I was pleased to try Wise Apple home-delivered meals recently. This Midwestern-based company delivers customized and ready-prepared meals right to your door. These lunches are geared towards children, but can also be consumed by adults. The meals can be ordered the week before and are delivered in a refrigerated container that are easily stackable in the refrigerator. 
Disclosure: I was not financially compensated for this post. I received a sample for review purposes. The opinions are completely my own based on my experience.
Nutrition Breakdown (ranking by nutrient)
- Fat: moderate
- Protein: moderate to high
- Carbohydrates: moderate to high
- Sugar: high
- Sodium: moderate to high
- Fiber: moderate to high
- Overall calories: generally range between ~350-550. I would keep the lower-calorie meal options to the younger ages of children and vice versa with the higher-calorie meals for children aged closer to 8.
From my standpoint, some of the meals with more processed food items, such as lunch meat or cheese exceeded what I would consider a healthy amount of sodium in one meal with some ranging up to 1000mg of sodium. Similarly, the sugar content being excessive at times at upwards to 30g of sugar in one meal. I would like to add however that the meals can be customized. So if you’re worried about a meal providing too much fat, sodium, or sugar, you can provide more vegetables/fruit or alter the meal to provide more protein for example.
The Pros
Although I am only a fur baby momma, I would happily purchase these home-delivered lunches for my children in the future. The meals can be customized based on food preferences or based on age but they can also be selected at random making this appealing to children that want to design their own lunch. To ensure satiety for a quicker growing child, a meal can be modified to include higher protein, which I found to be a great feature. The convenience of the delivered meals saves the working mom the extra time to either spend with her children or even read a book for leisure on a Sunday instead of meal-prepping all day (hey, mental health is important too!). These meals are also relatively affordable depending on how many meals you prefer, starting at $35 for 5 meals/week.
Some extra bonuses of these meals:
- Completely nut-free, making them school and allergy-friendly
- GMO-free
- Partners with other healthy food companies, such as Banza and supports local farms in the Midwest region
- Dietitian-approved meals (aka a nutrition expert is keeping a close eye on the health of the meals)
- Gluten and soy-free food options available
- No need for reheating-can be eaten cold or at room temperature
- Packaging is fully recyclable and environmental friendly
- TASTY! I tried them so I can definitely vouch for the flavor on these babies…YUM.
The Cons
Despite using fresh and wholesome ingredients as much as possible, the ingredient list for some of the main entree food options can be quite lengthy. This leads me to believe that some ingredients may not be as wholesome as I would like and contain quite a bit of preservatives. In addition, the lack of being able to warm up the food in the container was a bummer for some of the food options, such as spaghetti and meatballs or green bean casserole. It would be nice to have the flexibility to reheat for some of the foods that are standardly consumed warm. Although there are some fruits and/or veggies hidden in the desserts (which is genius!), the dessert portion sizes are a little large for what I would consider a healthy plate for children ages 4-8. Please also see my nutrition breakdown above for any cons regarding the healthiness of the food provided.
My Takeaway
I would absolutely order these meals for my children especially if I knew I had certain busy days, weeks, or even a month ahead. Heck, I enjoyed eating them as an adult for lunch. The selling points for me includes the ability to customize the meals based on your child’s food preferences or dietary needs. As a fellow dietitian, I am also at ease knowing that these meals are designed by a chef and dietitian keeping my child’s health a priority. The pricing is variable enough, which suits a range of budgets. So wise-up and consider trying Wise Apple 🙂
-EAW