There is a subscription service called Blue Apron that we have been using.
For $60/week, they send ingredients and recipes for 3 meals for two people. (So it breaks down to $10 per meal per person.)
All of the meals are between 600-700 calories, and they print the specific calories on each recipe card.
There is a lot I like about it. The best part is I don’t have to think about what we’re going to make or shop for the ingredients. And the meals have been fun to make. I thought when I signed up that this service would shoot for a “broad middle” in terms of palate and in terms of degree of difficulty in making the meal. But they really haven’t – they’ve gone with bold flavors, interesting ingredients, and recipes that aren’t stupid easy. Example – one day they did cabbage rolls – I’d never worked with that before. Also, the meals always appear pretty balanced – there is always a good serving of vegetables in each one, and the proteins are not gigantic. The food has been excellent. Another thing I personally like is the cost – I think it’s super easy to go out for one meal for two people and blow $60 or more on the spot. So $60 for 3 meals is downright budget-conscious for me. Other people like that you don’t end up having to buy a ton of ingredients that you might not get to use – like a whole jar of of spice when you only need one teaspoon.
If you don’t eat meat, poultry or fish, you are able to indicate that when you sign up. From what I can tell, each week they prepare 6 options – 1 red meat, 1 fish, 1 poultry and 3 vegetarian. So if you said you don’t like fish, you’d get a vegetarian meal substituted. I’ve been following Blue Apron on Facebook and watching what people are commenting about the vegetarian meals, and from what I’ve read, it looks like everyone is loving those, too.
Anyway, thought it might be of use for any of your clients who enjoy cooking but don’t have the time to think. 🙂
I’m going to have to check out those sites!I love to plan meals, and have done so for about 10 years. This last month, however, I’ve been BAD. I just told a frined a day or two ago that I need to get back to it!A couple of things I’ve been doing recently is buying a large amount of meat at one time, (chicken or ground beef) and cooking it all at once. I let it cool and then freeze it in individual baggies. At dinner time, all I have to do is heat it up with some veggies, and/or rice and its done. This works great for spaghetti,chili or tacos, etc. Probably doesn’t help you, since you don’t eat a lot of meat, though! ;)Our dietician had a few recommendations, since we are basically down to meat, veggies and fruits: She suggested making LARGE portions at dinner to reheat for lunch the next day. This weekend I did that, and our chicken and veggies with rice one night turned into 3 meals…by the end I used it in soft tacos with blue corn tortilla chips and salsa on the side. Another recommendation she had was to make up large veggie trays in advance and stick them in the fridge, so that they are ready when you need them for meals, or snacks.LOVE my CP for breakfasts, need to figure out some GF recipes for that!