I get asked a lot about meal delivery services…and if I would recommend them. And I usually have a 2-part answer.

If this helps you ensure that you have balanced meals - with minimal prep - and it reduces stress for you? Then hell yeah go for it!
Be aware of the macronutrients/nutrition label prior to selecting your meals. Often meal delivery services look like they are incredibly healthy easy options - which - a lot of times they are. BUT they can also be calorie bombs - especially with sauces & dressings. So if you have specific macro targets, this can make things tricky - as fats per meal can sometimes be upwards of 40-50g per meal - on a meal that is really healthy - but if that doesn’t work for your goals….then that meal is not going to be helping you.

So what do you do? Well, you do whatever you want. BUT here is what I did.

Since I am currently tracking macros (at maintenance), I do have specific protein, carb & fat goals that I aim to hit every day. I knew that ordering for ONE meal per day made most sense so that I could manipulate other meals to work around that one. And since lunch always feels like my least favorite meal…we went with that to make me feel like I was being taken care of in the middle of my busy work day.

So I knew I was looking for 1 meal per day, high-ish protein (20g+), Trying to keep fat under 30g if possible, and Gluten Free (as much as possible). I also wanted to try a company that had salads/bowls as options. As someone who lives alone - having a salad with a ton of delicious components - without having the same one every day feels really decadent. SO that is where we started, and that was what we looked for.
I also wanted to try to keep it under $12-$15 per meal (For budgetary purposes - I decided to base this on a “how much would it be if I ordered this from a restaurant) - so that lunches for the week would remain under $100, and I can adjust my breakfast and dinner easily to use cheaper choices to balance out the overall meal budget for the week. Now let me pause for a moment here to say with full transparency - my typically weekly food budget is around $150-ish - and a lot of that goes towards my current fruit obsession. So - the shift for me will be: adjusting breakfast and dinner to cheaper options for this week to see how things go! Should be very manageable - especially since my kitchen is stocked with staples already - won’t need to do too much grocery shopping anyway.

Here’s why I chose GARDENCUP - it was really because I love how it felt very grab-n-go. Like not even having to reheat it. Just add dressing, shake and eat. SIMPLE! I really liked their options, and there were several that met my criteria for protein, low-ish fats (as compared to others lol), and tasty. Most of the salads were between 11.99-13.99 so they also sat right in my budget.
So let’s get to what I ordered…and how they actually were!

I have a highlight with my reviews of each on my IG page…click HERE to check them out!

I ordered the following salads & bowls:

Soba Noodle Bowl w/ Garlic Butter Tofu P20/C62/F13
Soba Noodle Bowl w/ Garlic Butter Shrimp P30/C60/F15
Buffalo Chicken Ranch P20/C19/F22
Asian Chopped Salad w/ Honey Garlic Chicken P25/C27/F26
FreshMex w/ Cilantro Lime Shrimp x2 P30/C33/F18

Let me preface this with: I always have relatively low expecatations for pre-packaged salads. Like the bagged salads at the supermarket - I assume the lettuce will be tried out, the add-ons to be…lackluster, and the dressing to be - well, disgusting. So paying nearly $100 for these salads was a risk for me. If they were gross - I was kinda stuck with them for the week. AND OH MY GOODNESS WAS I WRONG!!!

Each salad/bowl was packed with flavor, and surprised me with how filling they were. Most of them ranged from 350-470 calories, they all were 20+g of protein, under 30g of fat, and once I had the first one, I wasted no time going back to their site to look at which ones I was going to get next week. The ingredients were fresh, the flavor profile was complex and delicious, the portions were much bigger than I expected!

HERE IS WHY I LOVE THIS IDEA:

This is what I would have LOVED to have when I commuted to work and brought lunch. Just grab & go with a delicious lunch.
Great for on-the-go/road trips, weekend getaways, etc.
Adds variety to your daily meals so you aren’t eating the same thing on repeat over and over all week
All YOU need to have is a fork.
This could be a great option if you are going away for the weekend and want to stick to your healthy high protein nutrition while away - stock up on a some salads, some fruit cups, snacks, etc - reducing the need to grocery shop for a bunch of produce to make something similar on your own. This can also help with planning out how to also enjoy dinners out, pizza nights, etc knowing the plan for your lunches.

I signed up for a weekly delivery - but you can also opt for bi-weekly.

There are a TON of options, all looked delicious, but I did set criteria for myself as far as what would work best with my macros and dietary needs. When you go onto the site - each bowl ranges from $10.99 to about $13.49 (which is in line with what you would likely pay if you were to get a salad at a restaurant - but way more macro friendly). They also offer soup cups (including a Chicken Tortilla Soup that is P25/C26/F4.5!! at only about 240 calories!), and snack cups (with berry parfaits, chia pudding, tuna salad - all high protein snack options for under $10 each), produce cups with chopped veggies, fruit, sides of additional protein, etc. AND cold pressed juice.

Each salad was a 10/10 for me - with flavor, freshness, options to choose from, delivery, and ease…like - don’t even need to worry about heating it up.

ENJOY!! If you try it, tag me on IG @hannahj28 - You can also use the link below which will give you 20% off your first order!

20% off FIRST ORDER OF GARDENCUP