Have you used a food delivery service?

Years ago my wife and I used to have the Schwann man come by every other week. They sold frozen foods like chicken breasts and steaks and ice cream and such. I suspect you are thinking about something like Peapod, a grocery delivery service. I’ve heard of them and am familiar with them, but have no experience.

The Schwann guy keeps track of the stuff you order and always has that on his truck. There is also a catalog of other frozen stuff. It is very like Market Basket which is a fund raiser my son used to sell for his school. Usually the quality is pretty good and portions are good for 2–3 persons per package. I was quite fond of their ice cream treats.

Wine delivery 33 years ago, we each had a bottle of wine waiting for the smoked duck to finish on the BBQ. We called the local liquor store thay delivered, twenty minutes later the owner of the store drove in with two bottles of Syrah.

I wanted to lose weight and used a service where they deliver everything you need to eat. The food was fine and it was nice to not have to think about ‘what to have for dinner?’

Nowadays they have gourmet meal services. Where they will deliver ingredients and recipes for gourmet meals. If I was single and busy I think I’d happily try something like that. I don’t mind cooking, but when I’m busy, left to my own devices I’d be sure to get into a rut and not eat as well as I should. If the cost isn’t prohibitive and you don’t have to sign up for a specific period, give it a go. What do you have to lose? You might get to try some new foods and recipes. Let us know how it goes.

@Earthbound_Misfit That’s exactly what I’m talking about.
I think the cost would be similar… It seems I’m always at the store for one or two meals at a time, wandering without a food plan.
I think I will give it a go.

@AdventureElephants, please let us know how that works out!

It sounds very much like the My Food Bag concept in New Zealand, everything I hear about it is very positive.

So I went onto Groupon and purchased Blue Apron and HelloFresh vouchers. They were 50% off, and I had a promo code for an additional 25% off, so for one month between the two I’ll be paying $25—$30 a week for 6 meals a week. Awesome! I’m excited. I’ll keep everyone posted.

@AdventureElephants: Can you share promo code or tell where you got it from? I’m intrigued.

@jca If you are a regular Groupon user then they emailed the code “SAVE25”
It only works on some accounts. I could use it for up to 3 purchases, but my friend couldn’t use it at all.

I’m cheap. Before I purchase anything online I google promo codes and see if I can get a better deal.

I’ll be interested to know if you’re happy with it.

I’ve had Omaha Steaks deliver meals a few times in the past. They have more than just steaks. It was ok. Since I still needed to cook and had some clean up, it wasn’t that great in my opinion. Their steaks are very good, but some of the sides not so much.

The best would be to have a chef come into my house! Obviously, that would be more expensive. I did know someone who had someone come to their house once a week and prepare a bunch of meals. They were healthier than what most food services would supply.

I wonder if a culinary student, or recent graduate, would be interested in doing some work like that?

I have a friend who used to have a babysitter come for her kids, the majority of the day. The babysitter also happened to be a decent cook and used to help cook meals for them. People have also told me if you have cleaning lady, ask if they can cook and help with some meal or meal prep. I had a cleaning lady but didn’t ask her to do that.

@jca In Latin America it’s common for the maids to help cook too. Some of them who live here do it, although usually they come daily during the week, and sometimes are also helping with children. I’ve never heard of a maid who comes just once a week cooking, but that’s a good thing to think about. Even one day a week is helpful.

Alternatively…

When they were just getting started in the Madison, WI area, and still promoting the service heavily, a delivery service called MrDelivery offered free delivery of food ordered from any number of restaurants or even food carts set up in the town. The deal was that you could order the food from the cart or restaurant and pay for it online, then MrDelivery would pick it up and bring it to you.

They now seem to charge a standard delivery fee of $3.99 (at least from the Madison Capitol Square area, which was where I made my latest search – the search function is kind of persnickety), but that still seems like a pretty good deal if you want to order pre-made food in the portions you want, and then have it brought to your door.

@CWOTUS Delivery of restaurant foods would be way too expensive and most likely unhealthy for me.

My main goal is to try this meal delivery service at a cheaper rate to see how cost effective, healthy, and time saving it may be. I tend to spend more than I would like at the store, and always end up tossing leftovers or food that spoils. Hopefully cooking fresh local foods packed for me in the pre-measured amounts with recipe planning already done (with nutritional content provided) can knock out a few birds with one stone in my current diet and food budget goals.

Imagine… Free shipping and 6 meals for one person for $50/wk. it may not end up being cost effective, but I’m curious to see.

If you ate out once a day even at a fast food place, I bet you would spend more than 50.00 a week. I can’t wait to hear about how this turns out. I’d like to know about the quantity and quality and if it was foods that you like.

Well, so far I’m so impressed! The meals actually pan out to about three servings each for me, so I’m getting at least one good healthy meal a day out of it. And it’s delicious! And I haven’t thrown any food out for going bad.

I do need to break myself of going to the store. It’s a habit, I guess. I don’t need anything, I just wander around and toss random things in my basket.

My co-worker that signed on with me doesn’t think she’ll keep doing it. She doesn’t feel the portions are big enough for her and her husband. She’s a bigger gal and eats too much anyway, in my opinion. For what that’s worth.

That’s great. Glad it’s working out for you.