Category Archives: eat

Munchery Review

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img_5549Hope you had a great 4th of July! We spent ours relaxing by the pool and watching the fireworks on TV. It’s a shame the fireworks are not on the Hudson River anymore.

As promised in last week’s post, here is our Munchery review. Around the same time we tried Eat Clean Bro, we also tried Munchery. Munchery’s business model works a little different from that of Eat Clean Bro. If you’re in the membership area, you can order from the daily menu for same day delivery or for a week in advance. There is a monthly membership is $8.95 a month or $85 a year or in our case, the fee was waived for the first month as new clients, as well as a delivery charge of $3-5 depending on your location.

img_5552The menu changes daily and in addition to the shipping subscription fee, there is a cost per meal which ranges from under $10 to around $18 for a steak dish. There are main entree options as well as sides, dessert, and drinks. The menu does not have as much variety as Eat Clean Bro but there are still a range of options from seafood to different proteins, and vegetarian. Through our experience, the Munchery model is meant more for eating same day rather than purchasing in bulk and freezing.

img_5551There was a 2 hour delivery window that you can select and when the driver is nearby, you’ll receive a text. The food arrives chilled but since we were not ready to eat it for a couple of hours, we put in the fridge and reheated per instructions before eating. In our first delivery, we tried the Thai-Style Chicken Drumsticks, Pan-Seared Albacore Rice Bowl, and Spice Roasted Potatoes. When selecting the meal, there are additional details about the prep, ingredients, and nutrition for each item. This information is also available on the packaging when the food arrives.

img_5556While we generally enjoyed our meal as it was flavorful and fresh, we found that it was a little fancier than we would cook ourselves or would want to eat on a daily basis and see the menu options as a pre-made version of cooking kit services such as Plated (which we have tried) or Blue Apron (we haven’t tried this ourselves but did gift this service before). In fact, Munchery also offers cooking kits as well – known as their Plaid Box, which is priced differently than that of their pre-cooked meals.

img_5554All in all, Munchery seems a little pricier (especially with the shipping subscription) and the food more elaborate and gourmet than what we are looking for in a meal delivery service post-baby but it is a good option for when we want to add variety.

You can read more about how Munchery works in your area here. If you’re interested in trying the service, use this link to receive a $20 credit.

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Has anyone else tried other food delivery services that they would recommend?

**This post is not sponsored. All opinions are my own. I received no compensation to try and review Munchery.

Eat Clean Bro Review

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img_5532We’ve experimented with different prepared food services in advance of the arrival of the baby and recently tried Eat Clean Bro and Munchery.

img_5540To preface these reviews, I think it’s important to understand our eating preferences. We’re both generally very healthy eaters when we eat in but while out, we don’t restrict ourselves. Breakfasts are simple – yogurt, berries, smoothies, more recently overnight oats, and on the weekends, we might make eggs with veggies. Lunch is usually at work which includes mostly salads but since I’ve been home lately, I make a protein on Monday and add in veggies during the week for homemade salads. Dinner is where it gets a little tricky. I usually cook on Sunday nights with enough food to get us through to Wednesday or Thursday evenings. This includes a protein, a lot of vegetables, and sometimes a carb (pasta, rice, or quinoa). Occasionally, I’ll whip up something fresh on Monday evenings depending on our schedules. Our meals contain almost no sauces, and very little spices. Most would call it bland! We’ve read and heard from many new parents about freezing bags of food for the crockpot but the thought of preparing that much food is daunting. Also, we’re fortunate (or unfortunate depending on how you look at it) to live in an area where in a matter of clicks, we can get delivery from almost every type of cuisine available. The main reason we tried Eat Clean Bro and Munchery was to find a healthy (and more inexpensive) alternative to eating takeout every night.

img_5557Eat Clean Bro is based in Freehold, NJ and serves many NJ counties north of Monmouth County and the NYC boroughs and Long Island. You can view the areas they serve on the website. The goal of the service is to bring chef-prepared fresh and clean meals with natural ingredients to your doorstep. There is a per meal cost and then if 15 miles outside Freehold, there is a $10 delivery fee. Most of the meals are priced between $8.49 and $11.99. There are over 40 options to pick from. The menu online does give an allergen key and a breakdown of calories, carbs, proteins, and fats, however, I wish it would also list ingredients as well. All ingredients are listed though on the lid of the container, though this is a little too late to help with decision making.

The delivery windows are 2-9PM on Sundays or 3-10PM on Monday and Thursdays. The delivery schedule is based on your location, so for us, we’re able to get delivery on Sunday or Thursday. The challenge with this schedule is that it is a 7 hour window that you need to block off to be close enough by to refrigerate or freeze the food when it arrives.The driver does text you when they start the route and then again when they’re 10 minutes out. You can however leave a cooler bag outside your door and instructions for the driver but from a personal perspective, it’s tough to say if the food is able to stay cool enough and for how long before it is considered unsafe to eat.

img_5533We’ve tried the service twice now – the first time we ordered 6 meals and the chocolate protein balls (enough for the both of us to have 3 dinners) and this most recent time, we ordered 13 different meals (fish, chicken, and beef options). We froze most of the meals this time, which will last about a month in the freezer and ate 4 of them for dinner over the course of two nights. The FAQs mention being able to heat the food up in the same containers but we transfer them to plates before putting it in the microwave. There are some meals that we don’t particularly care for but some that are right up our alley – I won’t bore you with these specifics, but the great thing is that there are so many options to pick from. We found the meals to be more home-style and less about presentation and flavors which is exactly what we’re looking for.

img_5548The customer service we’ve experienced has been spot on. There was an issue with our first delivery – we were not expecting it the day (not sure if it was our mistake or not) it ended up coming and already had plans and no cooler bag available to place outside our door. When we received the text from the driver, we immediately called customer service and while they weren’t able to reschedule the delivery, they were able to give us a cooler bag and ice to store the food. Additionally, we received a free delivery coupon code for next time.

All in all, we have been pleased with Eat Clean Bro and can see it as a good alternative to cooking at home and ordering out. The food is healthy and there is enough variety to pick from. I can see this service being helpful to those who are in a time crunch but looking for healthy eating options as well as those who are just looking for something different to try. I will share our Munchery experience in the next couple of days.

**This post is not sponsored. All opinions are my own. I received no compensation to try and review Eat Clean Bro.