What follows are my experiences and opinions. I haven’t been compensated by Blue Apron, Home Chef or Hello Fresh. I can just make some rice, pasta or salad, defrost and cook the meal and it’s ready to go.Have you thought about trying one of the many meal kit services and wondered if they’re worth the money, and, maybe more of a puzzle, what’s the difference between them? Me too! That way I always have at least two or three options for a healthy meal with none of the preparation. I then divide it into meal sized portions, put them into plastic containers and freeze them. I have a repertoire of one-pot meals like chili, Bolognese, beef stew and others that I cook in a huge pot. I tend to cook on a Sunday and cook in bulk.

While there is a certain romance about selecting the freshest produce and coming up with a recipe to use it, if you don’t have time, you don’t have time. Less procrastinating, less wondering and more getting and going. Hit the supermarket with a list and you can be in and out in less than an hour. Once you have your meal plan, you can build your shopping list. You can top up with fresh produce on the way home from work and either cook it fresh or defrost it. You can plan each dinner and buy the ingredients needed in one hit. Meal planning is a bit of a chore but once you get into the habit, will take less than ten minutes per week. If you’re busy and we all are, you can still eat healthily without relying on expensive services like this one. Plus, if you’re single, Blue Apron doesn’t even cater for you.

So it isn’t as if you won’t be going grocery shopping anyway. That means you still have to go grocery shopping and still have to plan four other dinners and seven lunches and pay for them. On average, Blue Apron costs you around $60 per week for three meals for two people. The marketing blurb says Blue Apron sends you higher quality food at a better value, ‘By cutting out the middle man and delivering ingredients at their freshest.’ Better value than what? Higher quality food than what? How is having ingredients sit in a box for 24 -48 hours fresher than picking it up at the grocery store? Since when did buying your own food and finding a recipe become such hard work? Since when did browsing a grocery store for fresh produce become so tiresome? What’s not to love? To my mind, everything. You get everything you need in a box delivered to your door. In theory these food services should be great.

Blue apron $60 off