Pre-made home delivered meals in Canberra - Part 1

Mordd said :

Hi Mordd, did you consider trying Doorstep Dinners? https://doorstepdinners.com.au/collections/summer-fresh

I’m not in the market for this type of service, but since I clicked on a related ad after reading your article, I’m seeing more ads for this type of business. This company has a variety of dishes (mains, soups, desserts) which, according to the photos, look quite nice. There is even a (very) small discount when ordering dishes to serve two rather than one.

Thanks, i’ll take a look and consider adding them to the “to review” list.

Hi Mordd, did you consider trying Doorstep Dinners? https://doorstepdinners.com.au/collections/summer-fresh

I’m not in the market for this type of service, but since I clicked on a related ad after reading your article, I’m seeing more ads for this type of business. This company has a variety of dishes (mains, soups, desserts) which, according to the photos, look quite nice. There is even a (very) small discount when ordering dishes to serve two rather than one.

wildturkeycanoe said :

DavidL said :

Maya123 I understand where you are coming from, and I am trying to cook more often as well for myself. A friend gave me a cookbook for idiots type book and I have been slowly trying out a few recipes from that.

Thing is I don’t mind cooking if it’s for more than me, but I do really hate cooking for myself alone. And I do waste food sometimes, I have the best of intentions to cook when I buy it, then for various reasons it just doesn’t happen and has to be thrown out a few days later.

I am trying to find a happy medium between always having food made by someone else and food made by me. Businesses like ELM can help me with that. I might try ordering a weeks worth of food one week, then cooking for myself the next week, and alternate, or ordering a smaller amount and cooking 2-3 nights a week and microwaving pre-made stuff on the other nights. By publishing this stuff im not saying you have to or should eat this and nothing else, you could if you wanted to but that’s not the suggestion. But this can be part of a healthy diet routine for those that struggle with cooking every night for whatever reason.

I agree with pretty much most of what Madelini says. As to the food quantities, it is true that things like meat especially (with the exception of fish) do tend to come in quantities of at least 2-3 meals worth in a packet. Yes you can freeze the rest, but I have a small freezer, it already has a small icecream tub, 2 icecube trays, frozen chips, now I add in some froezen meat, thats pretty much all the space. If I then want to try a different meat the next night instead of say eating chicken again I have no space left to store the leftover anymore in the freezer. I can’t just buy 1 nights worth of chicken or pork etc… which is what Madelini is referring to.

Then buy a bigger fridge 🙂

My fridge is plenty large for 1 person, its just the freezer section which is a bit small. Other than that its a good quality, newish (5-6yrs old) 4-star rated appliance which is working fine. If you want to pay for a bigger unit for me in exchange for my current one feel free, email me and we’ll work out the details. Otherwise I am certainly not spending money I don’t have on a replacement just for a slightly bigger freezer. And no a dedicated extra freezer only unit would be too much space and a waste of electricity to run.

DavidL said :

Maya123 I understand where you are coming from, and I am trying to cook more often as well for myself. A friend gave me a cookbook for idiots type book and I have been slowly trying out a few recipes from that.

Thing is I don’t mind cooking if it’s for more than me, but I do really hate cooking for myself alone. And I do waste food sometimes, I have the best of intentions to cook when I buy it, then for various reasons it just doesn’t happen and has to be thrown out a few days later.

I am trying to find a happy medium between always having food made by someone else and food made by me. Businesses like ELM can help me with that. I might try ordering a weeks worth of food one week, then cooking for myself the next week, and alternate, or ordering a smaller amount and cooking 2-3 nights a week and microwaving pre-made stuff on the other nights. By publishing this stuff im not saying you have to or should eat this and nothing else, you could if you wanted to but that’s not the suggestion. But this can be part of a healthy diet routine for those that struggle with cooking every night for whatever reason.

I agree with pretty much most of what Madelini says. As to the food quantities, it is true that things like meat especially (with the exception of fish) do tend to come in quantities of at least 2-3 meals worth in a packet. Yes you can freeze the rest, but I have a small freezer, it already has a small icecream tub, 2 icecube trays, frozen chips, now I add in some froezen meat, thats pretty much all the space. If I then want to try a different meat the next night instead of say eating chicken again I have no space left to store the leftover anymore in the freezer. I can’t just buy 1 nights worth of chicken or pork etc… which is what Madelini is referring to.

Then buy a bigger fridge 🙂

Maya123 I understand where you are coming from, and I am trying to cook more often as well for myself. A friend gave me a cookbook for idiots type book and I have been slowly trying out a few recipes from that.

Thing is I don’t mind cooking if it’s for more than me, but I do really hate cooking for myself alone. And I do waste food sometimes, I have the best of intentions to cook when I buy it, then for various reasons it just doesn’t happen and has to be thrown out a few days later.

I am trying to find a happy medium between always having food made by someone else and food made by me. Businesses like ELM can help me with that. I might try ordering a weeks worth of food one week, then cooking for myself the next week, and alternate, or ordering a smaller amount and cooking 2-3 nights a week and microwaving pre-made stuff on the other nights. By publishing this stuff im not saying you have to or should eat this and nothing else, you could if you wanted to but that’s not the suggestion. But this can be part of a healthy diet routine for those that struggle with cooking every night for whatever reason.

I agree with pretty much most of what Madelini says. As to the food quantities, it is true that things like meat especially (with the exception of fish) do tend to come in quantities of at least 2-3 meals worth in a packet. Yes you can freeze the rest, but I have a small freezer, it already has a small icecream tub, 2 icecube trays, frozen chips, now I add in some froezen meat, thats pretty much all the space. If I then want to try a different meat the next night instead of say eating chicken again I have no space left to store the leftover anymore in the freezer. I can’t just buy 1 nights worth of chicken or pork etc… which is what Madelini is referring to.

Masquara said :

Also, individual meal services reduce food waste – in terms of, you eat what is provided, and you don’t end up throwing out wilted veggies past their use-by date or forgotten leftovers. In that way, they could potentially save you money, and if they’re nutritionally balanced, much better than having toast for dinner.

How do you know that the individual meal services reduce food waste? Do work for them?

Do they sell everything they make?

Given the extra time involved in pre-preparation, delivery, delays and spoilage I would say they waste a lot more. Just you don’t see it so it doesn’t exist, the same as you don’t see what they do to the food or any shortcuts they take to save money/increase profits.

gooterz said :

much more exciting than having sausages in bread four nights a week.

Added: That would be unexciting, but that is not only what I had (maybe first time in a fortnight), as I wrote and you ignored. I also had mixed green salad leaves and sliced tomato. The bread was also toasted. Plus I served that with home-made plum sauce. No, it wasn’t only a sausage in bread.

Masquara said :

HenryBG said :

Some people have a lot of money to throw around! Time poor? Then have a big cookup on the weekend and freeze the results in small containers. Then when you arrive late home from work the food only needs to be microwaved. But really, food doesn’t need to take ages to prepare. Last night for instance I microwaved a sausage, toasted a piece of bread, added margarine, lettuce, tomato and plum sauce (home-made, but when I make it I make a big batch, enough for years). By this time the sausage was cooked. This didn’t take much more time than it took for the bread to toast. This all took about three minutes. I then followed this up with a fruit salad, which also takes little preparation time.
Have time, but hate cooking. Then baking is for you. Chop up some vegetables, roll them in olive oil with meat if wanted and shove in oven. Go away, do something else while this cooks. Come back when the timer rings and eat. Very little preparation time.
Most meals I cook are done in less than 15 minutes. The baked example in less than five minutes preparation time.

I don’t think $12.50 is expensive for dinner for one – and the options available through meal services such as this are much more exciting than having sausages in bread four nights a week.

Um, that was once a week, or maybe once a fortnight. Presumptions on your part only. I have also in the last week, cooked fish and chips (much better chips than most bought ones) served with a mixed salad; had pasta and topping which I made with various ingredients, accompanied by a mixed salad; baked kangaroo with rosemary and crisp baked vegetables (potato, pumpkin, carrot) plus beans, baked chicken (I buy de-boned leg meat) stuffed with basil and garlic, plus baked vegetables, drizzled with lemon juice. Other times I might have stir fries, mixed salads with crisp, thin baked/fried (dipped in olive oil and cooked) vegetables, etc on top, and so on. What I eat is based around what I have to use up and what is in the vegetable garden. That way I don’t waste food. I rarely use a recipe book, as it isn’t needed. By the way, I don’t particularly like cooking, but the alternatives cost too much.
I would hope my dinner would cost a lot less than $12.50, as that is expensive for one. (I didn’t pay off my first house in many years less than the set mortgage time by eating $12.50 dinners 🙂 )

Masquara said :

Supermarkets are not designed for single people. Most things come in quantities designed to feed 3-4 people, minimum. Meal services such as this are easy for those who work a lot/don’t like cooking/would like to try new things. I know I get bored of eating the same thing every night, and I don’t think I am unusual in this.

I am single and I find that supermarkets are perfectly designed for single people. I rarely have food waste. It’s just a matter of being able to cook and have enough imagination to not waste food.

“Most things come in quantities designed to feed 3-4 people, minimum.”
What sort of food do you buy? This isn’t even close to my experience. I buy fresh vegetables and fruit and these can be bought individually. Meat and fish can be frozen for future use, or if you want, you can buy a single fish. Many other ingredients; flour and other cooking ingredients will last a long time. So, what food are you referring to? I am puzzled by your statement and genuinely don’t know what you are talking about.

gooterz said :

If you are going to spend $12.50 on a refrigerated meal because you are time poor, would it not be just as efficient to get Chinese take away on your way home from work or get a pizza delivered? Subway and other places have healthy salad type foods for the diet conscious. Refrigerated or frozen, it doesn’t make a lot of difference because you microwave it anyway. Frozen meals are a bit cheaper and I certainly wouldn’t let any chicken sit in the fridge for up to a week before consuming, let alone other foods. Any leftovers should not be consumed after 3 or 4 days.

Having looked at the website for ELM, the ingredients lists look a lot fresher than anything you would get from Subway (their salad tastes highly processed. It’s not fresh). Similarly, Chinese food is high in salts, fats etc, which is absolutely fine every so often but wouldn’t taste so great if you had it too often. Also, if you want pizza from anywhere other than Encore/Dominoes costs more than $12.50, and would have the same feel as Chinese if you had it too often. Meal services simplify life, especially for singles. If you’ve had a long day at work, it’s nice to go home and know that there is something easy and reasonably nutritious; you don’t have to stop at the supermarket or takeaway, you can go home, put on your jammies and not suffer from a dietary deficiency.

At the end of the day, additional choices in the market can’t be a bad thing. The leftover thing is individual preference – personally, I have been known to eat week-old leftovers and haven’t suffered from food poisoning. To each their own.