We live in a busy world. For most of us, our days are scheduled from the moment we wake up until the moment we crawl back into bed. Between work, social engagements, appointments, school, sporting activities, and music lessons, meal planning and grocery shopping tend to feel like afterthoughts. As a default, grab-and-go food options or quick-serve meals such as frozen dinners or fast food tend to be our fall-back selections. With more households containing two working adults than was the case in the 1990’s, there isn’t one person responsible for meal planning and preparation. To add to this, food waste is a chronic and concerning issue in North America, and with the 2019 cost of groceries increasing by $450 per year in Canada, grocery shopping on a budget and with food waste in mind is critical. To counter this and inject delicious, quick, healthy meals into busy families, meal kits were created. FtC sampled two meal kits—HelloFresh (available in in many countries around the globe, but sampled in Canada) and Green Chef (sampling a vegan menu in the US) to understand how the delivery services actually change dinner time and the ways in which they can benefit a busy family.
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A Meal Kit Experience Overview: Green Chef
Sampled by Sasha Frate
With the 24/7 nature of modern life, dinner has become a flexible concept with an increasing number of variables. In many homes today, everyone is choosing their own meal and where they want to eat it. For families with children, it’s further interesting to note that kids have lost over 12 hours of parental time a week over the past few decades, and according to Sylvia Ann Hewlett, author of ”Creating a Life: Professional Women and the Quest for Children”, some families are trying to hold on to their mealtimes together. Meal kit delivery is a great way to bring the household together for dinners and to try out new foods when family members have otherwise stuck to their guns about a particular dietary preference.
Meal kits are also a great way to experience variety and spice things up! Variety is offered in more ways than within the individual meals alone; it’s also an opportunity to try out specialty diets. Green Chef offers paleo, vegan, gluten-free, omnivore, keto, and vegetarian kits. If you’re looking to vamp up your plant-based eating but you’re not actually a vegan, their vegan meals are a great way to do this. If you’re wanting to reduce gluten in your diet but you feel like anything gluten-free that you’ve tried has been unappealing, give the gluten-free meals a try to introduce new recipes into your routine that will have you thinking differently about gluten-free options. Or, maybe you love to eat anything: you can explore their meals online and see what appeals to you to cook in-home. Rotate your selections to try out a variety of diets and maybe you’ll soon be re-inventing your diet to what feels like the best fuel for your body.
What about portions? In a world where portion sizes have been increasing for years, meal kits are a great way to get to know proper portions and how they translate to total calories for a meal. The increase in our society’s portion sizes is actually a well-measured phenomenon. In their 2009 study The Joy of Cooking Too Much, Brian Wansink and Collin R Payne found 18 recipes that had been continuously published in The Joy of Cooking from 1936 to 2006. Over those 70 years, portion sizes and calorie counts had increased incredibly: in 14 of the 18 recipes, calorie counts had shot up nearly 50%. It can be all too easy to remain clueless about what our meals are adding up to in terms of calories and many may simply prefer to look the other way to avoid the reality of such details. One aspect of being mindful of our connection to the process of eating and refueling our bodies with nourishing foods is to have at least a general idea of how much we’re consuming in relation to what our bodies need. Preparing the meal ourselves is a great first step in the concept of mindful eating, as is feeling good about what we’re preparing and enjoying every bite.
Is meal kit packaging wasteful, you may wonder? There can be a fair amount of packaging with meal kits, however a pleasant surprise comes next when you realize it’s all recyclable and the freezer packs are reusable! Plus, let’s get real about the average grocery shopping experience: bringing home all of those ingredients typically amounts to a lot of non-recycled packaging. We can get better about this too, opting out of the plastic bags for our produce (or bringing reusable ones); the average consumer, however, is not going this route.
Speaking of bad habits, did you know more than one-third of food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted globally? In the United States alone, the average household throws away $2,200 of food each year. In other terms, more than 20 lbs. of food is wasted per person every month in the U.S. and 20% of food that the average American buys is never eaten. Similarly, in the UK, the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee reported that the average household lost £470 a year due to avoidable food waste, while those with children lost £700 in 2015. Food and financial loss can be minimized, but what about the joy and ease of food prepared outside the home? According to Pew Research Center, Gen Xers (ages 35-54) tend to spend the most on average on food prepared outside the home, averaging about $4200 per year, or $350 monthly.
This takes us to our next question: is it expensive, or should it be considered a luxury to pay for meal kit delivery? With the aforementioned in consideration alone, one might argue that it surely is not. Then ask yourself the following questions: How much are you spending on food that doesn’t get eaten because you have to buy larger quantities than your recipes call for? How much of the food in your house is treats you might not buy and eat if you were more satiated by a variety of daily, made-from-scratch meals? How much time might you save on grocery runs? When crunching these numbers in response to how these questions factor in, it can be shocking to realize how affordable meal kits actually become!
Kyle Kowalski’s “Busyness 101: Why Are We So Busy in Modern Life” also puts it in perspective when he observes the new trend and the “why” behind our busyness today. Nowadays, we’re willing to pay increasingly for efficiencies and conveniences to save time. We went from a time when, “keeping up with the Joneses was all about things—the big house, sports car, and designer clothing…materialism and lifestyle inflation are still around us,” Kowalski states, “but, things are being challenged by something ‘new’—time.” As he reveals the long list of whys, it’s not hard to understand why modern life has left us with little time for shopping, preparing, cooking, and enjoying our food. Just think, how often do you end up eating out or ordering in because you’re exhausted from your busy day or feel you have limited time? With Green Chef meal kits, there’s no shopping or planning and the majority of food prep is done for you. You’re left with the ability to still enjoy some of the art of slow-living as you put your ingredients together to craft a meal from scratch, ultimately enjoying a satiating home-cooked meal.
I think we can all admit to getting and staying in our own culinary ruts, so even if it’s for one or two weeks per month, meal kits are a fantastic way to freshen up our routines and keep our bodies happy.
A Meal Kit Under a Microscope: HelloFresh
Sampled by Ainsley Schoppel
HelloFresh is a flexible subscription service that delivers selected meals to your doorstep once a week. With your subscription, you’re able to skip weeks and change the delivery address to accommodate vacation destinations or any necessary location alterations. You are able to plan your deliveries up to 8 weeks in advance and you can view menus two weeks in advance. All orders are locked in on Wednesday at 11:49pm of the week prior to your delivery in order to ensure all suppliers have adequate time to provide yummy and fresh ingredients. There are many benefits to pre-portioned meal kits! They reduce food waste by 47%—that’s a lot of food kept out of the landfill and a lot of extra cash kept in your wallet. HelloFresh is also direct sourced which reduces supply chain energy, water, and labour by up to 14%! Accelerated supply chains are also used which keep food fresher than you would see at your local store. (Your HelloFresh ingredients skip the wholesaler, warehouse, and supermarket, and go straight from the producer to HelloFresh, and then your door.)
On the Tuesday of my delivery weeks, a medium-sized box was delivered right to my front door. All of HelloFresh’s boxes are made from 100% recyclable and biodegradable cardboard from Forest Stewardship Council certified sustainable sources, so you can feel good about the packaging. Just fold up the box and recycle with regular household recycling. The box is insulated with a silver liner made from FSC-certified sustainable carboard and that can be recycled as normal as well. (HelloFresh recently reduced their outer packaging by 30%!) Certain ingredients appear in food-safe plastic packaging that can be rinsed and tossed in your recycling, too. When I opened the box, all recipe cards and info booklets were located on top. All meals were individually packed into paper bags with color-coded stickers and text labels for easy identification. These bags are 100% compostable and are recommended to dispose of things like carrot tops and pepper stems before hitting the green bin. Underneath the bagged meals is a cardboard divider that separates sensitive ingredients like meats, seafoods, and veggie-friendly proteins. Meats are RWA certified, raised without the use of antibiotics or growth hormones, and the seafood is traceable and sustainable. All proteins are packed at the bottom of the insulated box with an icepack that is 99% water and recyclable plastic. As per the instructions, I just dissolved the contents down the sink with hot water and recycled the plastic bags. If for whatever reason you don’t want to do that, HelloFresh also runs an ice pack return program!
I unpacked the box and put the meal kit bags in the fridge. Depending on your selected meals, there may be a recommendation to cook a certain meal first (i.e. seafood), so check the recipe cards to see what you should prepare tonight. Match the recipe cards to meal kit bags and follow the step-by-step instructions! The following is a break-down of my experience with each recipe over the two weeks of my HelloFresh meals:
Week 1:
Lemon Turkey Scallopine
It was so nice to have fresh herbs in January! I tend to cook with them mainly in the summer when the herb pot is growing on the deck, but it was a burst of freshness and a nice reminder to use herbs even in the middle of winter. This was a delicious dinner! It was a lemony, salty, savory pasta dish with ample pasta portions. It fed 3 people with a little leftover pasta. Depending on your preferred protein intake, 2 turkey breasts can be suitable for 3 servings.
Definitely Recommend: 5 Stars
Open-Faced Steak Sandwich
I had leftover oregano because only 1 tbsp was needed for a serving of 2, so it went into the crisper for another time. This was a yummy “summery” meal in January and was a nice change from soups and stews. It took about 45 minutes total with one person completing all the steps. The serving size was generous: with 2 buns halved, it felt more like 3-4 servings.
Definitely Recommend: 5 Stars
Moo Shu Pork Tacos
This was delicious! It was a perfect blend of flavours and textures with a yummy ginger flavour shining through in the spice blend. The serving size was ample with 3 tortillas per person and plenty of filling to distribute. (I actually found it was more like 7 tacos worth of meat, but maybe I went a little light on the filling.) This took about 35 minutes total with one person completing all steps.
Definitely Recommend: 5 Stars
Pan-Seared Chicken
Smashed potatoes were a new way to prepare red potatoes and they were delicious—definitely going to do that again! I’d also never roasted sugar snap peas before, and they were a winner. There was leftover rosemary for the crisper, as well. Ample servings: chicken breasts were large and served 3. Took about 40 minutes for one person to complete the recipe.
Definitely Recommend: 5 Stars
Week 2:
Sriracha Turkey Burgers
The sriracha mayo on the toasted bun made this burger. I made 4 open-faced burgers out of this by making smaller patties—still very filling and super-quick to pan-fry. This burger has delicious Asian flavours with soy sauce, ginger, and garlic. There was leftover spring mix and ginger for the crisper. This would have been a hearty 2-person meal. Took about 40 minutes for one person to complete the recipe
Definitely Recommend: 5 Stars
Cajun Shrimp Tacos
There wasn’t quite enough Cajun seasoning mix to coat all the shrimp so about half a dozen went into the pan without, but they picked up the seasoning in the oil. Zesty crema was very easy to put together, but I just wished there was more of it! YUM! Depending on your portion preferences, there were 3 tacos for 2 people or 2 tacos for 3 people. Shrimp cooked very quickly, so this recipe took about 35 mins for one person doing all the steps.
Definitely Recommend: 5 Stars
Homemade Vegetable-Packed Calzone
DELICIOUS! All calzones I’ve had before have been made with pizza dough which is thicker and can be tougher. The puff pastry was flaky and delicious! Even with making 4 smaller calzones, the portion size was perfect, and I even had one mini-calzone leftover! This recipe took 35 mins for one person to complete.
Definitely Recommend: 5 stars
Fusilli Al Forno
This was so delicious and comforting on a cold winter night! This recipe amply served 3 and took 40 mins for one person to complete. I’d definitely recommend going light on the red pepper flakes! I love spice so this was perfect, but if you prefer meals on the milder side, start VERY light. Only half the package of ricotta was needed for a 2 serving meal, so I mixed a little sugar and cocoa into the remaining ricotta for a yummy dessert!
Definitely Recommend: 5 Stars
Overall Experience of HelloFresh
My expectations were far-exceeded with this entire experience! From delivery, to unbagging and making each meal, I was so impressed with the recyclable packaging, fresh ingredients, and delicious recipes. Injecting new recipes into my weekly meal prep was so welcome and actually made me look forward to dinner time. I gave each meal 5 Stars and I know it sounds like an impossibility for each recipe to be a smash-hit—there had to be one dud in the bunch, right? Nope! Each meal was so tasty and I kept the recipe cards to make these meals again. It was also so fantastic not having to grocery shop for these meals or think about what to make as the dinner-hour approached. With a quick perusal of the meals available on HelloFresh, my weekly dinners were selected and the work of shopping and portioning was done for me. I would definitely recommend trying HelloFresh to give your brain a break and your taste buds a treat!
