Meal deliveries

[bill_schubert]

It has been a year and a half that I've consistently been getting meal deliveries and it is worth it and interesting.  I've got time to mess with it so I do.  I use three different services and put which is delivering this week in my Google calendar.  Every three or so weeks I go through all three services and select which we'll get on which weeks for the next month.  This starts by cancelling all choices for at least a month out then selecting which service by week I'll un-cancel.  So far I've not screwed up and accidently forgotten to cancel more than one.

Pro: We do not have to go to the store nearly as much.  Who knows how much difference that has made in the unmasked Texas pool.

I've learned some cooking tips from their recipes and have a much larger list of spices I've tried.

It gives me a vegetable every night.  And I'm more inclined to eat it.  No small thing there.

Con: It does take a little work to not double book and I've had a little problem with some of the deliveries although all three services are very sensitive to getting it right.

Dinnerly:  This is the cheapest, by far, service.  It works out to about $7.50 per person per meal.  The meals kind of reflect that.  Lots of casserole kind of things although not always.  I always start looking here since $50/week for three nights of food is a pretty good deal and the quality is good.  They dump everything in the box without sorting and I have to print the recipes from their site (not included in the box).  But the food is pretty fresh and the quality is good.

Home Chef: This works out to about $11/person per meal but is far better quality, better menu, color printed recipe card, sorted and bagged ingredients for each meal.  

Hello Fresh: This is nearly identical to Home Chef in every way including the price.  Just a different company and menu.  Same quality and presentation.

I vacillate between cheap and better selection.  It is so nice to have a week of very cheap meals if they are good enough.  Then a couple of weeks of the more expensive choices.  

All of this has worked with Noom since their recipes have the calories and all other information in them.  I can plan ahead for the evening meal.  It also results in leftovers since they tend to give a lot of food so I'll get an extra meal out of it.  

Our food costs have gone down as our trips to the store have become fewer.

The delivery has been occasionally problematic but all three are very quick to respond to customer complaints.  I recently carped to Hello Fresh about FedEX delivering without notice a box that sat on the front of our porch most of the day broadcasting to the world if anyone wanted to take it before I happened to open the door an saw it.  The Hello Fresh response was immediate and I've got a $60 credit on my account even thought we got the food.  Plus they are going to shift us to UPS which is much better with notifications.

BUT

We have a new, wonderful, store opening in a couple of weeks nearly within walking distance.  That might result in some just in time meals that will supersede the meal deliveries.  The HEB has a huge selection of under $10 one person meals that are fresh, pop in the oven kind of things.  I'm thinking that as close as this store is we may end up just both going and getting what we want for dinner right before we eat it.

It is nice not having to figure out 'what are we having for dinner?' kind of stuff.  There is always a plan now.

Comments

[susandennis]

Excellent meal delivery info but of course, I covet your HEB soooo much. I can't wait for it to open!

[mollywheezy.livejournal.com]

We tried Hello Fresh once, but our food allergies make things like that problematic and cut down the choices even more. Right now, with my being unemployed, we are going for less expensive things. I'm doing a lot more of the cooking and planning grocery lists since I have time.