Meal Delivery Services…

There’s nothing better than a healthy, home-cooked meal. But what about when you’re time-poor? Or struggling to come up with fresh, new ideas? We asked some of our community members if they’ve ever tried a meal delivery service. Keep reading for their reviews on Lite & Easy, Marley Spoon and Hello Fresh.

Sarah’s review – Lite & Easy

“Convenient and portion-controlled”

I originally signed up to Lite & Easy because I was eager to lose some weight and just did not have the time to cook healthy, delicious meals. I went looking for some pre-made options to save me time and help me stick to a routine.

I originally started with the Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner 7-day program. I absolutely loved the convenience and the fact I didn’t even have to think about what I was going to eat. The pre-packed meals make life extremely easy as I can grab them when I walk out the door and take them to work each day. If I’m running late, I can take my breakfast to go and heat it up at work. The lunch options are delicious and easy to make on the go. I love the variety, and I never feel hungry at the end of a meal.

You get lots of options to choose from and I really enjoy selecting my meals every week. The breakfast and lunch options are slightly different. So far, my favourite meals have been the Lasagna with Caesar Salad, the Chargrilled Rissole & salad wrap, and the Salmon and spinach omelette.

Three weeks into Lite & Easy, and I’ve lost six kilos, but more importantly, I feel terrific. I’m not sure if it’s the weight I’ve lost or the healthy food that has been going into my body, but I certainly feel healthier. That feeling alone gives me the motivation to keep going forward.

One of the great things about Lite & Easy is that it has also taught me lots about portion sizes. Previously, I was eating well but my serving sizes were far too big for my nutritional needs. I also ate lots of rice, pasta and potatoes. With Lite & Easy, you still enjoy some of these favourite staples but in smaller portions and added veggies and fruit. I tend to enjoy the lunch options more than the dinner options. You can still get some fresh options for dinner, but because you are getting a weeks delivery in one, many of the dinner options are frozen.

My favourite things about Lite and Easy are the convenience, variety of food, the set portion sizes and the fact that I’ve lost weight and feel better.

Least favourite things – some of the frozen dinners, the amount of pre-packaged bags and tubs do create lots of waste – but I try my best to recycle them in other ways. So many fruit tubs – I can never eat them all! ( but they are great to add to the kids’ lunches).

I would recommend giving Lite & Easy a go if you want to learn more about healthy options. You’ll also be inspired to try new things, and it really does make life and healthy eating so much easier to do.

 

Jess’ review – Marley Spoon 

“Fun, economical and delicious!”

I love food, and I love to cook! I love being creative in the kitchen, and I get excited baking treats and desserts. My challenge is that I struggle to think of actual meals to cook; I find myself cooking the same five meals each week.

Marley Spoon is a meal delivery service that provides the exact portions of each ingredient for each meal. It is delivered straight to my door early on a Monday morning with the items organised by meal (Something different each night!). I don’t have to plan my week. Best of all, I don’t have to spend an hour walking the isles of the supermarket, making sure I got all the ingredients (almost guaranteed I would forget something!)

You get to select from 20 different meals each week, everything from chicken, beef, vegetarian, lamb and vegan! You get everything from the meat, pasta to all the veggies and the single-serve of mayonnaise. No need to have a single bottle of fish sauce sitting in your fridge that you will only ever use 1 tablespoon of! 

At first, I was worried it the cost. After using Marley Spoon for five months, I thought I would go back to self-planning and shopping for myself, but I was surprised to see no price difference. I used to spend my Sundays going to the shops and thinking about what to cook for hours on end. Now, I get to personally select my meals and have them delivered to my door! 

Bec’s review – Hello Fresh

“Minimal waste, and helps me to be creative in the kitchen”

I’ve always enjoyed spending time preparing meals. What I’ve never enjoyed is spending time shopping for ingredients for said meals. I’ve never been quite able to balance the ‘ingredient to meal prep’ ratio without banishing some of the more obscure ingredients to the back of the pantry.

A friend recently gave me a discount code to try Hello Fresh. I was a little sceptical at first but was pleasantly surprised when I opened the box. The quality of the ingredients was impressive, and the vegetables were as fresh as the ones you’d purchase at the local Fruit and Veg shop. 

Bar a few staple pantry items (olive oil, salt and pepper etc.), all of the ingredients needed for the meals were included. The quantities had been well thought out (hooray for no waste!), and the recipes were easy to follow. Most nights, ingredient prep to dinner plate took no more than 15-20mins. 

Besides the convenience factor, I like Hello Fresh because it guides you in learning new recipes and skills in the kitchen. When you’re time-poor, it’s easy to fall into a rut and eat the same thing every week; you know what works, and you stick to it. A meal kit service like Hello Fresh is a failsafe way to get some variety in your meals without the stress of meal prepping.