I’m a busy mom. I have kids that I have to keep track of and drive places. I have a husband. I work outside of the home and have to work overtime and attend meetings, and I’m a blogger. Some days I don’t know if I am coming or going. I literally lose track of what day of the week it is because I feel like I am being pulled in a million directions. Some how, some way, I mange to keep on top of things (kudos to me!).
I am the Queen of eating on the go. Don’t get me wrong, I do prepare meals for my family, but when it comes to me, personally, I tend to grab whatever I can for breakfast and lunch (bagel, granola bar, yogurt…). I simply don’t have much time to make myself a big breakfast or lunch.
Dinner time is not always easy either. There are days I walk in the door the same time as my family and they are all hungry and want to eat right away. Other time I get home after they do and I find that they have already started to snack on unhealthy things like chips or cookies.
Microwaving foods is an option, but I’m not sure about how healthy that is. First of all, the foods you microwave have a lot of preservatives in them to give them a longer “shelf live.” In addition, the food has been prepared and frozen for weeks or months. You can’t exactly call that kind of food “fresh.”
What if I told you there is an option where you can make fresh, healthy meals for you and/or your family in a matter of minutes, and all you need is a pot of boiling water.
Let me introduce you to a newly launched subscription service called. RealEats. RealEats delivers healthy and delicious prepared meals perfect for people and parents on the go.
RealEats is the concept of working single dad, CEO and Founder Dan Wise. Set out to find a fast and healthy solution for his family dinners, Wise created RealEats for the busy, yet mindful consumer. “RealEats solves the common dilemma of trading off good health and taste for a quick fix,” says Wise. “We’re able to give our customers back 60 minutes a day by providing them with meals that are ready in minutes, with no compromises. There’s no prep, no cleaning up, no junk –just real food, made simple.”
Each meal is made by one of America’s top chefs in collaboration with RealEats’ Executive Chef Katy Sparks, including Dale Talde, Bill Telepan, Kat Turner, Lien Lin, and Silvia Baldini, delivering healthy, at-home versions of restaurant quality dishes straight to consumers’ homes. Unlike other subscription meal services, RealEats is all in the bag – literally. Each meal is prepared in the RealEats kitchen, then vacuum-sealed inside food-safe, recyclable pouches locking in the freshness, flavor, and nutrients of real food ingredients. Meals stay fresh in the fridge for seven days from delivery. To heat, the pouches are simply placed in a pot of boiling water and are ready in 6 minutes. No microwaving or nuking required.
RealEats is headquartered in Geneva, NY, in the heart of the Fingerlakes agricultural region of New York, one of the richest food sheds in the northeast. There, RealEats is committed to only using responsibly-sourced ingredients to provide a true farm-to-table experience for customers. Ingredients are non-GMO, never processed, and free from added hormones, antibiotics, preservatives or junk of any kind.
The meals take only six minutes to cook. All you need to do is boil a pot of water, add in the pouches, cook for the designated time, remove, open the pouch and assemble the food on the plate. It’s that easy!
Examples of meals include Beef Meatballs by Chef Bill Telepan, Chickpea and Vegetable Terrine by Chef Kat Turner and Turkey Ricotta Meatballs and Whole Wheat Pasta by Chef Katy Sparks. The featured meals change weekly.
You can order as little as four meals or as much as twelve meals, based on the subscription option you choose. There is no minimum commitment, you can skip a week or cancel your subscription at any time.
There are three featured meals each week. They have 450 different meals that they rotate throughout the year so that you don’t get bored with eating the same thing night after night or week after week. Personally, I am bored with what I make my family each week (they’re bored too). We try new recipes but I often don’t have the time to buy all new ingredients or learn how to make a new recipe. If I do that, it’s usually on the weekends when I have more time.
RealEats sent me a few meals to try out for myself. I received Salmon with Tahini, Pasta with Peppers and Barbecue Brisket. So far I’ve tried the Salmon and the Pasta.
For each meal there are one or more packages (foods sealed in a plastic-like bag). The instructions for how long to boil the bag is right there on top of the bag. All you need to do is keep time.
For the pasta there were three bags – the pasta, the peppers and Ricotta & Feta cheese mix. The cheese mix didn’t need to be heated. The pasta needed six minutes and the peppers three minutes.
Once my pot of water was boiling I dropped in the pasta. I used the timer on my phone. Once I saw that three minutes was up I tossed in the peppers (they only needed three minutes to cook). After six minutes was up (in total) I carefully removed the packages (I used salad tongs to remove the bags from the water). Then I carefully opened each one and created my plate. It was that easy!
My daughter wanted to make the Salmon with Tahini. It turned out so good that she jokingly refers to herself as Gordon Ramsey because she made a gourmet meal.
She even texted my husband that, how she wants to be referred to as Chef Ramsey. LOL!
The salmon even came with a lemon slice.
We haven’t tried the third meal yet. My 18 year old son wanted to give that one a try. I have no problem with him making it. After all, it’s just boiling water.
Over all I think the food tasted fantastic (my daughter let me try the salmon of course). I especially love how fresh the ingredients are. You can tell they haven’t been sitting on a store shelf for months.
The food does have an expiration date because it is so fresh.
I think my favorite thing about RealEats is that it’s fresh, gourmet quality food in MINUTES. Anyone – no matter how busy you are – can boil a pot of water while you are getting the table ready for dinner, changing out of your work clothes or helping your child finish up their homework.
Anyone can make gourmet meals. You don’t have to be a chef. All the work has been done for you. All you need to do is boil water, cook the ingredients for a few minutes, open up the packages, plate and enjoy.
The only downside is that there might be menu items family members might not enjoy, which is fine. I make plenty of dinners that someone in my family doesn’t necessarily like. That is why I always keep other options on hand.
Price wise it might be a bit pricey for people living on a budget, but when you compare the cost to going out to eat, RealEats is probably the better choice. My family of four costs $60+ for one meal at the diner, and we don’t get anything fancy (no seafood or steaks).
If you are interested in learning more about RealEats, visit RealEats.com.
You can also check them out on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. Their links are found at the bottom of their website.
RealEats would make a great gift – especially for someone who doesn’t get out too often (shut in) or a college student. It’s better than eating pizza and Ramen Noodles all the time.
What do you think about RealEats? Do you like the idea of gourmet quality meals in minutes, simply by boiling water?
Kimberly
*I received free samples to review. There was no compensation. The opinions expressed are my own and not influenced in any way.