Image and photos by Cindy Thompson, Trimazing! Health & Lifestyle Coaching

I’m so busy! How can I even cook this way?

My elderly parents want to eat whole food, plant-based, but need easy options, like a meal delivery!

How can I help my kid in college be less of a junk-food vegan and eat more healthy?

Sometimes I don’t even have things to take to work for lunches—HELP!

I get these messages in my inbox and hear them from clients A LOT! If you’ve heard yourself say these things, I’ve got an option for you.

While I promote and teach cooking whole food, plant-based at home, I understand there are times we need a little convenience…without sacrificing our health or our ethics. Through my work with Glen Merzer on his Food is Climate book, I was introduced to , a whole food, plant-based meal subscription service. Not only is healthy, it’s zero waste and 100% responsible for their packaging, extremely rare! It seemed like a perfect match and something I had to try.

About

is a whole food, plant-based meal delivery service co-founded and run by Meg Donahue in Vermont and New Hampshire. Their mission is to provide great tasting, whole food, plant-based meal components so people can live their best lives. Their meals are endorsed by many health organizations, including the American Institute of Cancer Research, with “0% B.S. (you know, Bad Stuff)”. They started with local delivery, but now ship throughout the continental United States.

Meg started after looking for whole food, plant-based meal subscription programs and finding none. She had dramatically improved her health, and the health of her mother, by switching her diet, but just wanted a reprieve from the time and energy spent cooking. Hence, was born! Watch the truly inspirational story here:

From Hospice to Healthy: The MamaSezz Story

Diagnosed with congestive heart failure, 80 year old Millie’s health was completely transformed by a whole food plant-based diet…and so a business was born. | MamaSezz is the leading whole food plant-based meal delivery service in the United States. Our mission at MamaSezz is to heal people and the planet one delicious meal at a time.

MamaSezz sources their high-quality ingredients from suppliers and farmers who also utilize sustainable practices, which I very much appreciate! They use organic ingredients as much as possible.

Review

All the goodies from my Taste of sample bundle. Photo by Cindy Thompson, Trimazing! Health & Lifestyle Coaching

I got A Taste of sample bundle, similar to their , to try. It arrived via FedEx in a single box with several ice packs in it to keep it chilled. Everything was in great condition and icy cold. It included:

• Power Breakfast Smoothie
• Lazy Lasagna
• Ginger Garlic Protein Strips
• Pecan Balsamic Dressing
• Tuna “ish” Salad
• Mama’s Burgers
• All Day Not-A-Cookie

Everything was all prepared and ready to heat and eat. (Note, these are really just staples or meal-starters, we had to add our own fresh veggies, bread, condiments, etc. for a complete meal. I’ve noted below what things I added to each meal shown.)

These are not shelf-stable, most need to be refrigerated, but they had a two-week use by date, which was great (although we ate it all up long before that).

We didn’t have to figure out how we were going to use these items because includes a great document with serving suggestions, meal plan, shopping list, and recipes! Everything took just a few minutes to put together.

Meal plan, shopping list, and recipe document that came with my sample bundle. Photo by Cindy Thompson, Trimazing! Health & Lifestyle Coaching

Power Breakfast Smoothie

Power Breakfast Smoothie. Image and photos by Cindy Thompson, Trimazing! Health & Lifestyle Coaching

The Power Breakfast Smoothie was a cinch to put together. You simply add some plant-based milk and a couple frozen bananas in the blender, add the mix, and blend! I also added some leftover Swiss chard stems I had in the fridge. This blend has beets in it, which I could taste, but they weren’t so overpowering that the smoothie tasted too beet-y. This packet actually made four smoothies. We thought it was pretty tasty!

I added: Plant milk, frozen bananas, Swiss chard stems.

Lazy Lasagna

Lazy Lasagna with added zucchini, nutritional yeast, and basil. Photo by Cindy Thompson, Trimazing! Health & Lifestyle Coaching

As I mentioned, these packets are really great starters to build your meal. The recipe document suggested adding chopped spinach or zucchini to the Lazy Lasagna before heating and since my garden is pumping out zucchini right now, I gladly made that addition! I also added some salt, nutritional yeast, and fresh basil to pump it up. doesn’t add extra salt or too many seasonings to their items to accommodate different tastes, and ask customers to add extra seasoning as desired.

This was creamy, pasta nicely cooked, and easy! It was a little bland, but the seasonings I added perked it right up.

I added: Zucchini, salt, nutritional yeast, and basil.

Garlic Ginger Protein Strips & Pecan Balsamic Dressing

Teriyaki Chick’n Salad using Ginger Garlic Protein Strips and Pecan Balsamic Dressing. Photo by Cindy Thompson, Trimazing! Health & Lifestyle Coaching

Omigoodness! These Garlic Ginger Protein Strips are the BOMB! They are big, juicy, perfectly-seasoned soy curls and it took every ounce of willpower for me not to just eat them straight out of the bag while standing at my kitchen island! I cut them into chunks and added to a salad dressed with their Pecan Balsamic Dressing. That dressing is thick and fantastic, and there are many servings in the packet.

I added: Salad greens, zucchini, green onion, tomato, and bell pepper.

BTW, I don’t have another dish to show you using these strips because the next day I DID eat them right out of the bag and finished them up! Oops…

Tuna “ish” Salad

Tuna “ish” Salad sandwich with veggies and Pecan Balsamic Dressing for dipping. Photo by Cindy Thompson, Trimazing! Health & Lifestyle Coaching

This was a very easy lunch! The Tuna “ish” Salad is delicious and made with minced soy strips rather than beans, like most mock tuna salads. It’s loaded with crunchy celery, onions, and dill pickle, and very lightly seasoned with Indian black salt and kelp to give it that traditional tuna salad taste. That being said, the kelp is minimal, so much so that I didn’t even know it was in there until I looked at the ingredients online. So if you don’t like fishy mock tuna, you’ll love this one. There was enough for four sandwiches in the packet I got. Super delicious!

I added: Whole wheat bun, plant-based mayo, mustard, pickles, lettuce, tomato, zucchini and peach slices.

Mama’s Burgers

French Onion Burger using Mama’s Burger patty. Photo by Cindy Thompson, Trimazing! Health & Lifestyle Coaching

I was excited for this as I cannot find pre-made burger patties in the grocery store without oil! These had a great texture and unbeknownst to me before I made my burger, a Tex-Mex flavor. I followed their suggestion for a French Onion burger, caramelizing onions in a water sauté and sautéing mushrooms, but the Southwest flavors kinda interfered with the overall French onion idea. That being said, this was a great burger! I would just add avocado and tomatoes next time. They have a High Protein Burger in their À la Carte store, which may be more neutral in flavoring.

I added: Whole wheat bun, plant-based mayo, mustard, Swiss chard and lettuce, caramelized onions, and sautéed mushrooms.

The All Day Not-A-Cookie

Alan was a big fan of the All Day Not-A-Cookie! Photo by Cindy Thompson, Trimazing! Health & Lifestyle Coaching

Alan said this cookie is what you’d get if an oatmeal cookie and a Power Bar had a baby! They are chewy and dense, really filling and tasty. For me, they remind me of the Grandma’s brand Oatmeal cookies my mom put in my lunch box growing up—you know, those two big soft cookies wrapped together in cellophane? They are a filling snack, even a meal replacer!

It’s Zero Waste!