Is Cooking Dinner Making a Comeback?

Source:  BlueApron

This is the last part of a three part, Back-To-School series, focusing on the benefits and strategies for eating a healthy breakfast, lunch, and dinner for busy folks and families.  This week focuses on cooking dinner for time-imparied.

 Can the old-fashioned, home-made family dinners pave the way to improving long-term, healthy food choices?  A new study suggests that it can, especially if you are feeding children.

A study presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior suggests that the amount of time parents spend on food preparation at home (code for preparing healthier meals) may influence their children�s food intake decisions when the kiddies are away from home.  In this study at Pennsylvania State University, over 60 children ages 4 to 6, were given access to an unlimited variety of chicken nuggets, potato chips, fruit punch, chocolate chip cookie,s milk, tomatoes, grapes, and broccoli, without adult supervision.   Simultaneously, the parents completed questionnaires addressing various topics including cooking habits. 

Those children whose parents reported spending more time on food preparation at home chose more of the healthier foods than the children whose parents reported less food preparation time. �It�s encouraging to see that parents can possibly affect the quality of their children�s food choices outside the home by spending more time cooking,� claimed Catherine Shehan, the lead author of the study.

If you are overwhelmed and can�t fathom the thought of planning, buying, prepping, and cooking fresh meals during the busy workweek, Plated, BlueApron, and HelloFresh may be for you.    The common denominator among these three online meal delivery services that they will deliver to your doorstep a chilled, recyclable box of fresh, dinner ingredients along with a corresponding visually appealing recipe card so that you can assemble and cook dinner in about 30 minutes. Shipping is free.  It�s like getting Julia Child delivered to your doorstep in a chilled box. 
Here�s the best part:  The box is designed to keep its contents at refrigerated temperature for several hours after its delivery.  So if you get stuck in traffic and can�t get home to retrieve it, the ingredients will remain cold. 

No, I am not kidding you. 

Here�s more about each online service:

Plated is the brainchild of Co-Founder and Co-CEO, Nick Taranto.   His excessive hours working on Wall Street left him little time to make fresh healthy dinners.  Subsequently, his steady diet of eating take-out caused him to pack on an unwanted 25 pounds.  Frustrated with his life and weight, he developed Plated.com with a business school colleague with the goal of making  it easier to get, prepare, and eat delicious healthier meals �that you can feel good about putting on your table,� claims Taranto.  The recipes are developed by a culinary director along with consulting dietitians, and each meal contains between 600 and 800 calories.  While the cost is typically about $12 per meal per person with a $10 monthly membership fee and a minimum order of four meals weekly.  Plate.com is partnering with Real Simple magazine for a back-to-school kickoff.   During the month of September, you can enjoy meals, which are designed by and illustrated in the magazine and order four of these our meals on Plated.com for only $20.  When you place your online order, use the code:  RSPLATED for the discount.  

Matt Salzbert loves cooking and trying new foods.  However, his busy schedule prevented him from traipsing around various supermarkets and gourmet shops trying to find the specific recipe ingredients needed and then spending additional time preparing the meal.  Feeling the pain of other similar foodies on a tight schedule, he and his colleagues developed BlueApron.  This once-a-week subscription service delivers all the fresh, seasonal ingredients in the exact proportions needed.  There isn�t any membership and the average cost is $9.99 per meal per person.  You must order a minimum of 3 meals for two people weekly (6 meals or about $60).  Each week, you will receive an email with the featured recipes for the upcoming week, at which point you either place your order or opt out for the week so you don�t get a delivery.   In addition to receiving an accompanying instructional recipe card for each meal in the box, you can also log on to their website and view videos on how to prepare the meals.   BlueApron delivers 800,000 meals a month throughout the United States.

HelloFresh was created in 2012 with the determination to help make the lives of people healthier, easy, and tastier.  Every week, a chef working with a registered dietitian nutritionist designs new recipes using the freshest most seasonal ingredients to create a well-balanced meal.   Each meal contains about 500 to 700 calories as well as a variety of produce, grains, and protein.   There is no membership fee and the weekly cost is around $10 per meal per person.  However, you must order a minimum 3 meals for two people weekly (6 meals or about $60).

Have you ever tried these services?  Please share below.

Be well, Joan

Twitter: @JoanSalgeBlake