Food Delivery Boxes

I've only tried Hello Fresh and I stopped as soon as I started. I discovered that you can't see the menu until you've signed up and I needed to pick 3 and could only really find 2 that I wanted. We tried three meals. The box came on time but when opened I was horrified at the number of plastic pouches and unrecyclable packaging. Whilst everything was there to cook the meals it was such a wasteful way to shop as it took no account of the basic stuff most of us have in our cupboards.

The meals were ok - tasty, reasonable portions, but for me it was a no because of the packaging and wastage.

I would never consider them as they work out very expensive. Plus if the quality of the ingredients is poor then what you have to deal with them and get a replacement. Also how long has the food been packed in the boxes before shipping . I wouldn't trust any chicken ,fish or meat incase of food poisoning.

I can't cook everyday due to health but do use fresh ingredients . I cooked enough red lentil and whatever veg I fancy soup enough to last 6 lunches. I store it in the fridge in a large lidded plastic box. I also cook a large stew or lasagne or pasta bake to last 6 dinners . I portion it into oven proof dishes and keep in the fridge .

Yesterday made a stew with Quorn chicken pieces ,pearl barely 150g , 5 chicken oxos , peppers , courgettes ,butternut squash and leeks. I eat chicken and Quorn chicken pieces,mince or sausages .

My soup was made from 150g red lentils,5 veg Oxo ,leeks and sweet potato.

I can't cut veg up into pieces . So just peel carrots they go in whole, leeks outer leaf removed. Cut down the middle and washed the cut into half across. Mushrooms just wiped and in whole ,toms in half core cut out, peppers in half and deseed, onions peeled left whole , courgettes top and tailed after washing left whole, butternut and sweet potatoes put into roasting tin lined with foil prick veg water in and foil lid cooked in oven for hour while my dinner reheats . Once cold next day peeled . I freeze the veg like this .

Soups are blitz with hand blender and stews cut into with kitchen scissors to cut up veg.

This way I have healthy meals and always freezer full. Only ready frozen veg I buy is broccoli, cauliflower,peas and baby sprouts.

I also boil 500g long grain rice and cool in cold water and put 100g in plastic bag and freeze. All veg ,rice and Quorn cooked from frozen but always defrosted the large chicken breast overnight.

Plus I bake but my way. I have a thread called Whiffs recipes. I started as a joke on the gingerbread/ Parkin thread as I put other short cut baking when posters asked when my book was coming out and I asked if they wanted me to start a thread but others post their recipes as well. Both threads are down the list. I make jams , marmalade and chutneys but my way which works.

Hope this has helped.

Gousto are superb, we used them for a few months when we were busy work wise, I still use the recipe cards now.
You can stop the subscription anytime, the website is fantastic.
They don’t do meals for one but you can make and freeze or eat over two evenings.

My son and daughter have Gousto boxes delivered every now and then. The menu boxes with easy to follow recipe cards which they keep and they enjoy cooking together. They order Gousto when they have busy shifts at work save them shopping. The meals are well thought out easy to prepare and there is never any waste.

I used oddbox for a few months.
Its made up from surplus and odd shaped fruit and veg.

It wasn't great value though, for someone living alone.

My daughter used Hello Fresh and found it fairly good value, although she used the 4 day a week option for 4 people (and there was just 3 of them)

She said it saved on food waste, because each meal is planned out, so no odd packets of stuff floating around the fridge.

Riverford does a variety of meal kits. Always organic and very fresh. DD and I have both tried them and they were excellent, not cheap

That is a wonderful method Whiff. I shall look at your recipe thread.

I use Hello fresh from time to time (only when they are offering a discount though!)

Pros - The meals are fairly simple to make and all ingredients (apart from a few things like oil, sugar, butter etc) get delivered.

Cons - They are delivered by Evri and although you can choose your delivery day you can't select a time and Evri were sending me a time slot and then changing it willy nilly! I suppose this isn't a problem if you have a safe place to leave your box.
This isn't the fault of Hello Fresh obviously - but the meals need to be used within a few days of delivery and this is something to consider if your plans change often for example - as a few times I have had food go out of date because I wasn't able to cook it in time.

I now use SimplyCook from time to time. It's a subscription service but you can choose how often you get a box, delay or cancel your boxes without any effort.

You pick 4 recipes and they send you 3 pots of spice ingredients for each meal. You have to supply the fresh ingredients but the list is short and usually inexpensive. The advantage for me is that the spice kits can be kept for months - so no rush to use them.

I use both Gousto and Hello Fresh off and on. I don't understand the comment about not being able to see the meals - they are on the website, although they change week to week, so obviously you can't see absolutely everything before you sign up. You get to choose what you order each week though, and if there's nothing you fancy one week you aren't committed to ordering.

They arrive on a fixed day, and if you aren't in the deliverer will leave the box where you choose.

I like them, as you actually cook the meals - they are not ready meals and you can adjust ingredients to taste if you want to. I also like that there is no waste - they send enough for one (serves two) meal per recipe, so you don't need to buy a whole bag of something if it's just being used as a garnish, or have to use things up before they go off. They aren't cheap inasmuch as if you weighed out the ingredients and compared them to the actual cost they would be expensive, but as you aren't buying large amounts of things you aren't using they work out ok. I suppose it can be compared to recipes in magazines that say the cost per portion is £X, but don't take account of the fact that you have to buy pine nuts by the bag and olive oil by the bottle, so to get the tablespoon of each that cost pennies you have to spend a fortune.

It also depends on how you usually cook. I tend to the 'Ready Steady Cook' style of cooking, where I look in the fridge and then decide what to cook with what's there and what we fancy on the night . This works well as we aren't eating something we don't fancy just because it's Tuesday, but it means that there is not always an ingredient 'in stock' for my improvised recipe - with these you know that everything is there.

We divide the box into the meals when it arrives, and store each meal in a box in the fridge, so it's just a case of grab and cook, which is easier than rooting through the cupboards for every ingredient.

I get three meals a week, so there is scope to eat out or use leftovers. They work for us when we use them (you can opt in and out as much as you like).

No have not used Hello Fresh or other similar companies. I do have a fantastic local greengrocer who does home deliveries where people can order as much or as little as they want, it does not have to be set boxes. The fruit and veg are of high quality and He also does other food basics like eggs and bread. It is a great service.

Both our AC use Gousto from time to time - always good quality ingredients and decent portion sizes.

The only downside, as I found to my cost one day, is that the red colour leaks from the box if it gets damp - I had very red hands for a while!

I have used Hello Fresh in the past and was pleased with them - portions were sometimes a bit too small for us but that may be our problem!! I only use them when there is an offer on though. I think they are great for the ‘time poor ‘ customers such as my daughter and son in law as it means they eat healthier rather than picking up a ready meal.

The HF and Gousto boxes are only 'set' inasmuch as they box up the ingredients for a meal that you choose. They don't force their customers to take anything unwanted. There is a lot of choice, even for vegetarians like us, who have obviously limited our options.

I've heard people say that they don't like the idea of them as they like to choose their own meals, that they prefer home cooking, that they won't be healthy, and all sorts of things that just don't apply. Both the services I've used have full nutritional data on all meals (visible before you order), and you can choose low calorie, vegetarian, quick cook - all sorts of categories that may be important to you by clicking on tabs at the top of the page.

I used to enjoy Riverford meal boxes as it forced me out of my comfort zone of half a dozen (boring) staples.
I preferred them to Gousto and Hello Fresh and they were usually excellent quality with a wide selection to choose from each week.
Why did I stop?
With meals out etc I found I was building up a backlog and the USP is that the ingredients have to be fresh.

I've not come across Riverford boxes. Are they local to you, RM?

We started using Gousto recently when we had a lot of upheaval in the family and time was short for meal planning and shopping.

I was more impressed than I expected to be. The quality of ingredients was excellent and the meals were all good, apart from one which used mushrooms as a meat substitute and they were a bit weird. I think there are approx 90 recipes, which change regularly, to choose from each week so there’s plenty of variety. Some dishes such as a fish pie are a bit fiddly for just two portions so I wouldn’t choose that again but lots of other meals were very nice indeed. They were all generous portions, too.

Like Doodledog when the box arrives I portion out the ingredients for each meal into a bag, along with the recipe and then its ’grab and go’ at dinner time. I did feel I was using the oven a lot for small amounts but I’ve now started using my air fryer instead so it’s quicker and even easier. There is packaging to deal with but our council takes all plastic packaging as well as paper, so that’s recycled. There’s no food waste apart from peelings.

I wouldn’t want to only eat their meals but they’re a halfway house between cooking from scratch and ready meals and I think they’re good value for money.

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EVRI (brother of Hermes) are awful. I certainly wouldn't trust them with fresh food deliveries.

I ordered a quantity of chocolates to mix together and put in pretty jars for Easter treats (chocolate and yogurt covered cashews, raisins and Honeycomb pieces).

Two days after ordering the tracker said that they were with the carrier (Hermes) and would be delivered the following day. Two days later said delivery in a further two days. Eventually arrived 10 days after ordering and eight days after receipt by the carrier.

The chocolates had melted and were like misshapen slabs.

I now ask who carriers are and won't order from suppliers who use these two carriers - I tell them to look at the reviews on Trustpilot.

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Sorry, karmalady. I missed your post about Riverford. I'll look them up. We tend to alternate between services to take advantage of special offers, so if it is available in our area I'll add it to the list

We have a Riverford veg box each week. It is all organic, fresh and seasonal. All of our box is local produce and in season. This week we had wild garlic, kale, purple sprouting broccoli, chestnut mushrooms, leeks, potatoes and carrots. A medium box for 2-3 people. Small and large also available. A range of different boxes with varying content is available. Recipe suggestions are given. You can see what is in next week's box about four days ahead. You can cancel a box if needed. We pay £18.15 each week.

No I wouldn't have any of those but I do have more M & S ready meals than I used to or the occasional Charlie Bingham - those are my guilty pleasure.

Riverford is between Buckfastleigh and Tornes in Devon, Doodledog but they deliver throughout England and Wales.

Totnes!!

Thanks. If it is a veg box, rather than a recipe box I'd not bother, though. The point of the Gousto-type ones is that you have everything you need in the box. We have a farmers' market, which I do use for fresh veg though.