One of my New Year’s Resolutions this year, in fact every year for as long as I can remember was to make some healthier eating choices. While I am not a huge overeater, I can oftentimes indulge in the wrong choices, for example, pasta over vegetables and wine over tea.
I wasn’t ready to give up the wine but I was determined to make healthier food choices.
I had been doing Blue Apron for a couple of years and was a huge fan of their recipes with perfectly proportioned ingredients and the cooking challenges many of their dishes gave to me. Blue Apron is truly for people who want to learn to cook from scratch or those who like to spend a significant amount of time prepping and cooking.
After a very long day at work, it was becoming increasingly more tiring to spend up to an hour preparing an evening meal. In addition to that, the recipes were not leaning towards the healthier side of cooking so bringing the leftovers into work the next day for lunch was not an ideal option when I wanted to lose weight. I realized I was once again wasting a lot of food. It was time for a change.
I checked out some other food delivery options such as Hello Fresh, Home Chef and Sun Basket.
I picked Sun Basket for their variety of recipes you can pick from each week, but more importantly because they gear their menu options to dietary needs such as paleo, gluten free, lean and clean and vegetarian.
I have now been doing Sun Basket for quite some time and I have to say, I am a fan. Similar to Blue Apron you can skip meals whenever you want, which is great for when I travel. Each week they have 18 options you can pick from and here’s the great part for me, the prepping is significantly less labor intensive as some of the ingredients such as the sauces are pre-made. Don’t get me wrong, you are still prepping and cooking so it’s great if you do enjoy the process of making your meals, it’s just easier and faster overall.
While it is cheaper than eating out, I do think it’s a little overpriced at $11.99 per meal (each recipe is for 2 meals), so with 3 recipes (6 meals) I am paying $78.93 (meals plus delivery charge), a bit pricier than Blue Apron, which was $15~ per recipe (not per meal). The plus side is if I am making the recipe just for myself, I feel the dish is light and healthy enough for me to take to work the next day, reducing wasting food. Check out my Instagram page for my #whatscooking #healthyeating photos.
Sun Basket is certainly making me consciously aware of what I am putting into my body and the meals are filling enough that I have never felt hungry soon after.
As you can see throughout this post, I have made a lot of their recipes all of which have been good, great and fantastic! I don’t think I have made a meal yet I have not thought was tasty.
The boxes are always nicely packed. The meat/fish is always under an ice pack while the ingredients for the meals are packed together in a brown paper bag clearly labeled.
The recipe book they give you has all 18 recipes for that week so even if you don’t pick something in your delivery you can go ahead and buy the ingredients yourself. AND… I am completely obsessed with their Green Goddess dressing, which you can order any time!
I have had one or two very minor issues with a missing ingredient or an item that was damaged or bad and Sun Basket’s customer service is always above reproach with crediting back your account along with a humble apology.
Tonight’s dinner is Chicken Scallopini with lemon-olive sauce and sautéed greens.
This dish is in the great bucket, thoroughly enjoyable!
Next week’s delivery. Looking forward Zesty Rigatoni.