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(Don't know how to quote you, quoting me, in a multi-quote)
I have no idea how to determine cost per meal, because some things I buy are consumed in one meal, and others last in the fridge or pantry for days, weeks, or months. What I do know is how much I spend weekly on groceries, and a 2x3 subscription to Plated (which seems to be the most costly of the lot) is $30-50 less than my typical grocery bill. I realize that eating on a budget is a reality for many, but food (cooking as well as dining out) is one of the areas where I tend to splurge. I buy a lot of premium meat and seafood, and fresh produce. It adds up.
(Don't know how to quote you, quoting me, in a multi-quote)
I have no idea how to determine cost per meal, because some things I buy are consumed in one meal, and others last in the fridge or pantry for days, weeks, or months. What I do know is how much I spend weekly on groceries, and a 2x3 subscription to Plated (which seems to be the most costly of the lot) is $30-50 less than my typical grocery bill. I realize that eating on a budget is a reality for many, but food (cooking as well as dining out) is one of the areas where I tend to splurge. I buy a lot of premium meat and seafood, and fresh produce. It adds up.
Hi Katenik,
What I was asking (post #31) was how your meals ended up costing $20/portion on average (since you indicated that you would likely save HALF on the $10/portion charge of these services, versus how you are eating now). Even my most expensive meals cooked at home don't cost anywhere near that, although of course I realize I cannot speak for everyone.
And honestly, it's not THAT difficult to calculate cost per meal. EG for a crock pot pot roast I made a few months ago (different thread talking about that! ), ~1 lb. of London broil steak + potatoes + carrots + mushrooms + a can of soup (yeah, a lot of people would go , but it tasted great AND I don't normally add salt when I'm cooking so it is perfectly fine for me) = <$6 total. Divide that by AT LEAST 3 meals and it's <$2/meal. That is WAY cheaper than the services for a really delicious, satisfying, relatively healthful (i.e., not super-high in fat, sat fat, sodium, etc.) meal.
I was actually thinking after my last post when I wrote that maybe I would spend $10/portion for something like prime rib, that probably I would NOT even spend that much ON PRIME RIB, since normally I only buy it on sale for <$6/lb. So even a full pound per person (since there is a lot of fat on it -- although a pound per person is likely overstating it a lot!) plus potatoes plus fresh carrots/asparagus/green beans/mushrooms/onions (my usual favorite stir-fried veggies) would be UNDER $10/portion. So I am having a hard time seeing $20/portion as an "everyday" cost ...
... UNLESS you are eating out a lot (which you indicated you might be?). But that's not the question on this thread, which was, Do most people spend $10/portion ($40/meal for that hypothetical family of 4) while cooking at home? THAT is the question. Eating out skews EVERYTHING (even a McDonald's fast-food meal where I live costs close to $8 ).
And again: hopefully it goes without saying that if someone wants to pay for the services for the convenience, for the fun of trying new dishes, etc. -- more power to them! (In fact, I could see myself trying a service once or twice for those reasons!) But the issue was, they say they are as cheap as cooking at home. And that is really, really hard to believe.
Last edited by karen_in_nh_2012; 09-21-2017 at 03:54 PM..
I assume nothing. My point is that people always have options to optimize their situation. Even a normal refrigerator freezer can hold a week's worth of meals that's cheaper than $9.95 a plate. FYI, a small freezer is 2 ft x 3 ft. Many dishes can be packed and frozen relatively flat.
Again, you are assuming nothing else is in my freezer.
Not the case.
Again, we get it, you like to cook in bulk. It isn't for everyone.
When I was on food stamps and even now when they've been reduced considerably, the dollar amount per meal that I shoot for is $3 per meal. I usually eat 2 meals a day, so about $6 a day or $180 to $190 per month. And I get pretty close most of the time. That's having about 3 dozen spices and things like onions, bread crumbs, noodles, rice, beans, cheese, frozen meats (on sale from the store) and many other things on hand all the time.
I usually make something that would feed a family of 4 and then freeze three helpings of it to eat throughout the month. That cuts down on cooking and stretches out the food budget. And I'm not particularly thrifty, either. There are a lot of people who are more frugal than I am.
So no, if anyone thinks $9 delivered is cheaper than cooking, they're wrong.
But you do have to make a large outlay in things like pots and pans, utensils, spices, vinegars, and the like when you start to cook if you have never cooked before. If you don't have any of those things, then yes, if you have to go out and individually buy all the items you need to make the food, including the food itself, it is going to be more expensive than going out to eat or having food delivered.
Well, except many of us have SOME spices, sauces, etc. in our pantry! And of course if you want to be honest, you can't count the ENTIRE cost of, say, a bottle of balsamic vinegar for ONE meal. Most of us would find ways to use that bottle until it is empty.
Well, for me as a single person (as I tried to describe earlier), it is WAY cheaper than $10/meal to cook for myself (I don't make one portion at a time, of course). As I wrote earlier, my meals are probably $1-$3 each, less if I am not having meat (to be honest, that happens only once every couple of weeks).
I think that (the highlighted portion) is the key: that the services are trying to SELL themselves as being as cheap as cooking for yourself. But for the vast majority of people, that simply would not be true. So false advertising, you know? Not a HUGE deal (most of us simply would not buy those services), but still, deceptive.
The majority of people don't keep gochung or harissa paste or veal demiglace or African spices, etc that you can get with these meals. Like I said, I'm not going to get a ton of bottles of stuff for one recipe. Yes, it's cheaper by volume but I still have to buy it. But whatever, I'm not going to argue.
Do they really think we can't add? I have skinless chicken in organic tomato soup, with half a dozen glasses of red wine with water and cranberry juice added. Its definitely less than $9.95 and tastes great. I haven't really been doing any exercise yet weight is stable at 145 lbs. My blood tests are excellent.
Huh? The title is Claims $9.95 a plate delivered is cheaper than home. Then you go off on some rant about chicken, tomato soup, wine, water, and cranberry juice.
What kind of wine are you getting where half a dozen glasses costs less than $9.95? A package of skinless chicken here is $2.99 a pound for the family size package and they're 4-5 pounds so well over $9.95. And that whole mixture sounds gross. No idea what you're trying to make, but please try out for Worst Cooks in America. Anne will LOVE you!
Who claimed $9.95 a plate delivered is cheaper? What's in that $9.95 plate? Just a dish?
Most of the stuff I cook at home probably works out to about $5 a plate.
That's about average for my meals as well. The occasional steak is more but my day to day dinners are around 5 bucks. I don't eat lunch and my breakfast is around 1.75 +/-
It isn't about cost for me. I see no reason to spend more to eat.
Do they really think we can't add? I have skinless chicken in organic tomato soup, with half a dozen glasses of red wine with water and cranberry juice added. Its definitely less than $9.95 and tastes great. I haven't really been doing any exercise yet weight is stable at 145 lbs. My blood tests are excellent.
No, in a lot of cases, I find that cheaper than cooking at home. By the time you buy all the ingredients you can easily have $20 or more in a meal for two people. Even when I make a pot of chili, I have $30 in it easily, but I do get more than one meal out of it.
Tonight I am making a pork roast in the crockpot, and my bill at the grocery store was $29 for the ingredients.
Like everyone else, I'm not quite sure what recipe the OP was describing, but comparing that to Blue Apron or something similar is not comparing apples and oranges, it's comparing apples and elephants - the kinds of dishes you get from the meal prep services are about a gourmet, restaurant quality meal cooked at home, not some bizarre sounding hot mess.
And as others have noted, one of the reason they make the claim that they are cheaper than cooking from scratch at home is because of the ingredients. For people who would be purchasing organic, sustainably sourced food (and whatever other claims they make) plus sometimes pretty exotic spices and flavorings that can't be purchased in a single dish quantity. Most of the people here who cook regularly and probably already have some of these ingredients could no double beat that $10 price but it probably wouldn't be all THAT much cheaper if you are buying everything organic because the meal prep companies can buy in bulk at pricing that home cooks can't come close to matching.
But I also wonder about that $10 for a week for two claim. I can't imagine anything I can cook for that price that would feed two people for 7 meals. And I think if I could, it would not be something I'd want to eat!
In fact, if we make something like T Bone steaks, I will pay about $25 for two nice steaks at Publix. I could go to the Outback and have their Outback Special for $12.95 and get the potato and salad too.
Obviously, if you are making a cheaper meal, you can do better than $10 each, but not for most nice dinners. We generally end up spending between $20 and $30 for dinner that we cook at home, by the time you factor in a potato of some sort and a side dish vegetable.
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), ~1 lb. of London broil steak + potatoes + carrots + mushrooms + a can of soup (yeah, a lot of people would go 
