Let’s be real. Meal prepping sucks out loud. I love the idea of having a freezer full of healthy food but there’s no way I’m sacrificing an entire Sunday to the stove, oven, or slow cooker to make that happen.
Meal delivery services make life easier, but I’m not super keen on the mass-produced ones that taste a bit cardboardy. I’m not about compromising on flavour, ok!
There is an answer to this conundrum. It’s iCooked, Toowoomba’s very own meal delivery service.
It’s helmed by the guys from The Finch, so you know the food is great. They took this established business over early last year and since then have worked on expanding the range and adding their own flavour to the meal selection.
The iCooked recipes are their family favourites or inspired by notable chefs. The cuisine style leans towards Mediterranean and Asian, and is simple, handmade, wholesome home cooking!
I tried out a couple of meals recently – read on for the verdict!
Sampling the menu
Edwina from iCooked and The Finch handed me a brown paper bag with three goodies: chicken and vegetable pie, slow cooked beef ragu and pea and ham soup.
The soup is still hanging out in the freezer, waiting for a rainy day (it has a storage life of six months – very convenient), however, the pie didn’t last a day. A tasty filling topped with a flaky pastry lid, it was the perfect indulgent lunch while working from home on a chilly day.
While the pie was good, the ragu was my fave, and definitely something I’d work into a regular meal rotation. A rich tomato sauce with beautiful chunks of beef, it was a comforting, flavourful winter meal and paired great with gluten free pasta. Next time I’ll try it with zoodles!
The pie. I added chips because that’s how you eat pie.
The verdict
Loved it.
What’s great about iCooked is everything is pre-portioned into generous sizes for one, two, three or four people. So, there’s no waste, and no over eating (but you will be full).
As the meals are made from scratch with fresh ingredients, many of the recipes just happen to be dairy free, gluten free, or vegetarian, so you’re sure to find a meal to suit your diet.
If you care for an elderly person who’s not up to cooking as much, if you’re fabulously single and busy, if you’re a time poor parent, or if you just don’t dig cooking, iCooked is for you. And, because it’s sourced and prepared locally the quality is second-to-none over other meal ordering services.
The meals will last for ages in the freezer and there is a great selection of staples and seasonal options on the website.
Meals are delivered every Tuesday and Thursday, or if you’re outside the delivery area you can pick them up at commercial kitchen at The North Toowoomba Bowls Club (2 Elworthy St) or The Finch. They’re also stocked at McKenzie Row Spar. The website is super easy to use and gives really clear info about what’s in each meal, how to prepare it and even tips on what to pair it with.
Try out iCooked – go to icooked.com.au or follow on Facebook or Instagram.
Feature image: slow cooked beef ragu, photo courtesy of iCooked. Thanks to Edwina at iCooked for supplying me with meals to taste for this review. All opinions are honest and my own.
