When HelloFresh meets set-in-their-ways.

[Croney]

Our busy daughter subscribes to a meal delivery service for her five-person family, and persuaded us to try a free week. The box arrived today. Two big pork tenderloins and two portions of trout. Two packs of small potatoes. Two packs of green beans. Two packs of asparagus spears.

Sounds good, right? But you're supposed to keep the two meals separate, and you're supposed to use the dozen accessory packets and condiments to make sauces and seasonings and toppings.

I froze both fish and one pork roast because I already had salmon ready to cook tonight. I combined the asparagus and we'll have it with the salmon. I'll boil a few potatoes but I'm not making the "horseradish mashed potatoes" the meal calls for, using various packets.

I sent daughter a picture of my counter covered with all the ingredients piled and jumbled together and she texted back, WHAT? You were supposed to keep each brown bag separate! Each bag is a separate meal! They will keep in the frig for a week! Please tell me you didn't mix up the sauce packets! What are you doing!

I told her not to worry, I'm sure it will all be great.

But my real opinion is that it's much easier and cheaper for me to go to the store and buy a piece of fish and a few vegetables, and use my Penzey's Spices collection. No sauces, no frills; we're just two old people who eat simply.

[dewsgirl]

1. Isn't that the company that said something, maybe called Trump

a liar? I remember it from Twitter, seems like years ago.

[Croney]

5. Oh I hope so!

[dewsgirl]

10. I Googled..their CEO called him a racist.😂

[Alliepoo]

9. I adore Penzeys!

Great spices and they’re not shy about voicing their opinion on things. You should check out their website and try some spices. Some are a little pricey but very good quality.

[dewsgirl]

11. I Googled..their CEO called him a racist.😂 When I looked

that up, I bookmarked a couple of their pages, they look good.

[Croney]

13. I love giving my Rethug relatives Penzey's as gifts.

Bill Penzey is a gem.

[Ohiogal]

20. Do your Rethug relatives know his political leanings?

[Croney]

22. Some probably do, but we don't discuss it.

Detente gets us through the holidays.

[Ohiogal]

2. I'm sure I would feel the same way as you.

But I suppose this service is a convenience if you don’t have time to grocery shop.

I would also take a pass on those horseradish potatoes.

[Croney]

6. I would eat them, I just don't want to bother making them!

[Ohiogal]

17. Why would you

ruin perfectly good mashed potatoes by putting yucky horseradish in them!

[Warpy]

18. That was my question, also

I don't even like garlic mashed potatoes, although I love garlic in other things.

Save the horseradish to mix into mayo with some pickle relish for a poor man's tartar sauce. That'll work and go much better with the fish than the ruined spuds would.

[Ohiogal]

19. I just detest horseradish.

Smells awful, looks awful, uugghh

[Warpy]

21. I like it in small amounts in things like tartar sauce.

although the last time I had a cold, a quarter teaspoon of it completely unblocked my sinuses.

[Kali]

3. I really enjoyed trying new stuff while we were getting Plated boxes,

but yeah sometimes they were a little strange - reminded me of Sunset Magazine recipes. "Let's just combine the weirdest ingredients we can and see if any readers will actually try this!"

The meal kits are great for new cooks, and for getting out of ruts to try new recipes - you should give them a try. we found a good number were actually really good, others were OK to try but not worth repeating or adding to our normal repertoire. They are not cheaper than shopping and cooking normally, but they are comparable to a restaurant meal without having to leave a tip (though you are the labor). I found them to be kind of fun, like play food and we conned our sons into preparing most of them so that was nice too.

[Croney]

7. My daughter's kids are 14, 12, and 10, and I think she's trying

to get them interested in cooking, so this seems like an easy way to do it.

[Kali]

14. definitely

and for getting picky kids to try stuff - things are so much better if you are the one that grows or cooks it!

[dewsgirl]

12. I use to do surveys on meals from, Old El Paso, Betty Crocker and

a few others. They would send us meals to try and survey, before they were released publicly.

[Kali]

15. that sounds kind of fun

though those brands tend to be high in processing...

[dewsgirl]

16. We were young not really worried about our diets, at the time.

It was fun, now the company that does it, is invite only. One of my first Smart Phones was through this program, I did so many surveys on for that phone, I got burnt out. I also tested, a very fancy at the time Sonic toothbrush.

[Grasswire2]

4. I love horseradish mashed potatoes, but not with fish!!

Those services are a rip-off.

[Croney]

8. The price is far beyond what we would pay, even if

we weren't both retired.

[NJCher]

23. for a while the grocery stores were offering them

I think Whole Foods still does. I couldn't believe the prices on them. No way would I ever pay that.

it might be worth it to teach kids to cook, though.

[madaboutharry]

24. Meal Kits have their place.

They are expensive, that is certainly the truth. They do have a purpose. They can be useful for people when it isn't that easy to go grocery shopping, like if you break your leg or something, or having the service during winter months when the weather is a factor

One thing that they do have going for them is that they teach a lot about cooking and use different techniques. You also learn new recipes. One big complaint is that they can get labor intensive and that they use up a lot of prep bowls and pots. They are not one pot meals.

The meal kits at Whole Foods are ridiculously expensive. I can't see how WF is going to be successful with that concept.

[spinbaby]

28. I've picked up a couple

Our local grocery—not Whole Foods—has meal kits. I would never subscribe and do it every night, but they come in handy when I decide my son is going to make dinner for a change.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

25. Every time I see some kind of quote about the cost per meal

from one of the meal kit companies I'm truly horrified.

It really doesn't take that long to stop by a grocery store and buy the ingredients. And yeah, I wouldn't do horseradish mashed potatoes either.

I think it was Jamie Oliver a few years ago in a show trying to persuade people to cook real food, where he sent a dad off to make his usual fast food run, while Oliver stayed home with the sons to prepare dinner. When the dad got back, Oliver and the boys were outside tossing a football around, and the dad smugly concluded they'd thrown in the towel. Nope. Dinner was ready to eat and they had spare time.

Also, a lot of people like to make fun of Rachael Ray's thirty minute meals, but her techniques are everything. And I believe she has a video out there where she prepares a Thanksgiving dinner in one hour. The main thing is that the turkey is cut up, so it cooks in that length of time.

[Rorey]

26. I enjoy watching Rachel Ray and learn a lot

I used to be absolutely addicted to Food Network, but I pretty much gave up cable television so those days are over. In reality, I rarely made the dishes I watched them make, but I learned a lot.

I mostly cook for just me these days, and I don't want to make a huge deal out of a meal because it makes me want to eat more and I'm more about being healthy these days than having a gourmet meal every day.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

27. I had been watching her for a while, and decided to make

her chicken tagine. Despite the title of the show, and despite having watched any number of episodes, I was truly shocked when the meal was ready in less than 30 minutes. Plus, everyone in the family (had a husband and two sons at home back then) liked it, which was even better.