I've been hearing about all these meal kit delivery services and while the convenience sounds nice, the price points I've heard mentioned have seemed exaggerated (compared to what I believe it would cost for me to shop for the same ingredients). I genuinely enjoy cooking and part of this is the prep. But the recent proliferation of meal kit delivery services made me curious. (I don't always have time to grocery shop or cook elaborate meals. Having a recipe and its necessary ingredients delivered to my door provides a certain appeal.) Last week, a "sponsored post" popped up on my Facebook feed for a meal kit delivery service called Green Chef, which specializes in "delivering organic ingredients & easy recipes."
Most of the time, I'm completely oblivious to online advertising, because I usually employ ad-block software and prefer using a text-only browser, but once in a blue moon my eyes will zero in on an advertisement if it pertains to something currently on my radar. This particular ad screamed, "Try Green Chef for only $0.99!" At first glance, I thought that the price had to be in error, so I paused scrolling momentarily. Was this a mere gimmick? Only 99-cents? At this price point, I was willing to give it a go. So I clicked through and read the offer details. Then thought, what the heck, and signed up.
The advertised trial consists of what Green Chef refers to as a Taste Kit (one Dinner Meal Kit for your choice of either two people or a family of four). As I wanted to share with my peeps and get their feedback, too, I selected the "family of four" option, under which one could either choose an omnivore or carnivore recipe plan. (Apparently, if I'd selected the two person option, I would have been given several other recipe plan options, including vegetarian, vegan and paleo. But I guess Green Chef doesn't think entire families follow self-restricted diets, so families only get the two generic plan choices.)
The advertised trial consists of what Green Chef refers to as a Taste Kit (one Dinner Meal Kit for your choice of either two people or a family of four). As I wanted to share with my peeps and get their feedback, too, I selected the "family of four" option, under which one could either choose an omnivore or carnivore recipe plan. (Apparently, if I'd selected the two person option, I would have been given several other recipe plan options, including vegetarian, vegan and paleo. But I guess Green Chef doesn't think entire families follow self-restricted diets, so families only get the two generic plan choices.)
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| Green Chef Omnivore Taste Kit |
The Green Chef "family of four" serving size Taste Kit for its omnivore recipe plan turned out to be for Shrimp Ricotta Pasta. Meh. I'm vegetarian, but excepting one sister, the rest of my family is not, so it should work out OK. I'll just eat some of the sides. (I could separate a serving of pasta and prepare it plainly, but I'm not big on pasta either, preferring rice. However, I might nibble to taste it --- sans shrimp, obviously.) Anyhow, the Taste Kit which I ordered last week is scheduled to be delivered later today. Comes in a "refrigerated" box so one doesn't need to be home to accept the delivery, according to the Green Chef website.
Once I've had the chance to inspect the meal kit and cook & serve dinner tonight, I'll probably get back to you with a full review of the Green Chef Meal Kit Delivery Service. Even if the service somehow does not live up to its "green" billing, I figured that paying $0.99 for an organic dinner which should serve four people wouldn't be too much of a loss. I do like to try new things. Salute!
The package arrived around 6:45p yesterday.
ReplyDeleteMy first impression is that there seems to be a noticeable discrepancy between the amount of food shown in Green Chef's step by step preparation instructions sheet and in the amount one receives in the box. The Green Chef meal kit prep images convey an overflowing bounty of food. The little baggies received contain a paltry amount in comparison. When I opened the box and saw exactly what was inside, my first thought was "If this feeds a family of four, I would hate to see the two person meal kit." And, yes I realize that we as a society have become accustomed to "supersized" everything, thus actual accurate portions look tiny to the average person. Taking this into consideration, the difference in what is pictured in the Green Chef instructions and the amounts received still seems noticeable. (I work with measurements a lot and I am pretty good at eyeballing amounts. Just saying.)
As the box arrived so late in the day, I simply refrigerated everything for another day. We had already eaten dinner. Once it's been prepared, I'll update with further impressions.
NOTE: These are my opinions.