Amanda DeWitt and Casey Gray, owners and operators of Ideal Meals, want everyone to know that healthy eating can be convenient. This is the guiding principle behind their business, a prepared food service that offers healthy and affordable premade meals. “[Healthy eating] doesn’t mean that you have to do your own grocery shopping, prepare your own food,” Gray says. “That’s why we’re here, to try and replace fast food.” DeWitt adds, “Eating healthy can be affordable. That’s important to us too, to make our prices comparable to fast food.”
So how does it work? Every Sunday, DeWitt and Gray release a menu for the following week. The menu provides descriptions and nutritional information for each meal option, and DeWitt and Gray make an effort to include something for everyone. “We like to make sure there’s a good combination of proteins and… a wide variety of things,” DeWitt says. “There’s usually a meal on there that you could feed your kid, but it’s a healthier version. We try to make it so that it fits a wide variety of lifestyles.”
Orders must be placed by Friday at 5 p.m. for pick-up or delivery the following Sunday or Monday. Meals are individually portioned and cost $5-7 per serving. According to the Ideal Meals website, meals can be stored in the refrigerator for 5 to 7 days or frozen for up to 30 days. All meals can be microwaved in their containers.