Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Greenlite Meals Review and Discount Giveaway!

 
Today I have a review of Greenlite Meals, which is a vegan, plant-based healthy meal plan that is delivered to your home (or office).  The meals are vacuum sealed and frozen, and packaged in an "insulated, environmentally-friendly shipping container" (looks like Styrofoam but it's 100% recyclable) with dry ice.

I received the Kick Starter sample pack, which contained seven meals and seven snacks.  This normally costs $79.99 but mine was free.  This was a great way to try everything from breakfast to dinner, with some snacks as well.  Here's what was in my pack (I believe the contents change depending on what items they are featuring, so you might not get the same things):
  • Strawberry Coconut Oatmeal
  • Carrot Cake Smoothie
  • Southwest Salad
  • Pumpkin Curry Stew w/Quinoa and Brussel Sprouts w/Button Mushrooms
  • Nutloaf w/BBQ Maranara, w/Green Beans and Almonds
  • Maple Orange Tofu w/Mixed Vegetables and Quinoa
  • Chickpea Burger w/Garlicky Kale and Miso Carrots
  • Raw Fruit n Nut Balls
  • Chocolate Covered Frozen Banana
  • Fruit Bar
  • Trail Mix
  • Maple Nut Granola
  • Protein Cookie
  • Raw Almonds
Some of this food took me outside my comfort zone in what I normally eat.  I was surprised to find that I really liked the Pumpkin Curry Stew!  It was really flavorful and very filling.  My other shocker was the Strawberry Coconut Oatmeal - I am NOT a hot cereal lover, but this was super good.  The flavor combination was very appealing, and on the day that I ate it for breakfast, I was not hungry for lunch until 3:00 pm!  I checked the nutrition facts and discovered that it has protein powder in it, so that may have contributed to why it held me for so long.  All of the sides were good.  While I liked the maple orange glaze, I was not a fan of the tofu it covered...but then again, I have only eaten tofu a few times in my life and it's not something I particularly like.

The snacks were interesting - I LOVED the Raw Fruit n Nut Balls.  LOVED THEM.  The Fruit Bar and the Chocolate Covered Frozen Banana were very good, too.  The Maple Nut Granola was fine, but there were two servings in the package and I get more bang for my caloric buck with my own granola recipe, so I wouldn't bother with that.  I felt that the Trail Mix and Raw Almonds weren't anything special as I could easily buy them in my grocery store...I guess if you never had time to do any food shopping, this would be appreciated, but I'd rather get more Raw Fruit n Nut Balls in my shipment (have I mentioned how much I loved them??).  The only thing out of this entire shipment that I really didn't like was the Protein Cookie - it was dry and tasted like protein powder.  Still, not a bad miss for a box full of hits!

My one quibble is that the nutrition labels are incredibly small.  I know I'm looking at these with 50-year-old eyes, but seriously...can you read this?
Next to my iPhone for comparison...I had to go on Greenlite's website to get the nutrition info for each item, which was kind of annoying.

There are all kinds of ways to order food, from complete meal plans (including diet, muscle-building, and gluten-free, just to name a few), or you can order ala carte, which is what I would probably do, if I place another order - this way I could get my favorites and not bother with tofu.  If you live in California, where Greenlite Meals is based, the shipping (via Fed Ex) is pretty reasonable - $12.  For the rest of the contiguous United States, it's $25, which still isn't bad considering how everything is packed, but yikes.  I'd probably place a big order once in a while to cut down on the shipping cost (orders over $150 ship free, so there's that option).

I have two ways for you to try Greenlite Meals - you can place an order using the code "JOURNEY15" at checkout for 15% off your food, or you can enter to win 50% off of a Kick Starter sample pack (you will have to pay for shipping).  U.S. residents only in the contiguous 48 states are eligible for this one.  Leave me a comment saying you'd like to enter the 50% off drawing and I'll announce a winner on Friday.

Comments are closed as this giveaway has ended.

FTC disclaimer:  I received a Kick Starter sample pack for free; Greenlite meals will work with winner to arrange payment and delivery.

9 comments:

  1. hmmm. the husband and I were just chatting about different options for him.
    off to read more about these!

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  2. I'm looking for some different healthy options to keep things interesting. This looks like a good option. Please enter me for the discount drawing! :)

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  3. This is new to me, so thank you for the honest review! I would love to try it out for myself!

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  4. Yeah, some of their food looks really good. I'd love a chance to try it for 50% off!

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  5. Ima have to check this out. I was thinking this would be a fun gift for me to give my Dad. He can't do gluten, so I'm glad to see they offer gf.
    I'm not ready to shell out right now even at 50% off though (it was nice that they sent you some for free.) Gets pretty spendy with the shipping.
    So no entry, but interesting.
    Chrissy

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  6. When are you going to do a giveaway where your favourite foreign blogger can participate in too :)

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  7. I tried to comment twice last night from my phone to enter the draw but I don't know if the messages are in a holding period or I didn't do it correctly (I was commenting on my phone) Anyway I would love to try this method of eating…please enter me in the contest! Thanks for all you do in your blog to entertain and teach us. Sue

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    1. I checked my spam folder for the comments and there was nothing new, so I guess your phone just didn't want to communicate with my blog? Any case, I'm glad you managed to get your comment in. :)

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