mom hacks
KIDS READY MADE MEALS: Yumble A meal kit is a time-saver, especially for the busy parent, but what if you love the service, but your kid does not? My oldest son rarely ate any of the dishes I cooked from the meal kit services we used in the past. I like the idea of having healthy food that gets delivered to my door with meals that allow a break when preparing the family dinner, especially when having a busy work month, or my husband is traveling for long periods. But what is the point of cooking up these meals if the kids aren’t going to eat them? So we gave Yumble a whirl. This meal service is geared towards kids, and the meals are ready-made. There are no ingredients to whip up — it’s you choosing your meals and popping them in the oven. Why it works: Yumble works hard to make kids happy with their meals. Smart. They aren’t underestimating their customer. They may be a bit crazy to service the pickiest age group in the universe, but they aren’t missing a beat with meals such as Tasty Taco Bowl and Handmade Pizza Pockets. From the
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Brooklyn Family | October 2019
moment the box is delivered, Yumble feels happy. My son was excited from the get-go as the wooing starts as soon as you open the creative packaging and a packet that includes star charts, golden coins that are meant to be given as a reward, activity sheets they can draw on and a few other cool things. Yumbe worked hard to please my picky eater and, drum roll, it worked. We received six meals, and there were no complaints about any of the meals. Neat packaging, fun names, and food that kids want to eat, the kinds of food they love yet are made to be healthy. Yumble also offers dairy, egg, gluten-free, as well as vegetarian options. I was prepared to have to sell my boy on these meals, which has been my past experience. With Yumble, there was no cajoling. I did add fresh fruit and
cheese to all the meals as my kid is a big dinner eater. Best value is the 12 meals plan, which for two kids averages out to $5.62 a meal. Favorites: My oldest loved the Bowl of Yays Pasta, the Vegetarian Bean Burrito and Better Chicken Nugget Dinner. The costs of six meals comes to about $50, a valuable service for our busy lives.
HEARTY BASICS: Gobble With starting a new job and back-to-school hitting, I needed to step off the planning-shoppingcooking treadmill for a while and gave Gobble a whirl. While I was initially taken-aback by the amount of plastic packaging the meals came in, I definitely appreciated the easy and quick familyfriendly meals they provided. Gobble promises “dinner kits designed for 15 minutes,” and while I didn’t quite hit that time frame (partly because I was trying to multi-task with homework and stack-
ing the dishwasher!) I was always under 30 minutes from taking the ingredients out of the fridge, to dinner being served. I also love how Gobble offers Lean & Clean options for parents who might be trying to get healthy and clearly marks allergens. Why it works: Gobble keeps it pretty simple and classic, avoiding strong flavors, or making it easy to serve sauces on the side for picky eaters. The portions were also hearty and perfect for hungry kiddos. Because of the limited space in my New York kitchen, I don’t have many big pans (or the kind that can go in the oven) so I always went over the one pot promise, but I found the prep super-easy and clean up afterwards was a breeze. Favorites: I never thought that the Pan-roasted Chicken with Pesto Mashed Potatoes, Asparagus and Carrots would be something that could be produced in less than 30 minutes!