Who has the time to cook???
This past month I have been trying out a food delivery service, my son and his girlfriend, paid for a 3 week subscription, initially to try it out, but as we all know, I do not have the time to shop or even cook anything half decent, it usually just ends up as something thrown in the oven for 20 mins and then a steamed rice, sometimes veggie bag thrown in the microwave, Pizza way too much Pizza, Fish or Spam fritter and chips from a chippy, occasionally takeaway curry or chinese, and chips, lots of home fried chips, well they taste better than the oven ones lol.
So January, I started a 3 week subscription to Gousto, I looked at Fresh, but after advice from my boy, the portion sizes in Gousto are much bigger, and as I typically have one large meal a day, yep that's right no breakfast or lunch, well lunch typically ends up at Greggs.
How Does it work??
So you decide if the recipe is for 2 or 4 people, although I class Jasper Moonstone ( our German Shepherd ) a member of the family, he doesn't get a portion, so I end up nuking the "spare" serving the next day or freeze it, but if I am honest, some days I just eat both lol.
Once you have chosen your recipes, they deliver your food parcel, for me I have that delivered on a Sunday as that is the only day I can really guarantee when I'm in.
Any meat/fish or fridge type of foods are packed in a recyclable freezer bag with small bags of ice blocks to keep cool, the rest is in the box. I must add that the ingredients for each meal are, weighed, ready to use for each menu.
The recipes are easy to follow. There are meals for vegetarians too, some do look nice, but I should eat more white meat, especially as bike season is coming up fast and Rio's is calling ;-)
So when your ready to cook, you grab the recipe card, ingredients and follow the easy steps, most meals take about 30mins to prep and cook and it's well easy.
Am I impressed with the meals?
Yes, actually I am, some of the recipes I chose have been a shock to the taste buds, and although the portions are large, large enough for me - sometimes, it looks like I am eating less, so on balance I think thats a good thing.
Are the Meals Healthy?
Probably not, but they are a lot more healthy than the meals I usually make, as I said, my usual dinners are quick, something I throw in the oven for 20-30 mins and is bland as all hell, and if I'm late home I resort to a take-away ;-(
Are they good value for Money?
Depending upon how many you are cooking for and how many meals you order a week, depends upon the weekly cost, I must say you can stop the boxes, skip a few weeks, have it fortnightly etc.
What I do, is to order 3 meals for 2 people a week, that actually gives me 6 days worth of dinners. So when bike night starts, I can be very naughty for one night and eat at Rio's, ( burgers to die for ). So basically it works out for me at £29 a week, which on balance is a bit more than I would pay for a months worth of shopping, but then bear in mind, I do have an immense amount of take-away junk food too. So factoring that cost on top of my £15 a week shopping, I think I'm breaking even.
My conclusion
My Gousto dinners are lovely, the meals are quick, fresh not frozen rubbish, fresh veggies and I am actually having fun and I look forward to cooking the next meal. I don't think I have learnt anything new cooking wise, it has saved me a lot of time preparing and shopping, which is something I would not normally be bothered with.
So my three week Christmas present from my son, finished a last week, and last Sunday I got my first "full cost" box, Yes that means I am continuing with the meals. Oh and lets not forget, in 4 weeks, I have not cooked the same meal twice :-)
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