support and they said they weren't allowing anyone to reactivate right now due to the virus. But then I went through and it let me reactivate my account without the coupon. So I guess as long as I pay full price they let me, but I can't use coupons right now :(

[div_0305]

If anyone has discount or coupon codes for new customers at any of the meal kit companies that are still sending shipments, please PM me! I had a coupon to rejoin Hello Fresh but it wouldn't accept it (said it was expired, though the coupon clearly said it was good until May 31, 2020). I chatted with customer support and they said they weren't allowing anyone to reactivate right now due to the virus. But then I went through and it let me reactivate my account without the coupon. So I guess as long as I pay full price they let me, but I can't use coupons right now :(

I heard that with Marley & Spoon, too. So I only sent you a PM for Sunbasket referral coupon--their website didn't say coupons were no longer accepted. Hope it works! If anyone else wants one, please PM me :).

[AngB]

If anyone has discount or coupon codes for new customers at any of the meal kit companies that are still sending shipments, please PM me! I had a coupon to rejoin Hello Fresh but it wouldn't accept it (said it was expired, though the coupon clearly said it was good until May 31, 2020). I chatted with customer support and they said they weren't allowing anyone to reactivate right now due to the virus. But then I went through and it let me reactivate my account without the coupon. So I guess as long as I pay full price they let me, but I can't use coupons right now :(

We are trying HomeChef. It was easy enough to make and about half our family liked it (which is typical..) I will send you a pm with a code if you still want it ($35 credit.) We haven't done any others so not sure how it compares though.

[AnnieW625]

I just did Marley Spoon and they took the credit of a free box that I was sent. I get my first order on Tuesday 4/7. Thanks for the coupon Legal Eagle.

ETA: I had a bunch of free Hello Fresh boxes about 6 weeks ago and then I started skipping meals so I thought they just expired, but now it makes more sense that maybe they just suspended the program for the time being. I will always have boxes to send so send me a PM and once they start giving out free boxes again I will send you one.


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[ang79]

Thanks for those that sent coupon codes! I think we will try out Home Chef first, I'll let the girls help me pick meals out to order. I did just go to the store on Friday, so have a bunch of fresh meat to use this week, trying out some new recipes in my Instant Pot! We have other meat and veggies frozen that should last for a bit. My biggest problem is that we are used to milk, bread, and fresh fruits and veggies often, and go through those quickly. And eggs are about impossible to find around here right now. I had some dry milk and egg replacement powder in my pantry from making food gifts in jars mixes at Christmas, so I've started using those in things like pancakes, waffles, and baked stuff. My kids decided they wanted to surprise me with a coconut Impossible Pie last week when I was at the store, and they tried using those substitutes and it was a huge failure :( They didn't realize that a custard pie needs the real stuff, not substitutes! We chalked it up to a science experiment, lol!