Meal kit delivery services are on the rise as we all eat more at home during the quarentine. Two of our bloggers tried Chef Cook It and share their experience cooking with their little ones.
Cook it – Veggie Review
Mehnaaz Bholat
My family and I have never cooked so much at home and we were getting tired of eating the same things over and over again. On top of all of that, we were trying to avoid grocery shopping as much as possible, for obvious reasons. A few of my friends recommened food box delivery services. We had tried this in the past but felt options when it came to vegetarians were quite limited. We had to choose the 3 options available that week and there weren’t any alternatives, in case we didn’t like one of the options. I decided to give it another try. This time I looked at all the companies out there and I found Chef Cook it!
Once I created my account, I ordered for the week. I had 5 vegetarian options to choose from. As soon as I ordered, I got a text confirming my order. The text was also useful to know when my delivery was on its way, if there were any delays etc. I also received a text message when my delivery arrived, which was super exciting!
The bags inside the box were labelled with a number that corresponded with the recipe card, and made it super easy to know what bag related to what recipe.
The first recipe we decided to cook was the Chipotle Bean Burrito. The ingredients were exactly perfect for the amount the recipe required. We also noticed that the recipes were all kid friendly. Both my toddlers helped us prepare the dish.
The second dish we prepared was the zucchini pesto pasta. This recipe was ready within 30 minutes and tasted delicious! We noticed the recipes had a lot of flavour and had various healthy ingredients we would not regularly put in pasta, like walnuts and zucchini.
Lastly, we made the Middle Eastern Mezze Plate. This was our least favourite of the 3 dishes but was also something we don’t regularly eat for dinner. The quantity was enough to feed 2 adults and 2 children.
Overall, we were super happy with the service, food, and recipes from Cook it. They were very easy to prepare and tasted delicious.
Cook it – Non-Veggie Review
Jennifer Kapedani
A little background: I love to cook, and have for years, so I might have a little bit more cooking experience than someone who’s just starting out cooking for their family. My husband is a total newbie so I made sure to get his input as well. My toddler is game to try almost anything (except veggies!).
We picked three, 2 serving meals to try from the 16(!!) to choose from on their site. When I first opened our box when we received it I noticed that all of the produce looked super fresh and of excellent quality.
Chipotle Bean Burrito
This was our first meal out of the box. My only issues with this meal were with the recipe directions. First, my husband felt that they were a bit vague. He appreciates very specific directions in terms of how to chop/slice things (small dice? 1-inch cubes?). So, although I knew that for the salsa, for example, things would need to be small diced, he wanted to see some more direction.
Next, the recipe called for a full onion to be used in the salsa. As a more experienced cook, I knew for sure that that is WAY too much onion, so I used half and put the other half in the burrito filling mixture. My husband, would likely use the full onion, and have a VERY oniony salsa
The directions also indicated that it would take 15 to complete the recipe. Even if I account for kid distraction time, at minimum this would have taken 25 minutes (unless all ingredients were pre-chopped for me!)
Overall, everything came together really easily, it was very tasty and the portions were a good size for 2 adults and a toddler.
Fish Tostadas
Directions were much clearer with this one. Again, the cook in me came out and I did note that the instructions did not say to pat the fish dry before seasoning which is an important step so that the seasoning doesn’t just fall of when cooking. The cook time of 25 mins was again, a little ambitious.
The finished product was delicious. It was a good sized piece of fish for two people, but no extra to share with our toddler, so he had chicken
Roasted Vegetable Pasta
We saved the best for last! Directions were clearer than previous meals and the 25 minute cook time was accurate. It was a relatively basic recipe but with big flavors. Even more delicious than it was easy to make! It was a big hit all around.
Overall, we were very happy with the Cook It boxes. The recipes were simple but had big flavors that both me, my husband and our toddler loved. I also like that there are tips on how to change things up for kids (i.e. leave the burrito deconstructed, leave out lemon zest if kids don’t like it). I would add that some meal box companies seem to make portions a bit larger so you can easily get a 3rd serving or toddler sized portion out of the 2 person boxes, so if you’re feeding kids, I would definitely go for the 4 serving box!
But if you’re looking for quick, easy and delicious meals to make with or for your kids, then definitely give Cook It a try !
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