Eating enough vegetables every day and getting balanced and nutritious meals on top of year three of the pandemic, battling burnout, and other life stressors has been tough. It is often easier to reach for packaged food, order takeout, or eating snacks as a meal when I’m super busy, tired, and stressed. I’ve had energy bars and chips or a banana and peanut butter for lunch more times than I can count the last few years.
Enter Westerly. A local meal delivery service that serves the greater Seattle area and beyond (from Tacoma to Everett) and making eating healthier so easy. All meals are ready-to-eat and completely dairy-free and gluten-free. I recently tried both their Plant-based menu and Wellness (lean protein) menus for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and I was thoroughly impressed. I plan to order from Westerly again soon.
The lunches and the dinners were my favourite. The lunches were all salads and they were fresh, packed with lots of greens, and the dressings were different day to day but were all delicious. Some examples of the dinners include “jerk chicken” style eggplant, kimchi fried rice, and black bean patty taco bowl. The breakfasts were too small of a portion for me, and not as exciting or tasty as their lunches and dinners. I probably wouldn’t order the breakfasts again because I personally don’t mind making breakfast and can do it pretty quickly. However, if you want a balanced breakfast in the morning that you can reheat in 1-2 minutes, it’s worth trying!
Husband-and-wife team Chrissy and Matt Hunt, along with Chrissy’s sister Annalicia Schwab launched this Seattle-based business in 2018. Westerly was a way to help balance the meal prep of eating vegetable forward and whole food meals with a busy life. They aren’t about calorie counting or fad diets, just delicious, nutrient dense meals with three core commitments:
- Commitment to good food
- Executive Chef/Co-Founder Matt Hunt creates seasonal gluten and dairy free menus for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every week. Meticulous attention is given and make sure that each meal is not only filling and nutritious, but also exciting to the tongue- with house-made dressings, in-house fermented vegetables, and house-made plant-based proteins. Made from scratch bakery items, such as sundried focaccia and blueberries muffins, are always gluten and dairy free, with no refined sugars.
- Commitment to community
- On average, Westerly donates 115 meals and roughly 70 pounds of food per week. During the holiday season, Westerly provides Thanksgiving dinners to individuals and families in need and partners with Gifts of Hope to run a toy drive with their customers. Additional donation efforts range from stocking local food pantries to an on-going partnership with the Othello Tiny House Village.
- Commitment to environment
- Anything that’s not edible in each week’s delivery is compostable, recyclable, or reusable. All meal containers are 100% compostable and delivered in reusable cooler bags made with recycled materials.
The individually portioned meals arrive fully prepared on Sundays and Wednesdays. Subscriptions range from $100 to $220 – with every possible accommodation and combo you can think of. For instance, you can ask for no soy or other allergens, you can ask for a hybrid plan, for example, if you want to do Plant lunches and Wellness dinners.
For more information and to order, click here.
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