Food

I avoided meal services for a really long time. Not only did I avoid them, but for a while, I was completely against them. I sometimes love meal planning and cooking, and even at my busiest, getting into the kitchen is stress relief. I thought ordering a pre-measured meal service was lazy and wasteful and creativity-robbing.

And then I had the opportunity last week to try Just Add Cooking for a review on the blog and I loved it. Loved loved loved it. I wish that I had discovered it this past summer when I was too busy to cook and too tired to eat and lived on tortilla chips and takeout for days.

Just Add Cooking provides customers with three or more delicious meals each week. The menu changes weekly, and orders placed on Wednesday are delivered on Sunday or Monday, depending on location.

We chose Coq au Vin, Pork Stroganoff, and Chana Saag for our three meals, and on Sunday afternoon, the box of food arrived. I was so excited! One really great upside of Just Add Cooking is that it is based in Boston and food is sourced locally, so food is packed and delivered same-day via courier.

I got to unpacking right away and noted that there was very little packaging compared to what I have heard about from other services. The packaging was one of the main reasons I shied away from ordering a meal service like this, and I was really pleased the way this was packaged. I also loved that the order had everything I needed for the meals except for oil, salt, and pepper.

An envelope containing spices and recipes also contained a welcome note that listed where all of the ingredients came from, mostly New England. I loved that the food was sourced from small farms.

On our first night we made the Coq au Vin, and it couldn’t have been easier. The recipe was simple to follow, and it was amazing that everything was portioned and measured for me. It made it easy for my husband, who isn’t super comfortable cooking on his own, to feel confident making dinner. This service is really perfect for those who don’t have much cooking experience. And if, like me, you love to cook and feel great doing it, it’s a nice rest to not have to think about anything; it’s all there!

The Coq au Vin wasn’t very pretty, but it was delicious! My only gripes about this meal is that I wish there had been more of it and I wish it contained more veggies. I would add carrots next time to bump up the nutritional value. This came out exactly to two servings, which we devoured. The two other meals came out to about four servings, and left us plenty for lunch.

I didn’t expect to love the Pork Stroganoff, but it was incredible, a lightly creamy stew over rice. Both the chicken and pork we had in our order were stellar, tender cuts of meat and clearly really high quality, some of the best meat we have ever had at home.

I missed photographing our final meal, the Chana Saag, but it was a coconutty-curry with kale and chickpeas over jasmine rice, and it was incredible, especially topped with the supplied chutney and cilantro. I also added some coconut from home to make it even more flavorful.

The spices in each dish were perfectly measured and balanced making the meals flavorful and really enjoyable. I’ve been busy and stressed, and I really enjoyed knowing what we were having for dinner and almost being able to go on auto-pilot to get dinner on the table each day. Three meals for two people is $68, which is a lot less than a lot of the takeout we get, in it was much better knowing where our food came from and what exactly went into it.

And now the best news. . .

Just Add Cooking is offering boxes starting at $39 for a 2-person, 3-meal box (normally $69) and $69 for a 4-person, 3-meal box (normally $109). This is for the first box for new customers and the price will be automatically applied to your first purchase if you visit www.justaddcooking.com and register by clicking “Get Cooking.”

Thank you to Just Add Cooking for the complimentary meals!