Food boxes

Mynamestaken

I use the simply cook stuff as well, but have to admit, I'm thinking about cancelling because of the amount of sugar in them.

I have had Simply Cook deliveries for quite a while now, mainly because they don’t contain fresh food so there is no hurry to use them as soon as they arrive. I hadn’t realised they contained much sugar, I thought they were just spices, I will study the ingredients more closely

I have tried most of the meak boxes and have now settled with Green Chef.
I find that they have a good selection and have been happy with the wide choice which you can filter, vegetarian, carb conscious, under 650 cals etc. depending on your preferences.
I can manage when I want to order and skip several weeks if necessary.

I use the simply cook stuff as well, but have to admit, I'm thinking about cancelling because of the amount of sugar in them.

I’m currently trying to lose weight for health reasons so have been using Slimming World Kitchen to vary my diet . Minimum of 3 meals for 2 people per order & they too have an offer on currently . We’ve been very happy with the process and the quality of the ingredients

cc

Indigo8

Field Doctor

I was going to ask about these, there seems to be a wide range for different dietary requirements and I'm planning to lose weight. My husband doesn't like most vegetables so the simple expedient of eating more veg can't work easily for me.

cc apologies that this is a bit off topic but regarding eating more veg my situation is similar to yours; my husband doesn’t eat much veg, eg Christmas dinner he had roast potatoes and green beans while I had carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, swede, parsnips, red cabbage and green beans! I use frozen veg especially the mixed veg bags that can be steamed or microwaved.It’s an easy way to add extra veg to your plate.
Here’s to weight loss in 2025!

If you need meals that don't require preparation, you could try ParsleyBox (Edinburgh based). We usually keep some to hand for occasions when we don't have time to cook and take them with us in the motorcaravan (I don't believe in cooking when I'm on holiday and we can't always eat out). They're useful in that they can just be kept in a cupboard.
They might even deliver to you, Katek!

Can't find a company that delivers to our area (NE Scotland). We're either 'a remote location' or 'not on the mainland!' Er ..... we're so remote we have an international airport, mainline railway station, two universities, large teaching hospital and are most definitely attached to the mainland! One of my pet peeves as you might have guessed!

Not food box as such but good range of prepared food Cook either on line and shop also does delivery

I know someone who uses the Hello Fresh meals and always says how good they are but they don't produce meals for one unfortunately.

Indigo8

Field Doctor

I was going to ask about these, there seems to be a wide range for different dietary requirements and I'm planning to lose weight. My husband doesn't like most vegetables so the simple expedient of eating more veg can't work easily for me.

my friend has Hello Fresh; her children clubbed together and bought a subscription as i know due to depression they felt she was not eating properly. i do know she loves it and is carrying on with it this year too. one good thing too is its given her a new interest she raves about the recipes and she tells me that there is ample ingredients for each dish, often she has some left for other meals, hence she does a fortnight on fortnight off to save money

I like the idea of these but haven’t found one which I could use.
I don’t like to eat processed meat - sausages or burgers.
And I don’t like anything spicy.

I guess I shouldn’t be so fussy!!!

We use Hello Fresh. Very convenient and you can skip weeks whenever you want. We never add any extra seasoning and select the lower calorie meals.
The biggest bonus for me is that because everything is ready to use in the right amounts, D H is happy (?) to cook once or twice a week.

We've used Hello Fresh and Gousto, and I prefer Gousto. My husband is vegetarian, and I found the HF options very limited, and usually pasta-based which represented poor value for the price. Gousto has a lot more to choose from, but they do use meat substitutes which are not for everyone.

I found them useful when the kitchen was being done and was out of commission for a while, or at busy times when we weren't sure when we'd be in to cook.

If people are using them for the first time, I recommend getting some fridge boxes and separating the meals into them when they arrive, so all you need to do is take out a box and all the ingredients are ready to go. The meals really do save time, and are much better than ready meals, as you can customise them (eg by adding more or fewer spices) and you know exactly what is going into them.

Not quite the same, as they’re fully cooked and just need microwaving, but if anyone likes curries these are fantastic:

www.chefakila.com/

We started getting Mindful Chef boxes in 2020 - DH once nearly had the family doing welfare checks when he told his brother we were having food parcels delivered every week. We changed to Gousto later as they were quite a lot cheaper, though I’m not sure that’s the case now they charge for delivery. We liked them both, and still get a Gousto 3 recipe box for two every fortnight. There’s always plenty of choice and the quality’s very good. It’s also easy to skip a box or change the date of it if you’re going away or have a lot on in a particular week. DH does all our cooking and likes to make something a bit different without having to get all the ingredients, some of which we’d probably not use again. My only concern is the waste of packing materials. DD1 changed from Gousto to Hello Fresh, but cancelled as she said the ingredients they sent were often past their best.

Field Doctor

Perhaps one of the advantages of these food boxes apart from convenience is that they contain the spices and herbs that are needed for a recipe. I keep a pretty good supply of spices but they lose their flavour once opened or I find a recipe but find I'm missing a key ingredient! I think it also makes for trying completely new dishes. I think I'm talking myself into trying them!

I think they work for busy people and are probably worth the money. My daughter uses them.

Several working ladies in my healthy eating group use a Hello Fresh for 2/3 nights per week and think its suits them well.

foxie48
I’m glad your daughter finds them useful. Many people must, as they are still in business.
One old couple on our road would recommend Wiltshire Farm foods-they have a weekly delivery.
The OP asked for opinions and experience, so my experience is like yours and your daughter’s.
We may have to adapt any recipes to make them palatable.

Teriyaki sauce contains soy sauce and soy sauce is salty so either avoid or use less. I rarely follow a recipe slavishly. I've never used Hello Fresh I was passing on my daughter's comments. She's a pretty good cook so she'll adapt recipes, she buys these meals because she works long shifts and lives alone also has a long drive home so coming home and being able to cook a meal quickly without having to shop is what she wants.

One of the meals I remember included salt and Teriyaki sauce, which also contains salt, so even leaving the salt out meant it tasted very salty.

You don't have to add the salt if you don't want to. Most recipes contain more salt than I want to use so I just leave it out.

Hello fresh recipes contain a ridiculous amount of salt, often the daily recommendation or close to per meal. Just something to be aware of if you have high blood pressure for example