A New Twist on Home-Cooked Meals

July 30, 2015

Wish you could eat healthier, but aren’t sure where to start? Crave a homemade dinner, but don’t have the time or energy to cook from scratch every night? Meet three companies who are taking over the shopping, prepping and cooking – all so you don’t have to.

Fab Fresh Foods by As You Dish

asyoudish.com/fab-fresh-foods

Elk Rapids-based Andi Pellicci has done catering and personal chef work as owner of As You Dish, so she knows how much time and effort can be saved by having someone do your cooking for you.

"The problem is that a lot of people can’t afford to do that," said Pellici.

After watching her father use a healthy meal-delivery service in Florida, Pellici realized she could provide the same service in northern Michigan, "cooking for several people at once, instead of just one family at a time."

Under the umbrella of her newly launched Fab Fresh Foods, Pellicci offers a monthly meal subscription plan in Elk Rapids and Traverse City that provides up to eight meals a week, with deliveries on Monday and Wednesday.

"It’s enough food for four days a week, which gives you the weekend to cook for yourself and a day to go out," explained Pellicci. Meals all have fewer than 500 calories and contain no gluten, dairy or refined sugar products, with as many locally sourced ingredients as possible.

"Eating healthy is so confusing for so many people," said Pellicci. "There’s so much information out there and people don’t have the time or don’t want to, or like to cook, but I believe everybody should know what they’re putting into their bodies." Pellicci labels her meals with ingredients, nutrition facts and heating instructions (when applicable); everything is ready to eat at delivery.

A recent menu listed dinner options including blackberry BBQ pork loin with lemon pepper asparagus, shredded chipotle beef with cauliflower risotto, and maple-glazed salmon with apricot and pistachio quinoa. Some recent lunch offerings were a cherry chicken salad with mixed greens, Thai turkey meatballs, and a black bean and lentil salad.

A full month’s worth of meals costs $459 (roughly $14/meal).

Lunch-only plans are $249 and dinner-only plans are $269. Pellicci also offers an "athlete" package with bigger portions for those who might be training or need more calories and protein from their meals.

"If there’s something on the menu a customer doesn’t prefer or doesn’t like, we can also switch that out," she said.

Pellici says early response to the program has been "very positive."

"People really like the meals and are surprised at how healthy and tasty they are," she said. "Another reason people are doing it is pure convenience. Rather than cooking all day Sunday for the week, they can have me do it for them."

WhiskTC

whisktc.com

As a mother of two young children, Traverse City’s Shannon Hitchcock found herself increasingly preoccupied with getting home-cooked meals on the table. Dining out with little ones also posed its challenges.

"[Going out to a restaurant] is not something you always want to do with your young children," she laughed. The constant struggle to provide healthy meals gave Hitchcock her aha moment and, in 2014, whiskTC was born.

The concept is a simple one. "Every day we shop for all the best ingredients, prep all the veggies, chop, portion everything and clearly label all the ingredients," according to a company description. "We deliver your bundle of deliciousness, along with your recipes of choice, to your doorstep."

Hitchcock spends her mornings shopping – buying fresh fruits and vegetables locally, plus proteins from Burritt’s Fresh Meat Market – then heads to a commercial kitchen for the afternoon to prepare customer meal kits. Right before dinner, from 4-7pm Monday through Friday, she makes her Traverse City delivery runs.

"Everything is measured out or premade so it’s as prep-free as possible," explained Hitchcock. "You’re basically just mixing A with B, or sautéing this, and having it all come together very easily and quickly."

Dinner kits cost $10 per plate, with a two-plate minimum for delivery. Options in a given week range from feta ricotta spinach rolls and Dijon-herb chicken to pork pinwheels and couscousstuffed peppers. Customers can view the upcoming week’s menu online and decide which meal kits and how many plates they want delivered. Salads, soups and desserts are also available.

Hitchcock is rapidly approaching her goal of delivering 200 plates every week, with sales bolstered by her rotation of more than 100 recipes, emphasis on "tasty and healthy" meals, and her willingness to cater to specific dietary requirements.

Traverse City couple Bradley and Kirsten Matson have used the service for a half-dozen meals so far.

"We were looking at the other start-ups in this space and liked that Whisk was local and offered more meal/delivery options for the same price or less," said 31-year-old Bradley. Kirsten, 27, added, "It’s great that everything is pre-portioned and we don’t have to take the time to measure everything out."

"I’ve heard from customers that they love not having to go to the grocery store," said Hitchcock, who notes that the average grocery shopping trip takes 41 minutes. "One couple said I’ve saved their marriage. They no longer have to talk about food; they just wait for my menu to come out, then pick out their meals from there."

Blue Apron

blueapron.com

For northern Michigan communities that don’t yet boast a locally owned meal-delivery company, they can enjoy a handful of national companies will deliver to almost city in the U.S.

Among the most popular is Blue Apron, which delivers pre-portioned ingredients and recipes to cook three meals for two people (six meals total) in a refrigerated box. A standard box costs $60 (or $10 per person, per meal). A family meal box with enough ingredients to make four different meals for four people is also available for $140. Deliveries are made weekly, Tuesday through Friday; customers can pick their delivery day and also choose their meal options from a list of six.

Recent recipes have ranged from summer ciambotta stew with heirloom eggplants, faro and romano beans to soba noodle salad to crispy catfish with Sicilian eggplant caponata. The company strives to provide "farm-fresh ingredients from family-run businesses" and also offers customers online cooking resources, such as interactive recipe pages and tutorial videos.

"We’ve used Blue Apron the last few months and I’m never disappointed by the meal," said Traverse City resident Nicholas Perez, who is married with two small children. "The best part of the service is the recipe cards."

Perez does note that with the growing number of local meal delivery companies, he may eventually consider switching to a program closer to home.

"I’d probably feel better using a local service that isn’t shipping [items] so far, and hopefully with a lot less packaging," he said. "I’m usually feeling slightly guilty that I just had an onion shipped to me from hundreds of miles away. Then again, if you like everything being sent with exactly what you need, it’s a great service."