Searching for healthy meals in a fast world

Do you struggle to figure out “what’s for supper” most days? I know I do. Being alone now that my kids are grown and on their own and my sweet hubby of 32 years is in the nursing home, I find that I don’t eat well and rarely cook. It’s just no fun to cook or bake for myself.

However, I was recently diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes and that has scared me half to death. Having always had elevated insulin my entire adult life, I have always known that developing full-blown diabetes was possible. Yet, I had hoped that keeping my weight within a few pounds of where I was 25 years ago, not being a partaker of sweets very often and just generally living a busy life would somehow protect me.

I was wrong.

Now, I find myself trying to determine not only “what’s for supper,” but what’s for breakfast, lunch and in between snack time. It’s so much harder than I ever realized!

Cutting carbohydrates is apparently very important in this fight against Type 2 Diabetes. I never knew until after the diagnosis how many carbs are in food until this last week. Oh, my goodness! Carbs here, carbs there, carbs everywhere. I love mashed potatoes, but am having to say goodbye to those. I love my Frosted Flakes at night, but have kissed that goodbye, too. My recent love affair with Talenti Bavarian Milk Chocolate Gelato met an early death. But, better it than me, right?

So, everyday I search for better ways to eat within my very limited budget. Eating healthy is not only hard, but it’s expensive. But, it’s a must if I am to beat this thing with diet and exercise—my quest to become more intentionally physically active is another column for another day.

I know what I spend monthly on groceries/food and I also know how much I am away from home so I am carefully evaluating convenience things for my use and that includes the newest craze in the fast-paced world in which we live—gourmet fresh meals boxed and delivered to the home.

I obtained a sample recipe from one of the food services and browsed to see the cost comparison from the service and the local big box stores. Honestly, I found that I would have to buy more of the ingredients than I would ever use in order to even have what I need to prepare such a meal, thus the cost would be prohibitive for me to buy the ingredients separately then try to make the recipes.

So, eat more simply, I said to myself. But, I find I am getting bored with what I am doing already and I am, quite frankly, exhausted after a day of newspaper reporting, nursing home visiting and whatever else I have to get done each day. I want something good, healthy, tasty and that will fit within my budget. I can order two-person boxes for three meals and turn that into six meals because it is just for me, so it’s not too bad on the wallet. Basically, with one service, less than $60 a week for six meals for me sounds doable...maybe. All healthy, all organic. All fresh. All made by me. Considering I make organic dog food for my three canines, surely I deserve to eat well, too.

My experiment will begin this week as I start with my first box of fresh ingredients and tantalizing, easy-fix gourmet recipes from one of the services. I will share my thoughts and evaluations in later columns, so stay tuned.

Let me share now, though, the various home services I have found and looked at in case you want to investigate. There are others, but these are the ones I am most familiar with and I believe the most popular.

Here is a list: homechef.com, plated.com, hellofresh.com, forksoverknives.com, blueapron.com, freshly.com, greenchef.com, factor75.com, terraskitchen.com, peachdish.com, chefd.com, petespaleo.com and marleyspoon.com

I would like to note that Celebrity Chef Jamie Oliver is involved with Hello Fresh, Green Chef is all organic and includes menus for those looking for a Paleo plan, gluten-free meals, vegetarian plans, vegan dishes, meaty dishes for us carnivores and Peach Dish is Southern inspired. Also, Freshly prepares the meals for you so there’s no food prep, just heat and eat. Be warned, however, prices vary from reasonable to what I consider unreasonable. Also, some offer free shipping on all meal orders while others only offer free shipping at a certain dollar amount and still others make you pay shipping regardless.

In the end, some of you may have all the time you need to prepare and eat fresh, nutritious meals or you may choose to eat out for your meals. I, personally, cannot eat out that often and my time constraints are real. If I still had children and a husband at home I know I’d have to look at these cool meals-in-a-box programs. As a lone adult trying to change my lifestyle and health I have decided to give them a shot, too.

Join me.

Jan Murray is a staff writer for The Southeast Sun and Daleville Sun-Courier. The opinions of this writer are her own and not the opinion of the paper. She can be reached at (334) 393-2969 or by email at [email protected].