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