Meal Time

Meal time traditionally equals family time. It can be a time to put down the electronics and focus on each other. Investing in each other one on one strengthens relationships.

I’ve seen several meal kit service ads and wondered if having meal ingredients delivered to my door ready to prepare for dinner would benefit our household. It sounded like a great concept for busy people that have limited time – people like us!

I asked my Facebook friends if they ever tried any of the meal kit services and if yes, what they thought of them. Most that shared their various experiences, didn’t use the meal services regularly. Many said the food took longer to prepare than what the recipe said it would take.

I compared several of the companies out there. Turns out there’s more than I saw advertisements for. There’s the you cook meals, they precooked meals, all vegan meals, or snacks only. Some offer chef creations, desserts, vegetarian, organic, gluten free, keto, paleo, sustainable, or non-GMO. Some sell market items, like wine, cooking utensils, cook books, baking pans, etc. Some started as small businesses, some are owned by big corporations, some have corporate headquarters in other countries, some have limited service areas for delivery.

I’ll be featuring the companies my husband and I have tried below…

The Relentless Redecorator

Meal Kit Experience #1

My daughter sent me a coupon to try Blue Apron free for one week. Guess I’ll try them first! I was impressed with the menu choices they offered, the fact that you could choose what day you wanted the food delivered, and skip deliveries via a convenient app or their website. The first Blue Apron … Continue reading Meal Kit Experience #1

Meal Kit Experience #2

I placed my first order with Sun Basket on November 3. My first box is scheduled to be delivered on November 14. I ordered the following 3 meals for 2: Chicken & cauliflower with rosemary-roasted onion and oranges. Chicken korma with baby spinach and coconut basmati rice Pork carnitas tacos with avocado & cabbage-radish slaw … Continue reading Meal Kit Experience #2

Meal Kit Experience #2 – Box Arrives…

My Sun Basket box arrived on time as scheduled! Prior to the delivery, Sun Basket sent me emails and text message updates regarding my order. They let me know they had to substitute skinless chicken for skin on chicken, and assured me it wouldn’t impact the flavor or cook time of my meal. I had … Continue reading Meal Kit Experience #2 – Box Arrives…

Meal Kit Experience #2 – Cooking Meal #1 of 3

PORK CARNITAS TACOS WITH AVOCADO & CABBAGE-RADISH SLAW Our first meal was really good!!! Cook time was within the time indicated on the recipe. All ingredients were in the box. The only pantry items we needed was olive oil, salad and pepper. The pork was pre-cooked and clean of fat. There was enough to make … Continue reading Meal Kit Experience #2 – Cooking Meal #1 of 3

Meal Kit Experience #2 – Cooking Meal #2 of 3

Chicken & cauliflower with rosemary-roasted onion and oranges We really enjoyed our second Sun Basket meal. This is the meal that Sun Basket substituted skinless chicken for skin on chicken. Worked for us, skinless has less fat and calories. It took me a little longer to prepare than indicated on the recipe. My masher didn’t … Continue reading Meal Kit Experience #2 – Cooking Meal #2 of 3

Meal Kit Experience #2 – Cooking Meal #3 of 3

Chicken Korma with Baby Spinach and Coconut Basmati Rice Wow! Talk about flavor! And our house smelled amazing after cooking this meal! Presentation wise, our meal didn’t look like the picture on the recipe, but we can definitely say we are loving Sun Basket’s meals. It’s been a long time since I’ve frequently cooked meals … Continue reading Meal Kit Experience #2 – Cooking Meal #3 of 3

Meal Kit Experience #3

We are loving Sun Basket, but want to continue trying other companies. Enter Green Chef. Green Chef offers organic menu items, shipped in eco-friendly packaging. They offer 7 different meal plans. The difference between Green Chef and the other Meal Kits we tried so far is that you order a preplanned menu. You can change … Continue reading Meal Kit Experience #3

Meal Kit Experience #3 – Cooking Meals

GREEN CHEF: We ordered the Green Chef Paleo Meal Plan. I figured out that Green Chef numbers and color codes it’s meals, so just needed to sort the ingrediates for each meal. First meal we cooked was Cajun Shrimp, GC10 blue. It was easy to prepare, and tasty.  I should add that the lemon they … Continue reading Meal Kit Experience #3 – Cooking Meals

Meal Kit Experience #4

We are currently using Home Chef to supplement our regular Sun Basket meals. We are on weekly auto ship meals for two: a dinner, a salad and a smoothie. The Box Arrived on Time: Home Chef packaging isn’t quite as earth friendly as Sun Basket; however, they are cheaper than Sun Basket. Each meal is … Continue reading Meal Kit Experience #4