Hellobee

I’d been wanting to try Whole30 for a long time, but I knew there was no way that I could commit to cooking whole foods for 30 straight days. I regularly cook separate meals for our family as it is, and the prospect of researching new recipes, buying ingredients, spending the time cooking every meal from scratch, and doing dishes galore was way too daunting. So I googled for a Whole 30 meal delivery service and only found one called Pre-made Paleo; and it was recommended by the official Whole 30 website. I’ve done meal delivery services in the past like Zone, so I was totally on board the meal delivery train.

I was going to wait until I finished Whole 30 to write this post, but some members requested a review of the meal delivery service because cooking every meal is what has been holding them back from getting started as well. I ordered a Whole30 meal plan which included breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a trail mix snack. Here are some of the meals:

The breakfasts are all the same — a hash made with either pork, chicken, or turkey, sweet potatoes and veggies. 

Creole Chicken w/ Muffaletta Salad; Braised Rosemary Brisket w/ Roasted Beets in Aoili Sauce

Lemon Pepper Chicken w/ Roasted Sweet Potatoes; Turkey Sausage w/ Broccoli & Mushrooms

Teriyaki Turkey Meatballs w/ Kale & Daikon in Duck Fat; Braised Pulled Pork in Mustard Sauce w/ Asian Slaw

Salisbury Steak in Mushroom Sauce w/ Toasted Cauliflower in Arugula Pesto; Grilled Chicken in Tomato Salsa w/ Kale & Roasted Carrots and Mushrooms 

The snack is a generous portion of trail mix, which usually lasts me two days.

R E V I E W

S H I P M E N T

Premade Paleo is based in Georgia, and everything arrived inside a huge styrofoam box packed with dry ice via UPS. Make sure that you have enough space in your refrigerator and freezer to store all the meals if you’re ordering in bulk. They are vacuum sealed in labeled individual bags, and once you defrost them, they can stay in your fridge for up to 10 days.

C O O K I N G

I typically microwave a defrosted breakfast for a minute and a half and they heat up beautifully. For the lunches and dinners, I place them in a pan with a little bit of water with a lid and steam them until heated. It doesn’t take very long at all and they taste much better when heated on the stovetop than in the microwave, but the microwave works too in a pinch.

B R E A K F A S T  &  S N A C K

The breakfast hashes are pretty much the same, but I like them and don’t mind eating them often. They’re 6 ounces which is a decent size, but I like a really hearty breakfast. If I’m feeling hungry, I’ll put 1-2 eggs fried over easy on top!

The snack is a generous bag of trail mix and is 415 calories.

L U N C H  &  D I N N E R

There was a big variety, and meals were only repeated once over 2 weeks. Lunches and dinners are interchangeable and consist of 7 ounces of veggies and 5 pounces of protein, that come out to about 300-500 calories per meal. You can opt to upgrade to a larger 8oz portion of protein, but overall I found the meal sizes to be generous and filling. Some of the other dishes not pictured above include:

Proteins: Chicken and Mushrooms, Pork Lion w/ Pear & Cherry Compote, Braised BBQ Brisket, Dijon Chicken, BBQ Spice Pork Lion, Chicken Rojas, Rosemary Braised Beef. Veggies: Sweet Potato Slaw, Cauliflower & Romanesco in Lemon Vinaigrette, Cauliflower in Sun Dried Tomato Vinaigrette, Carolina Collard Greens, Stir Fry Vegetables, Gold Beet Salad, Garnette Sweet Potato Salad

T A S T E

The breakfasts are great and though it’d be great if there were more variety, overall they were satisfying and tasty. I’ve loved most of the proteins as well. What I would change the next time around is I’d order less vegetables. Some of the vegetables were great, and some were just ok. That could be because I’m not that big a fan of cauliflower and beets, which were frequently used, and there were a lot of sweet potatoes (but that’s to be expected with whole30/paleo). I also vastly prefer raw vegetables in general, and I can be picky in that I don’t like eating the same thing too frequently, so there’s probably a good chance that you’ll still enjoy the veggies!

Overall I think the food tastes great — much better than the Zone delivery — and the portions are definitely sufficient for me. If you’re feeling hungry though, you can always eat something else on top of the meals that’s Whole30 approved because there are no calorie restrictions on Whole30.

M Y  N E X T  O R D E R

I’m definitely going to place another smaller order because I hope to do Whole45 or Whole60. I’ll order some breakfasts so I can have them on hand for quick meals, and switch it up with my usual repertoire of eggs and green smoothies. Since I can keep the food in the freezer, it’s nice to know that I have something healthy to eat when I don’t have the time or energy to cook.

As far as the lunches/dinners, I’ll probably order mostly proteins. Their proteins are all grass-fed, pastured, antibiotic-free and organic, so it’d cost me more to buy just the protein alone in our area anyway. I’m pickier about veggies though, and we always have veggies that I cook for the kids on hand. I also love salads and don’t mind eating a hearty salad for lunch just about every day.

They have tons of different options from individual meals to 30 day plans. I spoke with someone on the phone and they were very flexible and helpful (I asked that my order be shipped in two batches because I didn’t have the fridge/freezer space).

Overall I’ve been very happy with Premade Paleo, and if all the cooking is what’s been holding you back from giving Whole30 a try, I’d definitely recommend them! I know meal delivery services can be pricey, but if you can cook some of your meals/sides while supplementing with some prepared meals (plus the money you’ll save from not eating out), you may even end up saving some money.

I’ve been making huge, hearty salads. This one has mixed greens, cucumber, egg, avocado, tomatoes, mushrooms, alfafa sprouts and lots of freshly cracked pepper. I made the dressing out of olive oil, lemon, minced garlic, salt, and pepper.

In my next post I’ll write about why I wanted to do Whole30, as well as my results!