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So, I am conflicted.  Here is the tale:  my husband has a friend who was raving about Hello Fresh, a service that delivers you precise amounts of ingredients for three meals for 2 people once a week for $69.  The friend had a coupon so we could try it for free, and husband wanted to try it out.

He approached me with trepidation, as I do all the grocery shopping and cooking, and really enjoy sitting down on Saturdays to go through my cookbooks and plan meals for the week.  I am also a good cook, who is adventurous.  (That said, I usually make a big to-do dinner on Sunday, plan on something else for another weeknight, and, because there are nights I am too tired/late from work, we end up ordering 1-2 times a week.)  We probably spend $50-70 a week on take out/delivery.

At first I was horrified as I thought this would be a lowest-common-denominator thing, with sysco foods, and recipes geared toward midwestern unadventurous housewives.  But, I figured it was free, and why not.   We got a box delivered on Tuesday with the makings for three meals - a shrimp cake with arugula, chicken tostadas, and, because it was super bowl week, a southwestern meat chili.  Everything came in a Styrofoam cooler, and was waiting at home fresh.  Each meal had the component ingredients in a bag, and the proteins were individually sealed.   For example, for the tostadas the bag had four tortillas, a can of kidney beans, organic raw chicken breasts, individual portions of the spices, peeled garlic, an avocado, a tomato, etc.  Each meal was supposedly between 400-700 calories per person.  

I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of all the ingredients (except the tomato, but they all suck at this time of year).  The box also came with recipe cards with photos for each meal.  

We cooked all three during the following 7 days, and I have to say I kind of liked it.  For those nights I would have foraged in the cupboard or ordered Thai it was nice to know that there was something already decided to cook, and that I didn't have to go to the store.  I also liked that everything was portioned, i.e. we got exactly as much cilantro as we needed, etc. so there was less waste than if I had gone to the grocery store and bought a whole bunch of cilantro/celery/sour cream.  I think the box really got me to cook rather than order out.

The recipes were not basic, but not challenging, which was kind of perfect for a weeknight, and, while the chili was a little bland, I was able to doctor it up with some spices I had.  For the tostadas, again, you actually cooked.  You poached the breasts in broth, baked the tortillas crispy, made an avocado, tomato, garlic salsa, cooked the beans in bloomed spices and mashed them, and assembled everything with a dollop of sour cream on top.

I guess I am seeking absolution.... What do people think?  Is there a place for these kind of services in the home of good cooks, who like to shop, etc?  Am I going to foodie hell if I sign up for this once a week for a while?  I mean, I can still make interesting/fancy/more difficult dinners on weekends, and I think it is actually saving me money over my usual grocery bill.  Should I feel guilty given that with some more planning and more strategic shopping I could try to achieve the same results (but would inevitably end up with waste of ingredients?)

Let's get a discussion going here....

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This is interesting. Like you, we cook about three times each week. And, we do an okay job of cooking extra and using meal-sized containers for freezing casseroles, stews, soups and the like. Not as good (yet) at preserving (canning or jarring) as some seriously admirable cooks here do. And, relying more on dried than fresh herbs in winter, there's of course a huge difference between getting dried parsley or curry at the local Safeway vs Penzeys or specialty spots.

I start with all that because I think it very plausible to cook or reheat or reassemble excellent meals at home even when working busy schedules 5 or 6 days each week. That said, like you, we're not quite that committed. Yet it is an aspiration but I think you really need the extra freezer capacity to pull it off through winter.

On the service you tried, really interesting in terms of you being impressed by the quality and, at the usual price of $70 for 3 meals for two, it does make economic sense for professional city dwellers.

Whether to use such a service regularly is a pretty personal decision I think. It depends on how much people in a household really enjoy cooking to go beyond shopping and meal preparation into the many cool and useful types of preserving. And, beyond enjoyment there is also the requisite equipment, supplies and skill.

Personally, I think we probably wouldn't do a service like that anytime soon but not because it's wrong or bad. We'd have had the same biases you had prior but clearly the company doing this anticipated those and is emphasizing quality at a reasonable price. For us, it's more about enjoying restaurants too much at all price levels along with the excellent occasional takeout options available to us living in a major city.

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Let's review:

1. You thought the quality was good

2. You thought it was a good value

3. You liked the idea that you could cook without having to meal plan or shop during a busy week

4. You liked that you weren't wasting food because the portions were sized correctly

5. You liked cooking rather than ordering out

What's the problem?!  Oh, that someone else, some unnamed foodie God, might look disdainfully upon you.  This is unnecessary suffering.  Go forth and enjoy your Hello Fresh without guilt or shame!

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Well said, LauraB.  :D

This is very timely, since I got an unexpected free week of Plated last week, and then a friend gifted me a week of Blue Apron this week.  After spending a whole weekend prepping and cooking from scratch for our housewarming/Superbowl party, it was really nice not to have to go immediately back to the store and start recipe planning again.  I don't think I'd do this every week, but given the quality of the ingredients and the fact that there is little to no waste, it's a great option for busier times and/or before or after travel when the fridge is emptier.

Last night was the first meal from Blue Apron, which was a pan-roasted salmon over ramen noodles and broth.  The salmon was really high quality and tasted delicious, and the noodles and broth were surprisingly tasty, especially given the relatively short cooking time.  So far, I think I'd give Blue Apron the edge in terms of creativity and variety of recipes, but the services really are virtually identical except for cost (Plated is a bit more expensive).

You can skip weeks whenever, and you can also vary your meal selections if you don't like what they automatically set up for you (which they do based on your stated ingredient preferences).  No need for guilt and shame - it's real food, you're really cooking it, and if it works for you, go for it!

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This is interesting.  I probably was exaggerating when I was saying I felt guilty, but I was questioning things.  We decided to sign up for a few weeks to see what we think.  We did not get it this week, and we resorted to take out one night already :(

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I have had two weeks of Blue Apron deliveries since my post above, and I remain really pleased with the recipes/products.  Last night was a really tasty chicken pot pie with sage drop biscuits - so satisfying on a cold February evening.  Tuesday night was shrimp po'boys, in honor of Mardi Gras - not as good as the real thing, but way easier and faster to prepare (and healthier).

My only minor quibbles are that portion sizes seem to really vary - some meals create two reasonable portions, and others have way more left over.  Also, some of the recipes require a LOT of pots and pans (with numerous components cooking at once) - not the worst thing in terms of efficiency, but no fun in terms of clean-up!

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I have a friend who has been getting Blue Apron deliveries since 2013. It's great for her as she can't stand going to the grocery store, and often uses Giant's "Peapod" delivery service. I have been the benificiary of several meals made from these "kits" and have made them myself on occasion when she goes out of town but hasn't cancelled a delivery in time. The ingredients are of good quality, and whoever designs the meals has come up with some very nice flavor combinations.

We found that even though the quantity of food is intended for 2 people per meal, there is enough to feed 3 people adequately.

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After a kind of "dud" week of Blue Apron, there were two dishes in my most recent delivery that were awesome - roasted poblano chilaquiles and miso-yuzu-glazed black cod with black rice.  I even kept the recipe card for the chilaquiles, because it would be super simple to recreate it from "regular" ingredients (and I could eat chilaquiles every day of the week).  The cod was really tasty, and my husband marveled at the black rice - again, I think one of the benefits of the service is to try out new ingredients (grains, produce, whatever) in a less wasteful (and idiot-proof) way.

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I am intrigued by these delivery services and have a friend who has become a regular user of Blue Apron.  He loves it!  

Has anyone tried The Purple Carrot?  (same concept as Blue Apron and others, but provides only "plant based" meals).

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Timely. I got a discounted Hello Fresh box recently. I have very mixed feelings. I had a bit of a rocky start. I'll spare you the details, but with a little more time to sit on it (I've now cooked through most of my second box), I will say there are a lot of things I like, but it's not for me right now. Things I like - the convenience. The meals are easy to prepare (most have a time of about 35 minutes and the times seem accurate) and clean up is relatively easy (not lots of pots and pans like the above experience with Blue Apron, at least so far). I really appreciate not having to think much or spend much time to make nutritious meals. Most of the meals have been very tasty with some exceptions and I will actually save a few of the recipe cards because they gave me new ideas. They do also give you a few meal choices (there are 5 each week, you pick 3 - if you forget, they just send you the default 3). There is a vegetarian box option as well, but right now you don't get meal choices.

On the downside, Hello Fresh at least seems to be very stingy with the veg. The protein portions seem appropriate (it's generally 3/4 lb of protein for one meal for 2 people), but then the rest of the meal is either stingy or very carb heavy. For example, a chicken breast with panko-parm crust was paired with potato salad that was made from one very small white potato and one scallion per person and I kid you not, 5 1/2 roasted tiny grape tomatoes. Also, the packaging is of course very wasteful (every single thing is individually wrapped, so for instance the 2 scallions that came with the chicken weren't just in that meals larger bag, they were also in their own individual bag). I also think the cost to value ratio is a bit off. Finally, the lead out time to make your meal choices is a lot - it depends on which delivery day you pick apparently, but mine was 9 days out. I had thought I would actually have the chance to try my first box before making decisions about the next one, but that unfortunately was not the case so I got stuck with a box with meals I would not have chosen (including one that was predominately pasta, which meant a lot of waste for me since pasta makes me sick :( ).

Bottom line, it's not for me right now because of how I eat. If they starting offering a primal or even better paleo option (the meals seem to always have a dairy component), I would definitely use it on weeks where I knew I wouldn't have much time or energy for cooking.

If it works for you, I say enjoy it guilt free! I sort of wish it did work better for me. Frankly I have really enjoyed the convenience and I still have the weekends to do something on my own.

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On 3/16/2015 at 6:15 PM, Choirgirl21 said:

Bottom line, it's not for me right now because of how I eat. If they starting offering a primal or even better paleo option (the meals seem to always have a dairy component), I would definitely use it on weeks where I knew I wouldn't have much time or energy for cooking....

Have you ever tried Power Supply? Popular at cF boxes.

 

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On 3/22/2015 at 11:12 PM, darkstar965 said:

Have you ever tried Power Supply? Popular at cF boxes.

Yeah, I've had some of their dishes and have ordered occasionally from CustomFit, which is a similar company but drops off closer to me. Different concept because they do the cooking for you and you just reheat, which means they tend to be even more expensive and you have to pick up somewhere.

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We just switched from Hello Fresh to Blue Apron to see if we like the variety and recipes more at BA. Hello Fresh was good but the recipes slanted a little middle American for me. BA seems to be a little more adventurous. We will see.

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On 3/23/2015 at 0:59 PM, Rieux said:

We just switched from Hello Fresh to Blue Apron to see if we like the variety and recipes more at BA. Hello Fresh was good but the recipes slanted a little middle American for me. BA seems to be a little more adventurous. We will see.

Report back. :)

I am becoming more underwhelmed with Hello Fresh as I go (finishing the last book I was committed to). One thing I have noticed, they are garlic lovers. Garlic in every dish and I often use only half of what's provided and still think in some cases I could have used less. 

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This week's Blue Apron dishes have been particularly good - fish tacos with fresh pea and avocado guacamole were REALLY tasty (and other than shelling the peas, quick and easy to prepare), and a quick pork pozole had tons of flavor for something so fast.  The third meal of the week is chicken mole quesadillas, which I will prepare for lunch today.  I loved the Cinco de Mayo theme.

I've gotten to the point where I cancel the weekly delivery if I don't love the menu/ingredients, which usually gives me a good mix of both Blue Apron and my own recipes.

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Good to hear, I get my box tomorrow.  I have been doing it similarly, taking only the boxes it looks like I will like (which is most of them).  I've only had about 2 or 3 meals I really didn't like in all my boxes so far from Blue Apron.

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On 3/22/2015 at 11:12 PM, darkstar965 said:

Have you ever tried these guys? Popular at cF boxes.

https://www.mypowersupply.com

I'm actually on my first week of Power Supply - after 4-5 months of CrossFit and NO weight loss progress at all, I decided to try some new things.  Also, Jason is now traveling Monday through Thursday most weeks, and cooking for one is no fun at all - so the time was definitely right to give it a go.

So far, I'm relatively pleased.  There was one meal - beef and mushroom bolognese over spaghetti squash - that I just did NOT like at all (not seasoned properly, and the squash did not reheat well), but overall the meals have been tasty and satisfying.  I particularly liked a chicken salad with pineapple vinaigrette and today's lunch of scotch eggs with warm brussels sprouts salad/slaw.  The standard portions are pretty large - I couldn't finish the last two I ate.  I heard from a friend that they tend to repeat meals every 2-3 weeks or so, which would be fine with me as long as I can swap out the ones I know I don't enjoy.  I think it's a good way to stay on track on weekdays when I am flying solo.

I don't have a car or a nearby pickup location, so the $15 delivery charge was well worth the convenience for me.

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We've stuck with Blue Apron for a long while now, and I'd say about 50% of the meals are great, another 40% are fine, and 10% are not so good.  They do over-rely on catfish, salmon, chicken, and low-ish quality cuts of beef.  Almost all recipes also ask for lemons and lemon zest, there was a period with a lot of snap peas, and we seem to be entering a season where every meal needs potatoes.  I am starting to get a little sick of the lack of variety.

Thinking about trying Purple Carrot, the vegan delivery service that Bittman just joined.  I'd like to lose a few pounds and eat more vegetables.  This might be a good way.

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There's another meal delivery service available now in our area, Home Chef. I came across an ad for an introductory price so I thought I'd give it a shot. My observations - Pricing is the same as Blue Apron, at least for the plan I compared (3 meals, 2 servings each for ~$60 - there is no additional shipping charge). However, Home Chef is (I think) different in that it simply charges you $9.95/serving/meal and you can decide how many you want each week so you are not committed to a specific box size each week. The one downside is that unless you order more than $40 worth of meals, you are charged an additional $10 for shipping. There are also occasionally entrees that are more expensive, but the prices are clearly stated. Home Chef also offer breakfast items, including fruit and smoothies.

I have found the meals to be fairly basic, along the lines of Hello Fresh, but tasty. I've cooked through 2 boxes now (6 meals) and haven't had a meal I didn't like though I found the sriracha shrimp salad a little boring and didn't think there was enough dressing. Some have been quite good and have introduced me to some new ideas, including a chicken with baharat spices and cilantro oil and am asian pork chop dish that had the most delicious roasted brussels sprouts with kung pao sauce and chopped peanuts. Like some of the other services, the dishes seem to rely heavily on garlic and lemon juice/zest.

I prefer the packaging of Home Chef, there seems to be less waste and the initial delivery came with a 3 ring binder to hold the recipe cards. In addition to the recipe itself, each card includes a little blurb that is sometimes entertaining or informative and there is always a recommended wine pairing. I find the recipe cards easy to follow and the estimate prep times seem accurate. Minimal dish use as well (usually one roasting pan and one saute pan) so not much to clean. The only ingredients you need to have on hand are evoo and salt & pepper.

One of the things that appeals the most to me about Home Chef is the variety of meal options. It is rarely difficult for me to find 3 paleo-friendly meals, but they also have more "balanced" and vegetarian options. It's also SO easy to log on to the site and choose your meals for the week or change them up as the mood suits you. Skipping weeks and putting your account on hold are also simple. You do sign up for a default and if you don't log on to choose specific meals they will choose them for you. Delivery days in my area were restricted to middle to end of the week for me, but that's worked out okay since the timeline to cook meals (also included on the recipe card) is generally 5-6 days. I have been putting the proteins I am not going to cook immediately into a mixing bowl, tossing one of their ice packs on top and putting it in the back of my fridge and that has worked well.

If anyone has any questions, let me know. I hope this is helpful for some folks. I won't continue with this indefinitely - for me it always comes down to this being a bit of an indulgence because of cost and I think I would get bored over time, but it is really nice to not have to think about meal planning or spend time grocery shopping and I'm generally not overwhelmed at the thought of cooking at the end of a long day because I know the steps are easy to follow and relatively quick. Unless one of the other companies comes up with more paleo friendly meal options, I'll stick with Home Chef when life gets overwhelming and I just need to take advantage of a service like this. In fact, I have a cabin trip coming up in a couple of weeks and I'm specifically ordering a box to be delivered the night before I leave because it will be so simple to just throw the bags of ingredients and proteins and a bottle of olive oil into my cooler and be done with it. Other than a few things for breakfast I won't have to think about it, or worry about packing up leftovers to bring home or taking up too much space in a cooler. Sweet!

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Do any of these use environmentally friendly packaging?

I don't remember though it was something I looked at when researching. You can recycle the materials that Home Chef uses to package their food. From their FAQ:

We recommend that customers reuse or recycle both the box & gel packs. To recycle the gel packs, simply cut open once it has thawed, and dispose of its liquid contents in the normal waste stream. The pouch may be recycled along with other plastic recyclables.

I have read the argument that the lack of waste makes up for the packaging and I will say that the lack of waste is one of the things that I really appreciate about these services as a single person.

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I'm a couple months (with some weeks off) into Blue Apron. [Note: I have some invitations for free trials - message me if you would like to try it out]

Like Bettyjoan has described, the appeal of particular meals can be up and down. Last night I made what was probably my favorite meal so far: Za'tar-crusted chicken breast, with couscous and asparagus. The ingredients included a pink lemon, which I've never handled before.

  • As others have said, you have some flexibility in meal choices, which they offer up several weeks in advance. There are generally 6 recipes to choose from available in a given week, but there some restrictions on combinations you can choose depending on overlapping ingredients and such.
  • I can also attest that they really do try to stay as seasonal as is reasonable. This can be a drawback as it seemed like for a while, there were several weeks in a row where kale was constantly on the menu. Same with salmon, which I just generally get tired of quickly. 
  • I've also had some disappointing meals and/or recipes that required an inordinate number of utensils/pans/etc - that just didn't seem that convenient and somewhat defeated the purpose.
  • You can pause your subscription at will.
  • Can't speak for environmental-friendliness of packaging. There does seem to be QUITE A LOT of it in every shipment, though. Each box is packed and insulated very well.

It has overall been a convenient service, well-executed, at a reasonable (though I wouldn't say cheap) price. 

 

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We are just finishing up a 4 week trial run with Blue Apron (first couple at a discount, the last two regular price).  I *like* it, but don't *love* it.

Pro:

  • The quality of the product is pretty high, but at full price I'm not sure it's any better than what you could get locally with effort.
  • It's two fully planned meals delivered to your door (duh).  Easily feeds 2 adults and two kids, usually with leftovers
  • Agree with the CSA comment above, it is an incentive to branch out, and we have found some recipes that we will keep in rotation (but will be able to recreate at half the price shopping on our own)
  • Recipes are clear, if a bit formulaic (I think we've made the same thing with different spices/sides at least once)

Con:

  • Limited ability to choose menus; we've had at least one dud recipe
  • Price.  I like shopping, and we prepare almost all of our dinners at home, so that is our basis for comparison.  If we were a 3-4x a week takeout family I would put this in the Pro column
  • Packaging.  I'm overly critical of the waste.  However, you can send everything back to Blue Apron (they will provide a printed return label if you have more than two deliveries worth of packaging, including the ice packs).  It's extra effort to essentially put recycling back on a truck to New Jersey where the shipments originate, and who knows what they do with it on the other end.
  • A couple of the recipes have seemed fussy, and on average take a lot longer to prepare than our normal go to's (but see the "branching out" comment above)
  • No option to specify gluten free for a household with a celiac sufferer.   We've found ourselves just supplementing our own pantry items where necessary (GF pasta or flour)

I could see us returning to doing it once a month as a weekly break from our normal routine, but for now we are putting the subscription on hold.  We may try one of the other options, but Blue Apron seems to be the best reviewed from friends.

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TedE, consider trying Home Chef when you are interested in going with meal delivery again. I think the meals may be slightly less adventurous, but Home Chef addresses some of your cons. A lot more meal choices each week including gluten free options (meals are clearly labeled, including gluten free, paleo, low carb, etc.) and all of their packaging is recycleable, including the freezer packs. I haven't done Blue Apron, but both myself and another friend who have done Hello Fresh feel the packaging is better/less with Home Chef. 

I am paleo (well technically primal because I will eat small amounts of dairy) and haven't had difficulty finding meal choices. I also can't exercise much at the moment and there is a lot of overlap between the paleo and low carb options. The result has been that without making other changes I have actually lost weight. This is in the midst of grieving the loss of my father so though it's a stretch financially I decided to stick with it for a while to take some pressure off. 

Anyway, each seems to have its own pros and cons, though I don't hear as much praise for Plated and Hello Fresh, but I think for people with gluten or grain restrictions Home Chef is the clear winner. 

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After about 6 weeks with Purple Carrot, I finally pulled the plug.  I'd say 80% of the recipes were ok, 15% not great, and 1 was good enough to repeat.  I also began to question the value...The family plan was $74 for 2 four-serving meals.  Our last week, one of the meals was a black bean burger and sweet potato fries, which meant that for about $37, I received: 1 large  can of black beans, 1 onion, 6 leaves of lettuce, 1 tomato, 1 sweet potato, a few teaspoons of various spices, 4 English muffins.

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I just switched from Blue Apron to Home Chef.  Like the choices better, less prep (I'm always rushed at night, unfortunately) and less expensive.  The Blue Apron options were getting weirder and weirder, and I didn't like that I couldn't blend vegetarian and meat choices.

I do skip a lot of weeks but think that Home Chef will work better for me in the long run.

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My wife and I have been trying Plated now for about 10 weeks. Overall pretty good. It is exposing me to some recipes I had not experienced before and shown me how easy it is to construct pretty easy to make meals in not a ton of time. It is on one hand bad for the environment (shipping, boxes, cushioning, chiller packs) but there is no waste in the food at all, which is great.

We decided to try it because we were going in to the same narrow field of things for weeknight meals or increasingly depending on carry out that we both knew was unsustainable and ultimately not good for us. This is working out well for us for two meals a week. Usually seven choices plus two upgrade options. Usually 1 to 2 veg options. Some method repetitiveness, but we are not getting bored. We can skip weeks whenever we want but have not done that yet.

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We tried Blue Apron for a few weeks in January.  I have a job which involves a quarterly close cycle; during that cycle it can be very difficult for me to plan meals or shop.  My husband ends up in charge of meals which turns into us eating way too much delivery food which is both unhealthy and expensive.  Blue Apron seemed like an easy way to eat more healthy and interesting meals.  My husband can competently cook basics but found the recipes too fussy and time consuming.  In theory prep time was supposed to be 30 minutes; for him it was over an hour.  It was about 35-45 minutes for me when I took over for some meals.   We did enjoy the results and the 2 person option was plenty for 2 adults and a 16 year-old.  But he found the cooking too stressful so we dropped it.

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Just tried the second Blue Apron meal, after getting a free week. Eh. Very so so... ties back into the other thread - if you like cooking or are good at it, this is a poor facsimile.

This weekend I was joking with my married with children friends about their upcoming all-inclusive vacations. Okay, not joking - derisively mocking - "I get only 10 weeks of vacation and I would never spend one of those weeks at those resorts." It made me think of this...

Why Cooking With Blue Apron is Like An All Inclusive Vacation

1. You really want to cook/go on vacation but you sure are busy


2. You really like cooking/vacations and you used to do it before


3. You are just too busy to plan a meal/vacation


4. You have the money to cook nice meals/go on vacations but you don't have the time


5. So maybe someone can plan the meal/vacation for you


6. Maybe someone can even purchase all the ingredients/set up all the hotels-flights-meals-activities


7. You literally just pay money and the meal ingredients-instructions/itinerary just show up at your house/email


8. You have to do things similar to those activities like pack/cut things and fly/sauté 


9. While you're doing it, you think "Man, I'm cooking/vacationing"


10. You don't really learn anything about the meal/place you visit 


11. The pictures of all the meals/vacation look sort of like all your friends. In fact if you squint you can't tell it's yours 


12. Afterward you tell your friends that actually cook/go on vacation all about your meal/trip and they look at you with a weak smile and say "That's sounds really ... nice"


13. Eventually you realize you aren't really cooking/going on vacation and you try to get back to actually doing it again...

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I'm surprised to find I didn't mention this already. I started to get a bit bored with Home Chef right when I saw an offer for a new service, Sun Basket, so I thought I'd give it a try. I've now been ordering from them for about 5 months and they are by far my favorite of these types of services. Food is from local farms, organic when possible, seafood is sustainable, meat is hormone free, packaging is recyclable and the ingredients are always packed well. There is even less prep than with previous services I have tried (sauces are often already prepared, for example a recent frittata dish came with a romesco sauce already prepared) and best of all I find the dishes more inventive and almost all have been delicious. I've gotten some really good ideas on new combinations or spice blends that I've since used when cooking on my own, as well as cooking techniques (this is how I learned to toss wings in baking powder before grilling so they get and stay extra crispy). They also have a lot of meal choices, including paleo, gluten-free, and vegetarian plans.

Of course there has to be a downside and that is that Sun Basket is more expensive than the other services I've tried. $74 instead of $60 for 2x3 meals. 

I've kept an eye on Home Chef and occasionally switch back to them for a week to save costs when the Home Chef menu is particularly appealing and unfortunately I've had issues with the quality of the ingredients nearly every time. So I think the added cost for Sun Basket is worth it. It's all well and good when Home Chef offers a credit for useless ingredients, but that doesn't help when you're ready to put dinner together and suddenly can't (or the fact that it's never a refund, but always a credit toward your next box). 

Here's more info: https://www.sunbasket.com/faq

And if anyone is interested in trying the service, get your first 3 meals free:  http://sunbasket.com/3free/Jennifer118095

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12 hours ago, Ericandblueboy said:

Dang, I only want 2x per week.  I wish there's a service that uses recyclable packaging that does 2x/wk.

We've been using Home Chef for three weeks worth of deliveries so far. It certainly suits two empty nesters who aren't in the mood to decide upon a meal, shop, and then cook. Everything has been very good to excellent so far.

Home Chef's packaging is recyclable.

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1 hour ago, Ericandblueboy said:

I see that Home Chef has weekly menus on their website.  Can you choose which dishes you want?  I'm tempted to sign up but I only want 2 meals/week for 2 (cost $40, which is less than their free delivery minimum of $45).

Yes, you can decide which ones you'd like. If you do not choose a meal, they will send meals matching your preferences. There's no obligation, and you can skip weeks whenever you like and cancel at any time.

We typically add a smoothie or fruit to break the $45 threshold.

If you use this link, you'll get $30 off of your first order. (Disclaimer; if you use it, I also get $30 off) 

If you choose to sign up, you have to add your method of payment before you are able to see the menu and other options. 

 

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I didn't find mention of Galley Foods, Munchery, and Hungry (tryhungry dot com).

In 2017, I have tried Galley twice, Munchery once and not Hungry because their website confuses me.  All are food delivery services that deliver chilled, yet complete meals and two highlight the "chef" who prepared them.  Galley delivered some fabulous fresh sushi salmon on a salad that I loved.  Munchery delivered an eel bowl thing that was fabulous, but the Korean beef dish was fatty and didn't really contain a full serving of veg. 

As you can see, I am not really feeling the food review muse right now and also am not sure if this is the correct location for this conversation. Regarding packaging, it's just a take out container that is recyclable in both cases. The service was fast and friendly in both cases. Kids meals available with both too. Food allergy info easily attainable (and having a dairy allergy makes many of the box options difficult to impossible).

However, this week I did not order because I was not inspired by the options...I won't purchase cooked salmon over a carb with a veg b/c (a) I can do that (b) everybody can do that and (c) boring. However, I cannot, or don't often create Korean, Thai, Japanese, or Indian inspired dishes yet love them.

Anybody tried any others?

Each of the above has a limited delivery area in the DMV too.

 

 

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On 2/25/2017 at 9:21 PM, Ericandblueboy said:

I've done Home Chef for a few weeks.  For every protein, the instructions say to rinse and pat dry.  Do the other services also instruct people to rinse their proteins?

I can't recall off the top of my head whether others I've tried have, but I do know Home Chef uses something to keep the meat fresh that can cause an off smell so I presume that's why they instruct you to rinse it and I always rinsed very well. I think there's an explanation in the FAQ section of their site - look for a question about the meat smelling bad. 

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On 2/25/2017 at 9:21 PM, Ericandblueboy said:

I've done Home Chef for a few weeks.  For every protein, the instructions say to rinse and pat dry.  Do the other services also instruct people to rinse their proteins?

Yeah Plated does that a lot too. Most of the time this is unnecessary IMHO, so we skip it.

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Just realized that "munchery" has charged my credit card a "membership fee" in both February and March even though I only used the service once.

No human answers the phone.

No human or robot mans the "chat" feature.

Canceling membership took about 10 minutes to find the right place to do that.

I could not find a way to request reimbursement for the "membership" charges so I reported the charges as fraud to my credit card.

No notices of new membership fees were sent in February or March notifying me of the fees collected each month.

I will fully admit to agreeing to the use of service but they are obviously actively working to keep users from canceling membership and the companies deceptive practices boarder on fraud. 

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We recently restarted our Plated service, which is the third time we've given it a whirl.  I think we've finally reached the point where it works for us.  Time 1 we were young and childless and I ended up throwing the ingredients away too often because... life.  I also found the recipe selection limited.  Time 2 my wife was pregnant and had too many specific food preferences/prohibitions.  I also found the ingredients repeated too often - I could not LOOK at one more arugula salad, and there were too often critical ingredients missing with what I felt was a lack of appropriate response from Plated (partial refunds when missing a central ingredient... sure I'll have a chicken salad without the chicken).

But this time I feel like Plated is more mature, and so are we.  There are a number of recipes available each week, plus a monthly archive of previous recipes that have been scored highly by their customers.  This gives enough options so that it's possible to avoid foods due to preferences or repetition.  I also haven't had a missing ingredient for quite some time.  We get the twice weekly plan, which is about how many times I find myself looking around the kitchen at 7:30 thinking hmmm, I don't know what to make for dinner so it works.  

Admittedly it isn't cheap, but I somehow am unable to make chili dogs without spending $75 at the grocery store so in the end, this works for us.  But I am intrigued by all the above references to Home Chef...

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I've being ordering Home Chef every other week.  The selection is generally pretty good - there's fish, shrimp, chicken, pork and beef.  One thing that I've noticed is that any steak dish will turn out tough.  Even after dry rubbing the steak with salt for 24 hrs and then cooking it to medium rare still produces really chewy meat.  I guess at $10/portion, one can't expect quality steak.

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We recently got back on the home delivery band wagon (at least temporarily) thanks to all of the deals aimed at News Years resolutionists.  We tried Hello Fresh first and are on the second week of Sun Basket now.  All of the recipes we tried are gluten free and one of chicken/seafood/vegetarian; most would have qualified as "paleo".  All were menus for 2 people x 3 meals a week. We find that this easily makes dinner for our family of 2 adults and 3 kids with some supplementation (when the kids will eat it, anyway)

Our experience with Hello Fresh is pretty similar to what's been posted in this thread.  It was slighter better than Blue Apron when it came to menu selection but not great by any means.  I got the biggest sense from those two companies that a vast majority of their recipes are plug-and-play: "protein + oven-roasted veg + pan sauce", etc.  We had back-to-back weeks with chicken dishes that differed only in the ingredients; the actual prep was exactly the same.  Not very inspired, and I could have put them together with fresher ingredients for less (one of the aforementioned chicken dishes included broccoli heads that were starting to yellow).  There are clearly some "filler" recipes every week that are meant to offset the cost of the more expensive options.

Sun Basket has been much better, but at a premium as noted above.  The menus choices are more varied as these things go (none of these companies could survive without some level of cut-and-paste menu assembly).  What has set them apart has been the quality and freshness of the ingredients, notably the sauce bases.  Most recipes include one that is either partially reconstituted or included in some part of the prep, and they've been uniformly pretty good. We've had to make some modifications to tone down the spice level for the kids on occasion, but these have been the most interesting.  They've also thrown in some random extras, like a jar of arugula pesto, that had nothing to do with the menus in the box.  Just an added item for the pantry.  As opposed to the other services we tried the recipes are not printed on meal cards, but in a small catalog that lists *every* recipe for that week, not just the ones you ordered.  There have already been a couple that we've looked at but did not order with our box and will probably try with our own prep and sauce preparation or substitution. I also like that all of their packaging is recyclable (but just the idea of the packaging and shipping overhead still bothers me).  I think they are the only one we've tried where the ice packs can be cut open, drained and recycled.  The goo inside the chill packs is supposedly non-toxic, so they say to add it to compass and recycle the bag.  I'm not risking the health of our compost bin, so I poured it down our utility sink followed by hot water. I still had visions of it solidifying in our sewer line ...

We're at the same conclusion after this round of demos: these were worth a couple of weeks of discounted meals, but we won't continue at full cost. We will keep our Sun Basket subscription active, however, and re-activate it for a week every couple of months as a break from our own recipe ruts.

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On 2/3/2015 at 11:04 PM, Rieux said:

I guess I am seeking absolution.... What do people think?  Is there a place for these kind of services in the home of good cooks, who like to shop, etc?  Am I going to foodie hell if I sign up for this once a week for a while?  I mean, I can still make interesting/fancy/more difficult dinners on weekends, and I think it is actually saving me money over my usual grocery bill.  Should I feel guilty given that with some more planning and more strategic shopping I could try to achieve the same results (but would inevitably end up with waste of ingredients?)

Let's get a discussion going here....

My feeling is that you're no more going to foodie hell than someone who orders a pizza.

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12 hours ago, DonRocks said:

My feeling is that you're no more going to foodie hell than someone who orders a pizza.

David Chang confessed (nay, resolutely defended) to liking and frequently ordering Domino's.  We're worried about cooking a meal with the correct portions delivered?  Life's busy.  Not every meal can or should be gourmet.

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On 4/28/2016 at 11:18 AM, Pool Boy said:

My wife and I have been trying Plated now for about 10 weeks. Overall pretty good. It is exposing me to some recipes I had not experienced before and shown me how easy it is to construct pretty easy to make meals in not a ton of time. It is on one hand bad for the environment (shipping, boxes, cushioning, chiller packs) but there is no waste in the food at all, which is great.

We decided to try it because we were going in to the same narrow field of things for weeknight meals or increasingly depending on carry out that we both knew was unsustainable and ultimately not good for us. This is working out well for us for two meals a week. Usually seven choices plus two upgrade options. Usually 1 to 2 veg options. Some method repetitiveness, but we are not getting bored. We can skip weeks whenever we want but have not done that yet.

We're still happy Plated customers. We have used it about 80% of the past two years, skipping vacations, holidays, busy times, etc.  They have gotten better with their packaging, but there is still a lot of waste (probably 50% reduction in waste though).  Their meals are getting more diverse. We also find, over time, what meal options tend to to work best for us,and those that we need to avoid.  We went through a rash of problems in getting our deliveries on time for the days we wanted to use the two meals for 2 adults a week meals because they switched final mile carriers to LaserShip (which got the meals there often after 9PM). After complaining, they switched us back to FedEx and we have it delivered a different day. Sometimes some of the vegetables suffer a smidge as a result, but overall we're happy. We've considered doing it 3 times a week, but have not yet pulled the trigger.

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We’ve been opting in and out of Hello Fresh and Gobble on a weekly basis for two years now.  I grew up cooking for a suburban family of six, some of whom loved leftovers.  This wasn’t an optimal approach for the urban (typically car-less) family of three I helped create here.  I adapted some — and then some more, when omnivorous daughter became veggie daughter at age 8.  But, even so, too much food got wasted and a lot of mental overhead went into meal planning/shopping/prep.  So I decided to reset my habits when veggie daughter left for college.  

Having already introduced my Dad to Hello Fresh (and having it become too demanding for him as he got slower), I found Gobble before it came to DC.  Gobble’s pitch is (was?) 15 minutes/1 pan — which spoke directly to Dad’s issues with Hello Fresh.  And it had the side benefit of being less meat and potato-y.  Specifically, more veggie dishes and more Asian spices/treatments.  Lately Gobble is getting the lion’s share of our orders.   I compare offerings for any given week and decide to order either, neither, or (very occasionally) both.

Agree that the packaging waste is off-putting.  But I love two things about these services — very little food waste and I don’t have to think about dinner until DH calls and says he’s leaving the office.  His 30 minute commute is all the time I need.  No planning, no rushing to the grocery store for a missing ingredient, no thought about what to make that will use up random perishables left over from other meals.  Another positive has been that we consume fewer serve-the-eating-function meals out (and less takeout).  But the mindlessness is really what hooked me.  In the early days I joked about cooking in the “agentic state” — if the recipe card concluded with the instruction “top with ground arsenic” and the bag had included a packet, I just might have!

I think I may now be approaching a stage where I’ll ease out of this system, having learned a few tricks and rethought how I shop.  At a minimum, I’m at a place where I’ll cook primarily because I want to cook (vs because I need to feed people).  And eat out because I want something someone else can do better than I can (vs something that involves no work on my part).  And those are good things.  

Haven’t had a chance to test this, but I think one of the killer apps for these services would be teaching teens to cook. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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