Has anyone tried meal delivery?

Peatree26845

I was thinking about trying meal delivery post delivery for week night dinners. Has anyone tried this? Thoughts?

megandchase

Like blue apron or hello fresh? Or something with already made meals? I'm not familiar with prepped meal services but I have done blue apron. It was nice to not have to plan meals but I found that prep and cook time usually took longer than the recipe said. I don't love how I was limited on what meals I could choose and I think I can make my own casseroles and crockpot meals with a lot less stress and time than most of their meals. 

Peatree26845

My reason for looking into this is because crockpot dishes usually all start becoming overcooked mush and casseroles all have milk or cheese which my hubby can't have. I'm having a c section and cooking is a chore for me so I'm trying to stay healthy with minimal effort in the kitchen

MrsLa3

You can do freezer meals. That might be cheaper than a meal delivery option like hello fresh or blue apron. 

mj8215

Yes we do blue apron and we like it, but as others have said, it does involve quite a bit of prep time and we do it to try and be more healthy (vs just ordering our regular takeout), not really to save time. I'm not sure that we'll continue it when baby gets here. It's more of a fun activity for us than a way to save.
cost-wise, it's similar to what we would be spending on groceries and/ or takeout (nyc = obscene costs of groceries), so it's not really saving us money. 

MamaRN13

MrsLa3 said:

You can do freezer meals. That might be cheaper than a meal delivery option like hello fresh or blue apron. 

1+ to this. With DS my mom and a couple of girlfriends came over one day and we did all the prep for about 10 freezer meals. Wish I had the recipes for them all still because it was a really great option for us during those early weeks with a newborn (plus having help with the prep and cleaning was awesome).

Itsnotyourturn

I like Gobble, it's like eleventy million less steps than blue apron.  We used blue apron first and the all the slicing, chopping, dicing, mincing got to be ridiculous.  If you're a culinary type person, I'd go with blue apron though.

tuxielove93

  Casseroles do not have to contain dairy! I'm a vegan, and there are hundreds of delicious casserole type meals that you can make sans dairy. Just google vegan casserole, the internet won't let you down.
I havent done a meal delivery service (not sure its even available in my area) but +1 to the freezer meals. Im going to make a ton of soups, pasta dishes, crock pot meals, etc. Etc. To freeze for dinners. Also, if youre ending up with mush, try using less liquid and not cooking fir so long in the crock pot. And that handy appliance is fantastic for soups 
 

SaphireSweetie88

We tried a couple of them and they always seemed to be more costly than they're worth. What we found to be the best option was to make casseroles and lasagnas, etc and freeze them (if we weren't going to have time to cook or 1 of us was really sick and didn't feel like cooking). My brother bought meat from a butcher (cost like $200 up front) and he divided it into portions needed for different meals (ex: x amount for 4 hamburgers / x amount for xyz meal) and put it in a deep freezer when his wife was pregnant and it made things A LOT easier for them when it came to cooking after the baby was born.

chiquita928

I tried both BlueApron and HomeChef.  I was interested in learning more about how to cook, since it was not in my particular skill set.  I found the BlueApron meals to be more "chef-y," but the selection was limited.  The food was delicious, though, and I enjoyed learning more techniques.  I liked HomeChef 1000x better.  The meals were more appropriate to my picky family, though not less in quality, and the recipes were a little easier.  I also liked that I had a ton of choices.  I felt that the cost was not too bad, though it would obviously be cheaper to just go grocery shopping.  For me, it was super easy, really convenient and a lot of fun.  I had to find a way to enjoy cooking, and it helped me do that.  Good luck!

dancegurl1118

I've tried HelloFresh and HomeChef a few times. Only when I have a coupon, because 2/3 of my grocery budget for 3 meals (it's usually $60-$70) for 3 meals for 2 people just isn't sustainable. The cuts of meat are usually great, but I didn't love them enough to pay full price. And honestly, the cooking took much more time and effort than crock pot meals or casseroles I make. Overall though, the HomeChef meals were much better. 

greenbean-2

I've done blue apron. We like it to try new recipes and get out of a cooking rut, but not to save time or money. With our own recipes, we get leftovers for 1-2 days. Blue apron meals take just as long to make (at least) and we've never had leftovers, so that alone makes it more time intensive. 

JAM85

We do hello fresh every other week or two. My MIL gave us 3 weeks for Christmas and even though I'm a chef I am exhausted at the end of the day and I also coach swimming some week nights and work all day for our photography business most weekends so combined with pregnancy and we were not looking great on well rounded meals. I was legit having protein shakes for dinner many nights. So I actually loved having the meal delivery for 3 meals. It meant I had 3 planned meals, less trips to the grocery as I'm a horrible meal planner and less impulse buys at each trip. Plus all
their meals are on My Fitness Pal so easy to log. I have only done Hello Fresh and with the exception of only a few they take 30 minutes from start to plate. I have heard Blue Apron has a bit more prep and takes more
time but only from friends. 

JmUDuuuukes 07

When I had my SCH right before a stressful job promotion at work, my mom sent us Green Chef for a few months to take some stress off. I loved Green Chef for the new flavors/foods we got to try and the fact that I didn't have to plan those nights. It was also great because there areally 3 of us and she ordered for 4, so we would have leftovers and have two less lunches to worry about. The organic produce and meats were super fresh and great cuts. But the downsides were the expense (125 a week for 2 meals for 4 people- that's my usual weekly budget) and the fact that meal prep took 45 minutes. We also hate how much waste it creates. Not what I want to worry about when I have an infant. We just stopped it this week. Hopefully we got some good ideas for easy things and new healthy options but I wouldn't do a meal order for the nights I need something quick. I would do frozen as others have mentioned. So much easier. There are a ton of suggestions on Pinterest. I do think this is the area of the market that is underserved- if I were in the mood to start a business right now I would totally consider figuring out how to send thsee freshly prepared meals through the mail so all one has to do on the other side is heat, while cutting back on sodium and restaurant costs. 

oheliza44

I received a $30 off coupon for new Blue Apron customers that I will not use. If anyone wants it, shoot me a PM and I'll send you the coupon code.

satsumasandlemons

we've never tried blue apron etc because we already knew how to shop and cook for our meal planned food. 

a local moms moms group recently suggested a few chefs that would deliver prepared foods that only need to be heated up - you basically have a menu and she can prep for freezing or cook that night. i might use her when baby comes. 

LoveLee85

I have been tempted to try but unless it comes with a chef, and then a cleaning person to pick up the mess-I'm not interested. LOL 

Xath

We've been doing Hello Fresh (UK) for a few months now and I love it.  We were in a total cooking rut and eating way too much takeout.  My H and I spend time cooking together now.  Each meal feeds our family with at least enough leftovers for my H and I to have lunches the next day.  Out of the 4 meals per week we usually get (for a family of 4):

4 dinners for 4
8 lunches
1 dinner night of leftovers for 4

I hope the US version is as good when we move back.  I'd definitely keep it up.

LuLiLaEv

@Peatree26845 I'm just wondering how many boards you're going to post this on? Ours, June's, 2 tri, Oct 15...

MrsLa3

@LuLiLaEv she's pretty much a lurker, I doubt she even comes back to engage the convo. She was active at 9:07 am, so she's seen the responses.

mj8215

@LuLiLaEv  @MrsLa3   Now I'm intrigued - what's the point of doing this? Is this some sort of paid marketing research for one of said companies? Which makes me want a private group more. Or just random weirdness ?...

LuLiLaEv

@MrsLa3 Oh, I'm not expecting an answer, just more calling it out because good lord! And also I don't understand the point of all the posts. When I first saw it I thought spam.

chiquita928

satsumasandlemons said:

we've never tried blue apron etc because we already knew how to shop and cook for our meal planned food. 

a local moms moms group recently suggested a few chefs that would deliver prepared foods that only need to be heated up - you basically have a menu and she can prep for freezing or cook that night. i might use her when baby comes. 

I have a friend on Long Island who works crazy hours and does this.  I haven't heard of anyone in my area who does, though, because that would be pretty awesome.

oheliza44

This exact topic was also discussed at length in a prior thread. Since people were responding I didn't see the point in bringing it up but I thought that coupled with the fact that she bumped a post from January was odd. 

chiquita928

oheliza44 said:

This exact topic was also discussed at length in a prior thread. Since people were responding I didn't see the point in bringing it up but I thought that coupled with the fact that she bumped a post from January was odd. 

I thought it sounded familiar...

MamaRN13

After I posted a response, I remembered a recent post and wondered "why did I bother"... especially when I didn't recognize the OP. 

dancegurl1118

I didn't even realize it had been in a prior post, my bad for feeding the troll guys! 

SaphireSweetie88

@Peatree26845

Also.....  https://forums.thebump.com/discussion/12634948/our-favorite-make-ahead-freezer-meals-for-moms-to-be#latest

MrsLa3

She also bumped a zombie thread earlier..

Peatree26845

I'm sorry to cause confusion. I just re-joined yesterday. It was late last night, was up w teething baby and I guess posted incorrectly, which everyone can see (unfortunately). I used to know how this worked two years ago but things have changed on tb. Clearly people are getting upset because I am very bad at figuring this ap out. I am honestly looking for as many opinions on this particular subject as I can get and I don't even know what a zombie thread is. Would appreciate some patience with my clumsy return, lol. I thought I joined this group by accident but am due end of June early July. Honestly, I wouldn't mind sticking around w the July mommies. June was a bit intense for me. I'm not a psycho, I'm just not really good at this yet. 

MrsLa3

You just went to June and said you accidentally joined July by mistake, and you wanted more answers. Now you come back over here to insult June? Seriously? 

I thinking I'm going for a bingo here.

chiquita928

MrsLa3 said:

She also bumped a zombie thread earlier..

I legit thought we had a thread about zombies that I'd missed! Lol that's what I get for bumping while watching The Walking Dead.

anitamargarita_82

@Peatree26845 you came over to June to ask the same question when you had a plethora of answers over here.   Furthermore how do you not know by this point in your pregnancy when you're due??? The end of June beginning of July.  You posted over in our group that you were uncomfortable telling us when you were due and what you were having.  And we're not intense.  We watch out for random drive by posters who act like they're hiding something. 

Peatree26845

Shame on you for being such a bully. I am having a c section either the last week of June or first week of July and it hasn't been decided. I do not feel comfortable sharing personal details with bossy people that I don't know yet on the internet. I admitted that I'm trying to figure this out and you just won't stop being rude. Please leave me alone. I will contact tb to remove my profile. Honestly, you act like this is some high school clique. 

mslynn2012

And the bully card has been played...

MrsLa3

Peatree26845 said:

Shame on you for being such a bully. I am having a c section either the last week of June or first week of July and it hasn't been decided. I do not feel comfortable sharing personal details with bossy people that I don't know yet on the internet. I admitted that I'm trying to figure this out and you just won't stop being rude. Please leave me alone. I will contact tb to remove my profile. Honestly, you act like this is some high school clique. 

We are, and you can't sit with us.

tripledaggerWed95976

Peatree26845 said:

Shame on you for being such a bully. I am having a c section either the last week of June or first week of July and it hasn't been decided. I do not feel comfortable sharing personal details with bossy people that I don't know yet on the internet. I admitted that I'm trying to figure this out and you just won't stop being rude. Please leave me alone. I will contact tb to remove my profile. Honestly, you act like this is some high school clique. 

Peatree26845 said:

I'm sorry to cause confusion. I just re-joined yesterday. It was late last night, was up w teething baby and I guess posted incorrectly, which everyone can see (unfortunately). I used to know how this worked two years ago but things have changed on tb. Clearly people are getting upset because I am very bad at figuring this ap out. I am honestly looking for as many opinions on this particular subject as I can get and I don't even know what a zombie thread is. Would appreciate some patience with my clumsy return, lol. I thought I joined this group by accident but am due end of June early July. Honestly, I wouldn't mind sticking around w the July mommies. June was a bit intense for me. I'm not a psycho, I'm just not really good at this yet. 

QFP

SaphireSweetie88

Peatree26845 said:

Shame on you for being such a bully. I am having a c section either the last week of June or first week of July and it hasn't been decided. I do not feel comfortable sharing personal details with bossy people that I don't know yet on the internet. I admitted that I'm trying to figure this out and you just won't stop being rude. Please leave me alone. I will contact tb to remove my profile. Honestly, you act like this is some high school clique. 

@Peatree26845

Wait were the bullies when YOU came here and made a mistake and then YOU go to a different bmb where YOU said YOU joined July by mistake and then come back here where YOU talk smack / insult the other bmb..... hmmm I'm seeing a pattern here

SaphireSweetie88

Here are the screen shots of the thread in June...... 
and the link  https://forums.thebump.com/discussion/12703436/meal-delivery-anyone#latest

Dovahkiin_99

It's really not that hard to figure out how the forums work. I don't understand why people claim to have such difficulty with it, especially with the giant "Read This First" stickied to the top. 

satsumasandlemons

would i be stating the obvious here if i said i think this person is carsonsmommy and the other new sn mommyoftwo or whatever her name was?