Anybody here use a meal delivery service such as Hello Fresh?

[CTyankee]

We're older (early 80s) and there's just the two of us. We have only a few foods we would like substitutes for, plus low sodium and low spice.

I'm tired of cooking and get more and more bagged meals. Shopping trips are wearing on me. I like the advertisement on Hello Fresh and would like feedback from folks who have used their food service or another one. Is it better cost wise (than twice weekly shopping)?

Anyone compare different services?

[AZSkiffyGeek]

1. We used Hello Fresh and another one

The recipes were tasty, but there was a lot of prep work involved, and some of the recipes were a little more complicated than I was hoping for. It gave us variety and wasn’t especially more expensive, but we didn’t usually have leftovers and it was more time-consuming than I liked.
The food was great though, and the stuff supplied was fresh and nice looking.

[Fresh_Start]

2. We liked them....there was modest savings compared to shopping

because there is less wasted food. And I was getting bored of cooking the same old things. We used it to learn about new dishes and techniques. We are taking a pause from them right now as I try to incorporate some of the things I've learned into our repertoire. I also used it as a opportunity to get my 20 something year old son to start cooking. So great for us.

I like HOME CHEF better than Hello Fresh and both of those better than Freshly and Everyplate.

[Croney]

3. Our daughter uses Hello Fresh for her family, but it's too high in sodium

for us. Sometimes she gives us an unprepared meal and I take it apart and reinvent a simpler low-sodium dish using some of the components. But to me, it's still more work than I'd pay for.

[XanaDUer2]

4. Dinnerly is more budget

and not complicated cooking

[piddyprints]

5. We tried several.

Our favorite was Blue Apron. We thought Hello Fresh and the other one whose name is escaping me were a bit boring.

Also, Blue Apron provides everything you need except for olive oil, salt, and pepper (and water, of course). Some of the others expect you to have your own milk, eggs, butter, etc., even though they cost the same.

They all require a bit of prep work, but it makes cooking fun if you're trying new things. We still cook our Blue Apron meals from the recipes we collected.

[SoCalNative]

6. You still have to cook

the meals that they deliver. Freshly is one of the few services that I'm aware of where the meals are already prepared and you just need to microwave them.

[madaboutharry]

7. I used Hello Fresh for a while.

I also tried Blue Apron.

This is what I have to say:

When you follow the recipe instructions your food will come out looking exactly like the photos and your plate will be beautiful.

The recipes can be labor intensive. Lots of cutting and chopping. Making sauces. Not always, but most times a lot of work, in my opinion.

I also think a lot of the meals are high in sodium, fat, and calories.

It was fun for a time, but then I got kind of bored with it.

I will also say that the meals are almost always delicious.

[haele]

8. We do. The two person meals can serve three, if one doesn't eat much.i

Generally, the meals break down to around $20 got two people, and you can sometimes get enough leftover for one person's lunch.
They're typically one pot or a pot and a skillet meal that comes with pretty much everything but oil, salt and pepper, but they recipe cards will spell out everything you need and how to cook the meal - our 9 year old granddaughter is learning to cook making the meals. It should take no more than a half hour for each meal. Quality is pretty good so far, though they do make use of a lot of name brand condiments.
While there is a somewhat wide variety of meals, Hello Fresh can be much of a muchness though, everything has a starch, a meat, and a sauce with at least one vegetable that can be part of the sauce.

Downside is you have to keep track of your orders in advance - they are weekly, and if you don't choose the dish the week before, they'll choose for you which may end up a meal you don't want - and you often have to remember to cancel an occasional week if you start running behind on cooking.
You really need to ensure you cook the meal sent within a week and a half or the produce starts going brown or wilty.

There's another service that sends pre-cooked meals that cost about the same, but you'd run into the same issue -either freeze for later or eat within the week.

We generally like it -once a month or every two/three weeks. Unfortunately, we have had to toss a few meals over the past 6 months (except for components that could be frozen) due to time or taste issues.


Haele

[CTyankee]

12. Can you specify ahead of time that you never want broccoli and ask for a substitute at the same

price?

[haele]

18. They say they will. You can indicate what you don't want...

And they'll avoid offering you those recipes or in some cases will offer you a substitute if, say, Broccoli is not a major component in that recipe.

Managing the account is important though; you won't get stuck with "helpful suggested dinners" or end up with a dozen in your fridge that you don't want to cook.

You can always freeze the quality meat they send you, if things back up too much, and you can always use what they send you to make something more to your liking.

The sodium issue in the meals they send typically comes from the pre-measured branded spice mixes and condiments they provide. Not saying it's like making hamburger helper, but you are going to get Kraft or other brand products with your produce and meat.

Haele

[bamagal62]

9. We've tried SunBasket.

Meals were good. Fresh ingredients. A lot of prep work though. I would get lazy, order out, then end up throwing it away.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

10. Is there any chance that there is some kind of senior citizen meal delivery service where you are?

I have not used any of those services, but any time I've looked at them, they cost vastly more than I can do on my own. No better than a restaurant. I often fix a soup or casserole of some kind, put most of it into a single serving container and freeze. Right now I have 15 single serving containers in my freezer. Each one is a meal, and probably costs me less than two dollars for the meal.

I am a decade younger and still am okay with cooking.

[CTyankee]

13. I havent seen any advertised. I'm fine with most of the foods since essentially that is what I am

getting lately. There's a lot more choices in the freezer section at the supermarket. I check for sodium levels and broccoli. Ideally, I'd do my biggest food shopping on a day when our house cleaner comes (she is employed with an agency for the aged or disabled) and she can carry lots of bags in the house. Most of the time that works but the fall is when we have socializing at Yale football games on Saturdays and have had to do a workaround for my cleaner's schedule.

I'm just tired of cooking, cleaning up afterwards. I want less clutter and simple, easy to put together/serve and clean up after. I supplement with fresh fruit and dessert.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

14. Perhaps the agency that employes your cleaner

can help you out here. Sometimes it just takes finding the right person to ask.

I personally do pretty simple meals, including lots of soups, stews, and pasta dishes, which don't require a lot of things that need cleaning afterwards. Plus, since I get a whole lot of leftovers that become individual portions in the freezer, overall I'm not doing that much cleaning after.

I do hope you find something that works for you.

[CTyankee]

15. I used to pride myself by cooking new and fabulous dishes. I like to say that that was when I was

still drinking wine while I cooked. It made everything happier, IMO. But I got sick, really sick, and my gastro doc said wine (any alcohol) was affecting my liver and give me these awful gastrointestinal issues. So I just gave it up. I miss the nice feeling that went along with cooking and drinking Merlot. It was fun and relaxing. But getting old is a process where you lose some things but gain others.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

17. I am sincerely sorry that you can no longer drink while cooking.

I very much enjoy my alcohol, and hope I never have to give it up.

You'll appreciate this. In the 1990s I lived not far from my sister. She had three kids, I had two, and they were all more or less the same ages. We traded off Thanksgiving. One year at her house, next year at mine. We quickly established a tradition that about a half hour before the meal would be done, we'd open the first bottle of wine. It made the entire day far more enjoyable, including the clean-up.

Back when my boys were growing up, I never insisted they eat what I fixed. If they didn't like what was offered, a PB&J sandwich was the alternative. I was a fussy enough eater growing up, heck I still am, that I was never offended if they said they didn't like what I fixed. My wonderful husband, now my ex, was very forgiving when I made a bad meal. I can recall a time or two when we ate the first couple of bites of something, looked at each other, put it in the trash, and went out to a restaurant. He NEVER complained or blamed me, and I still appreciate that.

[CTyankee]

19. Well, if anything can drive you to drink, it would be my ex-husband (who just died, BTW).

Maybe if I hadn't, I would have ended the marriage long before I did. Oh well, shudda, coulda, woulda.

It's a real shock when your body tells you what you just can't do any longer. I know, because of testing, that my liver is just fine now. It's sad in a way -- I'm visiting Barcelona and Paris with my daughter in April and the Barcelona cava is supposed to be so wonderful that I'd love to taste it. It would probably be fine if I did but my daughter would be upset with me, so I won't.

Too bad.

[csziggy]

11. Here is a good review of the various types of services

With some mention of specific companies: https://www.cnet.com/health/nutrition/best-prepared-meal-delivery-service/

[CTyankee]

16. Thanks. That''s fabulous. Just what I need!