Meal Serves and Planning

Last Spring I started a meal delivery subscription, so they'd send me two complete, vegetarian meals each week. That left me with just two-three meals a week I had to plan and shop for, and a lot more brain space for other things. I couldn't believe how much weekly stress it took off me. I looked forward to those boxes and quickly preparing the simple meals. 

Well, we ended that last week when the subscription prices got hiked up and I just couldn't justify the expense. And I had to contemplate my first week back to cooking all the meals. On my own. Every night. SIGH. 

I LIKE cooking and preparing a nice meal for my family. And we're lucky that we don't have a lot of after-school activities that make it more complicated to sit together. And I work from home, so you'd think I have a leg-up on the commuters, but it's still a lot to think about, especially on days when I'm thinking about a lot of other things. 

Anyway, I decided on a sure-fire strategy. This week, I'd lean on my well-used repertoire of meals I've made many times before. They includes: 

  • Simple Tortilla Soup
  • Veggie burgers and fries
  • One-Pot Linguine 
  • Sweet Leek Pasta 
There's something to be said about well-loved recipes that leave no surprises. I knew how to grocery shop for them and had them ready to roll. I even assembled ingredient items on Sunday, so it was similar to the "just open the box" feeling of the subscription service.

Next week, I'll pick a few more standards, too, and I'll be eased back into the weekly meal plan process. And I won't whine about not having a meal service anymore. 

Meal Services Pros and Cons

There was a lot about the meal service I liked. They had changing, weekly menus but if I didn't like anything, I could switch out. There were a lot of vegetarian options and the portions were just right. I liked added some Asian and Indian dishes that I wouldn't have had the guts to attempt on my own. We also got a little cookie dough for a special dessert one night each week. 

On the cons, the directions for the service we used were poorly written. I was often a little confused about the steps and timing. The delivery was unreliable, so if I knew the box was coming on Tuesday, I'd make the first meal on Wednesday. Just in case. There was also A LOT of plastic packaging that had to be tossed, which is understandable. It's impossible to avoid plastic no matter where your food comes from, but still not great. 

It will be a long while before I sign up for another one. And if I do, it will be done by a local small company, rather than a national chain. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The $80 Kitchen Pantry Update

Image
It took two days and about $80 in supplies, and now our kitchen pantry is REBORN! Here's a quick review of the project in pictures, starting with the BEFORE pictures: My main issue with the wire shelves were bottles or anything "thin" would tip over. And with my commitment to bulk, I wanted to store glass containers in here but knew they wouldn't be "safe." I foresaw broken glass at some point. Plus, it's a great space, so I knew I could add more storage space if I was strategic. Last, wire shelves are ugly. So then I demo'd the pantry and painted the walls (which was just primer) with leftover paint from the rest of the house. It's called Polar Bear. I paid an electrician to install an outlet at "counter height" in the pantry, so I could move the dumb microwave off the counter. (The electrician did a slew of other small jobs around the house, not just this outlet, including a motion-activated light in this pantry. Tres Fancy
Keep reading »

Family Calendar Improvement

Image
 Made a quick improvement at the start of the school year that I'm pretty excited about.  And yes, I'm probably the only one excited about it, but here goes ...  Here's our "command central" in our kitchen. This is a good landing spot, and a central place to all look at the family calendar ... it's that huge wipe board in the middle of the photo. All our activities are supposed to be written on here and our electronic family calendar on Google.  (Brief aside: my family is the WORST at writing their plans down in either calendar and Dave still doesn't share his events on our Google Shared Family Calendar consistently, which makes me nuts. And they all ask me "what are we doing today?" instead of looking at the calendar, usually directly behind me. But, that's another post.) I went to so much trouble putting this little area together and that huge calendar with wobbly writing was really killing the sophisticated look of that space. PLUS, we don
Keep reading »

Basement Shiplap Project

Image
The guys left me all the unused shiplap from the bathroom and I've been trying to think about where to use it. I had so many ideas but not a lot of shiplap, so I eventually settled on this corner of our basement. It's where the exercise mats and treadmill live, right behind the sofa. And also where the Marvel-themed bathroom with shiplap is located. So it made sense. It took much of a rainy Sunday to cut and nail up the new boards ...    I even had enough to do on the "backsplash" of our little kitchenette in the basement I've been slowly building out.  Next up will be to patch all the nail holes and calk around the edges for a clean look. And then the best part ... picking out paint color. Since this is a "free" project, I'm hoping I can find a color in my paint cabinet.  I'll keep you posted. 
Keep reading »