This Food Is As Close To A Personal Chef As We Can Get, And I Never Want To Go Back

Looking back (insert “It’s been 84 years” GIF), cooking was fun for about 2 weeks. Yep, prepping three meals a day — every day — was fun for two weeks.

Now it’s back-to-school time. If you’re like me, there’s something about kids going back to school that just says “fresh start.” (Give me a new pack of pens over a list of resolutions any day.) And whether your kids are in your dining room or in a school building — spoiler: there are literally no good options — you’ve got to feed them. And yourself!

So here’s the dilemma: laboring in the kitchen for hours every day to put together healthy, well-balanced, delicious meals? Or stressing over the effects – financial and physical – of a steady diet of takeout?

Turns Out You Can Have It All

When a friend suggested I try Daily Harvest, I was skeptical. To say the least. Clean, delicious food, built on real fruits and vegetables, delivered to your door pre-prepped? Ok, sounds like fake news.

I had to try it for myself. And now that I did? Y’all, I’m sold. Forever and ever. *cue angels singing*

Doing The Most, In A Good Way

It works like this: Daily Harvest partners with farms to meticulously source nourishing ingredients. Fruits and vegetables are frozen within 24 hours of harvest to lock in nutrients and flavor. Then a team of in-house chefs and nutritionists craft recipes that are both delicious and free of refined sugars, gluten, fillers, preservatives, or artificial anything. And with 75 meals, snacks, and desserts to choose from, there’s something for every craving and time of day. And again: brought to your doorstep. Pre-prepped. Ready in MINUTES.

Can we pause here to point out the time it would take to plan recipes this clean and free of junk? And that’s not even counting the time it would take to prep it all! I shudder.

I have to be honest: there’s some secret part of me that always felt like you couldn’t have clean, delicious and easy, all at the same time. I always thought you had to compromise either health, taste, or time.

Folks, I have been proven wrong. Deliciously, deliciously wrong.

My New Fave Lunch

When you sign up for Daily Harvest, you choose the meals, snacks and desserts you want. The first thing I tried was the Sweet Potato + Wild Rice Hash. You know what got me? “Tastes like Breakfast Burrito Bowl.” I’ve never met a breakfast burrito I didn’t love and this hash bowl did not disappoint. I could eat this for breakfast — I added a fried egg — or lunch every day for the next few months. It’s that good. And it’s the most perfect desk lunch. Pairs nicely with “my camera isn’t working right now.”

Now Breakfast Goes Smooth(ie)ly

Getting everyone in this house to eat breakfast every morning is a win. But when I can get them to finish a smoothie that’s packed with the fruits and vegetables they’d reject if they saw it on a plate? That’s a super win.

Daily Harvest is probably best known for their smoothies. They really are as good as they look. My daughter happily sips along with me on a morning Cacao + Avocado smoothie. She loves it because it tastes like a chocolate shake. I love it because she’s eating zucchini, plant-based protein and plenty of Omega-3s. The healthy fats and plenty of plant-based proteins keep us both full until lunch.

3 P.M. Has A New Favorite Snack

So you know how we’re all trying to do the absolute most — in a good way — to cope with *gesturing broadly* all this? Well, our new favorite coping mechanism is eating ice cream after school. Well, “ice cream.” Somehow Daily Harvest created the most decadent, creamy frozen dessert you can imagine and made it without gums, fake fillers, refined sugars or dairy. The Vanilla + Salted, Swirled Black Sesame tastes like the dreamiest vanilla ice cream with crunchy sesame cookie bits. Perfection.

Convenience Without Compromise

Listen, I don’t need to tell you 2020 is a beast. And while back-to-school time is always a little chaotic, this one’s like nothing we’ve ever dealt with before. (And please, oh please, never will again.) Daily Harvest is delicious, clean and — most important — easy. If you can take one thing off your overcrowded plate and replace it with a Kale + Sweet Potato Flatbread, DO IT.

Delicious food, built on fruits and vegetables, delivered to your door. Try Daily Harvest now and get $25 off with code SCARYMOMMY.