Some Superheros are Meal Delivery Services

SO obviously I am a SAHM (stay at home mom) <--if you don't know what that means. Why in God's name do I need a meal delivery system?! I don't. That is the true answer. BUT I honestly love it. The fact that most of the meals can be made in under 30 mins is proof enough that I need it in my life. Sometimes we don't just need quick meals because we are working full time and aren't home all day to cook a gourmet meal. It can be so difficult to find things that everyone in your house will eat or that you can make with a baby "screaming at the top of her lungs unless she's held" kind of meal.

I also spend wayyy too much time on Pinterest, pinning amazing meals that I only occasionally make. So a meal delivery service is a great way to get out of the mundane circle of same 5 meals you make every week because they're easy and require no effort. Most systems give you plenty of options to choose from, from week to week. Here I am going to go through a Pro/ Con list of 3 different meal delivery systems that I personally have used.

The 1st one I am going to talk about is Amazon Fresh Meal Box. I can't say enough great things about Amazon in general. We literally buy everything off there. I don't think I know anyone who doesn't shop off Amazon. We had it made when we lived in Maryland though. If you live near Amazon Fresh Deliveries and haven't been using it, you are missing out!! I think I miss that the most about living there. Fresh groceries delivered right to your door, plus you get to choose "fresh meals" added to your bill if you would like.

Pros:

• From box to table in about 30 minutes.
• Easy to follow recipes.
• Perfectly portioned out ingredients.
• Box is free with Amazon Prime Membership and spending $35.
• Delivered in brown paper bags with ice packs to keep the food cold.
• Offers "Fresh Deals" to save on certain items when purchasing.
• Can customize your delivery time and date.

Cons:

• Must live in an Amazon Fresh delivery location. 
• You can't just ship anywhere in the U.S.
• Must spend $39 to get free shipping.
• Fewer meal options than other delivery services.
• Mostly a grocery delivery system vs meal delivery system.

The 2nd delivery option we used was Hello Fresh. When we moved back to Ohio we weren't able to use Amazon Fresh anymore so we took a few months and went back to shopping for groceries and planning out each meal every week. We started to get in the same old boring routine again until we decided to try Hello Fresh. I was so excited to have new meals to try and all the ingredients sent right to my door without much planning involved.

Pros:

• Customization plans for 2 or 4 family members and ranges from 2-4 meals per week.
• Prices start at low $7.49 per meal.
• Over 20 different meal options to choose from. (Ranging from gourmet to calorie smart)
• Easy-to-follow recipes with clear nutritional info on the recipe cards.
• Convenient meal kits that fit perfectly in the fridge.
• Meat is packaged separately from rest of ingredients.
• Meal preparation and cooking time typically under 40 mins.
• Gives wine options to match the meals.
• Can skip weeks if you don't need the meals delivered that week and cancel anytime.

Cons:

• Only 5 calorie smart meals if you're looking for healthier options.
• A lot of meals are very similar ingredients.
• We personally experienced a few instances where ingredients (vegetables) were too ripe and almost ready to go bad.

The third meal delivery system we tried is Home Chef. We switched from Hello Fresh to Home Chef right after the holidays because they were having a $100 off special and we wanted to see what we liked better. The prices are very comparable to each other. Here is what we liked and didn't like about it.

Pros:

• Control your deliveries by easily skipping weeks or pausing your account.
• With the new Customize It feature, you can choose from up to 26 fresh weekly options including steak, chicken, pork, fish and vegetarian. Customize your choices by swapping, upgrading, or doubling the recipe protein.
• Easy to follow recipe cards.
• Pre-portioned ingredients. 
• Protein packaged separately.
• They send a recipe binder to store all the recipe cards.
• Produce was very fresh.
• Most meals are made in 30 minutes or less.

Cons:

• For a couple of the meals, they sent the sauces already mixed for the recipe. We liked making our own with Hello Fresh so you know what is going into it to make it again.
• Less options from week to week.
• A lot smaller meal options that are good for lunches or snacks, not personally ideal for our dinners.

All of the meal delivery systems came in insulated boxes to keep food fresh. They also are packaged in recyclable cardboard boxes with ice packs in them. Overall our favorite meal delivery service is Hello Fresh. There are less cons about Home Chef but we are drawn more to the type of meals Hello Fresh provided vs the lighter options that Home Chef seems to provide. Me and my husband pretty much decided that we like the comfort food options more. That might be our first problem with trying to lose weight. Oh well... I hope this helps you make a decision if you are on the fence about trying one of these options!