I don’t consider myself or Sara to be lucky people (I mean, aside from being born in a country where people are more worried about their cell phone data plan than if they’re going to have anything to eat tonight) (which is actually kind of relevant to this post, now that I think about it). So it is always a pleasant surprise to actually win something.

And that’s exactly what happened a couple of weeks ago, when Sara won 3 free Meez Meals courtesy of the West of the Loop blog!

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, we used to do Dinner by Design and Dream Dinners to stock up food prior to having a new baby. Meez Meals is sort of similar to that, except even better: you get all the ingredients to make a home-cooked meal, but instead going somewhere and assembling the meals, they actually deliver it to your door! (and for roughly the same price)

Some people might wonder why you would pay to have someone deliver food that you then have to make yourself. It’s a valid question, I suppose, but it’s sort of like having all of the upsides of cooking yourself (adjust the salt, add chicken, make it spicier, etc.), without the downsides (chopping all the veggies, having a million different preparation dishes, running out of a key ingredient, etc.). And the food they offer is much more healthful than your average take-out meal.

Some people might also wonder about the price. If you’re cooking it yourself at home anyway, isn’t it a little pricey compared to home cooked meals? Well yes, it is, but it’s not comparable to making dinner at home; you have to compare it to going out to eat. It requires infinitely less effort than planning a meal, shopping for the food, and doing all the preparations.

Still, it’s a fair criticism. It’s not cheap, especially for someone like us who very rarely go out to eat. I wouldn’t advocate abandoning all food-making and only eating from Meez Meals from now on, but I will say that the week we got our 3 free meals, it was a life saver. It could certainly be invaluable now and again. There is no price too high to place for not having to plan meals, and it’s also nice to add a little variety into dinnertime to avoid getting stuck in a rut.

Alas, I wish I could tell you that the food itself knocked my socks off, but I thought it was only okay. However, my main complaint was that a lot of it was somewhat bland, which is probably something I could actually do something about. Oliver, on the other hand, couldn’t stuff spaghetti squash in his mouth fast enough, literally, eventually abandoning the taco part altogether:

Oh, two more things I want to mention!

First, we saw some complaints that the food comes in a million plastic bags, which was true, and it did kind of drive me and (especially) Sara crazy. Sara boycotts entire brands for using too much packaging. However, we heard that in Chicago the bags are recyclable. We haven’t confirmed that yet, which is why we have a huge stack of what looks like trash sitting next to the dishes.

Second, this email:

We’re Sorry!We’ve heard from some members that the Moroccan Tacos are delicious, but the portion was smaller than we intended.Please have a meal on us next time.  Go ahead and place your next order the usual way, then send us a note with your pick for an extra meal.  We’ll get it all together for you.

How’s that for customer service?? We found the portions were more than generous and had plenty for leftovers, including the Moroccan Tacos. So that was really going above and beyond if you ask me.

So anyway, special thanks to Meez Meals and West of the Loop for hooking us up. We’ll have to do it again some time (I mean, except not for free) (unless you’re open to that, because I would definitely not turn you down).