I am not vegan BUT I do eat a plant based diet 80% of the time. I believe Americans eat too much meat. All that consumption is literally ruining our planet and our health. I am always baffled by others and their choice to not eat more plant based foods. NO ONE IS DYING BECAUSE OF EATING TOO MUCH KALE. In fact…..it’s the plants that can actually save your life. On that note…..I am happy to share my experience with Green Chef.
If you are like me you probably have some hesitations about jumping on the meal delivery service bandwagon. There are so many companies out there that offer this service. I wonder how much easier it is to have delivery service over just going to the grocery store and making a meal via a recipe off Pinterest. Is it worth the money? Will it taste good?
Below are some bullet points on why Green Chef stands out to me.
– they offer vegan, gluten free, paleo, omnivore, carnivore and vegetarian meal plans
– their food is certified organic
– their packaging is eco-friendly
– you can skip the week easily online with one click
– they preview the menus to you up to two weeks in advance
– you can choose meals for two or up to a family of six
– all meals are calorie friendly between 450-750 calories (if you are counting calories)
– their recipes are easy to follow and have pictures!
I, of course, opted to try out the vegan meals. Upon delivery I was a bit taken back by the huge box that arrived. I quickly realized that the box also included some major packing materials to keep the items cold and protect them from damage. The ice packs included have two options, you can easily dispose of the contents inside (the cold gel junk) down your sink and recycle the packaging or save the packs to use again. I saved mine and use them in my cooler now. The other packaging is compostable (which is a huge thing here in Portland, Oregon).
I glanced over the perfectly portion contents of the box. I am happy most came in lil plastic containers which I have saved and use to store other food, but still, everything is recyclable. Included are three recipes which are color coded to match three colors on the packaging. This probably sounds a bit confusing in text form but when you see the items in person it makes sense and easily sorts everything. The recipes also list the ingredients again at the bottom of the page in case you missed something from its color label.
Each meal is incredibly easy to make and cook. The step by step guides have amazing photos for reference and they time everything out perfectly. Ex: they will instruct you to start boiling water and while that is boiling chop x,y,z. I cook 4-5 times a week and still can’t master this on my own. Each meal took 15-25 minutes to make so it’s great for those who are busy and tired after the work day.
Now the biggest take away for me was the taste. These were delicious. Well two were delicious and one was ok. I think mostly because the one I didn’t love was Indian food inspired and I am not a big Indian food lover. The other two were amazing! I actually learned a lot about flavor combos. They paired things together I never would have thought of and it really inspired me and broadened my vegan cooking horizon.
Now everything has it’s “flaws”. Here are the downsides to my experience with Green Chef.
– My meals were only able to be delivered on Fridays. Which for my husband and I means we’re not eating them until Monday. On weekends we usually like to go out to eat. I wish I had the option to have the three meals delivered on a Monday or Tuesday so I could take advantage of the freshness of the produce.
– Allergy concerns. I am deathly allergic to walnuts. There are a lot of people allergic to various nuts and it’s usually life threatening. While you can preview the ingredients in the meals I am concerned that they don’t offer replacement meals if you happen to find one meal in your week that contains nuts and you cannot consume that. Most of the time nuts are easily removable in a meal but something they can be in pre made ingredients and throw off the balance of a whole dish. I think it would awesome if Green Chef offered meal replacements to help those that have allergies.
– YOUR MEAL WILL NEVER LOOK AS PRETTY AS THE PICTURES. This is a light hearted critique and more to let you know that when you try Green Chef that you shouldn’t beat yourself up if your meal looks less vibrant in color and isn’t layered on the plate as delicately. Just eat it. It’s delicious and that’s all that matters.
All and all I would definitely recommend Green Chef, especially if you’re opting for vegan meals. The price point is really worth the value of having organic vegan options that are unique and flavorful.
Now let’s do a giveaway!
Two lucky winners will win a box of three meals for two people.
Rules:
-Follow me on Instagram @nicosolovely
-Comment on my Green Chef post (the picture is similar to the one on this blog post)
– In the comment tag two friends/family members/lovers who you think would love Green Chef (I may have a lil extra surprise for them!)
Winners will be announced on 9/26/2016
Winners must currently live in an area where Green Chef delivers. Green Chef currently delivers throughout the United States, excluding: Alaska, Hawaii, and deliver to limited areas in Wisconsin (Milwaukee), Minnesota.