Daily Harvest Review + why I love it as a working mom

If you want to try Daily Harvest for yourself, use this link and promo code TERI to get up to $65 off your first box!

I first got hooked on Daily Harvest when I was training for the Boston Marathon and working 80 hours a week. During that time, I was fried and didn’t always feel like meal prepping to have healthy lunch options. And oftentimes I was eating two breakfasts since I was so hungry after a mid-week 10 miler. But let’s get one thing straight: I love healthy food but it MUST taste good. So Daily Harvest had a high bar to meet.

I’m usually really good about chopping veggies and cooking things for the week but that doesn’t always happen, especially when I’m in training. I tend to eat the same thing over and over. And these days, I love Daily Harvest specifically for their smoothies (Thomas and I BOTH love these) and because it makes healthy meals SO simple when I have a busy day. While I still like to cook dinners, breakfast and lunch is so much simpler with a few Daily Harvest meals a week.

Daily Harvest Review

Daily Harvest Review

So, what is Daily Harvest?

It’s a meal delivery service that makes it easy to eat more fruits and vegetables every day. Everything is shipped to your door, completely frozen and ready to eat with just a few minutes of prep. Everything comes packed with dry ice in a large box (it sits at the bottom of the packaging) and I’ve never once had issues with anything melting — and I’ve been using the service for nearly 7 years!

Is Daily Harvest actually good for you?

All of their items are gluten free, dairy-free, plant-based and 95% of their ingredients are organic. They never use gums, fillers, preservatives or artificial anything. And you can also filter your options to meet other requirements like vegan, keto, low-carb, etc.

Is Daily Harvest a subscription?

Yes. You can choose a plan of 9, 14, or 24 items that come weekly or monthly for your first Daily Harvest box, and then anywhere between 6-26 items per box following that. Daily Harvest is extremely flexible though. You can skip deliveries whenever you want, add or remove items, and change box sizes. Their app makes it super easy to manage and ensure you don’t get anything you don’t want! My full review and my favorites from their collections are below. I also shared a few items I wouldn’t order again.

How does Daily Harvest work?

You pick out your food from all of their collections online, choosing how many items you want to get in your order (9, 12, or 24 items) and how often you want them (weekly, monthly). They ship frozen (packed with lots of dry ice) directly to your door. Just pop them in the freezer until you’re ready to make them.

You can change each delivery and even skip weeks, which is nice for when you want variety or things come up in life. Since they’re shipped frozen, you can keep them for a WHILE. This video shows an unboxing and what the smoothies are like.

Daily Harvest Review for busy moms

My Review of Daily Harvest Products

Im going to go through each of my favorite Daily Harvest products and share my thoughts, but if you want the quick and dirty version:

In short, Daily Harvest smoothies, flatbreads and scoops are delicious.

The smoothies and flatbreads add more variety to my eating lifestyle, take a little stress off me from prepping all my meals, and help me get fruit and veggies no matter what is going on in my day. The scoops are a sweet way to end the day without making me feel sick like so many ice creams do. (I have ice cream almost every night!).

For breakfast, I tend to eat a vegetable egg scramble nearly every day and just mix up my side – potatoes, toast, berries, tomatoes, or a combo of all of those. While I used to make smoothies a lot, it can take a lot of time to pull out all the ingredients so I just don’t very often ( especially now as a mom to a 10 month old), or I just don’t have the right ingredients for a smoothie. The Daily Harvest smoothies are such a nice change for breakfast (sometimes I’ll add protein powder). The cups are easy to store in the freezer since they’re small and compact, and while I wish the lids weren’t plastic, Daily Harvest’s new packaging and shipping materials are 100% curbside recyclable (and actually, some items, like bowls and latte pods, are 100% compostable too).

For lunch, I usually make a salad with grilled chicken, or just eat leftovers. And our leftovers tend to be the same thing over and over – grilled chicken + sweet potatoes + roasted veggies. All fine, but even I’m getting a little bored with our food – and I make it!! The Daily Harvest harvest bowls help mix things up for lunch too!

I love that Daily Harvest helps me eat my fruits and vegetables when life is crazy.

It’s SO convenient, especially when I don’t have the time to prepare meals for myself during the day. Would I eat an entire day of Daily Harvest meals? No, but it does help me eat well, even if I’m pinched for time.

Daily Harvest Smoothies

I first tried the Daily Harvest smoothies a few years ago when I was living in Charlotte. And I remember then being completely shocked by just how good they were. I didn’t have them again until I started ordering them during marathon training and I had the same reaction then that I did the first go-around: They are SO FREAKING GOOD. And I consider myself pretty adept at making a good smoothie!

I usually just make up my smoothies as I go, but there must really be something to measuring your ingredients or having a specific recipe. Shocking. (I do have a few tried and true smoothie recipes!)

With Daily Harvest, you just take the cup of fruits and veggies, fill it to the top with the recommended liquid noted on the container (water, coconut water, almond milk, or Daily Harvest’s new plant-based dairy-free Almond Mylk, which is just almonds and sea salt.) and pour it into the blender. Blend, pour it back into the cup, and you’re done. We’re talking like 60 seconds.

I typically add protein powder and collagen to mine.

The smoothies are not naturally high protein, so keep that in mind.

If you do that, you’ll need to add more liquid.

My husband also loves these smoothies. Tommy typically just grabs a protein bar as he runs out the door to work so this is a great way to get some fruits and veggies in him to start his day. And let me be clear – Tommy definitely doesn’t crave healthy food the way I do. So if he didn’t like a smoothie, he’d tell me. He loves the Mint Cacao smoothie, which has banana, spinach, cacao, cashew, chlorella, and peppermint in it. It tastes so fresh.

The other flavor we love is the new Banana + Almond–– which contains banana, parsnip, almond, dark chocolate, cashew, and flaxseed. SO good and has 15 grams of protein! Don’t let the parsnip scare you! It gives it great texture and filling power.

Harvest Bowls

Harvest Bowls are new since I first tried Daily Harvest and they are SO GOOD. They have so much flavor and cook in about 5 minutes. You just pour them in a skillet until warm. (You can also just heat them in the microwave, which is super handy if you’re short on time or don’t want to dirty a dish. Like I mentioned earlier, the Harvest Bowls are 100% compostable AND they’re microwavable. I think they taste better when I heat it in the skillet, but the microwave is good and easy too, especially when I was taking them to work in my Corporate America days.! )

I usually top mine with leftover chicken or beans since I have a pretty big appetite and the bowls alone aren’t filling enough for me.

What I especially like about the Harvest Bowls is how flavorful they are and how many veggies they pack into them. It’s also really nice to have a warm dish for lunch since my usual go-to’s are a cold or room temperature option like a salad or sandwich.

My favorite bowls (so far! I’m always excited to try a new one) are the Cauliflower Rice + Kimchi (which has cauliflower, kimchi, carrot, tamari, sesame, and gochugaru) and the Quinoa + Chipotle (zucchini, quinoa, tomato, purple corn, mesquite, and chipotle).

Flatbreads

I just got the Daily Harvest Flatbread in my last two boxes, and I LOVE them!!

These make a great lunch option if you work from home since you have to factor in time for preheating the oven and baking, but they only take 20-25 minutes in the oven. Otherwise, try them for dinner!

My favorite so far is the Kale + Sweet Potato one. It has sweet potato, red cabbage, kale, cauliflower, spinach and coriander. I tried the Kabocha + Sage and it was fine but I wouldn’t order it again. I will say, they are not protein heavy so I really like to add an egg or leftover grilled chicken on top. They have SO much flavor, they just need a little protein if you are like me :).

Daily Harvest Review Flatbreads

Scoops

I also tried the Daily Harvest Scoops Ice Cream for the first time in my recent shipment, and I really like it. ALL of them are plant-based and dairy-free, which is so important for me right now as I’m breastfeeding Thomas (who is sensitive to dairy). They’re all made from whole ingredients, i.e. no weird ingredients on the label! My favorites are the Mint + Dark, Melty Cacao Chips and the Vanilla + Salted, Swirled Black Sesame. I didn’t love the chocolate as much as I like other chocolate non-dairy ice creams though, so I wouldn’t order that again.

Note that they are ROCK HARD, as are many non-dairy ice creams, so you need to leave them out on the counter for about 10 minutes before eating. At that point, they’re perfectly creamy!

What can you order from Daily Harvest?

They have an EXTENSIVE list of menu items. Check these out:

Smoothies

Mint + Cacao is my favorite so far! (This one has ALWAYS been my favorite! I even attempted to recreate it here!)

Harvest Bowls

These are full of good-for-you ingredients with lots of veggies so you have a healthy, filling meal without a lot of work. I like to add leftover chicken, tempeh or beans for more protein. Definitely try the Brussels Sprouts + Sesame option along with the Sweet Potato Wild Rice Hash (tastes like a breakfast burrito bowl).

Harvest Bakes

These are veggie packed dishes that you can pop right in the oven. They’re great on their own but also make a perfect side dish when served with a protein.

Bites

These are a little bit like my homemade energy balls. They’re a combo of superfood and sweetness rolled into a ball. Think of them like cookie dough! They’re all gluten-free.

Daily Harvest Soups

I’ve loved all the soups I’ve tried! Lentil + Cremini is a favorite.

Chia Bowls

The only one I’ve tried is the Blackberry + Majik, I wasn’t a fan, but Thomas was! You have to remember 6+ hours in advance to prepare it so it can soak in the fridge overnight, so make sure to plan ahead!

Lattes

I want to try Coffee + Almond one but have a hard time justifying the price and it sounds kind of like a pain. They’re little frozen pods with all the ingredients for a latte. You add the pod to a mug or sauce pan with your liquid of choice and heat it all up until it melts and combines. You can see the little pods here.

Oat Bowls

These are now called Forager Bowls, when you’re searching. The Apple + Cinnamon oat bowl is too sweet for my taste, but Tommy liked it! I could see this being a great breakfast for kids who love sweet foods!

Flatbreads

Delicious and a nice change in my lunches.

Mylk

I haven’t tried their Mylk yet. But I would love to see how the Almond flavor tastes since I typically don’t like almond milk.

Forager Bowls

These look like they’d be a great treat for a snack. These are essentially grain bowls, filled with tons of superfoods. I’m eyeing the Raspberry + Mulberry Seeded which has raspberry, apple, almond cauliflower, butternut squash, and coconut.

Scoops

Dairy-free, plant-based ice cream is always a treat for me.

None of their ingredient lists are complicated – just clean, simple food. But, they use things I’m probably never going to buy (hi dragonfruit & lychee) and it saves me so much time. I love cooking, but right now I can’t always make something super interesting.

How much does Daily Harvest cost?

Each item is between $5.99-11.99 each. And there are certain things in life that I’ll pay a little more for, for convenience’s sake. Yes, it may seem expensive. But so is time. Especially when it comes to making clean, healthy meals while taking care of a 10 month old!

But really, when you compare it to eating out, it’s definitely cheaper. Most smoothies in my town cost $8-$10 and salads are almost always $10-$15. And if you live in a bigger city, you’re likely paying even more than that. You’re also getting them brought straight to your door, which makes it EASY as a busy mom.

How Daily Harvest differs from other frozen meals

Full disclosure: I RARELY buy frozen meals (e.g. I might buy a frozen pizza like once a year) since freezer meals typically have sketch ingredients, a weird texture and a weird freezer burn taste. But I honestly forget when I’m eating Daily Harvest that they came to me frozen. I also recently tried another similar brand and they were NOT nearly as tasty. And by not nearly as tasty, I really mean nasty. I couldn’t even finish the lunch bowl I tried.

Because of the way Daily Harvest handles the fruits and vegetables, using a unique freezing process, working directly with farmers to grow the best produce, harvest it at the right time, and freeze it within 24 hours at the source, they lock in amazing flavor and nutrition.

Plus, there’s no added sugar, and all of their recipes are packed with fruit and veggies. I don’t feel gross after I eat them. Plus, they just taste good. I’m talking REAL good.

Daily Harvest Recall

Because I’ve partnered with Daily Harvest in the past, I received multiple communications with updates after this TikTok (among others) went viral. Here’s what they communicated on July 20, 2022.

On June 17th, we initiated a voluntary recall of the French Lentil Leek Crumbles. At the same time, we launched an investigation into what could have caused this problem. We have been working closely with the FDA, the CDC as well as top doctors, microbiologists, toxicologists and three independent labs to find the answer. We considered all possibilities, including processing issues or infection, and have ruled all of them out: Hepatitis A, Norovirus, a range of mycotoxins, including aflatoxins, food-borne pathogens including Listeria, E.Coli, Salmonella, Staphylococcus Aureus (Staph), B.Cereus, and Clostridium Species and major allergens including egg, soy, milk, and gluten. Testing also confirmed there are no pesticides or the presence of heavy metal levels that would have caused the reported adverse effects.

At this time, we have identified tara flour as the cause of the issue.

Our extensive investigation has involved many experts analyzing data from all sources. We have only used this ingredient in French Lentil + Leek Crumbles and we are no longer sourcing from this producer who does not provide any ingredients for our 140+ other items. This was the first and only time we’ve used tara flour, which has been available in the North American market as a plant-based source of protein. Our investigation team will continue working with the FDA, the tara flour producer and others to help determine what specifically made people sick.

The testing process and investigation also validated the safety of our supply chain and manufacturing processes. We are confident that we continue to uphold the highest standards for quality and safety. You can safely enjoy the rest of our 140+ items with confidence.

We appreciate the trust our customers put in Daily Harvest every time they feed their families. What they put on their table is what we put on ours – and our customers’ health and safety are our top priority. We are committed to making sure this experience provides lessons we can implement. We’re also working with those who experienced adverse reactions to help them.

Thankfully, I never ordered the Leek crumbles (I almost did!) but I knew I was unlikely to eat it. I have ordered and consumed many, many smoothies over the past month and have had absolutely no issues so I do trust that the problem is contained to that one product. You can read more on their website here, including how to contact them if you’ve been affected.

Bottom line: is Daily Harvest worth it, and would I pay for it myself?

Absolutely. I’ve partnered with Daily Harvest twice now, and both times have received free items to try, but I’ve used it on my own without a partnership, paying out of my own pocket, in between those two times because I love it so much. I’m not a registered dietitian, so make sure to do your own research as it relates to you own health goals :).

If you’ve tried Daily Harvest, I’d love to know what your favorites are for my next order!

If you want to try Daily Harvest for yourself, use this link and promo code TERI to get up to $65 off your first box.



Source link

#Daily #Harvest #Review #love #working #mom