Have you tried meal prep services before?
Yes
No
When you think of meal prep services, what comes to mind?
Meal prep can be categorized into two different services. Either a company will provide you with all the ingredients and recipes for you to cook the meals of your choice, known as a Meal Kit, or the company will send you fully cooked meals that you just need to reheat, referred to as Meal Delivery.
What are the benefits?
After testing it myself, I believe these services serve multiple purposes. First of all, they save you time.
Think about how much time you spend on the following:
What to eat today / tomorrow / this week?
Getting recipes or figuring out what you need to order
Ordering groceries online or shopping in-store
Unpacking the groceries
Cooking the food
Cleaning up
Some days that may be very easy as you have the time and energy to do so. How about the days when you don't feel like it? How about the days when you are just too busy?
You may decide to order takeout or prepare something that doesn't require much energy or effort.
Secondly, it saves you energy. Consider how much time is spent worrying or thinking about what you are going to eat? If you didn't have that, how much of your mental energy could be freed up for more important things.
Lastly, it saves you effort. You spend all this time ordering, shopping, finding recipes and then something may be out of stock so you have to find a replacement. What if all of that was taken care of for you?
This is why I believe that meal prep services are suitable for some people's lifestyles where we constantly have other priorities, having time to spend with people and the energy to do all of this.
Is it worth trying? Will this be useful for me?
It depends on your life style and what you value. There are multiple factors to consider such as:
How many people are you cooking for?
How much time do you have?
How much energy do you have to cook on a daily basis?
What sort of meals are you cooking?
Do you have any dietary needs?
How healthy is the food you are cooking / ordering?
What is your food budget?
Each person will have different answers to these questions, and you may consider meal prep services to either be worth it or not depending on your answers.
We will go through a couple of things that can help you make a decision into whether or not its right for you.
I will be separating this for Meal Kits and Meal Delivery as they both serve different purposes.
Meal Kits:
If you want to do one or more of the following, then Meal Kits could be a good option for you:
Learn new recipes
Learn how to cook with step by step instructions
An easy way to get the family involved in cooking
Save time from grocery shopping and meal planning
Variety of meals to choose from (may vary based on dietary needs)
Don't have to think about what you are going to cook
Other information that can guide you:
Can be suitable for families up to 4 people
Can be budget friendly
Some provide healthy options
Some provide organic options
This is not an exhaustive list; these are some reasons that will help guide your decision as to whether or not this is the right option for you.
If you are still on the fence of whether or not to try it, then I would recommend trying it for 1 week and see whether or not fits your lifestyle. A lot of the companies will offer up to 60% off for your first box after which you can choose to cancel. If your friends and family also use them, then you can benefit from referrals which gives benefits to both of you.
Meal Delivery:
Meal delivery can be used in addition to your meals or as a substitute. If you want to do one or more of the following, then Meal Delivery could be a good option for you:
Save time and energy from cooking, planning, grocery shopping...
Variety of different meals to choose from (may vary based on dietary needs)
If you have busy days and don't have time to cook anything
Avoiding takeaways when coming back late
Reduce amount of takeaways when busy
Other information that can guide you:
More suitable for 1-2 people
May be more expensive
Some provide healthier options
Can get higher protein, higher calories depending on the company
These are just some of the reasons that can guide your decision as to whether or not this may be a good option for you.
As mentioned earlier, you can order meal delivery for the whole week or just get a few days worth of meals depending on your availability and how many meals you may need.
If you are unsure, give one of them a try, as most companies will offer up to 40% off on the first delivery, and then decide whether or not you want to cancel. If your friends and family also use them, then you can benefit from referrals which gives benefits to both of you.
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