By Rachel Hergett EBS COLUMNIST
In an ideal world, I’d have a nice hot meal on my table at least a couple times a day—a meal lovingly prepared from scratch using fresh, healthy ingredients sourced locally or from my own garden. But who has time for that?
Instead, convenience is often key. Life gets in the way of feeding ourselves in the way we would like. We turn to faster options like fast food or takeout that, let’s face it, tend to be offered in large salt-filled portions.
Enter meal delivery services—companies that ship food directly to consumers. The internet is full of options. Some send pre-portioned ingredients you cook yourself, others offer pre-cooked meals you reheat. As a cook, I rarely stick to a full recipe, often combining parts of multiple. So, while I have friends who swear by the ingredient-based options like Hello Fresh, I know that is not my journey. As for the pre-cooked options, I tried a couple. It sure was nice to have meals arrive on my doorstep, ready except for the reheating, but after a few weeks, my stomach was not happy. The meals just didn’t make me feel good.
Part of the problem is that most of these companies are based far from us here in Montana. Meals are usually cooked, packaged and shipped from one of the coasts. And that process takes time, with the meals losing freshness at every step on their way to you.
Then, a few weeks ago, when my life felt extra chaotic and the idea of cooking dinner an evil chore I could not fathom, I remembered Whole and Nourished and finally decided to try the local meal delivery service. Whole and Nourished was founded in 2017 by Heather Babineau-Z, who saw a need for “convenient, high-quality, full prepared meals” in the area.
Whole and Nourished offers delivery and pick up options in Belgrade, Big Sky, Bozeman and Livingston every Wednesday. And if you can’t wait until delivery day, Whole and Nourished has a variety of frozen options that are available for pickup. Menus change every week and, rather than a subscription service, customers order as much or little as they want. A full list of ingredients and allergens in each dish is provided on the website.
The company focuses on seasonal local ingredients when possible, and packages the meals in reusable or compostable packaging. I chose the reusable packaging option, paying the $35 set up fee and my order arrived on my doorstep in a soft-sided cooler. Inside, a series of mason jars held most of the meals. Next time I order from Whole and Nourished, I simply leave the empty mason jars and cooler on the stoop and they are switched out. First timers get a code for a free tub of cookie dough. As an added bonus, the company also threw in some granola on my first order.
Every dish I tried seemed to be better than the last. The Thai peanut dressing perfectly complemented the crunchy quinoa and veggie salad. I ate from the delightful chicken shawarma bowl with tzatziki sauce for two days, adding some extra vegetables to make it last. I rationed my quart jar of gazpacho, allowing myself a small cup at a time though I could have drank the whole thing in one sitting—the cold, tangy soup featuring locally grown cucumbers, tomatoes and herbs was that good.
The mayo-free Greek tuna salad with Kalamata olives seemed odd at first, but proved a welcome change from my mayo and pickle filled norm and I gobbled it up with sliced cucumbers. I added almond and coconut milk to the chia seed pudding base and was again impressed. And then I tried the cashew coconut beef meatballs and could not hold my exclamation of delight inside, letting out an audible “mmm.”
There were no misses on my order. My stomach was happier than it had been in months. Whole and nourished, indeed.
Rachel Hergett is a foodie and cook from Montana. She is arts editor emeritus at the Bozeman Daily Chronicle and has written for publications such as Food Network Magazine and Montana Quarterly. Rachel is also the host of the Magic Monday Show on KGLT-FM and teaches at Montana State University.
