Home Chef

 

The calendar still says spring, but we had some snow overnight and around 9 a.m. this morning. Enough that I had to brush the back window of my car after physical therapy.

One of my husband's friends received from his two daughters a gift of Home Chef meals. Since he isn't paying for them, price isn't a consideration. He and his wife really like the meals. As part of Home Chef's promos they allow the member to give away a $35 gift card. (They also receive a $35 credit on their account if someone uses the card to sign up.)

After looking over the Home Chef web site I wasn't sure I really wanted to use the card. I had to set up an account with a credit card to even select the meals. The requirements are at least two meals per order. The shipping charge is $13.99 added to the order. That right there makes the whole program less desirable. The default is weekly delivery. However, you can skip weeks. I am going to try one order a month for a few months.

We received our first order Wednesday.

We were gone when it was delivered. My husband brought it inside when he got home before me. There is some foam insulation and 2-3 cold packs. My husband took the items inside the box and put them in the refrigerator so I did not see how they were packed inside the box. When I got home I removed the potatoes; when I looked over the recipe/menu card I saw that it said to keep the potatoes at room temp once they arrive. It also says to prepare within 5 days for the two meals I ordered.

My first impression is that this product is not eco-friendly. They say that you can thaw the cold packs and pour out the stuff inside so you can recycle the plastic. We have a recycle center across town, but nothing as part of our trash pickup. The foam is marked that it was made from recycled water bottles; however, I know our recycle center does not accept foam.

For the most part any seasonings, sauces, liquids, etc. are wrapped in portioned out amounts in individual containers. Even the white wine was in a plastic pouch.

This makes it easy for cooking, but again lots of "wrapping" to discard. 

The recipe cards are very detailed. They give the grams of fat, sodium, etc. They mention anything that might be a dietary problem such as milk, gluten, nuts. You can see those details before ordering.

 They automatically select two dishes for you, but you can edit and change to other choices. Scrolling down week by week it appears there is quite a bit of variety. They tell you to have salt, pepper, cooking spray, baking pan, skillet and olive oil on hand.

The first meal I prepared was the white wine chicken scallopini. There was quite a bit of chopping. The chicken had to be pounded really thin. This meal was graded as intermediate hardness. There wasn't anything difficult for me, but it did take effort and time. It was quite tasty but we felt kind of salty. 

The glazed meatloaf was graded easy. I had to slice the potatoes and green onions; mix the ingredients for the meatloaves; mix up the glaze mixture. All of the amounts are pre-measured. The beef had garlic salt, some of the onions, panko, and ricotta cheese added to it. They suggested adding more salt and some pepper. After our experience with the first meal, I did not add any more salt. I see on the ingredients details they list the amount of sodium for each serving as over 1500 grams.

I would make the meatloaf again using my own products. It was moist and delicious.

They provide you a notebook to store the recipe "cards". One problem in re-creating the meatloaves would be that the amounts are listed as grams not tablespoons/teaspoons.

The base cost per serving is $6.99 to over $14.00. You can change the protein so if you choose steak for example the serving will cost more. Add to that the delivery charge of $13.99 and it adds up. It is not like going to a restaurant because besides doing the cooking, you have to wash the utensils and pans and mixing bowls, etc.

I have changed our preference setting to Fast and Easy for the next order. I am ordering for April 28th. When the meals are shipped you get an email telling you that it will be delivered by the end of the day. I was counting on this for dinner but did have something else if it had arrived late evening. It came a little after 1 p.m. according to the tracker. 

I might try this once a month for a few months. My husband's friend got his credit for referring. His situation is different since he isn't paying the costs and his wife is having some cognitive difficulties so having a step-by-step meal prep that he can help her with solves some difficulties for them. You do have to be proactive and look over the choices they make for you by Friday mid-day; also request to skip a week or it will automatically come and your credit card will be charged. 

I have seen Home Chef kits at Kroger; that might be a more thrifty way since there is no delivery charge. However, the choices are quite limited at my Kroger store.

The meatloaf meal was for a family of 4 so we have half to warm up and eat tomorrow night. We'll see how well the left-overs keep quality.