An Idea Worth Looking At
It is amazing how home meal delivery services have caught on! People used to think their options were either high-cost restaurant meals or frozen TV dinner quality meals. However, the times have changed.
Home delivered meals are worth considering if you:
- Want a diabetic, paleo or vegan meal with real flavor.
- Hate to cook but want healthier meals that don’t taste like cardboard.
- Like to cook but don’t have the time to shop for ingredients.
- Want to learn how to cook, but don’t know where to start.
We have researched almost a hundred of these companies and looked at over 12,000 reviews to find the best ones to recommend to you. Most did a good job of offering a variety of dishes. Some did very well – but four topped the list to help you enjoy great taste and healthy meals without the hassle!
Why Home Meals are Worth Considering
Meal delivery services are reinventing healthy meals in a good way. They attract working couples, singles, busy families – and any diet concerned person who wants the convenience of healthy meals in their home without the fuss.
Fortunately, many improvements and healthy options are now available. Prepared meals can bring the convenience of a well cooked, tasty meal straight to your door. You simply order your favorite dishes, and within a few days, the meals you selected appear for your dining pleasure.
The time spent shopping and preparing meals can sometimes be a pain. This is especially true for those with diabetes struggling to change their eating habits! The thought of looking for healthy recipes, grocery shopping and piecing it all together at home can be overwhelming.
For those challenged to lose weight, these meals are already planned out and have the correct portions to help you reach your goal. Also, a healthy meal selection will make it easy to make good food choices – and tasty ones too!!
The Top Four Meal Delivery Companies
(These four provide a range of price and preparation requirements that gives you a variety of diabetic related choices. You can try more than one to see what you like best – and most have introductory specials!)
Home Bistro: provides top quality nutritious meals in a slow cook style that retains nutrients and tenderness. They have specialized menus including diabetic friendly, vegetarian, paleo, gluten free as well as others. The prices are a little higher than the others but are top quality meals (filet mignon, of course, will cost more).
A Discount Code: Use this link, Home Bistro to visit their website and enter the code “INSPIRED” in the coupon code box, you will get a 10% discount each time you check out!
Diet-To-Go: has four menu plans to choose from – Balance, Balance-Diabetes, Vegetarian, and Low Carbohydrate. Customization calorie options make this a good source for those wanting control in that area. Meal plans start at about $19 per day ($5 to $9 a meal)- making this one of the most inexpensive companies.
Bistro MD: is a customizable weight loss meal program. Some of their targeted menus include those for diabetics, men, women, menopausal women, and seniors. They prepare their meals using fresh ingredients and no preservatives with new recipes every six weeks. The meals are delivered frozen in microwavable and oven-safe containers. The average cost of a meal from Bistro MD is $8+.
Sun Basket: sends you fresh, pre-measured ingredients (to cut back on waste) along with an easy to follow recipe for the delicious meals on their menu. Meals on their Family Plan (simple, more mild flavors) break down to cost about $10 per serving and meals on their Classic Plan (more adventurous flavors) are around $12 per serving. These make-at-home meals take an average of 30 minutes to prepare and break down to cost around $9-$12 per serving. This approach is perfect for those who wish to expand their cooking skills and discover new delicious foods and flavors.
The Winner – Home Bistro!
Not all prepared meals companies we looked at were equal. Taste, customer experience, and prices were all across the board. There are a lot of decent companies out there, but Home Bistro tops our list.
They provide top quality nutritious meals in a slow cook style that retains nutrients. They have specialized menus designed for diabetes, vegetarian, paleo, gluten free and other styles!
Home Bistro meals are the tastiest pre-cooked meals you’ll experience (and they look good on the plate). Their highly customizable meal plans make it easy to fit into your lifestyle and achieve your health goals.
Additional Thoughts on … Cost!
As we considered the prices we looked at the following things:
- How many places could you go and get a tasty, healthy meal for the same price?
- Did you have to drive there and how much preparation, time and money did it take?
- How much time do you spend on recipes and figuring out what you need to buy?
- How much time do you spend shopping and the cost of going there?
- How much food do you throw out because it does not get used before going bad, etc.?
After looking at many studies we found that, surprisingly, the total cost comes out about the same! And they don’t even count the time involved (which we think is important).
Auto Renewals: Many companies have or require “commitment” plans that automatically reorder and usually select your meals for you. You can cancel but you have to remember to do so. There are some advantages, such as forgetting to order, therefore hasty meals. Just remember you have to cancel them if not needed.
