Home Delivered Meals/Meal Kits (“half-fast” review-ish)

[southernlady]

And I hate cleanup

I do too. And I have some recipes that are considered “one pan” meals but takes 10 pans to get all the ingredients ready.

 

[Spiky Bugger]

I would have left off the carrot. And the sesame seeds. What in the hell is Ponzu sauce? The Jasmine rice, I would have used what I have had on hand, converted long grain.

Looks like thin cut pork chops. I typically buy thick cut , cut them in half that way. But other than that….

But see…the whole point of this “investment” is to keep me off my feet for shopping (and prep time) and we’re already paying for the carrots and sesame seeds and rice. So, once we sub out too many things, we’re just throwing money away.

Besides the ponzu, they have other seasonings I have to investigate before using, and ingredients I have to omit (see above.) But so far, it IS helping with back issues as far as shopping and prep time, so we will still use it, three or four days a week, but probably only every other week.

 

[Spiky Bugger]

And yet another consideration. Pots and pans used to create these dishes VS what you would normally cook. I am a good cook but a lazy one. And I hate cleanup.

A few of the recent recipes have said to move the meat item to a plate, wipe out pan, and then cook another item. That part was good.

 

[southernlady]

I may get to the point of staying off my feet, but I haven’t reached that point yet, thank goodness. And the only pan I wipe out is my cast iron skillet.

 

[Munchkin]

We made the Parmesan chicken meal tonight. It was very tasty and we loved it. But... Dishes. OMG I never use that many dishes. The dishwasher will be full tonight. Chicken for 2 should not fill a dishwasher.

Here is what I used.
Cutting board and knife. Cutting potatoes, smashing garlic, trimming Brussels Sprouts.
Colander for draining potatoes.
Potato Masher.
Small skillet for cooking the sprouts.
Saucepan and lid for boiling potatoes.
Bowl for mixing the chicken coating.
Cookie sheet for baking the chicken.
Lifter for taking the chicken off the baking sheet.
2 plates/forks/knives.

Yikes! Maybe the other meals won't be so dish intensive.

 

[Spiky Bugger]

We made the Parmesan chicken meal tonight. It was very tasty and we loved it. But... Dishes. OMG I never use that many dishes. The dishwasher will be full tonight. Chicken for 2 should not fill a dishwasher.

Here is what I used.
Cutting board and knife. Cutting potatoes, smashing garlic, trimming Brussels Sprouts.
Colander for draining potatoes.
Potato Masher.
Small skillet for cooking the sprouts.
Saucepan and lid for boiling potatoes.
Bowl for mixing the chicken coating.
Cookie sheet for baking the chicken.
Lifter for taking the chicken off the baking sheet.
2 plates/forks/knives.

Yikes! Maybe the other meals won't be so dish intensive.

Thank you! I thought I was just unusually lazy or something. It seemed like a lot to me, too!

 

[southernlady]

We made the Parmesan chicken meal tonight. It was very tasty and we loved it. But... Dishes. OMG I never use that many dishes. The dishwasher will be full tonight. Chicken for 2 should not fill a dishwasher.

Here is what I used.
Cutting board and knife. Cutting potatoes, smashing garlic, trimming Brussels Sprouts.
Colander for draining potatoes.
Potato Masher.
Small skillet for cooking the sprouts.
Saucepan and lid for boiling potatoes.
Bowl for mixing the chicken coating.
Cookie sheet for baking the chicken.
Lifter for taking the chicken off the baking sheet.
2 plates/forks/knives.

Yikes! Maybe the other meals won't be so dish intensive.

Depends on the cutting board, but that would have been hand washed. Actually most of the other stuff would have been as well but I have a dishwasher I hate, it’s a typical RV dishwasher. Designed for a handful of dishes, silverware, and glasses, nothing really substantial. It’s a Fisher Paykel single drawer. And a PITA. I wouldn’t have one if it hadn’t even been already in the rig when we bought it.

I miss the Bosch I had in my house.

 

[Spiky Bugger]

Depends on the cutting board, but that would have been hand washed. Actually most of the other stuff would have been as well but I have a dishwasher I hate, it’s a typical RV dishwasher. Designed for a handful of dishes, silverware, and glasses, nothing really substantial. It’s a Fisher Paykel single drawer. And a PITA. I wouldn’t have one if it hadn’t even been already in the rig when we bought it.

I miss the Bosch I had in my house.

we loved our previous two-drawer Fisher Paykel so much, but rarely used the lower drawer, that we got the single drawer installed here. With all this damned cooking, NOW I could use a two-drawer or full size. And we had a Bosch that was great, too.

 

[Munchkin]

I thought I was the only one who loved Bosch dishwashers! I couldn't wait for the crappy DW that came with my house to die so I could replace it with a Bosch.

I am in love with plastic cutting boards. Dishwasher safe so they are really clean. I can even bleach them! I have some beautiful wood ones but now they are just for show. I was never as good as I should have been about using separate boards for meat and veg. I originally bought the plastic ones for meat but screw it, they are easier for everything.

Tonight is the Linguine Carbonara. Carbs be damned. I just have to give this thing a fair trial. LOL. Any excuse will work. The little bag of peas look really good. By then I will have all of yesterday's dishes put away so I can start over. I have solved the leftover egg white problem. I will cook it for the dogs in the skillet I use for the bacon. Win/win.

 

[Munchkin]

Thank you! I thought I was just unusually lazy or something. It seemed like a lot to me, too!

When I looked at the sink full of dishes my first thought was where is Thanksgiving dinner?

 

[Spiky Bugger]

When I looked at the sink full of dishes my first thought was where is Thanksgiving dinner?

Our housekeepers just left. MrSue is having hip or lower spine pain. Ortho appointment Friday. He hurts. I hurt. Because of ME, we have to cook here. The dishes are done. But the gas cooktop and electric oven are grease-encrusted messes.

In broken Spanish, I apologized and explained why we had a yucky mess. Bianca, who isn’t one of the regulars, but has been here before, said…but in perfect Spanish…”No! Thank YOU for the work. We are sorry that you are in pain, but we are glad we can help and we are grateful for the work.” I love this company.

 

[Munchkin]

First... I already failed to follow instructions. But, OMG I was not going to run the oven for 30 minutes to cook 4 strips of bacon, cut it up, and then put it in a skillet. Couldn't force myself to do it. I changed it. The bacon was very lean. So I chopped it up and chopped up the garlic. Fried it in a skillet. When it was cooked I added the butter, cream cheese, and peas. I let it sit for a few and then added in the egg yolk while mixing. I did add a dipper of pasta water while it was cooking again to thicken. Last I added the parmesan. Finally I tossed it all together.

The Linguine Alfredo is seriously delicious. We both loved it. I could easily eat this every week but it is too high in carbs to actually do it.

My dish count is lower because I didn't follow instructions.
2 plates, spoons, and forks
Sauce pan and lid for cooking the pasta.
skillet for cooking the bacon/garlic. etc.
cutting board and knife
whisk
dipper
spatula
colander

Reasonable this time!

 

[Munchkin]

Tonight was a win/win. And yeah I didn't follow the instructions. Tonight was Kung Pao Beef Bowls. Delicious again. And I used one covered saucepan, and a cutting board/knife. 2 bowls and 2 forks. And one big spoon for stirring.

I dumped the ground beef in the pan then added the garlic, scallions, ginger, and the bell pepper. When the beef was done, I used the same pan to cook the rice. Then I mixed it all together and added the sauce and the peanuts. Very tasty. Very few dishes. Perfect.

Maybe I am easy to please because I don't think I had even tasted rice in more than a year. Well, one more meal to cook and then back to no carbs.

 

[Spiky Bugger]

Tonight was a win/win. And yeah I didn't follow the instructions. Tonight was Kung Pao Beef Bowls. Delicious again. And I used one covered saucepan, and a cutting board/knife. 2 bowls and 2 forks. And one big spoon for stirring.

I dumped the ground beef in the pan then added the garlic, scallions, ginger, and the bell pepper. When the beef was done, I used the same pan to cook the rice. Then I mixed it all together and added the sauce and the peanuts. Very tasty. Very few dishes. Perfect.

Maybe I am easy to please because I don't think I had even tasted rice in more than a year. Well, one more meal to cook and then back to no carbs.

Yes, changes. Tomorrow we’re doing some kind of meatloaf thing. He really likes Brussels sprouts, but doesn’t like them oven roasted. So cancel that part. Meatloaf can go in a loaf pan, less dishwashing. Only he will eat the gravy. Too many things I can’t eat. But he’s not a gravy fan, so maybe we won’t make it.

 

[Munchkin]

Cooked the last one tonight. Chicken fajitas. Don't buy this one Spiky! So much slicing, dicing, and prep. Took forever to end up with 6 taco size fajitas. They should have just included salsa as a seasoning. Way too much work! And a sink full of dishes as well. This one was probably my least favorite. Jeff agrees with me and if we were going to do it over we would use steak instead of chicken. But we both liked the fresh jalapeno pepper so I learned that Jeff doesn't dislike spicy at all. He just doesn't like burning hot.

If I had to make this again, I would do all the slicing and dicing much earlier in the day and make the pico and the lime crema hours in advance. Give the flavor more time to develop.

So the experiment ends. We both enjoyed it and it was nice to try some different 'normal carb' meals. I will keep an eye out for some coupons and try another service down the road. Probably after the Holidays. Back to no carbs tomorrow!