The best gifts are the ones you never thought you needed. They’re equal parts thoughtful, unexpected, and practical. It helps then, too, when they look good. One idea? Meal prep containers, aka the adult euphemism for ‘lunch box.’
Totally fair if insulated food containers don’t get your heart racing (also fair if they remind you of fluorescent mess halls and soggy sandwiches), but what they lack in showmanship they make up for in undeniable utility. Still, finding one you love enough to gift or use every day of the week can be hard: it has to feel special but also be useful, and look pretty without just being decorative—all while not costing too much. Well, take it from someone whose job it is to find you the things that are actually worth your time and money: The S’Well Eats Meal Prep Container in Teakwood is your new lunchtime MVP—and doubles as one of the best gifts you can give this year.
Before you start furrowing your brow, hear me out. I’m not the diligent meal prepper I always want to be, but I do bring my lunch to work every day. And before I came across the S’Well Eats bowl, it just so happens I was due for a new Tupperware-but-cuter food storage container. (I may have dropped my old glass one in the office kitchen and watched it shatter into a million little pieces before not one, but four people came to my rescue. Yes, I’m still cringing).
So, I took a chance on the S’Well Eats Meal Prep Container. It’s part of a collection of insulated food containers that everyone’s favorite water bottle brand launched over the summer, and it was the answer to my meal prep prayers.
I’m a big believer in multi-hyphenate kitchen products, and as a daily food storage container, it delivers. The bowl is leak-proof, break-proof, and dishwasher-friendly. Which basically means it’s perfect for anyone who likes to eat liquid-y things like soups or saucy pasta (me), is known to drop a lot of things (also me), and likes to get their dishes done quickly (me again!). My favorite part is the actual construction: it has a stainless steel outer shell for insulation, and a plastic (read: Will. Not. Break.) removable inner bowl that makes it so easy to prep food.
Sure, it might be a little big for anyone who just carries a cross-body or clutch on their daily commute, but it’ll fit great in a canvas tote or large shopper. And you’ll feel better squeezing it between your laptop and wallet knowing that bringing your lunch to work is more environmentally-friendly than buying food from the cafeteria or your favorite take-out spot.
And, since we’re coming up to the holidays and you’re probably already panicking about gifting, it’s also an unexpected under-$50 option that anyone on your shopping list will enjoy: your work wife, your teenage nephew, even your best friend who’s made the same New Year’s resolution for the past three years to get more into meal prepping.
When you think about delivery, you probably don’t imagine a balanced, well-rounded meal—more like pizzas and pad thai, right? But healthy meal delivery services are out there, and there are a lot of them. There are a slew of options that make food prep painless (with good-for-you ingredients, too). So we’re here to help you sort through the bunch to find your delivery soulmate. These healthy subscription services, which offer either prepped or pre-made wholesome recipes and meals, are easy to pull together, taste damn delicious, and are available to be dropped at most doors nationwide (some even deliver internationally). It’s practically impossible to not find a healthy food delivery service that’s perfect for you. So, what’s for dinner? Read on to find out.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF SUN BAKSET
Perfect for: Dietary restrictions
The details: With meal planning options for vegans, vegetarians, pescatarians, plus for those managing diabetes, eating paleo or gluten-free, Sun Basket has the healthy food bundle for your particular eating yen. Its ingredients are organic, and antibiotic- and hormone-free, and they come in recyclable, enviro-friendly packaging. And the best part: Sun Basket promises each recipe (you can mix and match from 18 weekly) can be thrown together in 30 minutes or less with. If you’ve got food rules to manage, but not a lot of time to cook, this is the healthy meal delivery service for you.
Cost: $36.94 for your first box, including three meals for two people.
Availability: You can check Sun Basket service availability here.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF HOME CHEF
Perfect for: Serious foodies
The details: There are 13 meal options each week with Home Chef—for example, there’s currently an incredibly delicious-looking scallop and corn chowder with crispy jalapeños perfect for winter—making it ideal for those looking to please picky, highbrow palates or those who love the finer things in life. And, the service makes it far more affordable (and convenient!) than it would be to shop for these ingredients on their own.
Cost: $59 for three meals for two people, includes all sauces, salts, and oils.
Availability: Home Chef delivers to 98% of the United States. To check if they deliver to your area, you can check here.
The details: this vegan supplier offers a different menu every week with plant-based, superfood-heavy meals like seasonal salads, sandwiches, and protein bagels with cashew cheese spread. There’s even daily detox teas to support digestion. It’s all quite pretty (not to mention gluten-, dairy-, egg-, and seafood-free), so plate it beautifully with some good lighting—and nail your caption, of course.
Cost: Packages start at $99 per person per day for a five-day plan.
Availability: Originally available only in New York but now shipping to locations all over the country, Sakara Life delivers everywhere but the number of days available depend on your delivery zone which you can check here.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF PLATED
Perfect for: Trying everything
The details: A truly customizable meal-planning service, Plated is for folks who want to try a little bit of everything, without committing to the same kind of foods (on the same day) week after week. There are 20-plus recipes to choose from—and desserts. You can choose menus fit for two, three, or four people; and for two, three, or four nights a week. But switching up these numbers from one order to the next means you can cook for yourself, or use your Plated box for a straight up dinner party, using sustainably-caught fish, hormone-free meats, organic produce, and small-batch or artisanal ingredients you’d be hard-pressed to find in your desperate last-minute bodega run. Recent recipes include cuisine mashups like shakshuka pizza and roasted zucchini bibimbap, plus classics like a juicy hamburger.
The cost: $71.70 for two servings, three meals a week. For new timers you can also save up to $159 with a current offer for 25% off your first four weeks up until January 31, 2019.
Availability: They deliver to 95% of the US, check availability here.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF MARTHA & MARLEY SPOON
Perfect for: A Martha Stewart wannabe or superfan.
The details: Created by America’s most trusted home cook (even Snoop Dogg’s a fan), Martha & Marley Spoon is bringing over 18,000 of Martha Stewart’s recipes to your home. Designed with easy weeknight cooking in mind, this meal delivery service lets you select from 10 new recipes every week.This January is a great time to order since incredible dishes like a buttery garlic chicken, general tso’s cauliflower and two-cheese polenta will all be on the menu. You can also plan up to 5 weeks ahead and skip a week when the timing isn’t perfect.
The cost: Two meals per week for two people start at $48 per week whereas four meals for three to four people starts at $131.20 a week. All include free weekly delivery.
Availability: Available in almost all of the contiguous US states, just enter zip code at checkout to confirm they deliver to you.
PHOTO: Courtesy of Blue Apron
Perfect for: The traditional cook
The details: Blue Apron is the OG healthy meal delivery service, and it continues to be one of the best for a reason—they’re good at what they do. Since their launch in 2012, Blue Apron has shipped over 8 million meal prep kits worldwide. Every ingredient is measured, portioned, and packaged, and the step-by-step instructions are easy to follow. It’s worth noting that some meals can take a bit longer than others, but the menu is second to none, with incredible meals inspired by the mediterranean diet. On the menu for January 2019? Sesame kale and quinoa bowls, pappardelle in tomato sauce and tuscan-spiced code, amongst many other things. You can add a wine pairing to your order, too.
Cost: Two-person plans, with three meals per week, start at $60.
Availability: Blue Apron is available nationwide in the United States but different delivery options depend on your area which you can check here.
PHOTO: Courtesy of Freshly
Perfect for: Extremely busy people
The details: The big promise with Freshly’s premade meals is that you can have breakfast, lunch, or dinner ready in two minutes or less—something we hadn’t heard promised outside of a frozen-foods aisle. Nothing’s frozen, either, and you can pull up all the nutritional stats on Freshly’s website to get the quick down-low. Every single meal is gluten free, packed with protein, all natural and is free from refined sugars. And their leftover food gets dished out to local food banks and shelters, ensuring there’s limited waste and that as many as possible benefit from the nutritional goodness they’re whipping up. All meals are kept insulated in biodegradable, recycled denim totes—an eco-friendly alternative to styrofoam—which you’ll want to schlep your leftovers in for lunch the next day.
Cost: Four meals per week for one person start at $50. Also if you refer a friend you’ll help them get $40 off their order and $40 off your next two orders.
Availability: They currently deliver to all states within the continental US.
PHOTO: Courtesy of Hello Fresh
Perfect for: Newbie chefs
The details: There are 10 different recipes offered each week, in either two- or four-person servings. The easy-to-follow, minimal-step meals come in meat and vegetarian options—everything from pork tenderloin with cauliflower mash and snap peas to chickpea- and superfood-laced salads. And now, Hello Fresh is offering food so nice you can eat it twice, with Dinner 2 Lunch, they’re solving the age-old dilemma of “seriously, how do you pack lunch ever?” Dinner recipes come with additional ingredients and instructions to tweak your leftovers for a killer next-day lunch: chorizo beef chili becomes a chili burrito for lunch; sausage and zucchini pizza is reimagined as a salad. If you’re new to cooking, this just made figuring out one more meal that much easier. And did we mention they also have a wine club where you can get 6 bottles delivered monthly?
Cost: Three two-serving meals start at $55.
Availability: They deliver across all of the continental US.
PHOTO: Courtesy of Green Chef
Perfect for: Organic-food lovers
The details: This is the first-ever USDA-certified organic meal kit—free of synthetic pesticides, growth hormones, antibiotics, and GMOs. You can order omnivore, paleo, and gluten-free meals, which are updated weekly. Ingredients come packaged, labeled, and color-coded for organized cooking, and they all take 30 minutes or less to prepare. This healthy meal delivery service also has a wide range of meal plans for so many different lifestyles form gluten-free to family carnivore. Other stuff we love: the eco-friendly packaging (the boxes are literally mini fridges, upping the cute factor), the fact that there’s no commitment, and the flexible delivery dates. It’s probably the most chill meal prep kit of the bunch.
Cost: Two-person plans, with three meals per week, start at $63.
Availability: Green Chef delivers almost everywhere in the continental United States except Alaska, Hawaii, and parts of Louisiana.
PHOTO: Courtesy of Veestro
Perfect for: Picky eaters
The details: Everything’s ready to go from Veestro—the vegan, dairy-free healthy meal delivery service is all about the heat-and-eat, so if you’re slammed at the office, it’s not a big deal, as dinner will still be ready in a few. But the best part is that unlike other delivery services, which are almost exclusively offered with limited meal-plan choices, Veestro’s got all of their offerings à la carte, so you can mix and match their “Plants Please” offerings to customize your perfect menu. (Because you know, not everyone loves tomatoes.)
Cost: Meals start at $10 to $12 à la carte.
Availability: Veestro currently elivers to any physical address within the United States except in Alaska or Hawaii.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF SNAP KITCHEN
Perfect for: Control freaks
The details: Snap kitchen says they make the best-tasting food, made better. That’s pretty appealing but what we love is not just how they cater to lots of different diets from milk free to pescatarian, but that this healthy meal delivery service offers you the freedom of choice. Yes, you can choose a low carb or keto-friendly subscription but you could also build your own completely from scratch or opt for a balance option which allows you to try an edited selection with a little bit of everything. We’re currently eyeing their crunchy coconut shrimp and over easy burger with sweet potato. If you have specific calorie goals, you can also customize those as well.
Cost: Pricing for meal subscriptions is based on how much you spend. Those between $25 and $125 receive a 5% discount off the retail price, meal subscriptions between $125 and $200 receive a 10% discount and meal subscriptions that are $200 or more per week receive a 15% off discount.
Availability: Currently available for delivery or pick up in Austin, Dallas, Houston and Philadelphia.
Alright, my friends, 2018 is the year you snag your dream job—and if that job’s working for the royal family, then you’re in luck. According to news.com.au and this LinkedIn job posting, the royal family is hiring a communications assistant. That’s right, recent graduates: It’s possible your first post-college job could be with Meghan Markle, Prince Harry, and company. Can you imagine?
The lucky person who scores this gig will join the family’s official communications team, which aims to promote “the work, role, relevance, and value of the Royal Family to a worldwide audience.” In other words, you’ll literally get paid to gush about how amazing Prince William and Kate Middleton are. That’s what most people do at happy hour for free.
To be fair, the job’s a little more involved than that: It’s a communications position, so you’ll be writing feature articles, social media posts, and press announcements about the royals. In addition, the assistant will “organize coverage of set-piece Palace engagements, including investitures and garden parties, and provide support as required for off-site engagements.” So attention to detail sounds like a must for this job.
But there are perks, of course. For one, you’d be based in Buckingham Palace and have the opportunity to travel with them overseas and across the U.K. If you’ve ever wanted to watch a bad movie on a private jet with Prince Harry, now’s your chance. (We bet he’s a hilarious travel partner.) If that’s not enough pull for you, though, the assistant also gets 33 vacation days. I’d spend those inside Buckingham Palace just twirling around, to be honest.
What are you waiting for? Prep your résumés and apply here. The Queen is waiting!
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