So, as promised in my blog in February, I have now gotten the chance to try two of the local, pre-cooked home delivery services: The Foodery (FooderyBoston.com) and Cucina Fresca-Boston (cucinafresca-boston.com).
Cucina Fresca is owned and operated by a single, working mom (Angela Portella) with a passion for cooking and eating right. She has always “loved to cook and wants to help people to reach their health goals with delicious home cooked meals while staying on budget.” She offers a weekly distribution of 15 meals of one’s choosing (5 breakfast, 5 lunches, 5 dinners) per week. She does the shopping, cooking, packaging and delivering of all meals. Customized menu plans cost $225 per week. She is currently updating other option meal plans at diferent rates.
She actually delivered a few meals to my office so I am not sure on the delivery logistics. I tasted the shrimp spring roll, burrito bowl with river cauliflower, and a vegetable curry over brown rice. All were quite good and are single servings, so portion control is more specific and already measured out for you. My concern was I’m not sure if people want breakfast, lunch and dinner prepared for them, but it sounds like she is flexible in her meal assortments. She also delivers in plastic containers (yes, I am picky!). I prefer a cardboard delivery system; I freeze my own homemade soups in these that I get at a restaurant supply outlet.
The Foodery exhibited at the Massachusetts dietitian conference in March. They also provided me with a complimentary gift card to select my own meals to test (seriously, who says no to free food?). Once you register with them, you will receive a weekly menu via email with six options to choose from. They include meals with two servings, averaging $26; and four servings, averaging $37. Order by 10 AM Thursday for a Sunday night delivery. There are many team members, with its co-founding partners, Mike Speights and John Bauer, at the helm.
I received an email early Sunday giving me a one-hour window with an approximate time of delivery. About ten minutes before that timeframe, I received a text that said they were on their way with a tracking app, which gave me their exact location. The driver also called me when he arrived. A very efficient system to manage your time, for sure.
The meals were delivered pre-cooked as already noted in foil containers. The lid provides: a description of the item, reheating instructions, ingredients, allergens, and a use-by-date. Should you want to reheat or freeze, they are ready. I received a handwritten "welcome" note and a newsletter, which also gives you the menu for the following week. I am not a fan of foil (kind of like the plastic dislike) but understand that foil is used for re-heating convenience. They do instruct you to re-plate items if going in the microwave!
I like that The Foodery exclusively uses grass-fed beef and antibiotic-free poultry. Their mission is to support local farmers and food purveyors, and to educate people on the importance of revitalizing and sustaining our planet. Many of their ingredients are also organic.
I ordered the meatloaf (for Dave!), roasted orange chicken, and a chicken-orzo bake. All were delish! The chicken-orzo was probably higher in calories (than I needed!) due to its cheese base, but kids would love it. My suggestion for the Foodery is to cut up the veggies a little more as I ended up with some pretty big stalks of broccoli and carrots. I ended up reheating mine on the stove (I don’t own a microwave!) so I picked out the veggies and cut them up more myself. The orange chicken (below) was superb!
I know a lot of people find chicken bland and boring, so this tangy flavor was a nice treat. I was delighted that it was still moist and tender on reheat. I always over cook mine! Kudos.
Nutritional information is not available for either of these companies at this time.
I can see where these home delivery services help people out quite a bit. If you work long hours or travel a lot for work, these are quite handy. I ordered them when I knew my week was going to be super busy and it was a treat to not have to worry about shopping or cooking. I doubt that I would use a system that I would have to cook (like Blue Apron) when I got home. If I were going to order a system, it would be a pre-cooked system and definitely one of these!
The Foodery is offering a 20% discount (one time discount per user) on your order, valid until June 17, 2017. Use the coupon code, eatrightboston0517, at checkout!
sophie