Questions about Hello Fresh, Blue Apron, etc

[Deleted]

We’re still eating most of our meals at home, we do get takeout every once in a while, but I’d rather not. I’m burned out on trying to figure out what’s for dinner. I quickly get overwhelmed searching the web for new ideas and recipes. So I’ve been thinking about trying one of the services like Hello Fresh, Blue Apron, etc.

Have any of you ever used that type of service? If so, what was your experience like with it? I know it’s not the least expensive way to get meals on the table, so was the convenience worth the cost for you?

I’m thinking it could give me at least a couple or few days a week that I don’t have to figure anything out, just cook it. I haven’t cooked this often since my kids were growing up. HELP!

[oped]

I tried Hello Fresh and Sunbasket. Sunbasket has a lot more options. Every once in awhile I think about restarting but never do.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

I've not, but have poached recipes off the web site.  


www.blueapron.com/cookbook

[oped]

Sunbasket also sends a recipe booklet with all of their recipes for the week in it, I kept a lot of those.

Thanks for the link Mich.

[Deleted]

DS tried one of them, I don't remember which one, but said that the only convenience was that they provided everything. He still had to do the slicing, dicing, chopping, etc. And it was just enough for one meal, no second helpings. They decided they'd rather grocery shop for their own ingredients since what the heck, they still had to eat breakfast and lunch anyway.

[wvugurl26]

Like mich I've only poached recipes. It did give me some new ideas and some new preparations.

[cktc]

I used Blue Apron for awhile and liked it, but DH rarely wanted the fish or vegetarian dishes so the variety was limited. There was a lot of burger, coleslaw, roast potatoes.

[thyme4change]

My friend was using Blue Apron and forgot to cancel when her kitchen was out of commission for a week. She gave me the boxes. They were good, and it was way easier than buying all the ingredients. The meat was quality, but I didn't find anything too weird in there - I had or could easily get all the ingredients.

Someone told me to use the meal lime app, and then get delivery from the grocery store and it would be similar. I have used a few meal lime recipes. Might be cheaper to try that for a few weeks.

[Anne_in_VA]

We tried Hello Fresh for a while but found they had a limited menu with not enough options and I still had to do all the prep work and cooking.  I found some of the produce they sent was not very good and was old,especially greens like lettuce.  Some was wilted and slimy and not able to be revived.  

[Deleted]

Aug 20, 2020 16:40:04 GMT -5 oped said:

I tried Hello Fresh and Sunbasket. Sunbasket has a lot more options. Every once in awhile I think about restarting but never do.

I’ve never heard of Sunbasket. I’ll look them up. Thanks!

[Deleted]

Aug 20, 2020 16:40:53 GMT -5 The Walk of the Penguin Mich said:

I've not, but have poached recipes off the web site.  


www.blueapron.com/cookbook

I’ll browse those. Thanks for the link.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Aug 20, 2020 17:35:44 GMT -5 @pinkcshmere said:

Aug 20, 2020 16:40:53 GMT -5 The Walk of the Penguin Mich said:

I've not, but have poached recipes off the web site.  


www.blueapron.com/cookbook

I’ll browse those. Thanks for the link.

I also use epicurious.com quite a bit too.  

[Deleted]

Aug 20, 2020 17:13:51 GMT -5 cktc said:

I used Blue Apron for awhile and liked it, but DH rarely wanted the fish or vegetarian dishes so the variety was limited. There was a lot of burger, coleslaw, roast potatoes.

Those are some of the things im trying to get away from lol.

[Deleted]

I have several apps, including Meal lime and epicurious. 

Briefly looking at the meal delivery services, it seems they are really geared toward people who are trying to avoid the grocery store. Which isn’t really my problem.

I really just need some ideas for meals without having to search endlessly for ideas and recipes online. I also struggle with meal planning. I can see how it would help make my life a bit less complicated, but whenever I try to sit down and do it, I start drawing blanks and give up.

[mary2029]

I've tried and liked Blue Apron. I liked that it provided non-standard ingredients/spice blends that I could try.  Yes, it is more about avoiding the grocery store and limiting waste. 

I've signed up for New York Times Cooking.  They give you a free month to explore, but what I like is that they send biweekly e-mails on what to cook and its recipe.  The e-mails usually include 5 or so dishes.  I save the recipes I like and eventually plan on trying most of them. Those that I have tried, I have really enjoyed. Another great resource for weekly e-mails is Cook's Country.  

[Malarky]

Aug 20, 2020 17:47:21 GMT -5 @pinkcshmere said:

I have several apps, including Meal lime and epicurious. 

Briefly looking at the meal delivery services, it seems they are really geared toward people who are trying to avoid the grocery store. Which isn’t really my problem.

I really just need some ideas for meals without having to search endlessly for ideas and recipes online. I also struggle with meal planning. I can see how it would help make my life a bit less complicated, but whenever I try to sit down and do it, I start drawing blanks and give up.

For the past 5-6 years I've done my 30 meals in 30 days in September.  I start by making a list of meals we like,  things I'd like to try and easy weeknight meals. 

Off the top of my head: steak and salad, pork tenderloin, chicken pot pie, beef stew, quiche, sausage and arugula pasta, spaghetti and meatballs, kielbasa and roast veggies etc. 

Then I figure out what order to make them. If I'm using carrots in three meals in a week, they all get chopped the first time I need them.  As much as possible I incorporate leftovers into another meal.  Roast chicken becomes chicken tacos becomes chicken stew.

I build in a couple of take out meals.

The biggest benefit is that I make at least double of everything and freeze the extra.  November and December are busy months for me so having lots of good options in the freezer really helps.  

This thread is really timely for me.  It's time to plan this year's 30 meals/30 days.

ETA:  I sometimes peruse the "What's for Dinner?" thread to get ideas.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Aug 20, 2020 17:57:55 GMT -5 mary2029 said:

I've tried and liked Blue Apron. I liked that it provided non-standard ingredients/spice blends that I could try.  Yes, it is more about avoiding the grocery store and limiting waste. 

I've signed up for New York Times Cooking.  They give you a free month to explore, but what I like is that they send biweekly e-mails on what to cook and its recipe.  The e-mails usually include 5 or so dishes.  I save the recipes I like and eventually plan on trying most of them. Those that I have tried, I have really enjoyed. Another great resource for weekly e-mails is Cook's Country.  

I have a subscription to NYT, but a few years ago they split NYT Cooking from the NYT and wanted a second subscription rate for it.  That really ticked me off, so I have resisted subscribing.  I really missed it as part of what I was already paying for.

Another idea is to look at Cooks Illustrated.  I have gotten a subscription for these since 2004ish, and have a set of favorites from here.  I usually try at least one new recipe out of each magazine.

[nittanycheme]

I've been getting Blue apron for a over a year; I haven't tried any of the other services.  All of the meals I've gotten from there range from ok to great.  Now that I have more experience looking at their recipes, I can see the ones that will like be just ok, and doctor them up so they are really good.  I've never gotten anything I didn't like at all.  The beef (steaks and small roast) and pork (chops, loins, small roasts) are very good quality.  I've also gotten meals with shrimp, and those were good too.  The pasta ones range from great (especially ones with fresh pasta) to ok, and those I tend to doctor up with additional garlic or spices.  I don't like fish, so I haven't tried any of those but they look good.  I like that I don't have to think what to cook, I have tried new foods I wouldn't have tried and liked them, although its not likely I'd find them around here.  My DH is learning to cook, and its nice because he can follow the recipes and cook a meal on his own.  I've also gotten some recipes that we use on non-BA days.  There is packaging waste but I like that the food is pretty much portioned so there isn't food waste.  Except when we get cabbage - there is always extra cabbage....

It definitely cuts down on what I need to get at the grocery store in conjunction with what is in my freezer and pantry.  When the shutdown first hit, we didn't go to the grocery store except to get my DH's bagged lunch salads and milk for weeks.  I liked that I could get in-and-out fast with minimal time in the store.  And we were still getting meat during the shortages, although it was the first time I've ever seen BA mark recipes as sold out.

[jerseygirl]

Tried Blue Apron once. Vegetables and proteins were nice looking and fresh. Tried a salmon meal. the salmon was firm and fresh but the sauce wasn’t to our taste at all. It overpowered the salmon and wasn’t fresh tasting. I’d rather cook myself and get take out occasionally

[mary2029]

Aug 20, 2020 18:27:42 GMT -5 The Walk of the Penguin Mich said:

Aug 20, 2020 17:57:55 GMT -5 mary2029 said:

I've tried and liked Blue Apron. I liked that it provided non-standard ingredients/spice blends that I could try.  Yes, it is more about avoiding the grocery store and limiting waste. 

I've signed up for New York Times Cooking.  They give you a free month to explore, but what I like is that they send biweekly e-mails on what to cook and its recipe.  The e-mails usually include 5 or so dishes.  I save the recipes I like and eventually plan on trying most of them. Those that I have tried, I have really enjoyed. Another great resource for weekly e-mails is Cook's Country.  

I have a subscription to NYT, but a few years ago they split NYT Cooking from the NYT and wanted a second subscription rate for it.  That really ticked me off, so I have resisted subscribing.  I really missed it as part of what I was already paying for.

Another idea is to look at Cooks Illustrated.  I have gotten a subscription for these since 2004ish, and have a set of favorites from here.  I usually try at least one new recipe out of each magazine.

Oh, I don't pay for anything; I am too cheap for that.  I signed up for the recipes and they have kept me on their biweekly mailing lists for more than a year even though I haven't subscribed. I can download the recipes that they show and save them as pdfs for future uses.  Even if they decide not to give me access to these recipes, I get ideas.  
Yep, love Cooks Illustrated also (I signed up for the free Cook's Country e-mails and buy a cookbook every once in a while). 

[weltschmerz]

Aug 20, 2020 17:47:21 GMT -5 @pinkcshmere said:

I have several apps, including Meal lime and epicurious. 

Briefly looking at the meal delivery services, it seems they are really geared toward people who are trying to avoid the grocery store. Which isn’t really my problem.

I really just need some ideas for meals without having to search endlessly for ideas and recipes online. I also struggle with meal planning. I can see how it would help make my life a bit less complicated, but whenever I try to sit down and do it, I start drawing blanks and give up.

Here you go. Just browse the pictures and see what strikes your fancy.


www.zergnet.com/v/food

[wvugurl26]

Another thing I've been doing is checking out the daily/weekly specials at local non chain restaurants we like. They all post them on Facebook. It's given me some different ideas.

[dannylion]

Magazines like Cooking Light and Eating Well offer meal ideas, often a whole week's worth.  

It looks like you can access recipes and meal ideas online without having to subscribe to the magazines:  

Cooking Light


Eating Well

Other cooking magazines probably also offer recipes and meal ideas on their websites.  It might be easier to peruse collections that are already sorted and organized by publications than trying to find recipes at random.   

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

Our local grocery store started their own meal kits.

I wasn't impressed. Per ingredient it was more expensive and I barely got dinner out of it. Everything was pre portioned out but I still had to do all.the work beyond that.

I also was not comfortable with all the trash the kit produced. I try to reduce as much as possible so a big bottle of soy sauce I can use for months is way less garbage than dozens of tiny plastic packets.

I'll take recipes from Blue Apron every once and awhile. Delish has also been good for getting out of my rut.

I'm apathetic about life in general right now and that extends to cooking. Spending more money on it won't help.😉

[lurkyloo]

I was going to suggest seeing what your grocery store had for meal kits as well    I don’t like the commitment to services like blue apron, and I’m feeding some super picky eaters, but I’ve liked browsing what harris teeter has available.  No need to buy if it doesn’t fit your tastes.

YMMV.  Keep us posted!

[bobosensei]

I did Blue Apron with my ex for a while.  I remember there were a few times that we had to skip boxes because we had too many meals building up, but I was also working full time, in school full time, and commuting up to 4 hours 4 days a week between work and school and right before a separation/divorce.  I think if I got it now I would not have that problem, and I'd enjoy the added benefit of not having to go to the store for ingredients.

What I liked was that you didn't have to think about trying something different.  Most of what I ate wasn't necessarily something I would have gone out looking for a recipe for, and I liked that you got everything you needed for the meal.  No going out and buying a 10 dollar spice you might only use one more time before throwing out.  I also liked that there weren't leftovers.  So it helped some with weight management because we hadn't made some huge portion I could go back in for seconds on, and then the easiest way for me to do lunch was to just make a salad.  I would definitely do it again.  In fact as soon as I find employment again that might be the first thing I do.

[Wisconsin Beth]

Aug 20, 2020 23:24:27 GMT -5 lurkyloo said:

I was going to suggest seeing what your grocery store had for meal kits as well    I don’t like the commitment to services like blue apron, and I’m feeding some super picky eaters, but I’ve liked browsing what harris teeter has available.  No need to buy if it doesn’t fit your tastes.

YMMV.  Keep us posted!

Yeah, there's several different companies doing meal kits in the grocery stores around here.  I've tried a couple of them.  It's just enough for 2 people.  We've also got some dietary issues so it's important that I can read the ingredients list before buying.

I've done a couple of Wild Tree meal plans.  We did the gluten free one and then tweaked for the dairy.  We did get a couple of repeats meals out of it.  The Salisbury steaks were a keeper. 

[thyme4change]

Aug 20, 2020 17:47:21 GMT -5 @pinkcshmere said:

I have several apps, including Meal lime and epicurious. 

Briefly looking at the meal delivery services, it seems they are really geared toward people who are trying to avoid the grocery store. Which isn’t really my problem.

I really just need some ideas for meals without having to search endlessly for ideas and recipes online. I also struggle with meal planning. I can see how it would help make my life a bit less complicated, but whenever I try to sit down and do it, I start drawing blanks and give up.

One thing you could do, is get motivated for an hour or two and sit down and pick out 20 or so menus, with recipes. Print them out, write dates on them with a thick, bright marker. Write a grocery list for each or for two, and put that next to the recipe. Put them in order and when the date arrives, make that dinner.

Just an option if none of the meal boxes work for you. Also, less packing waste, if you care about that kind of thing. 😀

[nidena]

I think the biggest complaint that I've seen about them is how much packaging there is. I often suggest a blogger friend for suggestions about meals and meal-planning.  4 Hats and Frugal is the blog.  She's also on facebook.  The current posts are about Stock Up Month.

[Deleted]

Thank you for all the replies. I think I’m shelving the idea of a meal delivery service for now.

I have a recipe box that’s actually overflowing with recipes I’ve collected over the years. Most of them I’ve never tried even though I assume they looked interesting enough at one point that I took the time to add them to my box.

I’m really burned out on most of the stuff I know how to cook. Today at work, I couldn’t think of a single thing I could cook for dinner that I actually want, and there’s no shortage of food in my kitchen.