Family-Friendly Meal Services
The pandemic has brought a lot of changes in our lives since 2020. And we are bringing these changes with us into the new year. We always keep personal health kits inside the house, in the car, and in our bags to bring along. We are mindful of social distancing whenever outdoors. And for some, staying home as much as possible to prevent exposure to the virus is the only option available.
Prepared delivery meal services (contactless delivery of products straight to the customer's doorstep) has been widely used, and it benefits both the businesses and the consumers. That's why prepared meal delivery services have become a hit. It keeps people safe and well-fed. In fact, popular meal kit services have doubled their revenue because people were forced to eat at home due to economic lockdown orders.
What Are Prepared Meal Delivery Services?
Prepared meal delivery services are meals that are pre-made, frozen, or fresh ingredients delivered right to your home. It is indeed convenient and timesaving for parents who do their groceries weekly - or more than once a week!
What Are the Pros?
It's exciting when you want to try a new recipe. It could be something you found from a newsletter, or maybe a friend recommended one to you. But there are days that you are just so tired to do recipe research and even grocery shopping. This is where prepared meal delivery services become valuable. You just choose your preferred meals from the menu, and the package arrives with the recipes. It saves your time from recipe hunting and walking around grocery aisles to find the ingredients.
When you live in a small home, apartment, or condominium unit, you have limited pantry and fridge spaces. And sometimes, recipes require spices that you can purchase only by buying an entire jar. Prepared meal delivery services offer the chance to use exotic spices and ingredients without taking a lot of space in your storage areas.
What Are the Cons?
The packages come with fresh ingredients that need to be attended to as soon as possible. You might need to treat the ingredients like how you treat your groceries when you arrive home. For example, putting the vegetables under running water, if required, or placing select produce in proper storage to last longer. If the box arrived at your house with no one to manage the content immediately, there is a chance that ingredients may not be at their best or, worse, have gone bad.
Health Risks Associated With Prepared Meal Delivery Services
When food is delivered by a local service, your main concern is to keep them at a safe temperature to prevent germs' growth.
You may need to find out the company's food safety standards if you buy the food for the elderly, younger than 5 years old, people with weak immune systems, and pregnant women.
You may need to make sure someone is at home to receive the package. This is to ensure someone will immediately place the foods in the refrigerator or freezer. If no one can't be at home, another option is to ask a favor from your neighbor to do it for you. Or you can prepare a safe space - cool, shaded, and secured – for the delivered food products to your place.
Bacteria can grow quickly in the "danger zone" between 40F and 140F if left for two hours or more. You don't want this to happen because this service's convenience will result in foodborne illnesses to you and your family.
Best Prepared Meal Delivery Services for Families
The Good Kitchen
If you are looking for family meals ready to be served in five minutes, then The Good Kitchen is the best option for you. You will love their mantra, “from the farms to your plate", as they are committed to providing real food grown and raised.
You can select meals perfect for anyone in the family - gluten-free, clean eating, paleo, ketogenic, and even Whole30-approved meals are being offered. And once you're ready to eat, just heat it up in the microwave, and you're good to go in just 3 minutes.
Nurture Life
Sometimes, the mid-week dilemma gets on you, leaving you less or no time to prepare food for your family. Nurture Life can help you with that as they offer meals for babies, toddlers, kids, teens, and adults - yes, they got you covered!
They are proud to serve meals that are nutritionally balanced with real ingredients and are made by dietitians and chefs.
Food for the Whole Family
Having your stress in meal planning and preparation taken away by these services greatly impacts your family time. But remember, getting the convenience and extra time should never compromise the family's health in any way.