Giveaway: Daily Dish meal kit

A few weeks ago, I was asked to trial a new meal kit subscription service called Daily Dish.
I must admit, I was a bit sceptical until I checked out their website, which explained everything so clearly and I liked that there were a few different options to suit different budgets, as well as options to order meals for either 2 or 4 people. They are also in partnership with Fairview, so a lot of the food is sourced directly from the Fairview farm, as well as other local fresh produce and free range farms, so I was happy that produce is local and the quality would be good.
But the best part – the food is delivered fresh, not frozen!
Whilst frozen can be convenient, what I miss with those services is actually being part of the cooking process – which I quite enjoy – so with this service your ingredients are all fresh and you cook the meals from scratch, using a recipe card which is provided.

So I elected to receive the low carb box, for 2 people and waited for my delivery to arrive the following Monday.  Orders close at 11am each Wednesday and your box is delivered the following Monday by courier in a box that is lined with polystyrene, packed with ice packs and each meal and ingredient perfectly labelled – very impressive!

The menu cards are included and the order in which to eat the meals is suggested, according to the expiry dates of each ingredient, which is clearly marked on every single ingredient you receive.
You’re expected to have things like olive oil & butter, salt & pepper on hand, but everything down to the tablespoon of xyitol added to the sauerkraut, the basil pesto for the chicken and the teaspoon of mustard powder used in the steak recipe was included, so your week of meals is very much sorted.

Here’s what was in the Low Carb box for 2 which I ordered:
Pesto Chicken Stacks
Pork Bangers with Spinach & Mushroom
Kassler Chops with Sauerkraut
Sirloin Steak with special sauce

Each week you’re provided with 4 meals – they’ve decided that most people will eat out at least once in a 5 day period or will do a takeaway on a Friday – so you can choose from either a Classic, Low Carb (Banting), Vegetarian, Pork-free or Budget box. The recipes in each box change weekly too AND you can change which box you want from week to week, or pause your subscription whenever you feel like it – there is no contract!

I’m not going to lie – it was the most amount of cooking I’ve done in a week in ages! I realise how crazy our lives are and how reliant we are on foods that you just shove in the microwave – scary!
I enjoyed cooking each evening immensely – even though the convenience of having dinner ready in 15 minutes wasn’t there – none of the meals actually took longer than 30 minutes to prepare and cook.
We elected to braai some of the meat instead of cooking it on the stove, so it was also great to be cooking together – another thing that most people don’t do anymore.

Here are 2 of the meals I cooked – quite proud of myself ;)

I also enjoyed cooking from a recipe and using ingredients that I wouldn’t usually – the pork bangers meal was accompanied by spinach and mushrooms, which a pinch of nutmeg was added to – it gave the dish a totally new, delicious flavour. I had also never made my own sauerkraut and it turned out really well – we’re now going to make it ourselves instead of buying it in a jar.
The fact that you’re supplied with the exact amount of ingredients needed for each meal also means that there is zero waste. I can’t tell you how many times I chuck out a half eaten bag of veggies or sauce because they’re past their sell-by date – so frustrating and such a waste of money!

So all in all, I loved this service and am definitely going to be using it again in future. They also scored points in my book as they’ve paid attention to branding, presentation and flexibility – the food was fresh and delivered promptly and each item was clearly labelled, with beautifully printed menu cards – not a flimsy photostat. Their website is clear and concise and this follows through to what you receive in your box. And the fact that I can pause and resume the service whenever I want, based on my weekly needs, is a big bonus – I even think this would be great to take with on a local holiday!

The Daily Dish service is currently available in the Western Cape, Eastern Cape, KZN and Gauteng – you can check their website for the exact cities and suburbs – there are loads of them.
Pricing varies from R570 for a 2 person budget box, to R1100 for a 4 person pork-free box and includes delivery. And the contents of each box changes weekly – click to have a look here at what’s in the boxes next week.

SPECIAL READER OFFER:
The team at Daily Dish have kindly offered a R250 discount on ANY box (for 2 or 4 people) to all my blog readers. All you have to do to redeem this discount, is visit the website here, order your box and use the promo code SUPERFRESH to claim your discount – EASY!

GIVEAWAY:

Competition is closed.
Winner: Kim Roberts

A ONE WEEK BOX UP FOR GRABS:
Then I also have a box to giveaway – any one of the weekly boxes, for 2 or 4 people!

How to enter:
1. Like the Ask Ashe Blog page on facebook
2. Visit the Daily Dish website and then leave me a comment on this post letting me know which box you would like to win
3. As usual, you can like and share this competition too – include @askashe in your tweets or share from my facebook page :)

Please note:
× Competition starts on Thursday 25 June 2015 & ends on Tuesday 14th July at midday.
× The winner will be contacted by email and announced by Thursday 16th July at midday.
× Please make sure you leave a valid email address when leaving a comment.
× A one week meal kit of the winner’s choice, for up to 4 people, as well as delivery is included in the prize.
× The prize is not transferable for cash.
× This competition is only open to SA residents who reside in one of the delivery areas specified on the Daily Dish website – if you do not reside in one of these areas and you win, the prize will be forfeited and another winner chosen.

Good luck!