Meal Kits

[Ahleckz]

Care to share your favourites or are you just focused on increasing your post count?

Gousto for example, lets me select 4 meals in about 3 minutes from:
15 min recipes
Veg/fish/other specialty categories
5min prep -> into the oven dishes

I get one big box on a Sunday that is paper-packaged containing all the bits I need with literally 0 food waste. I get all the macros presented to me in a way that lets me meet my needs (high calorie/high protein) and timing.

The only way I can see getting off of this drug which is a huge time saver, is by researching on a periodic bases recipes and then going through an online shop (or waste my life in a supermarket to save a fiver).

If you don't have anything to add other than pointing me towards "book" then maybe this isn't the thread for you.

I completely get the convenience of these things, but that is why they are so expensive. You seemed to start this thread looking for something that doesn't exist. You want the conveneicne of Gusto et al but don't want to pay for it. You either pay for it, you create a mealplan and do the shopping or you buy ready meals/take out. You can't have it both, you need to pick one.

I've tried to start a 'share your mealplan' thread a few times but it never seems to gain much traction for some reason but I think it would be a good addition to the threads and make that research so much quicker!

This is our menu this week (it's vegan, but you can easily add meat/fish to anything). I think everything apart from the celeriac will be ready in sub 30 minutes (including prep/cooking) and it takes 45 minutes every week or so to go to the supermarket to get the ingredients. For me, going to the supermarket is the highlight of my week due to lockdown so I don't see it as a waste of my time or an inconvenience but your mileage may vary. Also, you will save substantially more than a fiver.

Beyond Meat Bolognese with Zoodles
Whole celeriac with caper brown butter raisin sauce and turnip roasties.
Spicy peanut butter zoodles.
Aubergine larb with rice.
Walnut meat tacos with refined beans.
Tofu in purgatory and sweet potato 'toast'.
Tofu Cesar.
Cauliflower pizza.
Gado Gado.
Hot & Sour Soup.

 

[Begbie]

Care to share your favourites or are you just focused on increasing your post count?

Gousto for example, lets me select 4 meals in about 3 minutes from:
15 min recipes
Veg/fish/other specialty categories
5min prep -> into the oven dishes

I get one big box on a Sunday that is paper-packaged containing all the bits I need with literally 0 food waste. I get all the macros presented to me in a way that lets me meet my needs (high calorie/high protein) and timing.

The only way I can see getting off of this drug which is a huge time saver, is by researching on a periodic bases recipes and then going through an online shop (or waste my life in a supermarket to save a fiver).

If you don't have anything to add other than pointing me towards "book" then maybe this isn't the thread for you.

If it works for you, that's amazing but you don't need to try and put people down for not using it was my point.

There is a million cooking books, youtube channels, and websites.

 

[dlockers]

I completely get the convenience of these things, but that is why they are so expensive. You seemed to start this thread looking for something that doesn't exist. You want the conveneicne of Gusto et al but don't want to pay for it. You either pay for it, you create a mealplan and do the shopping or you buy ready meals/take out. You can't have it both, you need to pick one.

I've tried to start a 'share your mealplan' thread a few times but it never seems to gain much traction for some reason but I think it would be a good addition to the threads and make that research so much quicker!

This is our menu this week (it's vegan, but you can easily add meat/fish to anything). I think everything apart from the celeriac will be ready in sub 30 minutes (including prep/cooking) and it takes 45 minutes every week or so to go to the supermarket to get the ingredients. For me, going to the supermarket is the highlight of my week due to lockdown so I don't see it as a waste of my time or an inconvenience but your mileage may vary. Also, you will save substantially more than a fiver.

Beyond Meat Bolognese with Zoodles
Whole celeriac with caper brown butter raisin sauce and turnip roasties.
Spicy peanut butter zoodles.
Aubergine larb with rice.
Walnut meat tacos with refined beans.
Tofu in purgatory and sweet potato 'toast'.
Tofu Cesar.
Cauliflower pizza.
Gado Gado.
Hot & Sour Soup.

It wasn't so much about not paying for it - just the convenience and to remove "meal anxiety" from the list of worries. Saving cash was a bonus side effect which I was hoping to get some anecdotal experience on.

I kind of mused about what I was after, which would be a Gousto type service that linked into some delivery service. I was hoping it already existed but no luck so far. Affiliate links clearly not paying out much to make it a decent business case.

There was a website called "enter your ingredients and we can tell you what you could make" which was useful.

No, no you're totally right. Clearly you're strapped for time. You don't have time for finding recipes online because you spend so much of your time online arguing over finding recipes (rather than finding the recipes themselves).

You want to try Cambodian cuisine? Youtube -> "Cambodian recipes" done.
You want to try Thai cuisine? Youtube -> "Thai food recipes" done.

It's really not that had. But you know it must be hard to find the time to find recipes when you spend all your time researching where to find the best recipes are and then arguing about it.

Great post, thanks, please tell me more.

 

[dlockers]

If it works for you, that's amazing but you don't need to try and put people down for not using it was my point.

There is a million cooking books, youtube channels, and websites.

You have both been triggered by me responding to a chap who said I was the worst kind of lazy. Go figure

Edit: Great contribution again, thanks. We have at least gone from "book" to "youtube channels and websites"

 

[Ahleckz]

It wasn't so much about not paying for it - just the convenience and to remove "meal anxiety" from the list of worries. Saving cash was a bonus side effect which I was hoping to get some anecdotal experience on.

I kind of mused about what I was after, which would be a Gousto type service that linked into some delivery service. I was hoping it already existed but no luck so far. Affiliate links clearly not paying out much to make it a decent business case.

There was a website called "enter your ingredients and we can tell you what you could make" which was useful.
.

I suppose it's going to be difficult for a food blog to build the feature to add ingredients into a cart with one click unless they have a tie in with a supermarket? I'm no coder though!

Tesco recipes have a button where you can add the ingredients to your basket, Waitrose doesn't which I find surprising but maybe the other supermarkets do. I've not actually looked for this before, but it's a great feature!


(This is Jamie's smoky veggie chilli - seems very expensive!)

 

[dlockers]

I suppose it's going to be difficult for a food blog to build the feature to add ingredients into a cart with one click unless they have a tie in with a supermarket? I'm no coder though!

Tesco recipes have a button where you can add the ingredients to your basket, Waitrose doesn't which I find surprising but maybe the other supermarkets do. I've not actually looked for this before, but it's a great feature!


(This is Jamie's smoky veggie chilli - seems very expensive!)

Will check this out immediately. Thank you!

 

[Ahleckz]

Will check this out immediately. Thank you!

No problem, it definitely seems to be a bit of a middle ground between doing all the research and shopping lists and Gusto. I've just had a look and ASDA, Sainsbury's, Tesco and Morrison's all offer the 'click to add ingredients'.

Let us know how you get on with it!

 

[Shadowness]

I did both Gousto and Hello Fresh when I had the really good offers. Gousto especially, as I think that was 50% off your first box, then 40% of the next 3 or so.

Much preferred Gousto. Most of the dishes were really really nice, and the others I would say were still nice. Not sure if I'd stick to doing it though, especially as I quite enjoy digging out or finding recipes and buying the ingredients.

I can see the appeal for families when shopping is more time pressured, and you just want little to no faff in getting something decent on the table.

 

[jpaul]

For me, going to the supermarket is the highlight of my week due to lockdown so I don't see it as a waste of my time or an inconvenience but your mileage may vary.

Yes, if you visit the supermarket/market you can pick the vegetables and ingrediants that are fresh, and adjust the menu as appropriate - variety.
even the idea of having vegetables and meat delivered from a supermarket is an anathema, maybe some discrete veg/meat boxes are ok;

most days we have green veg of some sort with the meal, cauli/brocoli/cabbage/... if those were delivered as single portions, vs a whole vegetable,
they won't be fresh/nutritious/tasty. .... so I'm out.

Meal boxes and ready-meals have there place, some of the older neighbours use them for convenience, I'd think the frozen ones could be the fresher of the two, too.

 

[dlockers]

Yes, if you visit the supermarket/market you can pick the vegetables and ingrediants that are fresh, and adjust the menu as appropriate - variety.
even the idea of having vegetables and meat delivered from a supermarket is an anathema, maybe some discrete veg/meat boxes are ok;

most days we have green veg of some sort with the meal, cauli/brocoli/cabbage/... if those were delivered as single portions, vs a whole vegetable,
they won't be fresh/nutritious/tasty. .... so I'm out.

Meal boxes and ready-meals have there place, some of the older neighbours use them for convenience, I'd think the frozen ones could be the fresher of the two, too.

Slightly less fresh veg versus risking mingling with the great unwashed (this is a joke!)

But yes Ocado even made fun of this point in one of their ads, suggesting the machines are as picky as we are.

I personally don't mind a wonky veg being delivered a bit bruised in a box if it saves me all the aforementioned time.

Happy to change though, hence the thread.

 

[jpaul]

I'm not wonky/bruised averse , but you can't deliver a few cruiceiferous florettes, or, a cabbage segment, in a box meal.

hellofresh seem to be pushing their brand on tv this evening ... that's an oxymoron company name, if ever I heard one .. a bold claim.

 

[dlockers]

I'm not wonky/bruised averse , but you can't deliver a few cruiceiferous florettes, or, a cabbage segment, in a box meal.

hellofresh seem to be pushing their brand on tv this evening ... that's an oxymoron company name, if ever I heard one .. a bold claim.

I'll take a picture on Sunday when the box arrives, but I certainly do receive fresh veg. Not sure how you think food gets delivered to stores, but they don't grow it in the back, thats for sure.

 

[lookitsjonno]

Invest in a pantry of ingredients - dried spices, herbs, sauces etc. It's then very cheap to put together a nice meal, just add your fresh stuff and away you go.

As you make recipes, copy them into a cloud app and document yourself some tips. Next time it's a doddle when you're in the supermarket to see what bits you need.
Don't take the recipe at face value, if you like garlic, add more, and note it for next time.

This week for example we've had
Silician Meatballs with Basil and Fennel
Gai Yang Chicken with Oriental Egg Rice

All I needed to buy fresh was Mince, Basil, Chicken, Coriander and some Lemon Grass. I had all the dried stuff and a few other bits in stock (onions, frozen peas, carotts). Total cost less than £10, and that's for a family of 4.

 

[ttaskmaster]

These things are basically ratpacks, or MREs, for people who like to pretend they're cooking... except MREs are actually cheaper!!
Wife sometimes gets the Abel & Cole stuff when it's heavily discounted, but I'm really not a fan, myself.

 

[dlockers]

Invest in a pantry of ingredients - dried spices, herbs, sauces etc. It's then very cheap to put together a nice meal, just add your fresh stuff and away you go.

As you make recipes, copy them into a cloud app and document yourself some tips. Next time it's a doddle when you're in the supermarket to see what bits you need.
Don't take the recipe at face value, if you like garlic, add more, and note it for next time.

This week for example we've had
Silician Meatballs with Basil and Fennel
Gai Yang Chicken with Oriental Egg Rice

All I needed to buy fresh was Mince, Basil, Chicken, Coriander and some Lemon Grass. I had all the dried stuff and a few other bits in stock (onions, frozen peas, carotts). Total cost less than £10, and that's for a family of 4.

Yeah we have this. Just the convenience is "mega". Especially with the 7mo old. The integrated recipe creators in the big supermarkets seems like a good halfway house.

These things are basically ratpacks, or MREs, for people who like to pretend they're cooking... except MREs are actually cheaper!!
Wife sometimes gets the Abel & Cole stuff when it's heavily discounted, but I'm really not a fan, myself.

I get what you are saying but that is more like Huel/meal replacement territory. These are boxes of fresh veg, meat and herbs/condiments with recipe cards. I get half a lettuce if I only need half a lettuce, for example...

They were attempting to supply exactly the right number of garlic cloves too, but they soon gave up and just bung a load in. They have now given up on that and just bung a couple of bulbs in now, lol.

Edit: Crikey, those A&C boxes are dear.

 

[Raikiri]

These things are basically ratpacks, or MREs, for people who like to pretend they're cooking... except MREs are actually cheaper!!

It's still cooking, it's just that everything is portioned. Not everyone likes cooking and they seem like a decent way for people to learn, although they are overpriced.

 

[Martynt74]

@dLockers

Morrisons have started something that you might be interested in

https://www.morrisons.com/food-boxes/eatfresh/recipes

Works out at £2.50 a portion which is much more acceptable than some.

 

[dlockers]

@dLockers

Morrisons have started something that you might be interested in

https://www.morrisons.com/food-boxes/eatfresh/recipes

Works out at £2.50 a portion which is much more acceptable than some.

This is great, thank you. Will take a look.

 

[dlockers]

It's still cooking, it's just that everything is portioned. Not everyone likes cooking and they seem like a decent way for people to learn, although they are overpriced.

The way I have built the business case is, I only need one "bad day" where I am not in the mood to figure out what to cook and defer to a takeaway/Deliveroo and it has paid for itself. The fact the packages sit there waiting to be used is another incentive to not divert.

 

[Raikiri]

The way I have built the business case is, I only need one "bad day" where I am not in the mood to figure out what to cook and defer to a takeaway/Deliveroo and it has paid for itself. The fact the packages sit there waiting to be used is another incentive to not divert.

What I would suggest if you start cooking more from scratch/using your own recipes etc. is to make too much of certain things. Stews, curries, chilli, soups etc. all freeze very well and can be quickly reheated if you just can't be bothered one day.