Friends, it’s officially December. Ho-Ho-HOLY Toledo! Where did the time go? This month is, and will always be, the month that passes by way too quickly.
End of year commitments. Holiday decorating and baking. Christmas plans. School concerts. Shopping.
The fact is, for this home-cooking affectionado, I have thrown takeout menus on the table for the last three nights straight. And it kills me! I love cooking, and honestly, can make the time to get it done. But what I don’t have: recipe inspiration, the right ingredients in my fridge, and the perfect complimentary foods to make a well-balanced meal.
Paging Mr. Chow. Yes, I’d love an extra order of egg rolls for $1.99.
Sigh. Does this sound like your household? Well, if you live in the GTA, I just may have the solution for you.
Dinnerit is a friendly subscription service that provides the freshest dinner ingredients and inspiring nutritionist-developed recipes direct to your doorstep each week. Simply order a Family Bag ($139/week) or Medium Bag ($99/week) online, and the ingredients – plus recipes – will be delivered by their friendly drivers in a temperature-controlled environment. (Below: Denise Fernandes, Co-Founder of Dinnerit.)
So, how is this different from a meal delivery service? Well, first and foremost, you cook the meals yourself. That means that you have complete control over the ingredients that go into your meal, and you have insight into the freshness and quality of those ingredients. Second, you’re paying less than you would to have the meal made for you; the Dinnerit Family Bag works out to $6.95 per meal per person for the week. When you consider that you don’t have to spend time making lists, grocery shopping and seeking out recipes, and that the entire meal is balanced nutritionally, the service starts to make sense.
I had the opportunity to try Dinnerit last month. As an avid home chef who is happy to try new things, I became excited about the possibility of adding new recipes to my repertoire. Did you know that the average family will make less than 10 recipes per year in their kitchen? That’s tragic! Says Dinnerit: “Meals take around 30 minutes from start to finish, and will provide you with healthy food which is nutritious, high in fiber, and focused on meeting your 5-a-day. We put emphasis on fresh and unprocessed ingredients, which will help you meet a balanced diet and make you feel better.”
On my menu for the week: Greek Chicken With Olives and Feta Cheese; Juicy Beef Patties With Fresh Apple Salsa; Crisp Salami Pizza with Arugula.
Right after my delivery, I received the following e-mail from Dinnerit:
I appreciated the follow-up and was excited to start cooking. For most home cooks, the recipes will be very easy to follow as they require only basic knife and cooking skills. My husband, who’s not normally a fan of feta or olives (I know, where did I find him, right?) decided to give my chicken dish the ol’ college try. And he loved it!
Dinnerit also allows you the freedom to play around with your ingredients. We’re big salad fans, so we incorporated about twice as much arugula than the recipe called for. And, I decided to hang onto the eggplant for a dip, omitting it from the recipe entirely. The point is, the ingredients and recipes can be followed to the T or used as inspiration.
Another bonus? Dinnerit works closely with a nutritionist to develop recipes that are healthy, simple and delicious. A serving of the recipes is between 600-800 calories, and top quality, all-natural ingredients are sourced from local producers and family-run purveyors.
Curious? If you live in the Greater Toronto Area, why not check out Dinnerit. It may be the extra motivation you need to get home-cooked meals on the table throughout the rush of the season.
I checked out the website and it looks like there are a lot of good menu options with healthy fresh ingredients. One question – are you able to select from a list of recipes for the week or do you get a bag based on the preset weekly menu? Thanks!
It’s a preset menu, Yash – and Denise explains it below!
Wow, what an awesome idea!! I wish I lived in the GTA!
You’ll just have to move here, Darlene :)
Wow, I have to try this! Looks like the weekly menus/recipes are set…
Please do, Erika! Let me know what you think!
If only there were anything like this where I live
:( Maybe in the future!
Hi Yash
Thanks for your question! You do receive a bag based on the pre-set weekly menu. We have a fixed menu for the following reasons:
1. No-waste weekly menus – A nutritionist carefully plans weekly menus that make use of all the ingredients that we send you, so you don’t pay for surplus ingredients that you are unlikely to use again or throw away!
2. Straight from the source – By dealing with our suppliers directly we are able to cut out the middleman (supermarkets!) and work with what is fresh and seasonal – giving you better, fresher produce for your money
3. Trust and loyalty – We give our local suppliers a significant and dependable order each week – in return, they give you the very best rates for their seasonal produce
Hope this helps! We want to make fresh, seasonal food affordable for everyone!
In today’s society, I believe this is, indeed a perfect service! I love it and wish they were here.
I think it’s a great service too. Thanks Anne!
That is a really neat service. I love the idea, not just for speed but for inspiration. It’s hard work coming up dinner ideas every night.
We had sweet potato fries and chicken fingers from the freezer last night, and I was home for most of the day too.
Lol, I thought I’m the only one like that, every woman in my acquaintance seems to have no problem with coming up with healthy ideas and time to do them. And I feel guilty every time I offer a “meal” from the freezer to my family when I’ve been at home the whole day.
Hahaha you girls are too much – and certainly not alone! We too had a frozen dinner last night :)
interesting concept that’s for sure!
Agreed, Angie!
This is a great idea. Keeps people healthy too!
It does. Great for overall health and weight management!
Fantastic idea ! Everything fresh that you need to eat healthy for a whole week. I hope this concept catches on in other cities as well. It would be a good idea to also make a small bag (for singles people). If I lived in the GTA I would definitely be signing up.
Wishing you much success Dinnerit !!!
Thanks for the kind words, Flora! And they make two sized backs – a small and a family pack. There are options!
Although I think that this is a great idea, I hate that you don’t have the option to choose what you’re eating. I tried a similar service in Toronto that offers choice and flexibility. So far I’ve really enjoyed my experience with them – Either way, anything that makes dinner time easier and healthier is awesome in my books.
I think that Denise provides a good rationale for why they don’t, but perhaps it is something they’ll consider in the future!
Awesome idea! I will definitely have to try this out.
Please do Marissa!
Sounds like a very cool service. I’ll have to see if they have similar services around here.
You bet – check it out.
sounds like a great service
I’d probably can buy the ingredients cheaper. then ordering them.
Yes, you probably could. But it you don’t want to leave your home, and have new ideas and ingredients, I believe it’s worth the extra cost!
This is a great idea especially for busy families. Not sure it would go over in my house because I have very picky eaters who don’t like to try new things.
That’s definitely a consideration; you are paying a premium, so you want to ensure that your family eats it!
Don’t think I would do this but they seem to have great customer service based on the email they sent. Would you mind posting your recipe for Greek Chicken With Olives and Feta Cheese. It sounds delicious.
For sure Tricha – let me find it, and I’ll pass it on!
I like the fact that Dinnerit uses fresh local produce when available. I would love to have something like this in Victoria, BC because the local produce that we have here is wonderful plus the support for the local farmer is a benefit to everyone. The chicken dish looked wonderful! I love feta and black olives too!
Me too, Teresa! I definitely got the right meal to try out!
this is so awesome for a young family. i wish we were back in toronto. now im stuck with pies here in london…
Ha! Perhaps when they expand :)
interesting!
what a neat idea.
I so wish there was something like that here. Great idea!
Gotta see something like this in the Vancouver area.
I have used DINNERIT for several weeks now and I am a total believer in the concept. Not only is it a lifesaver for a busy family but it is inspiring and exciting! I can’t wait to try the new recipes when I come home from work because I didn’t have to plan or grocery shop as well. My husband feels that he is in the loop and if he comes home first, he starts the cooking. My kids gets involved in the choosing of recipes, cooking the meal and are open to try new flavours. I have taught cooking classes to kids for many years and I know if kids gets excited about food and are not told they are picky eaters they are much more likely to get over their foodhangup’s! I just really want to recommend any family that finds it hard to present a nice homecooked meal to their family during the week, please give DINNERIT a chance. It will change your life!!
Thank you so much for sharing your experience, Anna! So wonderful to hear that you are a satisfied repeat customer!
The meals look really good, but unfortunately this service isn’t in our budgets right now. One day!
Hopefully one day, Victoria!
This is a really interesting concept!
It really is!
Wow what a great idea, I didnt even know this was available.
Check it out Darrah!
I had no idea this even existed thanks for the input
You’re welcome Jo-Anne!
What a novel concept! If I wasn’t currently living in an apartment, and working on a very busy/atypical schedule, I would totally try this. My parents have been kind of pushing me to sign up for a similar service that delivers fresh organic produce every week, but I love the addition of a pre-set menu, so there’s no guess work or excess waste! Thanks for sharing. :)
You’re very welcome :)
Great idea
They’ve got more companies like this but I didn’t like the recipes because they didn’t have enough flavor for me