Meal Kit Review: Meez Meals
Description: Each week Meez comes up with five interesting new recipes. Members pick the ones that sound great, and Meez will deliver all the ingredients prepped and ready to go. When it's time to cook, it's like being a chef on the Food Network -- everything is prepped and ready to cook, but members are the ones actually making the meal.
"The name Meez Meals was inspired by the cooking philosophy of Mise En Place – French for having everything ready to go when you’re ready to cook. We love the idea, but our French is challenged. So we went phonetic: Meez." - Jen Moore
Founder/Location: Jen Moore Chicago
Discount!! If you mention Stephanie50 when ordering, you can get 50% off your first offer!
Experience: My experience with Meez meals began when I got to choose two meals to make from a weekly menu on their website. One thing I noticed right away was that all the meals were vegetarian. I really liked this because I’m always trying to think of creative ways to eat vegetarian, other than making a salad, that actually keep me full. Meez also suggests meat additions you can make to the meal if you wish, but after consuming both meals I found myself full enough without an additional protein. Taste Tester #1 joined me on the culinary journey, and he'd vouch that from a dudes perspective, he was full enough without the addition of a meat as well.
The first meal I tried my hand at making was their port wine risotto. Ingredients that were in my brown bag package included: Peruvian white beans, port wine reduction, Arborio rice, blue cheese, and broccoli. The only additions from my pantry that I needed for this recipe was olive oil, and salt and pepper. Normally, port wine risotto is not something I would attempt to conquer on a Tuesday evening after a long day at work, but that’s where Meez makes it easy! The ingredients are already measured out, chopped, and pretty much prepped.
Normally making a port wine reduction would take at least 30 minutes to get it reduced to the right consistency, the Peruvian white beans would have to be cooked as well, and the broccoli would have to be chopped. One thing I liked about this was that it was only a two pot meal. A Meez meal includes all directions in detail and tells you ahead of time when to preheat your oven or boil your water. All in all, I was able to make what I would consider a weekend, date-night dish in 30 minutes and it tasted great! The port wine reduction was sweet and spicy at the same time and gave a great flavor to the rice. The addition of the creamy blue cheese gave the dish a certain tanginess that went well with the steamed broccoli. I also felt healthy eating it!
The next dish I created I really, really enjoyed. Meez sent me some spinach and fontina pancakes to make that included already cooked and drained spinach, a flour mixture with fontina cheese, chopped white onions, and a citrus cream cheese topping with an already prepared corn and basil relish. The only ingredients I needed from the pantry were eggs and milk, two easy pantry staples. It was so easy to prepare I let Taste Tester #1 do the mixing and pancake flipping, while I whipped up the egg whites to fold in. These were absolutely delicious when finished! The pancakes were fluffy, cheesy, and just the right amount of crispy on the outside. The citrus cream cheese added a little decadence to the top and the pre-mixed basil and corn relish were a nice fresh finish on the dish. Again, I didn’t even add up adding extra protein like I had intended.
My favorite part of my Meez meals experience was that I didn’t have to deal with any chopping, or extra prepping; I could just simply cook the meal and put it together. Meez was absolutely the perfect Sous Chef ! While there are some days that I love to go through the whole prepping and cooking process, a work night after hitting the gym isn’t one of those nights. Meez offered great variety when choosing my meal, and the menu items you can choose from are all chef-inspired and created, and best of all they change each week. I was VERY satisfied with my experience, but making a Meez meal is definitely something I'd suggest doing with a friend or group of friends/family because the more people and meals you order the better the value. Although when making a gourmet meal like this with such ease I try and remind myself that I would be paying at least double at a restaurant. Plus I don't have to tip myself :-)
Menu Examples:
Spinach pancakes
Port wine risotto
Beet cups
One pot linguine caprese
Thai sweet potato and rice bowl
All vegetarian with option of adding a protein
Meal Plan: 2 meals a week, 1 serving $18/meal 5 meals a week, 1 serving $14.40/meal 5 meals a week, 2 serving’s $10/meal 2-5 meals a week 2-6 people
More people, more often, better value
Delivery:
Our messengers can leave the box at your door, inside your gate or with your doorman. Everything is packed to stay cool for 12 hours, so there’s no need to rush home.
We deliver reusable cooler boxes. They’ll keep your food cool for 12 hours, so you have time to get things into the fridge. We reuse the boxes, insulation and gel packs, so be sure to return everything to us each week so that we can use it for another delivery.
Cooking:
Easy to customize, add a protein, more veggies
Prep ingredients in Evanston
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