Burgers, Dogs, & Pizza, Oh My!

Posts Tagged ‘Meal Delivery’

Used to be if you wanted to take advantage of a “home meal delivery” service, the companies that were available in the genre were focused on weight loss; or you could try and put together your own plan with a company like Schwans.

But lately we been presented with  a gaggle of choices from different companies, catering to all types of diets and tastes, as well as subscriptions that send portion control ingredients for you to cook at home, or fully prepared fresh “heat and eat” meals from companies like IONutrition. These guys are focused on fresh, organic, wholesome meals, and you can subscribe to a pure vegetable diet or one that includes animal protein.

They comped me some samples, and first off I went for the Butternut Portobello French Lentils with Salmon, which is ready to go after only two minutes in the microwave.

The ingredients are so straightforward it’s a breath of fresh air: Salmon, lentils, onion, carrots, mushroom, sweet potato, squash, eggplant
almond, tumeric, cumin, parsley, garlic, sea salt, filtered water.  What, seriously? None of those ingredients you can’t pronounce or have no idea what they are? Wow. Outstanding, folks.

Another significant difference with IoNutrition is they don’t have freezers chock-a-block full of frozen meals; they prepare your order right when you place it, and ship it out in a gently refrigerated box.

Watching calories, carbs or fats?  You’ll dig this nutritional information.   15 ounce serving = 537 calories, fat 2, carbs 55, fiber 16, protein 46. Meals are gluten and dairy free,organically sources elements. Eat them at home or amp up your daily office lunch.

The big question?  How was it?  Fantastic.  Seriously.  As good or better than anything I could fix at home, and possibly the best salmon I’ve  had in years. Additionally, the creative blending of spices and flavors in the sides is a real nice change.

If I haven’t given you enough reasons to try them out, know that IONutrition is a ’caused-based’ business and supports several charity partners.

One more reason?  How about a discount just for readers of Burgers, Dogs, Pizza, Oh My! For a limited time, get 15% off any meal plan by using the code “BURGERS.”  Get the full 411 on the company here.

                       Salmon, Lentils, Portobello

Ionutrition Meal Home Delivery Review

Packaging

A few years ago, I was offered a job running a home meal delivery company; it was an interesting concept, but there were bound to be some chemistry problems with the founders, so I passed. But I have noted the growth of the segment over the years, and how many different niches the industry has broadened into. You can get fully prepared, heat and eat, or cook yourself  meals sent to your home monthly, school lunches for kids, special diets for diabetics, gluten free, low carb, whatever.

HelloFresh.com delivers fresh meal ingredients and recipes to your home weekly – in packs of meals for two, four, or more. The cost is about $11.00 per plate. Each box contains ingredients for three meals. The company claims the meal ingredients are fresh, wholesome, and healthier than purchasing ingredients elsewhere.

The price is pretty spendy compared to many other programs. To compare equally however, be advised that HelloFresh includes all ingredients needed, while some other programs require you to supplement with fresh vegetables and fruit that you purchase locally.

I can’t tell you much about the company, there isn’t an “About” section on their website, nor does their contact info reveal their physical location. I don’t really like doing business with e-companies who don’t list a physical location – that’s just a personal quirk with me.

I was able to ascertain through other resources that the company was originally a German start-up, and has raised hundreds of millions to expand globally. It has a number of competitors in the segment. (Plated, Blue Apron).

Someone thought I should try this service out, so I received one week’s shipment ($69 value), three meals for two:

• Chicken a l’Orange with couscous
• Peppercorn Steak with spinach and new baby red potatoes
• Roasted Salmon with cherry tomatoes and green beans

Below are pics of the entire package, how the meals are packaged, and a spread of the Chicken a l’Orange meal ingredients and recipe card.

If you’re interested in these kind of programs, do a little search online, and you’ll find heavily discounted introductory offers, enabling you to try them out at a more reasonable cost before committing to a long term delivery program.

Ingredients

I don’t understand why all of the companies offer only three meals per week, but I am sure their research bore that out – maybe people eat out the rest of the time, or dive into leftovers?

The “meals” are not packaged with the ingredients together – instead there is a “protein portion” in the box, and a produce/fruit/starch portion of the box. Especially if you are trying to reach people who are not very proficient in the kitchen, but want to be, I’d package ingredients together and dumb down the recipes. Just my opinion.

Ingredients are furnished by boutique suppliers, the beef comes from USDA Estb. M5221-P5221 Home Food Services of PA, Bristol, PA 19007 (pictured below). They are also in the home meal delivery service, looks like the are similar to Schwans.The Chicken  is from P18414 MB Consultants LTD, South Fallsburg, NY 12779. No indication on the salmon.

As I started to say above, cooking, assembly is easy enough for an accomplished cook, but not so much for beginners.  While the ingredients are “quality,”  portions are small, and at $11 per plate, you could obtain much better value elsewhere, or even buying ‘heat and eat’ products at WalMart or your preferred local grocer.

The recipe cards list 7-8 steps, although that is kind of deceptive, as each “step” may require 3-4 steps.  I don’t think the instructions are simplified enough for beginning cooks, as a phrase like “cook until fragrant” will mean nothing to most people.  “Trim the green beans” might also be misunderstood.  Also, beginning or inexperienced cooks might take the instructions as “absolute” and there is no such thing in cooking, as burgers and ovens are often operating at temperature variances, and gradations (low, medium) will vary from unit to unit as well.

The ingredients produce an attractive plate, and probably an ample serving,  but for the time involved, and cost per serving, in my opinion, it’s not worth the trouble.

Protein Ingredients

Included Produce Ingredients

Salmon, Ready to Bake

Beans and tomatoes in skillet

Plated Dinner

Recipe Card

Home Food Services of PA

Hellofresh reviews