Is a SimplyCook subscription worth it?

[hellsbellswithcherryontop]

I can cook and used to enjoy it but due to a combination of working and fussy eaters I've lost inspiration and given up and am relying on convenience foods and the same meals again and again, I'm thinking of subscribing to simplycook for a couple of months to try and get my enthusiasm back.
Our local supermarkets can be quite limited in what they stock(no ethnic stores nearby either) which doesn't help

Does anybody else use them and find they're good for inspiration as I would really like to enjoy cooking again?

Primarily aimed at the paranoid among us 🤣

I was wondering!aasumed it was for people who are regularly wanting to spy on their other halves

It depends. If you are easily paranoid it might not be the subscription for you. If on the other hand you like conspiracy theories then go for it.

Bloody autocorrect. Have asked MNHQ if they can change title

• [Message from MNHQ: we've changed it now]

I really wanted a Suspicion Subscription to exist

First month : Binoculars

My neighbour got Gousto but got rid off it, meals a massive faff to make and he didn't like them all.

We use Gousto- we've been using it for almost a year now and absolutely love it. It gives us a variety of dishes we'd have never have thought of before.

We did try Hello Fresh but found that the ingredients weren't as good and we found their recipes a faff to follow.

If you're thinking of trying Gousto:

Here’s my link to try Gousto! Use it to get 60% off your first box, PLUS 30% off all other boxes in your first month. https://cook.gousto.co.uk/raf?promocode=PAULI41963197&utmm_source=iosapp

If money was no object I'd do it. But it's a very expensive way of cooking. I've tried gusto and hello fresh and was very disappointed with hello fresh so would go with gusto

Oh is it like those murder case ones where they send you clues weekly?

I do Gousto, you can try a one off box so don't need to subscribe. We get stuck in a rut sometimes and it's lovely to try new things. It's great as the quality is great and you get to use ingredients I've not used previously. It's better than having to buy ingredients for something you don't know you will like and it going to waste.

We have simplycook and love it. We order it about once a month to give us some inspiration. Because we have to buy the main ingredients ourselves, it gives us the flexibility to vary the dish and cook it when we want without being bound to use by dates from the meal provider. Happy to DM you a link for a free trial if you want to try it.

I've never used any of the meal kit subscriptions, but I found myself in the same situation as you.

I quite like the recipe finder section on the Tesco online grocery site. You can type in 3 random ingredients and it gives you a selection of recipe ideas. It's free too!

Do the recipes come in cut out newspaper letters like a ransom note?

I use BBC good food and find that good but I do find the lack of choice in shopping locally not easy so one of the reasons I was looking at simply cook is because all the spice and sauces are included.

Mindful chef is brilliant

I'm really disappointed. Suspicion subscriptions sounded interesting.

I did the same with Gousto for a bit. It definitely helped not least because it made me appreciate that I could do more interesting things and make them better/cheaper! But I definitely found it helped and I made myself pick more unusual dishes so that I was actually getting new experiences. Not all worked but we've had a few hits that will be (and have been) repeated.

That said, I REALLY want a suspicion subscription and would like someone to invent one please

What's the word meant to be?

If you can't get a decent selection of spices, sauces etc locally, it can be a good, if expensive way of getting specialist ingredients, so worth a go.

It seems terrible value for me, but we have the full range of world foods in all the local supermarkets plus several specialist Indian/Chinese/Japanese/Thai grocers where you could spend £10/20 and be set up for several months of cooking with these ingredients weekly.

You could also look at internet shopping, eg:

www.waiyeehong.com/

www.orientalmart.co.uk/

www.redrickshaw.com/

The curry legend and taco legend spice blends and books from the spicery are good

www.thespicery.com/tacolegend

You buy a book and set of 4 spice blends and that's all the spices you need to cook everything in the book - obviously need fresh/frozen garlic and ginger and meat, veg, rice, pulses etc.

Or they do standalone kits to make a multi dish meal.

Murder Mystery Subscription Box www.cosykiller.com/

I haven't tried it myself. I haven't tried meal subscription boxes either because my life in the kitchen is hell and the men in my family would destroy any attempt at me planning stuff.

Things I've struggled to buy recently have included sesame oil, cajun seasoning, fajita seasoning, mascarpone so uou can imagine what it's like for anything even slightly exotic, do try to order online but often find things are only available in larger quantities which then go to waste.

I have got quite good at finding recipes for spice blends online which I mix myself but it's not always possible

I've recently got a trial, I quite like it. Certainly more a once a month thing for inspiration rather than a weekly thing.

It's nice to have a recipe without having to go hunting for ingredients or mixing spice blends. In some ways of course its expensive for a meals worth of spices but it saves buying a pot of this, bottle of that, for one meal.

I had tried a gusto box once, and that I found nice for what it was but not something I could justify. It was nice having everything measured but similarly couldn't stand having 2/3 tubs with a tbsp of tomato puree when I had a whole tub in the cupboard (for example). I also tried to pick easy recipes for my less than capable partner but easy seemed to equal quick not basic - managing tortilla chips baking while cooking chilli from a recipe card needs a level of speed and confidence not in beginner dp.

@eclipsechips

Thanks for the discount! Signed up just now. Hopefully,you’ll get your reward also!

I really like it. It's nowhere near as expensive as gousto etc as you buy the main ingredients yourself. We've recently had a baby and used them a lot because the meals are generally really quick and easy and we have a short window to cook in the week. Not all the meals are brilliant but I'd say we enjoy 3/4 of them each month. You basically only need 4 or 5 incredients for each meal which I think would suit you from what you say. I wish I could know what is in some of the pots so I could replicate the recipes but that would sort of defeat the point of their business... Do you want any recipe recommendations op?