In March 2016 I delivered a beautiful baby girl, and our whole world changed! Before Belle I could power through a to-do list like nobody’s business, but after I am lucky to make a list, let alone do anything on that list. Cooking, which is something I love and enjoy, became an after-thought. Here’s my adventure of keeping meals on the table and my sanity.
Recipe Box Delivery
I love to cook, so I tried the recipe box delivery services; the ones that are advertised everywhere. Gourmet food at home. All of the ingredients shipped to your home and meals prepared in about 30-45 minutes. The problem is that I’m not a sous chef. Forty-five minutes into cooking dinner, I was just finishing up prepping the meal. The food was yummy and healthy, but this was not the time-saving option I was looking for our family.
I love the idea of recipe box delivery programs. As Belle gets older I’m looking forward to trying more of these delivery services. I love that I get to step out of my comfort zone of cooking; I just need more time in the day!
Local Meal Delivery
After realizing the recipe box was not what I thought, I went to Facebook to see if my tribe of friends and family could help me find the right service. One Facebook plea later, a friend told me about Retro Dinner Diva.
The heavens opened up with this meal delivery service WITHIN Columbus. What?! I went directly to the website and fell in love. Healthy, home-cooked meals already prepared and ready for me to throw in the oven/crockpot delivered to my home. YES PLEASE! It was too good to be true! I live outside of Columbus, so I was not in the delivery area. However, I messaged the owner, who agreed to deliver if I ordered $200 worth of meals. No problem! The owner and service are absolutely amazing! She has her story on her website, which I highly recommend visiting as soon as you finish reading this blog. Supporting a local business, a woman taking charge of her destiny, and not having to worry about meals is a combination I can firmly stand behind.
The food is delicious! Everything is packaged by individual meal, labeled with easy instructions, our order went right from my doorstep to the freezer easily. The care and dedication Stephanie puts into her business and customers shows in everything she does for you.
Another one of our Columbus Moms Blog contributors tried Fare & Square meal delivery service. Check out her review here: Fare & Square to the Dinnertime Rescue.
Cooking
While I love to cook, having a toddler keeps me busy! Having few staple recipes is essential. I really rely on my Crock Pot and Instant Pot; one-pot meals are my fave! My absolute Instant Pot go-to meal didn’t come from an expensive cookbook; it came from a mom sharing her fave recipe on Facebook. It isn’t gourmet, but my toddler LOVES it. You can dress it up, make substitutions, and it is fast.
- 1 box of your favorite pasta (We love casarecce.)
- 1 jar pasta sauce (any will do)
- 1 small bag frozen meatballs
Throw everything into the Instant Pot. Fill the empty jar of pasta sauce with water, and add that to the Instant Pot. Add in your favorite seasonings. I usually throw in garlic, basil, and a packet of Sazon. Set the Instant Pot for manual 8 minutes. Voila! Veggies can be thrown in once everything is cooked using the saute mode; canned spinach is our favorite addition to this recipe.
Now that the weather is warming up that means there will be many meals prepared on the grill. Check out these 6 Easy Freezer Meals for the Grill.
