Time poor foodies – help is here!

Sydney, Australia: I’m a foodie, I love to eat it, I love to cook it and I love to plan it. But these days, my hectic lifestyle makes it difficult for me to find time to do the planning of a meal, let alone meals for a whole week, and then to have to go shopping for produce only to find that one of the ingredients I am looking for is not available locally and my whole plan has now gone out the window.

Sound familiar?

I hear the same story as mine over and over, no time, too tired, products not available, and then there are the other people who suffer with no inspiration, no enthusiasm, HATE of cooking.

How would you feel if I told you that you could still be a foodie, or even become a foodie, without having to plan a single meal? How would you feel if I told you that you didn’t have to go shopping and searching for specific ingredients? How would you feel if I told you that you could be eating delicious meals, that you have very easily cooked yourself, without having even set foot into a supermarket, greengrocer, butcher or fishmonger?

Nadia Lim, head chef, dietitian and co-founder of My Food Bag, has made all of the above possible.

Nadia is a firm believer in what she calls Nude Food, a philosophy which values food from the ground, sea and sky – and less from the factories. Her recipes are focused on tasting delicious, yet remaining healthy and packed full of the best seasonal Australian produce.

“My focus has always been on making healthy eating as simple, easy and delicious as possible. Our entire My Food Bag test kitchen team love pulling the best local produce together to create recipes that are easy to follow and quick to make – above all, we strive for our recipes to taste amazing,” says Nadia. “As head chef and dietician at My Food Bag, my role is to design exciting, easy-to follow recipes, with the best possible ingredients and produce. I work closely with our talented team of recipe developers and test cooks, who help conjure up the My Food Bag magic. Being a dietitian as well as a cook, I’ve created meals to delight your taste buds without offending your waistline.”

With My Food Bag, the food and recipes are delivered to your door. No planning, no crowded supermarkets, no ‘unavailable’ ingredients, it just arrives and is waiting to be cooked.

Sourced locally, the meat is free-range, free-farmed or genuinely wild, including eggs, sausage and bacon. The seafood comes from local crews that catch, ice and deliver it as fresh as possible and the wonderful fruit and vegetables are seasonal and local.

“My cooking style is seasonally focused. Maintaining a seasonal focus means better choice and quality of produce, and avoids the imported produce that has sat around for months in cool storage. It also means that you’re buying and supporting locally grown Australian made product.”

Every week, Nadia Lim leads their chefs and nutritionists to dream up inspiring, easy-to-cook dinner recipes in the test kitchen.

They get up early and hit the markets to find you the freshest local Australian produce, meat and fish.

Your Food Bag arrives fresh at your door on Sundays within a 2 hour delivery window. If you‘re not home, they send you a SMS to let you know that it‘s waiting for you.

Their recipes are easy to follow and come with a free folder so you can keep track of your favourites.

Creating a balance of meals and flavours that make the most of seasonal produce might mean there’s an ingredient or two you haven’t cooked before or a flavour that’s unfamiliar. Don’t worry, many of the daunting sounding dishes are actually not hard at all. If you’re not used to eating something in a food bag, give it a go, I’m sure you’ll be pleasantly surprised and find that you do like it!

There are four different food bags to choose from, designed to delight pretty much everyone, from fussy pre-schoolers to finicky foodies.

My Family Food Bag: Quick, healthy and yummy recipes to please the fussiest of eaters (suited for families with 2 – 3 children under 10 years old)

My Classic Food Bag: Ideal for busy families with older kids who want healthy and delicious recipes

My Gourmet Food Bag: Perfect for couples who love fresh food and enjoy exotic flavours

My Own Bag: Designed specifically for time-poor singles tired of uninspired nights in the kitchen

I chose the Gourmet Food Bag and have been very pleasantly surprised with the service as well as quality and variety of food and very generous amounts of produce. The Gourmet bag is supposed to be for two people, but so far I have found that the ingredients for each meal could easily feed three.

I have been loving the food and the simplicity of just turning to the recipe sheet and starting to cook knowing that all the ingredients are either in my pantry or refrigerator. My husband, who is a food critic, has loved the quality and taste of everything that has been served up to him thus far and is looking forward to the rest of the week’s menu.

So far I have served up and Chicken and Vermicelli Noodle Salad with Soy and Sesame Dressing. Tonight is Japanese Seared Beef with Rice and Radish Slaw and the rest of the week includes Cauliflower Fritters with Quinoa Salad and Soft Boiled Egg and also Caramelised Banana Crepes.

My Food Bag makes dinnertime something to look forward to. You don’t have to be a chef or even a foodie to have delicious and healthy meals on your table cooked by YOU. You’ll wonder how you ever got by without it.

www.myfoodbag.com.au