Packed schedules, eating on the run, ordering-in and even skipping meals are just a few of the crimes that some of us at EW are guilt of. There’s no question about it, eating a healthy, nutritionally balanced meal can be a struggle. During a health-kick we tried DinnerTime, who delver a box of ingredients and recipes for four evening meals.
SUNDAY
With our box delivered directly to the office, it’s refreshing to know that we don’t have to go to Spinney’s after work (for once). We have a fitness class this evening though, so the thought of cooking on our return at 8.30pm isn’t filling us with joy.
We didn’t consider the fact that we’d have to carry the box of food home from the office, so if you don’t drive remember to have it delivered to your home.
Though we’re tired after a busy day at the office and the gym, having the right ingredients and easy-to-follow-instructions means that we don’t actually mind cooking. It takes 40 minutes for us to make the Spanish chicken and potato roast, and it tastes wonderful.
MONDAY
There’s enough of last night’s Spanish roast left over to take to work today, meaning we don’t have to prepare a packed lunch or buy an expensive take-out salad.
In the evening we make the oriental beef wok, which is super-quick. It’s not quite as tasty as the roast but still enjoyable.
TUESDAY
Baked prawn and chili ginger cakes with roasted cauliflower is on the menu tonight. It’s a great alternative to a burger or fried fish cakes. We’ll definitely make these again, but probably a slightly smaller version to serve as a starter at a dinner party.
WEDNESDAY
This evening is far too hectic to cook and though we’re trying to be good, we end up falling off the healthy eating wagon and gorging on take-out pizza.
THURSDAY
After our slip-up yesterday we don’t really feel like cooking again – especially as we have plans later this evening. We make the quinoa vegetable casserole anyway and find that it’s the easiest meal of the week. Though we will be incorporating all of these dishes into our dinner repertoire, there’s no doubt that this will become a fail-safe.
THE VERDICT
This is remarkable value for money and certainly takes the hassle away from supermarket shopping and healthy eating. For us, it’s not realistic to do every week as we often have social engagements and events to attend, but we will certainly use the service when we’re trying to be good.
The DinnerTime service is Dhs300 for a couples box or Dhs420 for a family box (feeds 4).
Main image: Getty
