Ready-made meals and takeout share one main benefit - they are both convenient! But convenience aside, ready-made meals quickly surpass takeout in a number of surprising ways.
Read on to discover the 5 reasons ready-made meals are better than takeout.
1. They Are Actually MORE Convenient
Ready made vegan Singapore noodles
You make it home after a long day at work and say to yourself - “Let’s just have an easy dinner tonight.” Sound familiar?
We’ve all been there, and we all know that the next ten minutes are wasted on deciding what you want and where you’ll get it from. If you are deciding for a partner or for your family, it usually takes twice as long!
Once you’ve finally ordered, you either have to wait for it to be delivered, even though you’re starving, or go to the effort of picking it up.
‘Easy dinners’ never actually seem to be easy. But ready-made meals always are.
With ready meals, you don’t have the pressure of finding a restaurant that suits everyone. Everyone can just have a different style of meal instead! Not to mention, waiting a few minutes for the microwave is a lot quicker than waiting for a delivery driver.
2. More Variety
Ready made pulled Italian chicken
You might think that takeout gives you more options than ready-made meals. But that simply isn’t true.
While there might be countless takeout restaurants near you, ask yourself how many you actually consider when getting takeout. Odds are you’ve tried a few of them, but you’ve probably settled into a habit of just going to the same couple on rotation.
After all, takeout is supposed to be quick and easy, and what that usually translates to is going somewhere familiar. You don’t want to spend ages figuring out what to get, and you definitely don’t want to get something you don’t like and then find yourself cooking anyway.
Ready-made meals don’t have any of these problems. By ordering ahead of time, you can bulk order which means you’ll always have options in the fridge in case you don’t feel like cooking. Plus, because you can have a bunch of them at once, you are more likely to try new meals.
Just think, if you order a combination of your favourite meals and some you’ve never tried, if you do get something you don’t like you still have your favourites as a backup. It’ll still be quicker than having to cook after a dodgy takeout order!
Better yet, you will keep discovering new meals that you like and over time you find yourself enjoying a much more diverse palette.
3. They Are Healthier
Ready made vegan fried rice with tofu
Everyone has experienced this conundrum, “Do I make a healthy home cooked meal, or do I just get some quick and (gr)easy takeout?” Ready-made meals are the compromise you’re after. Not everything that can be heated and eaten quickly needs to be bad for you!
The internet has enabled countless new diets and healthy living tips to shape new generations’ awareness about their health. Ready-made meals are the future of healthy eating because unlike takeout, they’ve been designed in the internet era.
Ready-made meals are incredibly popular with young people who are time poor and diet conscious. They love the wide array of dietary options that are available, such as:
- Gluten free,
- Vegan
- Vegetarian
- Diabetes friendly
- Dairy free
- Paleo
Another key part of keeping track of your health is literally keeping track of your caloric and nutrient intake. The great thing about ready-made meals is that their nutrient and ingredient lists are legally required to be displayed on the packaging.
Don’t rely on looking through a crystal ball to figure out how many calories your local corner shop burger has in it - a ready-made meal and it will tell you!
4. Meal Planning
If you like planning your meals, bulk ordering ready-made meals is a lifesaver. Not only can you eliminate the need to make a decision three times a day about what you are going to eat, but you can also arrange your week so that every meal is exciting and suits your diet.
Have you heard of decision fatigue?
Decision fatigue is a proven phenomenon where decisions made earlier in the day tend to be quick and easy, but as the day goes on they become more difficult to make. By the end of the day, your decision making ability is much more impaired.
If you’ve succumbed to the daily ritual of kicking your shoes off after a long day at work and then procrastinating while you decide what to make for dinner, you need to try meal planning.
You’ll be amazed by how refreshing it is to come home and know exactly what you are going to have for dinner, and not have to spend an hour making it.
With just one lifestyle change, you could go from dinner being a chore that takes time and energy, to something quick and easy that you really enjoy.
5. Bulk Delivery
Ready made chicken fajita bowl
The benefits of bulk delivery can’t be understated. If you are relying on getting takeout most days of the week, it is costing you time and money. Takeout is expensive, and paying daily delivery fees or the cost of fuel to pick it up will add up over time.
Even if you do try to cut costs by saving your leftovers, how long can you really keep reheating the same Chinese leftovers before they become a safety hazard?
With bulk delivery, you can have a fresh, delicious ready-made meal every day without having to wonder how long it’s been in the back of the fridge.
Better yet, bulk delivery can actually save you money. Most ready-made meal brands will offer heavily discounted delivery fees, often becoming free if you spend above a certain limit.
But even without the discount, ready-made meal delivery is cheap. If you use a local supplier, they will often be as cheap as $15 per bulk delivery.
Compare daily $7 or more takeout delivery charges with a one off $15 for a week or two worth of food.
You are saving half of your delivery costs every week!
Activate Foods
Ready made chicken, bacon and potato salad
Activate Foods is a ready-made meal service based on the Central Coast, also servicing Sydney and Newcastle. With over 40 different meals available every week, and new meals constantly being added, you will always find something you will love.
All meals are house made and gluten free, with all of the dietary requirements mentioned in this article available. You can also choose between our fresh and frozen options.
It’s time to leave takeout behind and enjoy healthy, convenient and delicious meals, courtesy of Activate Foods.
For more information, visit our website.
If you want to order your first round of Activate Foods, register today!
