Is it just me or sometimes do you wish you had a personal chef who would emerge bearing exactly what you should be eating at exactly the right time? Or how about a meal prep service that delivered healthy eats right to your doorstep?
Especially when I’m trying to eat healthy (which is always) sometimes I simply run out of fresh ideas, have zero interest in calculating macros or absolutely nothing in my repertoire sounds remotely interesting. I’ve made my share of meal prep mistakes too.
Is a Meal Prep Service the Answer?
Recently I had the opportunity to try Herculean Meal Prep. Seven meals that I chose from their menu arrived freshly frozen from their kitchen in Indianapolis. Each meal was clearly marked with the calories and macro breakdown.
Herculean meals have no added salt, sugar, are gluten-free and contain no genetically-modified ingredients. The proteins were super lean. I tried chicken, turkey, salmon and steak. Sauces were home-made and super clean tasting (hello sugar free).
Here’s how the turkey scramble with egg whites, red peppers and sweet potato hash browns arrived. It was delicious.
The meals come in plastic trays that can be heated in the oven or microwave. Personally I most enjoyed the ones with a sweet/savory balance of flavors.
Barbecue chicken with sweet potatoes and broccoli.
Turkey dishes were a favorite with chicken a close second. The chef does a very good, clean barbecue sauce. I expected the beef dishes to be tastier than they were. I suspect because the beef was so lean, flavor was sacrificed.
Each meal is marked with macros, calories and sodium content.
Often the meals seemed like a LOT of food. I definitely did not go hungry. .Many times, I’d only eat about 2/3 of the meal.
You pick the meals you like. If you don’t like beef or fish or whatever, don’t get them. Vegetarian options are available as well.
Benefits of a Meal Prep Service
- Convenient. Meals are delivered fresh to your door (or you can pick them up if you’re local)
- Portable. Meals can easily be taken to work and heated up there
- Macros/calories are already calculated
- Balanced meals
- Clean, nutrient dense foods
Mostly I loved the convenience of having good food as close as my freezer. I loved not having to plan and calculate macros.
It was a great reminder of what appropriate portion sizes look like, although in some cases I felt like there was too much food for me.
Using a meal prep service can be a great way to get started on a clean-eating initiative. Having already planned, prepped balanced meals as close as your freezer serves as a great guideline on how to do your own meal prep in the future, if you desire. It’s also nice to keep some meals in the freezer for those days when you need to grab something quick but healthy.
Meal Prep Service Drawbacks
- Cost. Herculean meals sell individually for $9.99 on average. That may seem steep but the quality is great and everything has been done for you so it’s super convenient. You save when you buy more. When you commit to seven meals the prices drops to under $8.00 per meal and goes down even further when you buy more.
- Family dynamic. I suspect a meal prep service would be a better fit for people who lived alone or did not have kids. Since I need to cook for my family anyway, I tended to eat the prepped meals at lunch or when the Caveman was away on business.
Overall I think this is an excellent service with meticulous attention to quality.
Have you ever tried a meal prep service? Think meal prep would help you eat more healthfully?
Reminder! Join us right here next Friday for the Runfession Friday Linkup! I promise you’ll feel better if you do!
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We got roped into a screaming deal with Hello Fresh. It’s awesome. BUT, once the introductory price runs out – which is in a week – then it’s very expensive (I think). Ryan actually signed up via a deal through work and then Ryan forgot for weeks to cancel it…. $48.95/week and 4 later (for two meals for 2), I think we’ve finally cancelled it. But it was good. And it was fresh. And it was super easy! Ryan basically did it to learn how to cook better, but he didn’t really do anything so :). I may sign up for it with an into deal….I just gotta remember to cancel it in a few weeks. 🙂
Thanks for the birthday wishes – always love a little Lou note!
xo
This sounds great! I do meal prep every week and it can be really exhausting. Its also hard to come up with ideas! The price can definitely add but but its still better than eating out all the time!
Thanks for Sharing.
I don’t think it would work for me. But it is easier and healthier than eating out.
It would be nice but…cost is definitely a factor. I plan and shop for the week, so all that’s left is the execution. It would be nice to have someone do that part! And clean up after, too. I need a wife!
The meals sound really healthy and well balanced. I know people who love the convenience of meal prep kits. Not everyone has the time or inclination to cook and for them it’s more than worth it
I love the idea of these programs, but the cost definitely holds me back. Plus my husband is such a picky eater …. I love how fresh these look though.
Way back when I lived in Austin & was still working I used to order prepared meals from a local chef. This was long before the days of Hello Fresh et. al. I was so sad when she stopped doing it.
Luckily it’s just me & Mr. Judy because if I had to prepare meals for a family every day I swear I would have run off long ago. And I enjoy cooking. I have oodles of cookbooks & recipes & there’s always pinterest. But sometimes I just don’t wanna cook.
I do love my Instant Pot. It has saved us from delivery on more than one occasion. Knowing I can just prep it & pop it in there & then just sit down & relax — priceless!
I’ll be honest, I find meal prep services to expensive for me and I don’t trust that the macros are correct! I got one from a company with pasta once claiming a low Amy of carbs and calories. I weighed the cooked pasta out myself and it was at least double what they claimed. I like to cook my own food so I know what’s there.
I like the convenience of meal services, but I think they are so pricey. I like how they offer the calorie count though.
I’m such a picky eater, and I’ve never actually done a prep service. I’ll look through recipes to get new ideas, and then go out and buy ingredients. I”ll swap out ingredients I won’t eat, like kale, and get something that’s still healthy, and that I’ll eat.
If I were rich, I would do something like this for sure. How freaking convenient.
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