Anyone do the new food ordering websites? BlueApron, etc?

[s0me0nesmind1]

Tried Hello Fresh, was not impressed. Quality of ingredients was worse than the local grocery store (which isn't great to begin with) and the recipes we tried were nothing to write home about. Also had an issue when trying to cancel saying I wasn't allowed to cancel the next month (even though it was 3 weeks out) so I had to fight about that, and they finally cancelled it.

Haven't tried any others but Hello Fresh is one to avoid with issues in pretty much every facet of their business (ingredient quality, recipe quality, and customer service)

I've found it's a bit hit or miss. I haven't had many issues with HelloFresh personally - quality of ingredients has been fine. Also haven't ever had issues cancelling either.

I do agree though, HEAVILY evaluate the recipes - and don't be afraid to skip a week if all your choices suck. I try to avoid any carb heavy ones because I get the feeling those are the ones they are REALLY trying to cheap out on - things like rice and pasta are cheap.

 

[HomerJS]

I hear radio ads for a few of these where the first 3 meals are free(Martha Stewart, Blue Apron). Anyone get that? How did it work?

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

I hear radio ads for a few of these where the first 3 meals are free(Martha Stewart, Blue Apron). Anyone get that? How did it work?

The "3 free meals" are bullshit (From what I understand). Basically, they consider each portion (per person) of each meal a "meal"

So if you buy 2 meals that are for 4 people, the promotion really only covers 3/8 of the meals you're buying.

IMO, the better deals I've found were more along the lines of $30 off your first 2 deliveries (so $60 savings total)

 

[Exterous]

How well do the meals keep? I've got an Amex offer for $25 off $65 at HelloFresh and with the New Customer promo code that means I need the 4 person 3x week meal plan to get the full discount. We're only two people though so we'd need to store the food. (I'd stretch it out more but the amex offer expires soon)

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

How well do the meals keep? I've got an Amex offer for $25 off $65 at HelloFresh and with the New Customer promo code that means I need the 4 person 3x week meal plan to get the full discount. We're only two people though so we'd need to store the food. (I'd stretch it out more but the amex offer expires soon)

On top of that, go to a cashback portal (e.g. ebates) and you may also be able to get further money off.

I would say after around 1 week the ingredients might START to go back if you're keeping it in the fridge. I've had the same thing where I had one too many meals and it took a while to make them all.

If you make a meal every other day you should be fine.

 

[ImpulsE69]

I think all of them are worth atleast 1 try.

Also I think it's dumb to buy the "servings for 2 people". It's mostly just me and the wife eating, but it seems incredibly stupid to not make the meal for 4 so we can have leftovers for another day of the week when we feel more lazy.

There's no cost savings doing 4 over 2, and most of the time my wife won't eat leftovers so it would just go to waste.

 

[ImpulsE69]

The meals that we've seen on Blue Apron and Hello Fresh just did not appeal to us. That's the thing each place kind of has their 'thing' and they don't stray too far. That's why I loved Chef'd. The variety was great and you just ordered what you wanted when you wanted.

Home Chef is the next closest that we've found. You can select up to 5 weeks in advance and can skip weeks. How many meals you get is up to you, however they do have a minimum price for free shipping. They have a few 'toss in' items that are way overpriced, but still figures cheaper to add those than to pay shipping if you don't see enough things you are interested in that week.

 

[DigDog]

It's not a discussion of HAVING to cook but of WANTING to cook.

Some peoplelive for the pleasure of ... well, being at work and thinking "what if i did stuffed lamb today" or whatnot; at that point sourcing ingredients and cooking them becomes a pleasure you wouldn't want to just "let someone else do it for me".

And some others just want to be done with it. Which most euros find abominable. Like, paying someone to bang your girlfriend for you.
THATS THE FUN PART !! Why would you ever let someone else do it for you !!

 

[gorcorps]

It's not a discussion of HAVING to cook but of WANTING to cook.

Some peoplelive for the pleasure of ... well, being at work and thinking "what if i did stuffed lamb today" or whatnot; at that point sourcing ingredients and cooking them becomes a pleasure you wouldn't want to just "let someone else do it for me".

And some others just want to be done with it. Which most euros find abominable. Like, paying someone to bang your girlfriend for you.
THATS THE FUN PART !! Why would you ever let someone else do it for you !!

I don't know what the point of this rant was... all of these services just deliver ingredients, you still have to cook the meals. You're not cutting out the cooking, you're cutting out the shopping.

 

[vi edit]

I don't know what the point of this rant was... all of these services just deliver ingredients, you still have to cook the meals. You're not cutting out the cooking, you're cutting out the shopping.

Not just the shopping, but also the planning. Which arguably is equally as time consuming and frustrating.

 

[ImpulsE69]

I seriously find it funny that the same people who probably order everything they want off amazon are baffled by this.

 

[Majes]

My wife and I tried Blue Apron. The food was fresh and pretty high quality. But the portions were so small. I was eating their meal and then making what I'd normally make an hour or two later.

I'm pretty sure that my wife and I could regularly eat a 4 person order in one sitting and at that price point its just not financially feasible.

 

[gorcorps]

Not just the shopping, but also the planning. Which arguably is equally as time consuming and frustrating.

True. We tried it because we wanted to find new recipes that might be worth keeping to expand our personal cookbook. Nothing from Hello Fresh was worth keeping though, so we just went back to scouring the net for our own options.

 

[vi edit]

My wife and I tried Blue Apron. The food was fresh and pretty high quality. But the portions were so small. I was eating their meal and then making what I'd normally make an hour or two later.

I'm pretty sure that my wife and I could regularly eat a 4 person order in one sitting and at that price point its just not financially feasible.

Their meals average 600-700 calories a serving. If you are eating double that maybe you should reconsider your portion sizes.

 

[TeeJay1952]

My son and wife stop over every other Friday for shopping and 3 hour cooking session. Everything chopped and cooked into tupperware. Each meal 3 times plus salads and veggies. It is easy. All TV shows and commercials are suggestions for me to steal recipe in future.

 

[DigDog]

Ok well when i have my million bucks ill invite all of ATOT for dinner and then youll know why i want to do the shopping myself.

 

[Majes]

Their meals average 600-700 calories a serving. If you are eating double that maybe you should reconsider your portion sizes.

I need my dinners to be around 1000 calories or I'll just snack to make up the deficit.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

It's not a discussion of HAVING to cook but of WANTING to cook.

Some peoplelive for the pleasure of ... well, being at work and thinking "what if i did stuffed lamb today" or whatnot; at that point sourcing ingredients and cooking them becomes a pleasure you wouldn't want to just "let someone else do it for me".

And some others just want to be done with it. Which most euros find abominable. Like, paying someone to bang your girlfriend for you.
THATS THE FUN PART !! Why would you ever let someone else do it for you !!

Agreed. The joy of cooking is real. Too many 30 minute or less prep meals, in my repertoire, to waste money on these services anyways.

 

[snoopy7548]

I like to do a crock pot meal on Sunday so I have a few meals through out the week, and I also cook a dinner Sunday night that's enough for two meals. Throughout the week I'll either eat leftovers or quickly grill something. If I cook something during the week, I only spend a maximum of 30-40 minutes making it. Food shopping is once a week and I buy everything I need for all of my meals. I tend to have rotating meals so I always know what I'll be buying and I never have to plan anything. Weekends are for trying new dishes or ones that take more time.

The big thing with cooking is the prep work. If you can handle a knife, which you'll learn how to do through a lot of cooking, and you're organized, you can slash (pun intended) that time down significantly.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

Agreed. The joy of cooking is real. Too many 30 minute or less prep meals, in my repertoire, to waste money on these services anyways.

Not everyone finds the same stuff fun? Some people suck at Basketball but are great at Football....

Some people suck at cooking. Some people don't even try to cook and just do ramen like every college student.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Their meals average 600-700 calories a serving. If you are eating double that maybe you should reconsider your portion sizes.

Or maybe you are simply painting with too broad a brush. You do not have to be portly to need more calories at a sitting. Some of us are simply big folk, and it takes more calories to fuel us properly.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Not everyone finds the same stuff fun? Some people suck at Basketball but are great at Football....

Some people suck at cooking. Some people don't even try to cook and just do ramen like every college student.

Certainly, no arguments here. Stating my opinion on the topic, not disparaging others choices. I see the value in it for the kitchen skills and meal planning challenged. Has the benefit of teaching them some in the process. And at least they know what happened to their food right before eating it.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

Certainly, no arguments here. Stating my opinion on the topic, not disparaging others choices. I see the value in it for the kitchen skills and meal planning challenged. Has the benefit of teaching them some in the process. And at least they know what happened to their food right before eating it.

It's really just a matter of time. In todays working world 40 hour work weeks don't exist. Toss in another 1-2 hours daily for commute. Wife works as well. The time allocations necessary to prepare for the "fun" of cooking is simply not there.

I get the feeling anyone that thinks full on cooking every single night like some people here boast have some kind of implicit bias. Just like people in my working industry that think it's possible to make it to the top of the consulting world... Except 95% of the people at the top don't have a working spouse. It's definitely nice when you have that kind of time to allocate.

 

[Carson Dyle]

I always wondered who the hell went into a grocery store and bought containers of chopped onions and celery, at 3-5x the price and less fresh than spending 45 seconds doing it yourself.

 

[clamum]

Good thread. I'm thinking about trying one of these out for a month, maybe two or one meal(s) a week. I'm just one person though (FML) and while I don't mind some leftovers, I don't want a ton, so hopefully if I select a 2-person delivery/meal that'll work out.

Looks like I'll have to do some browsing on the sites. I assume Blue Apron/Hello Fresh/Home Chef allow you to choose one or two meals a week, for 2 people? Guess I should find that out first.

Also, interesting that Kroger has meal kits, by their produce (thanks vi_edit). I don't normally shop there but I think I'll check those out at least.