When I started taking more time to cook at home, I realized I was making the same meals on rotation every week. I went to Pinterest first but for some reason, that didn’t really get my motor running in terms of ideas on new things to make. Not that there aren’t a lot of options, it’s actually the opposite. There were too many options and they overwhelmed my mind. To combat that, I switched over to trying out subscription boxes for cooking, and here’s what I learned.
They can actually save you money
When shopping online for subscription boxes for cooking, they all seem to have some sort of deal to get a certain amount of boxes free. When you consider the price of groceries, and how the only “free” deals to be found are through extreme couponing or the occasional free cashback offer with the ibotta app, it’s a pretty good deal. Couple that with the fact that a meal for two can usually feed you for dinner and the next day’s lunch, and it’s definitely a money saver.
Not all boxes are created equal
I tried 2 different boxes, Hello Fresh and Local Crate, and I definitely noticed differences between the two.
The first, and obvious, difference, you can pick Local Crate up at the grocery store. The largest thing this means is anyone with a SNAP card can experience this subscription box, which is really nice because everyone deserves the luxury of convenience.
The second thing, while I’m not certain where Hello Fresh gets their produce, Local Crate locally sources their ingredients from local farms. This is great because you know you’re helping out businesses in your community. The downside of this, they can only be found in a limited amount of stores and states – 5 cities and states to be exact. Even in Charlotte, there’s only one store I can go to in the whole state to acquire a box.
Finally, Hello Fresh seems to have a better variety of meals. I’ve only noticed a rotation of about 5 to 7 different meals with Local Crate, while Hello Fresh keeps coming with the recipes. The saying is true, variety is the spice of life.
Some meals stretch longer than others
A recent Hello Fresh box had burgers as a meal. There was no way you were stretching that. You got a package of ground beef, only large enough for 2 burgers, and 2 buns. There’s no stretching that unless you make smaller burgers and go bunless/buy a separate pack of buns but then you’ll have leftover buns that will possibly be wasted.
The same box had burrito bowls that actually made 3 servings instead of 2. If I’d tossed in some black beans and corn, I could have stretched it even further.
While I did get some wilted produce here and there and some potatoes that had started growing eyes, I was happy overall with both my Local Crate and Hello Fresh meals. They definitely helped to add some variety to my plate and give me ideas for recipes to make outside of the boxes. If you’re learning to cook, wanting some variety, or just looking for the convenience of subscription boxes for cooking, I definitely recommend.
