Friday 26 June 2020

Other Boxes are Available





There have been a plethora of food boxes designed by the supermarkets during this pandemic and some of them have been really good, my Morrisons Vegan Box amongst them.  I thought I would just try out one more box to see if it matched up in value and quality and when I spotted a free delivery code for the Aldi Food Parcel I thought this would be the one I would go for.


I ordered it to arrive on Wednesday 24th as this is when my current food Challenge is over, but somehow it came on Saturday 20th, very strange.  But as these are all tinned or packet items I guess it wouldn't matter if they brought your order early.  Better early than late!!


Getting free delivery saved me around £3 so that was good.


It was quite neatly packed, there was some scrunched up packing paper on top of the food to stop it moving around in transit.  This was added to the log basket to be used for starting the fire.


The contents were pretty much the same as on the website.

The two differences were the chocolate, I got a block of white chocolate instead of milk and also  the rice.  Here I got two pouches of microwaveable rice instead of a 500g pack of white Basmati rice, which I guess is a similar value but not the same amount of rice.  I could have made many more meals with a pack of 'proper' rice.


Of the foods in the parcel these are the foods I can't eat, either because they contain meat or dairy.


And these are the ones I can eat.

It's a really good store-cupboard filling box, with  the addition of a pack of toilet rolls and some anti-bacterial handwash ... two items that were originally in very short supply.  This particular box has been criticised by some as not having many actual meals in it but I actually see quite a few and a lot more if you are able to get a few extras, either by going out yourself or asking a family member or kind neighbour if you are self-isolating ... as lots more people are now doing here once again in North Wales due to a fresh outbreak of Covid-19 on Anglesey.

Although I am not going to do a Challenge as such with this box I couldn't resist sitting down and quickly working out how I would use it if I were a meat-eating, dairy consuming person with a partner.  And also using only the contents of the box with no store cupboard extras.

I could just about manage 14 main meals with a bit of playing with the ingredients to hand.  If I could add a couple of potatoes, some cheese, a loaf of bread and some spread or butter this would have made a week's worth of lunches as well as the one main meal a day I have managed.  And of course a bit of fruit, even just a bunch of bananas and a pack of 6 apples would mean an even healthier menu.

So here's my quick off the cuff menu to feed two people from this box.


Breakfasts
Rice Pudding for 1 day
Tea or Coffee with 3 of the packets of biscuits divided into quarters over 6 days   



14 Main Meals 

3 x Pasta with Pasta Sauce, Tuna and Sweetcorn

2 x Pasta with Chicken Noodle Soup

2 x Rice and Chilli con Carne with Sweetcorn and crushed salted peanuts

2 x Rice and Baked Beans with Tuna and Sweetcorn

3 x Tomato Soup, bulked out with Tinned Tomatoes and Sweetcorn

2 x  Minestrone Soup with added Tinned Carrots


Treats
Bar of White Chocolate
Salted Peanuts
Bourbon Biscuits


Leftover/Emergency Rations
2 tins of tuna


How would you do it?



What did I LIKE about this box -

I liked the mix of foods, the addition of hand wash and toilet rolls and the speed at which it was available for delivery.


What did I DISLIKE about this box -

That every single tin, except for the shrink wrapped sweetcorn and tuna tins was dented.  

As the box was in pristine condition after delivery and there wasn't much room for movement inside the box I'm guessing that they must be packing dented cans.


Have you had a Food Box delivery during lockdown, what did you think of yours?



Sue xx
📦




18 comments:

  1. I think if I had to live on those boxes, I would order two different boxes, one with fresh food and another with tinned food. Combined those would make possible to eat proper meals much longer than using a single box at time? Like three weeks out of two one week boxes...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, that is a good way to do it. Some fresh foods are always good to have :-)

      Delete
  2. Bloomin cheek packing dented tins, that would put me right off. I wonder if you might be getting a bit fed up of pasta main meals. So how about sweetcorn fritters with a nice pinch of herbs or paprika? Although you would have to dip into store cupboard items too.

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    1. I thought that too :-(

      Oh I would happily eat pasta most nights and often do when I'm on my own, with lots of veggies and a nice sauce it's a well balanced meal.

      But I'm not actually eating the meals I have listed above, this was more a case of what I WOULD do if I had to live out of this box. Some of this food has gone in the cupboard, Alan has already eaten half of the biscuits (he's not spotted the chocolate in the fridge yet), and the rest is going to the Foodbank.

      Delete
  3. I read somewhere, think it was a Morrisons bulletin, that in general boxes have been so successful that they will be continuing them. I (sort of) can se the attraction but like you I would end up with so many thinks I’d not eat that they will not work for me.

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    Replies
    1. I love that Marks and Spencer have listened to all the feedback from their 'essential box' buyers, bloggers and YouTubers and slightly modified the contents of their boxes to make them much more useful to people. Gone is the excess of 'treaty' style items and instead there is now sugar, tinned fruit etc.

      I think it's good that supermarkets have responded to the need this way, and maybe it would be good if boxes continued to be available.

      Delete
  4. This box wouldn't suit me at all, like you there are so many things in there that I can't eat, in fact over half for me. I think I would manage better if I could have a box of fresh fruit and veg. What the boxes remind me of is Christmas hampers which we now no longer have as there is so much in there I can't eat or the others don't eat. I like that this box contains the toilet roll and handwash as these were like gold dust initially. I would also make sweetcorn fritters using gram flour, garlic powder, corriander and cumin, lovely. With the addition of potatoes we could also make fish cakes. I would also make peanut butter with the peanuts. Helen S.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm not that keen on sweetcorn and never usually buy it for me, although Alan likes it. So fritters are a good idea, I could maybe eat it that way as well as disguised in other dishes ... and making peanut butter is a brilliant idea :-)

      Delete
  5. I think these boxes are a great idea. The only ones I've seen here are the Fruit & Veg ones from companies that do that sort of thing and they look good but are a bit pricy (but if I was stuck at home again I would spend the money).
    I hate dented cans. The one delivery order that I did place came with one dented can - and it was one that was already past its Best Buy date - so I emailed and they credited me back. I might use them again just to stay on their books but its not my favourite way to shop. If I had the boxed options like you do in the UK I might be more tempted.
    You do a great job of sorting out meals Sue but they are a bit too high carb for me. Don't get me wrong - I love pasta - but I need more protein even if it was just eggs and cheese. From what I've seen on he UK websites - if I were to go back into lockdown I'd order from Morrisons:
    .1 meat box
    .1 fish box
    .1 General - I think they called it "best of British"
    .1 Fruit & veg and then maybe another one for about 3 weeks later and that would get me through a couple of months

    PS - I'm very glad that I have a well stocked pantry!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha, four boxes would be a LOT of food for one person, but if you could meal prep and freeze it, it would most likely set you up for a month 😃

      As we should only consume an average of around 46g of protein a day, my meals were more than adequate ... and yes I love my carbs 🤣

      Delete
  6. Haven't seen any food boxes on offer from US supermarkets around me.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. That's a shame isn't it, I wonder if they've even thought of doing them?

      Delete
  7. That's a good price for store cupboard items but dented tins...tut tut... Remember my M & S dented tins? It put me off buying from them again. I have been happier with the Morrisons food boxes. re the Aldi coffee: I think I've bought it in the past and it was quite good. Have you tried it yet?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's not bad, but I'm an original Nescafe girl through and through :-)

      Delete
  8. The boxes are an excellent idea, but as hubby is a real carnivore, there is not enough meat for him.

    Dented tins! I wonder if they give a discount on the total price for that. I know dented tins here are most times discounted.

    God bless.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think Alan would feel the same, he's a big meat eater. Just a tin of Chilli con Carne and a lots of tinned fish wouldn't be enough for him for a week.

      Delete
  9. I'd find the dented tins very annoying. I've had a few delivered from Tesco but have saved them up for when I go back to the shops. I shall return them and ask for a refund or replacements.
    I have looked at the various boxes available (even M&S are now doing a selection) but they just don't suit me...I'm too fussy an eater. I don't like rice or pasta and most seem to contain them. I had a smaller 'in-between' delivery from Iceland today and was very pleased with the service. Its the first time I've used them, but it's ideal for a small deliver as their price limit is lower and they don't charge for delivery. The quality of the fruit and beg seems excellent.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dented tins are my bug-bear. If you can get to the shops it is so much nicer to be able to pick things out for yourself isn't it :-)

      Nice to hear that the Iceland delivery service is still as good as it used to be, especially since they must have been so much busier than usual recently. I guess they have a quick turn around of fruit and veg these days, so everything will be lovely and fresh.

      Delete

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