Let's Dish - Yay or Nay?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I did a bunch of reading on dinner prep businesses recently (love the idea), and I hadn't thought of this, but one of the articles mentioned they source their supplies and food from Sysco or similar food vendors. So their vegetables all come pre chopped (which frequently means additives to keep them in good shape while frozen), it isn't the same quality you would necessarily buy depending on your personal preferences, etc.

That really turned me off. Part of the point of Home cooked meals is me knowing all the ingredients are fresh and minimal additives/preservatives. According to this article, they aren't prepping the most of the stuff, they are buying prepared ingredients and you are combining them. I also wondered about the freeze/thaw/freeze thing. Usually quality goes down the more times you thaw and freeze.

I ended up doing Once a month meals at home (using the website by the same name) and love it. It obviously is a ton more work because you have to buy the groceries (Peapod?), do all the prep, clean the dishes, deal with kids at home, etc. But I like that they are truly home cooked meals that I know the source of the ingredients, I can buy my preferred quality level, and I have thousands of recipes to pick from. I have been doing it about 7 months now. The first month was brutal because I didn't follow instructions well (key is to make two of each item, you really get double the meals in not much more time). Last month though I got 31 meals in about 8 hours (not including grocery shopping but everything else such as prep and dishes was included). I break it over 2 days and it isn't bad.

I've only done Plated (and only as a trial) but none of the vegetables or other ingredients came prepared/chopped -- even the artichokes needed to be prepped. And all the veggies were in greenbags for freshness. So maybe some of the food services send heavily preserved stuff, but not all do.

I have tried most services (blue apron, hello fresh, marley spoon etc...) NONE of them sent any pre chopped or prepped items. All come as just single veggies as you would purchase in the grocery store. Not sure of any service that sends any pre-prepped ingredients.

The PP was talking about dinner prep (like Let's Dish) which is where you go to a specific place, prepare a bunch of meals for the fridge/freezer and bring them home to cook at a later time. Blue Apron, Hello Fresh, Plated, etc. do not fall into this category.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I did a bunch of reading on dinner prep businesses recently (love the idea), and I hadn't thought of this, but one of the articles mentioned they source their supplies and food from Sysco or similar food vendors. So their vegetables all come pre chopped (which frequently means additives to keep them in good shape while frozen), it isn't the same quality you would necessarily buy depending on your personal preferences, etc.

That really turned me off. Part of the point of Home cooked meals is me knowing all the ingredients are fresh and minimal additives/preservatives. According to this article, they aren't prepping the most of the stuff, they are buying prepared ingredients and you are combining them. I also wondered about the freeze/thaw/freeze thing. Usually quality goes down the more times you thaw and freeze.

I ended up doing Once a month meals at home (using the website by the same name) and love it. It obviously is a ton more work because you have to buy the groceries (Peapod?), do all the prep, clean the dishes, deal with kids at home, etc. But I like that they are truly home cooked meals that I know the source of the ingredients, I can buy my preferred quality level, and I have thousands of recipes to pick from. I have been doing it about 7 months now. The first month was brutal because I didn't follow instructions well (key is to make two of each item, you really get double the meals in not much more time). Last month though I got 31 meals in about 8 hours (not including grocery shopping but everything else such as prep and dishes was included). I break it over 2 days and it isn't bad.

I've only done Plated (and only as a trial) but none of the vegetables or other ingredients came prepared/chopped -- even the artichokes needed to be prepped. And all the veggies were in greenbags for freshness. So maybe some of the food services send heavily preserved stuff, but not all do.

I have tried most services (blue apron, hello fresh, marley spoon etc...) NONE of them sent any pre chopped or prepped items. All come as just single veggies as you would purchase in the grocery store. Not sure of any service that sends any pre-prepped ingredients.

Makes sense!

[Anonymous]

^^ LOL, my comment was meant for the PP at the top of this page, whoops!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, could you create a war chest of quick recipes and then prep/chop in advance? I cook from scratch every night, but what I make during the week can be made in less than 30 minutes with a baby and preschooler hanging on my legs. I sometimes prep out the ingredients the night before or on the weekends. There are a LOT of recipes that don't require too much active cook time to set up, but then passively simmer or bake while you can play with the kids. E.g., quiche, stew, chili, pasta sauce, etc. And there are also super-fast recipes that only require you have the ingredients prepped and 10 minutes to cook, e.g., stirfry, fried rice, udon and veggies, wraps, salads, quesadilla, frittata, shrimp scampi, etc. I've found ethnic food to be easier to prep and cook quickly than the traditional American meat-starch-veggie dinner.

Once you have an arsenal of recipes like this, you'd be surprised how little effort dinner can take.

This would be ideal. I however, seem to have a huge problem with planning! Would you care to share your arsenal of recipes because it sounds amazing!

My whole secret is just googling 10-minute meals on Saturday mornings when DH takes the kids to the library. I love Mark Bittman's suggestions (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/18/dining/18mini.html?pagewanted=all) And sometimes I just go through that list and pick 5 things for the week.

The key for me is to stick within some cuisine/ethnicity for the week so I can reuse ingredients and so I am not overwhelmed with too many possibilities. So this week, I am making mostly french food:

Monday: Salmon with brown butter and haricots verts (http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/salmon-with-brown-butter-almonds-green-beans)

Tuesday: spinach, bacon, cheese quiche (just browning bacon and shallots, and then putting that, spinach, and cheese into frozen pie shells with the egg mixture). Sorry, no real recipe for this, but I use about 3 eggs and 2 cups milk (plus salt and pepper) per pie shell. 375 for 30 minutes.

Weds: Salade Niçoise -- slice and boil the potatoes, boil the eggs, slice the tomatoes, all in advance the night before. Then microwave some frozen haricots verts, open tuna tins, put that stuff and olives on plates and whisk up some dressing to pour over everything. (http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-salad-nicoise-recipes-from-the-kitchn-190232)

Thursday: French-style roasted chicken with potatoes and carrots roasted in the pan with the bird. (http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/my-favorite-simple-roast-chicken-231348) plus throw in chunks of veggies to roast. This is so easy but the chicken does take a while in the oven.

Friday: tartines with hummus, sprouts, avocados, and tomatoes, salad on the side. (No recipe here, either, this is just what my kids and we like on tartines!)

All 5 nights I used/will use the same salad as a side (except when the salad is the main course!).

Sorry it's a little jumbled, but this is sort of what I do every week. Next week might be Korean, or Italian, or whatever. I pick out 5 or so super fast recipes that use similar ingredients and then make my grocery list and then I'm set. If you enjoy cooking, it's not much work for really nice home-cooked meals. I cook more involved meals on the weekends, but I ALWAYS have something easy to throw on the table (even just jarred sauce and boxed pasta) so I can do that in a pinch or when I'm just feeling lazy.

[Anonymous]

I did Let's Dish a few times, specifically to preparefor the arrival of DS2. Things I loved:
- definitely made meal planning easy
- could easily modify the recipes to taste during prep - reduce or increase spice levels, leave out certain dreaded ingredients
- decent tasting food
- good portion sizes for my family

Things I didn't love:
- quality was OK. Nothing to write home about.
- many items tale a long time to cook after pulling from the freezer. OK when I was home on maternity leave (pop in the oven mid-afternoon, then ignore until done), not so much when I went back to work (needed done on the table 30 minutes after walking in the door

Overall. .. it served it's purpose at the time, but wasn't great enough for me to continue once I got into a routine with two kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, could you create a war chest of quick recipes and then prep/chop in advance? I cook from scratch every night, but what I make during the week can be made in less than 30 minutes with a baby and preschooler hanging on my legs. I sometimes prep out the ingredients the night before or on the weekends. There are a LOT of recipes that don't require too much active cook time to set up, but then passively simmer or bake while you can play with the kids. E.g., quiche, stew, chili, pasta sauce, etc. And there are also super-fast recipes that only require you have the ingredients prepped and 10 minutes to cook, e.g., stirfry, fried rice, udon and veggies, wraps, salads, quesadilla, frittata, shrimp scampi, etc. I've found ethnic food to be easier to prep and cook quickly than the traditional American meat-starch-veggie dinner.

Once you have an arsenal of recipes like this, you'd be surprised how little effort dinner can take.

This would be ideal. I however, seem to have a huge problem with planning! Would you care to share your arsenal of recipes because it sounds amazing!

My whole secret is just googling 10-minute meals on Saturday mornings when DH takes the kids to the library. I love Mark Bittman's suggestions (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/18/dining/18mini.html?pagewanted=all) And sometimes I just go through that list and pick 5 things for the week.

The key for me is to stick within some cuisine/ethnicity for the week so I can reuse ingredients and so I am not overwhelmed with too many possibilities. So this week, I am making mostly french food:

Monday: Salmon with brown butter and haricots verts (http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/salmon-with-brown-butter-almonds-green-beans)

Tuesday: spinach, bacon, cheese quiche (just browning bacon and shallots, and then putting that, spinach, and cheese into frozen pie shells with the egg mixture). Sorry, no real recipe for this, but I use about 3 eggs and 2 cups milk (plus salt and pepper) per pie shell. 375 for 30 minutes.

Weds: Salade Niçoise -- slice and boil the potatoes, boil the eggs, slice the tomatoes, all in advance the night before. Then microwave some frozen haricots verts, open tuna tins, put that stuff and olives on plates and whisk up some dressing to pour over everything. (http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-salad-nicoise-recipes-from-the-kitchn-190232)

Thursday: French-style roasted chicken with potatoes and carrots roasted in the pan with the bird. (http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/my-favorite-simple-roast-chicken-231348) plus throw in chunks of veggies to roast. This is so easy but the chicken does take a while in the oven.

Friday: tartines with hummus, sprouts, avocados, and tomatoes, salad on the side. (No recipe here, either, this is just what my kids and we like on tartines!)

All 5 nights I used/will use the same salad as a side (except when the salad is the main course!).

Sorry it's a little jumbled, but this is sort of what I do every week. Next week might be Korean, or Italian, or whatever. I pick out 5 or so super fast recipes that use similar ingredients and then make my grocery list and then I'm set. If you enjoy cooking, it's not much work for really nice home-cooked meals. I cook more involved meals on the weekends, but I ALWAYS have something easy to throw on the table (even just jarred sauce and boxed pasta) so I can do that in a pinch or when I'm just feeling lazy.

Thank you PP! I think I just tend to overthink and then I get caught in decision paralysis. These are great suggestions!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, could you create a war chest of quick recipes and then prep/chop in advance? I cook from scratch every night, but what I make during the week can be made in less than 30 minutes with a baby and preschooler hanging on my legs. I sometimes prep out the ingredients the night before or on the weekends. There are a LOT of recipes that don't require too much active cook time to set up, but then passively simmer or bake while you can play with the kids. E.g., quiche, stew, chili, pasta sauce, etc. And there are also super-fast recipes that only require you have the ingredients prepped and 10 minutes to cook, e.g., stirfry, fried rice, udon and veggies, wraps, salads, quesadilla, frittata, shrimp scampi, etc. I've found ethnic food to be easier to prep and cook quickly than the traditional American meat-starch-veggie dinner.

Once you have an arsenal of recipes like this, you'd be surprised how little effort dinner can take.

This would be ideal. I however, seem to have a huge problem with planning! Would you care to share your arsenal of recipes because it sounds amazing!

My whole secret is just googling 10-minute meals on Saturday mornings when DH takes the kids to the library. I love Mark Bittman's suggestions (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/18/dining/18mini.html?pagewanted=all) And sometimes I just go through that list and pick 5 things for the week.

The key for me is to stick within some cuisine/ethnicity for the week so I can reuse ingredients and so I am not overwhelmed with too many possibilities. So this week, I am making mostly french food:

Monday: Salmon with brown butter and haricots verts (http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/salmon-with-brown-butter-almonds-green-beans)

Tuesday: spinach, bacon, cheese quiche (just browning bacon and shallots, and then putting that, spinach, and cheese into frozen pie shells with the egg mixture). Sorry, no real recipe for this, but I use about 3 eggs and 2 cups milk (plus salt and pepper) per pie shell. 375 for 30 minutes.

Weds: Salade Niçoise -- slice and boil the potatoes, boil the eggs, slice the tomatoes, all in advance the night before. Then microwave some frozen haricots verts, open tuna tins, put that stuff and olives on plates and whisk up some dressing to pour over everything. (http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-salad-nicoise-recipes-from-the-kitchn-190232)

Thursday: French-style roasted chicken with potatoes and carrots roasted in the pan with the bird. (http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/my-favorite-simple-roast-chicken-231348) plus throw in chunks of veggies to roast. This is so easy but the chicken does take a while in the oven.

Friday: tartines with hummus, sprouts, avocados, and tomatoes, salad on the side. (No recipe here, either, this is just what my kids and we like on tartines!)

All 5 nights I used/will use the same salad as a side (except when the salad is the main course!).

Sorry it's a little jumbled, but this is sort of what I do every week. Next week might be Korean, or Italian, or whatever. I pick out 5 or so super fast recipes that use similar ingredients and then make my grocery list and then I'm set. If you enjoy cooking, it's not much work for really nice home-cooked meals. I cook more involved meals on the weekends, but I ALWAYS have something easy to throw on the table (even just jarred sauce and boxed pasta) so I can do that in a pinch or when I'm just feeling lazy.

Thank you PP! I think I just tend to overthink and then I get caught in decision paralysis. These are great suggestions!

Haha, me too - happy to help!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let's Dish was too far away to work for us. Any Blue Apron people out there? I thought I would try. Should I get the "for two" (different recipes?) or the "for four" and refrigerate the leftovers. Are they different. The ad makes them sound different.

I'm the OP. I have been doing Blue Apron for about three months and am pretty pleased with it. The "for two" meals really are only for two people. The "for four" really are for four people. I have been impressed with the recipes and the quality of the ingredients. The downside is the amount of packaging - they claim everything is recyclable but it depends on your area. Also, the "for four" meals require a lot of active cooking/chopping/etc. I'd plan at least 45 minutes if you're doing it all by yourself. I can't really say how long the "for two" meals take to make. The menus are different for the "for two" and "for four" meals, but I think they are of similar quality.

Thank you. That was very helpful.

[Anonymous]

You could try something like "No More to Go". You subscribe ($19 with a Groupon) and get five recipes per week, plus access to their archive. When you select your recipes, you can automatically generate a grocery list.