I have been reading a book called The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo. The basic principle is that when we discard items in our home that no longer bring us joy, we are left with ONLY those things that represent joy for us. Can you imagine? Being completely surrounded by joy all the time?!
Now what if we were to do this same exercise with our daily actions? Make a list of everything you do during the day. For each action, indicate whether it brings you joy or not. If it doesn’t bring you joy, can it be outsourced? Is meal prep, cooking or grocery shopping on this No Joy list? The good news: there are plenty of services that you can hire to help bring back the joy in dinner.
Allow me to introduce you to your new best friends…..
Grocery delivery services – If you enjoy cooking or like having the greatest control over the ingredients in your meals, grocery delivery is a great service for you. My local favorite is Irv & Shelly’s Fresh Picks because of their high quality products and excellent service. Other popular options include: PeaPod, Instacart, and perhaps
even Task Rabbit if you have specialty or other errands you want handled at the same time.
Meal Planning services – When I first started dreaming up this newsletter, I thought I might start my own business as a meal planning service or app. When I started researching the topic, I discovered that there were tons of good options in this arena. I found this lifehacker blog post to have good reviews of various services. Fresh20 looks particularly appealing to me.
Meal Assembly Kitchens – Pre portion and prep your meals once a month at a Meal Assembly Kitchen and streamline your grocery shopping, meal planning, prep time and clean up! Quality and variety varies, but definitely worth a look, particularly for occasional use. Two recommended options: Let’s Dish (Baltimore), Dream Dinners (Chicago).
Meal Kit Services – Meal Kit Services are what you get if Meal Planning and Grocery Delivery Services could have a baby. The ingredients for your weekly meals arrive at your door pre portioned and ready to go, you just take it to the finish line by completing the final cooking or assembly step. If you consider paying for one service (meal kit) rather than three (meal plan, grocery delivery and prep time), this might be the best value. Here is a lifehacker review of some popular options (Blue Apron, Hello Fresh, Plated).
Meal Delivery services – Not interested in doing any of the work in the kitchen? or putting in long hours at the office? Meal Delivery may be the service for you. A favored local option is Factor75 and a reasonable national option is Magic Ktichen.
Personal Chef services – Just like it sounds, a personal chef is someone that either drops off fully cooked meals for you or cooks in your own home. Their services can be reasonably priced, so do not discount this option without doing a little research. You might
be surprised what you find!
Meal Planning Coach – Overwhelmed by the options? Not sure where to start? Meet with a meal planning coach or consultant one-on-one to put together an action plan to better execute your meals. When I meet with clients for this service, we review all aspects of the process to make it more efficient and infuse it with greater joy! Email me (diana.shea@gmail.com) to set up your FREE phone consultation.