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CNET
30 minutes ago
- CNET
I Test Meal Kits for a Living. Here Are 7 Mistakes That Could Cost You Money (and Meals!)
Meal kits have become the love child of "I want to eat something that didn't come from a drive-through" and "I wouldn't know a good recipe if it kissed me on the mouth." Meal kits are perfect for health-conscious folks who've realized that ordering Thai food five nights a week isn't a nutrition plan and for culinary beginners who think "sautéing" is a French dance move. Here's the plot twist: meal kits actually cost about the same as regular groceries these days. Yes, you read that right. Thanks to grocery price inflation, your weekly meal kit subscription might actually be cheaper -- and certainly less hassle -- than wandering the aisles of your local supermarket. But here's where things get interesting (and where most people mess up): Signing up for a meal kit is like buying a gym membership -- the real magic happens when you actually know how to use it. I've taste-tested, chopped, diced and occasionally burned my way through every major meal kit service known to humanity and I've cracked the code on getting maximum deliciousness for your dollar. Whether you're already Team Blue Apron, riding the HelloFresh train, keeping it simple with Factor or getting fancy with Daily Harvest, chances are you're leaving money (and flavor) on the table. The good news? A few insider tricks can transform you from meal kit amateur to subscription ninja, squeezing every last drop of value from your weekly deliveries. Ready to become the meal kit master your kitchen deserves? Let's dive in. Don't miss any of CNET's unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add us as a preferred Google source on Chrome. 7 big meal kit mistakes to avoid 1. Missing out on a meal kit deal or offer EveryPlate has laughably cheap sign-up offers to take advantage of. You can pause or cancel anytime. EveryPlate/Screenshot by CNET First and foremost, you'll want to take advantage of new customer sign-up offers. Most meal kit services allow you to try their goods for deep discounts, up to 70% off and often for several weeks' worth of meals. I've rounded up the best meal delivery deals right now to help you pick. If you're already a meal kit subscriber, there's no rule against pausing it or canceling so you can try another service at one of those dirt-cheap new customer rates. 2. Choosing the wrong size plan Go for the larger plan and you'll have more food for a lower price per serving and tasty meals to last all week. David Watsky/CNET Meal kit costs vary greatly depending on the number of meals and servings you order per week and the delta between them can be enormous. Blue Apron, for instance, breaks down to just $8 a serving if you order the most amount of meals -- four recipes with four servings each -- but jumps to more than $12 per serving if you only get the least -- two recipes with two servings per week. My suggestion is to order a bigger meal plan than you think you'll need and choose recipes that keep in the fridge or freeze well. Do this and you'll have lunch and dinner all figured out for the next day or two. You're already going through the effort to cook, you might as well get more miles out of it and save some money, too. Purple Carrot pricing at a glance. Screenshot by David Watsky/CNET "Meal kit meal planning," you heard it here first. What recipes are good for cooking in large batches and eating later on? Pretty much anything other than seafood and salad recipes, both of which aren't great to freeze after preparing. Speaking of which… 3. Forgetting to cook seafood first Always cook seafood recipes first. If you can't get to it within a day, freeze the raw fish for later. David Watsky/CNET Seafood recipes are always best to cook first because they'll also spoil first. The same goes for other recipes with ingredients that may turn when left uneaten or uncooked, including vegetables, leafy greens, cheese and fresh dairy. Potatoes and other dense vegetables are typically good between four or five days to a full week. Steak and chicken are also pretty hearty and can last several days in the fridge without having their quality compromised. 4. Passing over steak and fish Blue Apron's steak recipes are included in the basic meal plan. David Watsky/CNET When you peruse a weekly meal kit menu, you'll typically have a dozen or so recipes to choose from, sometimes as many as 50 or more. While you should certainly choose recipes that sound good to you and fit your nutrition goals, some recipes will give you more for your money. Steak and seafood recipes are at the top of that list, but anything with a protein (chicken, pork, fish) is typically a better deal. I priced out a few recipes from Blue Apron and EveryPlate to see how much they cost versus buying all the ingredients yourself. Unsurprisingly, the most expensive recipes to make from scratch (i.e., the best deals for a meal kit subscriber) were those featuring steak and seafood. Some meal kit services charge a premium for certain recipes, but many include steak, shrimp, salmon and other seafood as part of the standard plan. On the flip side, avoid recipes with ingredients that are cheap and easy to find at the store, such as simple pasta dishes with no protein or basic soups. If you eat mostly vegetarian, I recommend Purple Carrot, as this 100% plant-based meal kit service has the most interesting meat-free recipes made with high-quality ingredients. 5. Not trusting your instincts Trust your instinct and err on the side of less when it comes to adding salt and spices. You can always put more in but you can't take it out. HelloFresh Recipes are not one size fits all, so trust your instincts. If it seems the recipe calls for what seems like too much salt going into the sauce, it probably is. You can always add more but you can't take any out, so err on the side of caution. The same goes for heat and spice: If you can't handle big hits of habanero or spicy curries, pull back on those elements until you've tasted the finished dish. 6. Ignoring favorite tags Certain recipes get slapped with a customer favorite badge and there's usually a reason why. David Watsky/CNET Most meal kit companies will hit certain recipes with a "fan favorite" label. More often than not, I've enjoyed those dishes and appreciate the recommendation. Services such as HelloFresh and Home Chef use loads of aggregated user reviews and subscriber feedback, so you can trust there is some validity to those markers. Hey, they want you to enjoy the meals just as much as you do. 7. Taking it too seriously Cooking is fun, and meal kits help you become a better cook. Lean into it! 10'It's true: Meal kits are a good way to get you and the family fed for a fair price but they can also be a lot of fun and a good way to sharpen your cooking skills. Never made risotto before? Pounce on those recipes when it comes along on the menu. You might be surprised at how easy it is. When you crack open a meal kit, crack open a bottle of wine too, or pour yourself a beer, cocktail or mocktail and put on music or a favorite podcast. Cooking can be fun and even settle your nerves if you're in the right headspace. If you're not in the right headspace, make the kids cook.
CBS News
31 minutes ago
- CBS News
Pittsburgh Center for Creative Reuse is a hub of thrifty finds for artists and teachers
Step inside the Pittsburgh Center for Creative Reuse and you'll find stories galore. It's a story from the front of the room about art supplies, sports icons and personal moments to the back of the room with inspirational projects and items, from days gone by. "These security cases for DVDs, I'm sure someone will make like an amazing light box with or something," Cammie Brady, the nonprofit's executive director, said. It's like a thrift store, but for art supplies and non-traditional items most thrift stores don't take. "Going through the donations is really fun, because you really, truly do not know what's going to be in each box, there's such a variety of things that you could encounter." She said they receive about 30 boxes of donations, per day. "Within that kind of chaos, there is a lot of order and things are organized in a really fun way," said Brady. Volunteers organize the donations, while the displays and labels showcase the items. Some crafters find materials, like yarn and fabric while others find small parts, for home repairs and big part items for teaching in schools. "Kind of any and all mediums of work," Brady said. "A lot of educators really benefit from the ability to buy materials in bulk at really low prices." No matter what's found, everyone learns through this non-profit that household items can live a second life and make great art instead of adding to a landfill. "Doing a small D.I.Y project in your home or at your office or whatever it might be, that's all of us exercising our creativity and creative thinking is so important on a larger scale," Brady said. Every cent from items sold goes back into running the shop. Grants go towards programs to teach people about reusing materials. It's like an ecosystem, giving back again and again. "It's the fire that keeps us going and keeps us really motivated to take as much as we can and get it back into the hands of creative people," said Brady. It's a second life for items, helping the environment and connecting community while proving your only limit is your own creativity. The store is open every day 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The next event for the non-profit is on Aug. 31 from 12-4 p.m., at Westinghouse Park. The Pittsburgh Center for Creative Reuse will have free, hands-on crafting activity, for all ages, a treasure hunt, an art swap and more. There are some donated items the non-profit does not take; to find a full list we have a link to the Pittsburgh Center for Creative Reuse here.
Fox News
an hour ago
- Fox News
Blue-city pastor sees signs of revival after tens of thousands attend Christian crusade
A Portland, Oregon, pastor believes people are ready for a spiritual revival in the deeply secular city, after tens of thousands of people responded to Christ at an evangelism event his church hosted earlier this month. "We've become known as a dark city," Athey Creek senior pastor Brett Meador said, referencing the city's reputation for homelessness, drug abuse, strip clubs, and human trafficking. "Our goal was to shed the light of Christ." The "PDX Crusade" — a free, two-night event inspired by famed evangelist Billy Graham's crusades — drew 35,000 people to Portland's Moda Center on August 2-3 to hear the gospel message and worship with popular Christian artists Chris Tomlin, Zach Williams and others. Around 4,000 church volunteers handed out Bibles to the 3,200 people who committed their lives to Christ at the event, Meador told Fox News Digital in an interview this week. Local reports noted it was Portland's largest gathering of its kind in decades. Meador recalled "powerful" moments from the event, including praying for a 10-year-old boy and his mother to accept Christ, and seeing venue staff come down to the arena floor to be prayed for. "It was kind of overwhelming, the response just from people who heard the good news," he said. "We have countless testimonies pouring in right now." Meador said he followed a spiritual calling to move to Portland with his wife nearly 30 years ago to plant a church in what he said was then known as one of the "the least-churched cities in America." That reputation hasn't changed much. The Portland-Vancouver metro area stands out as the only region among the 34 largest U.S. metropolitan areas surveyed, where religiously unaffiliated people outnumber Christians — 44% to 42% — according to the Pew Research Center's 2023–2024 Religious Landscape Study. Starting a church in such a secular environment wasn't easy, Meador said. Despite pushback, Athey Creek has continued to grow, from zero members to nearly 15,000 people who now attend services. He believes the spiritual climate has shifted over the past five years, especially after months of rioting and rising crime following George Floyd's death in 2020. "Jesus talked about how the field was ready for harvest," Meador said. "And I think that Portland, in the last five years, since the 120 days of rioting that we had in 2020, and just the problems we've had, I think people are realizing this isn't working out very well. And because we've been post-Christian for so long, I think that people are hungry for something that's real and powerful and true." "We're seeing an opportunity to give people an alternative from the darkness to follow the light," he continued. "I think people are realizing that there's just a much better way and that Jesus is actually the answer to all the problems that we face." Church leaders are now prayerfully considering whether to make the crusade an annual event. "We're praying that the Lord will open the door for us," Meador said. "We're very open to doing it again next year and making it maybe a regular thing." The Portland gathering followed another major revival meeting in Los Angeles in July, when about 45,000 people packed Angel Stadium for Pastor Greg Laurie's Harvest Crusade on July 19. It marked the second consecutive year the stadium sold out for the event, with an additional 200,000 people watching online, according to Harvest Church.
