5 Meal Subscription Boxes That We Love
Say what!? A way to make mealtimes less stressful? As parents, we know that mealtime should be called meltdown time. There is nothing worse than trying to cook a meal (that you know your kids will tell you they don’t like) while your toddler is having a tantrum, your 3rd grader needs homework help and if you have a teenager they are probably sulking somewhere and rolling their eyes – or snacking….. seriously, what they say about teenage boys and food is accurate, they eat ALL THE TIME!
At Sitter, we strive to do everything we can to make life easier and more fun for parents. Just for you, we tried out a collection of mealtime subscription boxes so that you don’t have to do the “work”! What we love about our five favorite mealtime subscription boxes is that these companies all recognize that no one size fits all when it comes to feeding your family. Most of these boxes allow you to choose from traditional meals to gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian, paleo and other common allergy- and preference-friendly boxes. We may not be able to help with homework but we think these meal boxes will make your life just a little bit easier!
What we love:
Sun Basket delivers on their promise to create meals that are crafted from high-quality organic and seasonal ingredients. They offer meal plans for a variety of diets and personal preferences including, paleo, gluten-free, vegetarian and vegan diets. All of their meat is humanely raised, antibiotic and hormone free and their seafood is sustainable. All meal plans are nutritionist approved and created by the founder and chef Justine Kelly.
Details: When you subscribe to the Family Menu you have the option to chose the Chef’s Choice Family Plan or the Vegetarian Family Plan. Each plan will include 4 servings per recipe and the price per serving is $10.99
Freshly impressed us with their list of 85 ingredients that are banned from their food! It’s great to know that we won’t have to read any labels to make sure we are not feeding our families dimethylpolysiloxane or Tertiary Butylhydroquinone! In a nutshell, we can pronounce all the ingredients that Freshly packs in their boxes! Their weekly rotating menu has options that should suit most dietary needs.
All the nitty-gritty details: Freshly has plans for 4 meals a week ($49.99 per week), 6 meals a week ($59.99 per week), 9 meals a week ($89.99 per week) or 12 meals per week ($107.99 per week). You customize the meal plan and they pack and ship, for free, everything you need to your front door.
We love that not only is Purple Carrot making it easier (and tasty) for you and your family to get your veggies, but they also made up a word for it! They say they help people become a Balanceatarian, or someone who practices a plant-based diet, a couple of times a week thus making an impact on their health and the health of the planet! Makes a lot of sense to us! Their plant-based meals arrive at your front door, pre-measured, in a recyclable box with biodegradable liners. If feeding your family more veggies and saving the environment at the same time speaks to you, we know you will love Purple Carrot. They also have a line of performance meal kits for the vegetarian athlete in your family or anyone looking to “sustain peak performance.” If you have someone in your family who doesn’t think it’s a proper meal without meat, you can also pop something on the grill to go along with the veggie meal.
All the nitty-gritty details: Family plans with Purple Carrot are $80.00 per week and feed 3-4 people. For this price you get 2 unique meals per week, averaging out to $10 per plate. Performance meals are $78 per week and feed 2 people per week averaging out to $13 per plate.
While not exactly a meal subscription box, as it is a meat subscription box, ButcherBox likes to think of themselves as the neighborhood butcher for modern America. Each box can be custom created to fit your family’s distinct needs. With a custom box, you custom select from up to 21 different cuts of meat. If your family is not super picky, we recommend you subscribe to their curated box. With the curated box, you will receive a well-balanced assortment of easy to cook items including, chicken breast and Denver steak.
All the nitty-gritty details: The curated box starts at $129 per month for 8-11 lbs of meat. The custom box starts at $149 a month for 12-16 lbs of meat. All meat is meticulously shipped in dry ice to arrive fresh at your doorstep.
What we love:
Green Chef is, hands down, our favorite subscription box. We know that you don’t want to read paragraphs of why we love them, so here is the “CliffsNotes” version. While Gluten Free might be the latest foodie craze, for some people it is critical to their health that they follow a strictly gluten-free diet. For their part, Green Chef is the first meal kit to receive gluten-free certification. We love that they went through the certification process so that their gluten-free customers can eat with confidence that their food will truly nourish their body. They are easy to set up, we love their meals and we love how easy they make the ordering process. You can also place your subscription on hold or cancel it (although we don’t see why you would want to!) Green Chef doesn’t just give you delicious dinners, they give you your time back.
All the nitty-gritty details: When you subscribe the Green Chef Family Plan you will receive 1 box that contains 2 family style dinners for a family of four, or the equivalent of 8 meals/servings total per box. The options include a plan for vegetarians ($10.49 per meal) Omnivore ($11.99 per meal), Vegan ($11.99 per meal), Carnivore ($13.49 per meal), Gluten-free ($13.49 per meal) and Paleo ($14.99 per meal).
The world keeps changing, and while subscription boxes will never replace a morning spent hand-in-hand with your honey at the farmers market, they are a welcome change to anyone who wants to make mealtime easy. No more planning, prepping or grocery shopping. What will you do with all your free time?
