Meal delivery kits - e.g., Blue Apron, Home Chef, Sun Basket, Green Chef, Hello Fresh
Jul 24, 2017, 12:38 pm
#92
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I saw an unboxing/comparison on CNBC or NBR (cant remember which) saying they were very similar but seemed to give the nod to AMZN due to additional prepared meal components.
I'm not currently in the market for meal kits, but am definitely interested
Jul 24, 2017, 7:12 pm
#93
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Additional prepared meal components would be nice.
Jul 30, 2017, 1:31 pm
#95
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Thank you all for your sharing your experience. We are trying Home Chef, and will try to get our teens to prep and cook for us. It will both get them to cook and let them choose a meal they are interested in. Something other than takeout pizza or my Japanese curry in a box.
Our first run was a success. They enjoyed the prep and the meal was excellent. The instructions for Home Chef were simple enough for them to prepare. The only problem was my wife came home midway through the prep and started to take over, which defeated the purpose of them cooking. My youngest immediately disappeared to his message boards. I'm not sure how to fix that, since I think she feels guilty not getting food prepared for the family, and naturally jumps in.
Our first run was a success. They enjoyed the prep and the meal was excellent. The instructions for Home Chef were simple enough for them to prepare. The only problem was my wife came home midway through the prep and started to take over, which defeated the purpose of them cooking. My youngest immediately disappeared to his message boards. I'm not sure how to fix that, since I think she feels guilty not getting food prepared for the family, and naturally jumps in.
Jul 30, 2017, 2:18 pm
#96
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Thank you all for your sharing your experience. We are trying Home Chef, and will try to get our teens to prep and cook for us. It will both get them to cook and let them choose a meal they are interested in. Something other than takeout pizza or my Japanese curry in a box.
Our first run was a success. They enjoyed the prep and the meal was excellent. The instructions for Home Chef were simple enough for them to prepare. The only problem was my wife came home midway through the prep and started to take over, which defeated the purpose of them cooking. My youngest immediately disappeared to his message boards. I'm not sure how to fix that, since I think she feels guilty not getting food prepared for the family, and naturally jumps in.
Our first run was a success. They enjoyed the prep and the meal was excellent. The instructions for Home Chef were simple enough for them to prepare. The only problem was my wife came home midway through the prep and started to take over, which defeated the purpose of them cooking. My youngest immediately disappeared to his message boards. I'm not sure how to fix that, since I think she feels guilty not getting food prepared for the family, and naturally jumps in.
Jul 30, 2017, 2:25 pm
#97
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I've been interested in trying these services, but I'm more after convenience in preparation than anything else... an alternative to take out, frozen meals, etc. Something where I can come home from work and whip up dinner in 15 minutes with minimal fuss. All of these services claim to make the shopping easier, but I'm interested in the actual prep.
A Blue Apron promotional video really turned me off - the one where they're preparing burgers, cheddar sauce, sweet potatoes (perhaps a few other things like grilled onions, can't really remember). It seemed like a delicious meal, but like it would take me 45 minutes to prepare, and then I would have to clean every pot and pan in my kitchen afterward.
Has anybody tried multiple services, and are there any that stand out for ease of actual meal preparation? (Already saw Gobble mentioned upthread - outside their delivery area though
)
A Blue Apron promotional video really turned me off - the one where they're preparing burgers, cheddar sauce, sweet potatoes (perhaps a few other things like grilled onions, can't really remember). It seemed like a delicious meal, but like it would take me 45 minutes to prepare, and then I would have to clean every pot and pan in my kitchen afterward.
Has anybody tried multiple services, and are there any that stand out for ease of actual meal preparation? (Already saw Gobble mentioned upthread - outside their delivery area though
)Been pretty happy with the meals so far... I am relatively unadventurous from a culinary standpoint. These meals have been a decent peacemaker in my house, stretching me to try new things within a reasonable level of comfort, while keeping my wife happy that we're not eating the same 5 meals over and over.
Sep 5, 2017, 1:08 pm
#99
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Updates from the Milepigs.
We burned out on Home Chef. Meals started to become repetitive and then they failed to get the boxes to us within the stated delivery window. We started complaining, they blamed the carrier, we said "you contracted with the carrier, deal with it", they said it was our problem, was the food spoiled? We said, doesn't matter if it was spoiled it was LATE. Around and around, late every week. We finally just canceled. We actually survived three fazes of HC. Last fall the quality went way down for awhile and other problems (you'd get two chicken breasts, one three times the size of the other, how do you cook that!!) then around the turn of the year it got markedly better with real name brand deluxe ingredients showing up, they they disappeared again a few months ago. In any case, we're done with them over their inability to take responsibility for their shipper.
We then tried Blue Apron. The first week we followed the post-delivery instructions to the letter and by the time we made the meals half the produce we'd left out per their instructions was rotten. So after that it all just went in the fridge. Even so, some of the produce, especially the tomatoes, was essentially rotten when we tried to use it. Also some problems with brown basil, limp chives, etc. Some meals had interesting flavors, but BA has much less variety that Home Chef did, making it hard to find three appealing meals each week. Their recipes aren't as easy to follow as HC, and with a mix of instructions in bold faced and regular type it was easy to overlook an ingredient when we were timing, stirring, and adding stuff all at the same time. In the end, what killed it was the three meal minimum. We started to dread the tyranny of the meals sitting in the fridge. Maybe I just wanted to do burgers on the grill or a quick mac and cheese, or even run to the taco stand a block away, but it was always "Nope, gotta use up a blue apron." So, we're canceling that.
In all honesty, except for the "box of stuff" efficiency, I'd much rather cook with our own recipes. They take no longer to make and the results are usually better.
We burned out on Home Chef. Meals started to become repetitive and then they failed to get the boxes to us within the stated delivery window. We started complaining, they blamed the carrier, we said "you contracted with the carrier, deal with it", they said it was our problem, was the food spoiled? We said, doesn't matter if it was spoiled it was LATE. Around and around, late every week. We finally just canceled. We actually survived three fazes of HC. Last fall the quality went way down for awhile and other problems (you'd get two chicken breasts, one three times the size of the other, how do you cook that!!) then around the turn of the year it got markedly better with real name brand deluxe ingredients showing up, they they disappeared again a few months ago. In any case, we're done with them over their inability to take responsibility for their shipper.
We then tried Blue Apron. The first week we followed the post-delivery instructions to the letter and by the time we made the meals half the produce we'd left out per their instructions was rotten. So after that it all just went in the fridge. Even so, some of the produce, especially the tomatoes, was essentially rotten when we tried to use it. Also some problems with brown basil, limp chives, etc. Some meals had interesting flavors, but BA has much less variety that Home Chef did, making it hard to find three appealing meals each week. Their recipes aren't as easy to follow as HC, and with a mix of instructions in bold faced and regular type it was easy to overlook an ingredient when we were timing, stirring, and adding stuff all at the same time. In the end, what killed it was the three meal minimum. We started to dread the tyranny of the meals sitting in the fridge. Maybe I just wanted to do burgers on the grill or a quick mac and cheese, or even run to the taco stand a block away, but it was always "Nope, gotta use up a blue apron." So, we're canceling that.
In all honesty, except for the "box of stuff" efficiency, I'd much rather cook with our own recipes. They take no longer to make and the results are usually better.
Oct 2, 2017, 1:09 pm
#100
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We're currently trialing Gobble. A friend switched to it, feeling this reduced time in kitchen. The bulk of meal services still required substantial food prep and time. A different friend then gave us an offer for one week free. We're two weeks into it and have liked it well enough we have our third week of meals ordered. What I like:
Results: We can have a tasty meal assembled in 20 to 30 minutes and clean up is markedly reduced.
- Some of the sauces come already prepared. Examples: sauted onions, green salsa.
- There are several ethnic choices among the 8 dishes offered weekly. This is important to me. We love ethnic food and almost always choose ethnic food when we eat out. We've had excellent Indian dishes from Gobble. We eat meat but not a lot of it. When we have it, I'd rather my husband go to the store and select the quality and cut that he wants.
- Clean up is much easier. It uses only half the dishes that Blue Apron, our most recent provider, used.
- You can order side dishes, such as cookies to bake or soup or salad. We were comped two chocolate chip cookies the first box. They were delicious.
Results: We can have a tasty meal assembled in 20 to 30 minutes and clean up is markedly reduced.
Oct 2, 2017, 7:47 pm
#101
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We're currently trialing Gobble. A friend switched to it, feeling this reduced time in kitchen. The bulk of meal services still required substantial food prep and time. A different friend then gave us an offer for one week free. We're two weeks into it and have liked it well enough we have our third week of meals ordered. What I like:
Results: We can have a tasty meal assembled in 20 to 30 minutes and clean up is markedly reduced.
- Some of the sauces come already prepared. Examples: sauted onions, green salsa.
- There are several ethnic choices among the 8 dishes offered weekly. This is important to me. We love ethnic food and almost always choose ethnic food when we eat out. We've had excellent Indian dishes from Gobble. We eat meat but not a lot of it. When we have it, I'd rather my husband go to the store and select the quality and cut that he wants.
- Clean up is much easier. It uses only half the dishes that Blue Apron, our most recent provider, used.
- You can order side dishes, such as cookies to bake or soup or salad. We were comped two chocolate chip cookies the first box. They were delicious.
Results: We can have a tasty meal assembled in 20 to 30 minutes and clean up is markedly reduced.
Oct 31, 2017, 6:41 pm
#102
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If anyone has a free week for Gobble, I'm interested in trying it.
I ended up with a free week for Hello Fresh (again). This time, I opted for the family meals, because they have a shorter cooking time.
The box arrived today, and our first meal is Tortelloni Bolognese. It wasn't that bad in regards to prep, although I'm reminded of how spoiled I am, because my wrist is not happy with all of the chopping.
That said, it's pretty good.
I ended up with a free week for Hello Fresh (again). This time, I opted for the family meals, because they have a shorter cooking time.
The box arrived today, and our first meal is Tortelloni Bolognese. It wasn't that bad in regards to prep, although I'm reminded of how spoiled I am, because my wrist is not happy with all of the chopping.
That said, it's pretty good.
Oct 31, 2017, 7:21 pm
#103
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Oct 31, 2017, 8:54 pm
#104
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