We received a gift of one month Blue Apron. Food was good but prep was more than 1/2 hr.

Do they complain about needing to eat out.? There is a certain age where it is enjoyable and social. Often needed when work schedules are crazy. Social time, date night.

That said, HelloFresh has a meal plan for just 2 nights a week. Once delivered, they can be cooked anytime during that week. And the two meals can be chosen from a variety. Future weeks are listed as well.

I think it would be a nice gift. Can be cancelled anytime if it does not work out. They do give good cooking instructions needing basic simple kitchen tools. Knives, pan or two. Also a teaching tool as well. Eating out is expensive and time consuming.

It works because ingredients are paired down. No need to purchase a whole packages of any one ingredient like fresh herbs, whole bag of carrots, celery. Or a bottle of sauce, etc...they send the small amounts needed for that meal only.

I have a few co-worker friends that use HelloFresh and a neighbor. Big TJ fans as well keeping the frozen meals handy. Does not suit us but would have loved it in our 30's. They were discussing a recipe that looked good, NYTimes, but it had 3 fresh herbs, a protein, and some specific ingredients that raised the single meal to $$$. The herbs alone would be about 10$ at WholeFoods. They don't cook enough to know about compound butters and utilizing the extra groceries.

Very popular in NY. I see the delivery trucks EVERYWHERE. And FreshDirect. A grocery delivery service. Shop on-line, pick the delivery day and time window...shop for proteins at your butcher or some misc cheese and veg, then get all the other staples delivered. Warehouse selected. Our grocery store produce are from similar warehouses, then shipped, then sitting in a back room to be shelved at your grocery...

My elderly neighbor, tiny 85 lbs., gets the two meals and has leftovers, then often freezes some meals. She only grocery shops for basics like eggs, bread, cheese, yogurt.

Some grocery stores have their own meal kits available to shoppers. I've read that a lot of the delivery services are looking to place their wares in stores to cut down on their environmental footprints, which are pretty dire.

I don't know how much effort you yourself want invest in this, but I'm thinking if you wanted to make them an app (that is, load up an app like Mealboard, which I use) or book or cards with recipes you've tested (and maybe the kids have taste tested) that are quick and easy, easy to clean up, with shopping lists included, as well as prep ahead instructions, that could be pretty wonderful. 5-10 recipes would be great!

Cheater foods are great for harried hard workers. I know the price of a pint of fresh chopped onions is ridiculous, but if you don't have to dirty your tools, and take the time to peel, chop, wash up, and just go right to the throwing in a hot pan, it could be really worth it. Or chopping up a whole mess of onions when they have time, and freezing them in half-onion bags to be brought out as needed.

There are people who do like the meal kits, but I think most don't know how to cook to begin with. If it's really a matter of time, perhaps a meal delivery, heat and eat, would be a better fit? Almost no work, and little cleanup. Then they could spend that hour, inc. cleaning, focusing on each other rather than cooking?

Sleevendog, that's pretty much what I was looking for. They are very busy and eat out plenty, but I've heard mumblings that they wish they were better at cooking. They know the basics (Kinda).

I like that they can freeze the meals if they don't have time to cook.

Plllog, I don't use many recipes myself, so it would be very time consuming for me to re-create meals in order to turn them into recipes.

Meal delivery or heat-n-eat, why not just use Grub-Hub or whatever the delivery thing is. I really think they would like to do some cooking which is why I was looking into the kits, but thanks for the idea. Nancy

My newlywed son and his wife get them, and will continue to, they say. For them, it's together time in the kitchen. They say the meals are 'tasty enough' so they will continue to experiment. Bully for them.

FWIW, the meal delivery services food is the kind one would make at home, whereas restaurant food is a nice treat, but not good daily. Since they want to cook more and aren't quite sure what to tackle, the meal kits do sound ideal. I hope you find what you're looking for.

Thanks all. Will be talking to my daughter this evening to see if this will be a good gift for her wife (and her!)

We've used Home Chef for about three years now. I'm very happy with their service. We usually order three meals, sometimes four a week.

There are four of us, my daughter and me and two teenagers. We order meal ingredients for two servings, we don't eat much meat, and this is plenty of food. No leftovers, And no extra ingredients to buy or throw away. Sometimes I will add rolls, or some extra pasta or a potato if we want it.

If there were only two of us, we'd definitely have leftovers from most meals, there is a lot of food.

I really like knowing that a box of ingredients and recipes will show up on the front porch on Tuesday.

I don't enjoy meal planning and shopping. I don't have to buy a lot of unnecessary ingredients just to use a small amount.

Their recipes are interesting, and not something I would think of making. And it's still gratifying, even after 50 years of cooking, to present an interesting and tasty meal to the family.

We did try Hello Fresh but weren't happy with the meals. Too plain, too much rice, quinoa, kale, etc. I quickly tired of tasteless chicken and plain rice.

I want to add that some of the grocery chains are now carrying Hello Fresh and Home Chef meals. Same packaging, but usually a couple of dollars cheaper if they want to try them out without making a commitment

Thanks, Barb! Maybe Whole Foods?

Probably not Whole Foods, though they might have their own kits. Try a big national chain, like your local Kroger-owned.

I did Hello Fresh for a couple of months and found it fun, but the packaging waste was just horrendous and the environmental impact guilt made me give it up.

Well, I had to join to get the GC! But they were OK with me canceling. Didn't realize they have GCs at stores to try it out.

MizLizzie, I read their recycling how to and actually, if you follow the directions, they're pretty good about the recycling part. You just have to follow the directions.

Anyway, they're signed up for 6 meals to try. I hope they enjoy it! Thanks for your help. Nancy

Whole Foods carries Amazon meal kits?!?!

Thanks I'll check it out.

Finally found the Hello Fresh GCs at Target. They can start with those and do their own research after that.

Whole foods had kits, but I think the cheapest for 2 was something like $18 and went WAY up from there!