meals on wheels vs light n easy

[davidc4430]

ive been getting meals on wheels for many years and although they are fine for a pre prepared frozen meal for a while ive thought they are pretty ordinary.

my meals are/were delivered once a week on a friday lunch time so i had to be home.

my delivery comprised 1 hot meal and 6 frozen meals with deserts.

they would not let me order just the meals so every week i got 7 deserts i threw away, i dont like thawed out deserts. in fact i hardly ever eat desert, if i do its fresh fruit.

the aluminium packs often looked like they had been used for footy practice, all squished and unsealed in places.

but the meals were mostly ok.

some time back i was regularly getting some really nice meals, roast lamb, roast beef, roast pork, chicken snitzel, fish in batter.

but lately its all stews with the occasional fish, roast meal thrown in.

and allways with pumpkin which i dont like.

i dont get any choice as to my meals, its not until they are delivered i find out what i get.

i have no problem with the volunteers delivering the meals they are allways friendly.

so a friend said she was getting 'ligh n easy' meals and said she found them very good.

so i took the plunge and ordered some from light n easy as you can order just one time or regularly there are no ongoing contracts, you order and pay.

i recieved my first order today and i'm impressed by the paching!

they come in a lage polysteyrene box wuth a dry ice bag inside to keep them cold, the box is sealed with tape.

the meals are in perfect order ready to go into my freezer. not damaged at all!

online when ordering i get to choose what meals i want from a huge range! no pot luck here.

if i wanted i could order 7 of the same meal! not that i ever wood with such a large choice.

the delivery is left at my door if i'm not home. not possible with MOW.

so now i'm ready for the taste test, fingers crossed they are as good as they look.

btw, yes MOW is cheaper but when i dont have to buy deserts it works out cheaper.

i only buy main meals.

[travlyn2012]

Wife & I done the light and easy meals quite a few years back, mainly because I was getting chunky.

I didn't mind the meals, however I thought that the vegetables were a bit so so.

For me they always seemed a little under cooked, and lacked some taste. I am fussy with my veges though.

They may have improved them since I was eating them.  

[enigmabear]

While it was a good 25 years ago now, I was always appauled by the quality and condition of the meals my nan used to have from MOW

[lyndal1838]

It is only 14 years since my father was receiving meals on wheels enigma.....they had not improved since your grandmother was receiving them.

When I went to my father's place in the late afternoon my first stop was the garbage bin to see what he had thrown out.  We had to monitor his food intake as he was losing weight but swore he was eating his meals. lol   He thought that by putting the food in the outside bin I would not know what he was doing.

David, if the MOW there is anything like here in NSW there would be no contest.....the lite n easy is a million times better.

If you find the veges are a bit underdone just give them a bit more time in the microwave.

You could also add to your meal variety with frozen meals from the supermarket.  On the Menu meals are quite good for a change.

[zanadoo_56]

I'll be interested in what you think of the Light n Easy meals. 

I bought YouFoodz for meals on off pay weeks for a while but they seem to include broccoli in almost everything....and I hate broccoli.  I still haven't decided whether to order any again.  After hospital food I'm enjoying 'real food' again (actualy cooking though even the supermarket frozen meals taste good).  YouFoodz is expensive stuff for what you get.

Light n Easy seem very keen on including cauliflower last time I looked....and I can't stand that either.  How much do the main meals cost?

[davidc4430]

i will take a look at the supermarket meals.

its a little sad MOW hasnt kept pace with the times.

would taking more care with the preparation (making sure the meals presentation was good) cost more?

my 14 meals from lite n easy costs $149 against MOW $133.

my main complaint isnt how they tasted but the fact you got no choice in what you got, no choice about ordering deserts you dont want.

sometimes meals were for people with no teeth, vitamized!

the containers were often damaged, crumpled or even punctured so during thawing they would leak. i put a tray in the fridge so if they did leak they didnt leak all over the fridge.

this is where L&E has them beat, hands down. for an extra $16 i get delivery on my doorstep wether i'm home or not in a sealed esky type box, all meals are clearly labeled with individual heating instructions.

AND i get to choose meals i like and only meals i like.

plus i can change meals as often as i like, try new ones if i desire and not just get something i dont want or like.

i must admit i got a surprise when i put my area into the 'do we deliver to your area' thing and it said 'yes'

wallaroo now has NBN and Food Delivery! LOL

[davidc4430]

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@zanadoo_56 wrote:

I'll be interested in what you think of the Light n Easy meals. 

I bought YouFoodz for meals on off pay weeks for a while but they seem to include broccoli in almost everything....and I hate broccoli.  I still haven't decided whether to order any again.  After hospital food I'm enjoying 'real food' again (actualy cooking though even the supermarket frozen meals taste good).  YouFoodz is expensive stuff for what you get.

Light n Easy seem very keen on including cauliflower last time I looked....and I can't stand that either.  How much do the main meals cost?

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luckily there are only a few vegies i cant be bothered with, pumpkin and zucini are my main turn offs.

broccoli ans cauliflower are fine (but i agree broccoli is not my fav)

cabbage i love but hardly ever get it with MOW. mum used to make really delish cauliflower.

and her steak and kidney pie was the best!

[lyndal1838]

zanadoo, google lite n easy......their website is excellent with full pricing of all the options and there is a nutritional breakdown of every dish (click on the 'i' symbol beside each dish.)

I have just been having a look....there is a much better variety since my daughter had them some years ago.

[zanadoo_56]

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@lyndal1838 wrote:

zanadoo, google lite n easy......their website is excellent with full pricing of all the options and there is a nutritional breakdown of every dish (click on the 'i' symbol beside each dish.)

I have just been having a look....there is a much better variety since my daughter had them some years ago.

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I have to admit - buying food I like is a LOT more important than the nutritional breakdown.  I don't care how healthy it is if I don't like the ingredients.

YouFoodz hasn't much variety (ie stuff I like) but delivery in my area is free, and besides the serving suggestion photos they also have photos of what the meal looks like in the package.  We all know meals rarely look like the staged pics.  Also they have weekly specials and other money saving offers.

Both YouFoodz and Light n Easy seem to have the same delivery packaging - a big foam box with freezer bricks in it....and this I find a sore trial to get into the house and even move when empty.  I'd taken to following the YF delivery tracking down to the last minute to ask the driver to bring the box inside.  Sometimes he would be too quick for me and escape. 🙂

[springyzone]

There isn't much of a price difference between MOW & L&E by the looks of it. I'd stick with the L&E.

I was amazed that you got absolutely no say as to what you might receive with MOW.

There are so many food allergies these days plus most people do have some food preferences. My mother never touched chicken, for example.

I wouldn't have thought it would be that hard to offer people eg 5-10 different meal choices each fortnight and perhaps change a couple of things on the menu every now and again. Then let people choose.