Best bet for healthy prepared meals?
July 17, 2010 5:38 PM Subscribe
If I wanted to eat only healthy prepared meals daily in NYC, what would be the best option to do so with as little thought, effort, and cost possible? Weight watcher's or Amy's frozen meals? Prepared meals and soups from Whole Foods or Trader Joe's? Nu-kitchen's expensive -- any cheaper but high-quality alternatives?
This might be a place to start: A writer for the Times decided to compare some prepared food options.
"After online searches and conversations with friends, I decided to compare the offerings of four companies: Zone Manhattan, Chefs Diet, Nu-Kitchen and eDiets. All four would deliver the meals to my door in Brooklyn. Three deliver daily, while the fourth, eDiets, sends a large package once a week. None of the companies knew I was a reporter."posted by jalexei at 6:13 PM on July 17, 2010 [3 favorites]
....Also realizing the outfits profiled above might not meet a "low cost" definition.
posted by jalexei at 6:15 PM on July 17, 2010
posted by jalexei at 6:15 PM on July 17, 2010
There's tons of healthy food in NYC, it's just that the portion sizes are too large.
Hit a falafel shop and order a platter, eat half, keep the other half for dinner. (Consider buying yourself a couple of bento boxes to help with portion size and so you're not putting a lot of take-out containers into landfills.) With the sheer density of restaurants in the city, you have tons of options that aren't fast-food restaurants.
Frozen meals in the freezer are a good option, too. Amy's, WW, even Michelina's are good and not too high-calorie.
posted by goblinbox at 6:18 PM on July 17, 2010
Hit a falafel shop and order a platter, eat half, keep the other half for dinner. (Consider buying yourself a couple of bento boxes to help with portion size and so you're not putting a lot of take-out containers into landfills.) With the sheer density of restaurants in the city, you have tons of options that aren't fast-food restaurants.
Frozen meals in the freezer are a good option, too. Amy's, WW, even Michelina's are good and not too high-calorie.
posted by goblinbox at 6:18 PM on July 17, 2010
I think prepared meals from Trader Joe's or Whole Foods would be cheaper, healthier, and tastier than frozen-food-packages.
It would be helpful to know what you are willing to do for prep, though. If you can nuke a frozen meal, you can possibly do some very basic cooking for much, much cheaper than relying on prepared food.
posted by desuetude at 12:34 AM on July 18, 2010
It would be helpful to know what you are willing to do for prep, though. If you can nuke a frozen meal, you can possibly do some very basic cooking for much, much cheaper than relying on prepared food.
posted by desuetude at 12:34 AM on July 18, 2010
I really like Amy's because they taste decent and the gluten-free ones are clearly marked. Also, they tend to have real ingredients. The only real problem with frozen meals is the sodium. If you're cooking for one person, Amy's meals tend to be cheaper than Trader Joe's or Whole Foods, unless, of course, you're buying them at Whole Foods where they tend to be $1 to $1.50 more than at other stores.
posted by betweenthebars at 1:18 AM on July 18, 2010
posted by betweenthebars at 1:18 AM on July 18, 2010
Response by poster: Great answers so far, thanks.
It really depends on what you need out of your diet. What's your lifestyle like?
Right now pretty modest activity. Vegetarian. I'd like to be more active though...
It would be helpful to know what you are willing to do for prep, though.
Definitely willing to microwave things or do things of an equivalent amount of effort (e.g. make cereal). What kind of basic cooking are you thinking of?
posted by Malad at 5:41 AM on July 18, 2010
It really depends on what you need out of your diet. What's your lifestyle like?
Right now pretty modest activity. Vegetarian. I'd like to be more active though...
It would be helpful to know what you are willing to do for prep, though.
Definitely willing to microwave things or do things of an equivalent amount of effort (e.g. make cereal). What kind of basic cooking are you thinking of?
posted by Malad at 5:41 AM on July 18, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by griphus at 6:02 PM on July 17, 2010