Mom's Meals
Mom's Meals Reviews - Prepared Meal Delivery Reviews
We have been writing Mom's Meals Reviews since 2012. Unlike other reviews, we personally and secretly buy prepared meals and share our customer experience with you so you know precisely what should expect if you decide to buy from the service we review,
For years we have been very critical of Mom's prepared meal delivery service from everything related to shipping, packaging, excessive water in the trays, broken seals, poor reheating, and inferior quality meal components. We found it challenging to identify almost anything done correctly, or with a positive customer experience in mind.
Mom's is a Medicaid meal service provider. We did understand strict budget limitations bind them, but in our opinion, people getting Medicaid meal deliveries should have something better than hat we were experiencing. Maybe even something edible.
Meal Photos from Past Mom's Reviews
Mom's Meals Reinvented
Our review in 2017 sent earthquake-like shockwaves through our company. The meals were actually tasty. The menu was improved, the shipping issues seemed to be all corrected, there were no broken seals, the microwave directions were easy and efficient, and the service became a viable option for lower cost prepared meals delivered. Not just for those on Medicaid, but for all struggling families who may not qualify for government assistance.
We just wanted to take this opportunity to recognize the efforts of the management and employees at Mom's Meals and applaud their long-term commitment to becoming a real meal solution for the hundreds of thousands of people who may need them.
-Director, Morris Pelphner
Prepared Meal Delivery Reviews
Our Mom's Meals Review of their Prepared Meals
Mom's Meals We Would Recommend
- Scrambled Eggs, Andouille Sausage and Potatoes
- Lasagna Bolognese and Seasoned Italian Green Beans
- Cheese Lasagna with Marinara Sauce and Fruit Crisp
- Turkey Breast with Apple Cranberry Sauce Over Rice
- Chicken Primavera with Penne Pasta and Vegetables
- Beef Bolognese over Gluten Free Rotini Pasta
- Coconut Curry Vegetables and Brown Rice
- Beef Stew and Buttermilk Biscuit
Mom's Meals We Would Not Recommend
Scrambled Eggs, Andouille Sausage and Potatoes - $7
I remember a time when I asked the owner not to be included in anymore Mom's Meals Reviews. Today, I am delighted to be involved in seeing their metamorphosis into a reputable, low cost prepared meal delivery service.
It is hard to taste the Andouille Sausage, I thought it was Corned Beef Hash, but the eggs are good, as are all the other components. I would have liked some American or Cheddar Cheese. The Berry Compote is sweet, probably too much so for diabetics, but I could endorse this breakfast as a good value.
-Chef Also Piquanti
Lasagna Bolognese and Seasoned Italian Green Beans - $7
In the office, they call me Chef Aldo Bolognese because I insist on writing all the Bolognese reviews. It is a sauce that is very demanding and time-consuming to make. In America, if a chef puts ground beef in a tomato sauce, they feel like they can call it Bolognese. This sauce is much closer to the American version than the traditional Italian version, but it is also one of the best meat Lasagnas on prepared meal delivery menus. Top three, I would guess, which is quite an accomplishment given the quality of their competition and budget boundaries they are limited to. I know it sounds easy enough, but there is a lot of attention to detail steps that have to be met to get this meal from the kitchen to your plate. I have a new found respect for Mom's.
-Chef Aldo Piquanti
Chicken Primavera with Penne Pasta and Vegetables - $7
This meal used to be called Chicken and Noodles, which is closer to what it is than Chicken Primavera.
But it is a good meal, with good flavor. There could be a little more chicken but the sauce is good and there is plenty of mixed vegetables to make this a satisfying meal.
-Morris Pelphner
Cheese Lasagna with Marinara Sauce and a Fruit Crisp - $7
As Chef Piquanti addressed above, Lasagna is a challenge for prepared meal delivery service. Now they hardly show up on menus at all. Most of the time they would taste good, but arrive in a sloppy mess that you eat more like a bowl of grits than a lasagna.
So the first question is will the lasagna stand? I watched Chef P eat his, and it stood. I also watched him eat the whole thing, which he never does. Mine stood too, and I agree with Chef that it was flavorful, tasted homemade, and surprised it came from Mom's. As a Nutritionist, I would have preferred some green vegetables instead of the Fruit Crisp, but that was good too.
-Nicole DiLayne
Turkey Breast with Apple Cranberry Sauce Over Rice - $7
Before I get into the review of this prepared meal I just to let you know I watched our Nutritionist Nicole, eat all of the Fruit Crisp in her Cheese Lasagna meal.
I thought the rice and corn were pretty basic issue. The Sliced Turkey came from a processed deli meat package. It also came "smoked," which most often these days means "treated," instead of actually being smoked. Even so, and believe it not, the turkey is in the upper half in quality as what is most often used. The stuffing was okay, and on the sweet side, but this was worth $7.
-Chef Aldo Piquanti
Beef Bolognese over Gluten Free Rotini Pasta - $7
Chef BoloKnows here. Ha ha, the senior guy Craig Caldwell stopped by and didn't say my nickname right.
This is the same meat sauce that is used in the two Lasagna meals, which is fine because it's good. It's just not a true Bolognese. The pasta is okay, nothing super outstanding like a fresh pasta, but it passes too. The Italian green beans were crisp and needed a little seasoning, but this was a good meal for $7.
-Chef Aldo Piquanti
Beef Stew and Buttermilk Biscuit - $7
We probably should have plated this in a bowl, but we use the same plate almost every shot to show portion side whenever we can. This seemed like a canned stew or one that comes in shelf-stable packaging. There wasn't a lot of green vegetables, like string beans, but this stew was much better than the homemade strews Mom's used to make.
The biscuit was delicious. Bring some butter and use it from dipping in the gravy. Just be careful not to overheat it in the microwave, or it will get hard as a rock.
-Nicole DiLayne
Coconut Curry Vegetables and Brown Rice - $7
Typically when we have to reheat rice in a microwave tray, we experience rice grains that are broken and dry. We didn't experience that with this dish.
The Coconut Curry was excellent, and I wish they had more it, much more of it, so I had some Curry with every bite of rice. There could have been some more vegetables too, but if you like Curry and you want to eat light, you will like this meal.
-Nicole DiLayne
Turkey Pepper Pasta with Pineapple Apple Crisp - $7
Think Penne with Meat Sauce, and you have this meal. There is no noticeable difference between using the turkey meat sauce and the beef meat sauces, which says a lot for the turkey meat sauce and the chefs at Mom's. The pasta came out tender without any of them getting hard from over-microwaving.
The Apple Crisp was very sweet, so much so it was beyond my comfort levels. Most people would be delighted with it. I am odd in that way. A well-prepared meal and worth $7.
-Morris Pelphner
Homestyle Meatloaf with Herbed Pasta and Vegetables - $7
Of all the "TV Dinner-type" meatloaf out there, this one may be the best, but it is still putting lipstick on a pig. It might have passed had there been some creamy mashed potatoes and gravy, but in the end, we felt it wouldn't be fair to all the other meatloaf dishes we gave a thumbs down to for not opting to make their own.
The Herbed Pasta wasn't compelling enough for this meal, and mixed vegetables should be the last choice of frozen vegetables any meal delivery service should use. How about some spinach or asparagus? The ketchup was a little strong too. It wasn't homestyle.
-Morris Pelphner
Older Mom's Reviews Starting in 2012
Mom's Meals Review by Chef Piquanti
Originally Published on Aug 8, 2012
We are saving this review to show how far this meal delivery has progressed.
After my personal experience tasting the prepared meals from this company, I'm not sure going to the supermarket and loading up on frozen dinners isn't a better option for low-cost senior meals.
The $5.99 price point is about double what you can buy a TV dinner for when they are on sale. If the food quality were better than, or at least equal to Swanson's, Stouffers, or Lean Cuisine, I might say you have something with Moms Meals. I just didn't experience that kind of quality in my order. In fact, if I could have scored a double thumbs down on some of these meals, I would have.
The Meatloaf with Potatoes and Mixed Vegetables was certainly a candidate. I found this meatloaf to be one of the worst I have ever tried. The Beef Stew was nothing more than a pile of frozen vegetables tossed into a tray with some meat, and a very watery gravy that lacked any kind of seasoning.
I found the watery trend to continue with meals like the Three Bean Chili. It was closer to a soup, and again, lacked any flavor or spice you would expect from a chili.
The Pork and Marsala Sauce with Rice had some very tiny pieces of pork, partnered with dry and sticky rice that didn't reheat well in the microwave.
If you like Campbell's Chicken and Noodle Soup, you will like the Chicken and Noodles meal. It is basically the same thing without the broth. The Florentine Lasagna with Turkey Sausage may have been the best of the meals I personally purchased and tried from this company. It had it flaws in flavor, sauce, and cheese, but it did pass the value test for a $5.99 meal.
If you really want to do your loved one a favor and provide better meals than the supermarket frozen food aisle, I would recommend DineWise, Home Bistro, Magic Kitchen, Schwans, and FreshDirect if you live in the New York City area. EasyLife Meals has much better food for a $1 more at $7.99 per meal.
-Chef Piquanti
Our Mom's Meals Review of their Meal Delivery Service
Moms Meals qualifies for Medicaid and Community services, so the price point of their meals must be able to fit into these budgets. As a result, and based on the meals we purchased and tried, we believe you can save money and get better quality meals by purchasing frozen dinners in the supermarket. We would not recommend this service.
No doubt, we recognize what a challenge it must be for manufacturers to create meals that feed low-income people. If that is the only option you have, we hope the governments and agencies that buy these meals sample them as we did, and make some requirements for quality. There are better options than Moms Meals.
If you are a family caretaker, looking for a solution to feed a loved one, we recommend you try EasyLife meals. They are in the ballpark as far as price per meal, however, the quality is significantly better, and the meals all come with an entree, side dish, and two servings of vegetables. They are suitable for diabetics, so they will fit most nutritional profiles.
Moms Meals is a food-delivery service that claims it was designed by a dietitian to provide excellent and nutritious meals delivered right to your front door. Moms Meals reviews show that the service provides over 70 full meals to choose from. When you become a member of Mom's Meals and you begin to place your order you have full control over the type of foods you want to select.
There are multiple programs available from Moms Meals giving you plenty of choices when it comes to finding the foods that are right for your diet and lifestyle. Additionally, some of the best Moms Meals reviews includes the detail that the company also caters to individuals who have special dietary needs or restrictions. Whether your have specific health conditions or even diabetes, there are foods available for you with Moms Meals. Moms Meals also caters to individuals who are seeking heart-healthy foods that are also nutritious. Even if you are on dialysis or if you have any type of kidney disease it is possible to find a solution that works for you with Moms Meals.
- 100% Satisfaction Guarantee - Moms Meals guarantees that all meals will be delivered fresh at your door. However, there is a strict no-refund policy on all meals that have been delivered already. No surprise there.
- Delivery - Delivery is completed with the use of UPS or FedEx depending on your location.
- Shipping - Moms Meals will ship to just about anywhere in the US.
- Fresh or Frozen? - All foods from Moms Meals are created fresh and are designed to stay fresh for a total of 18 days inside of your refrigerator once they have been delivered.
Mom's Meals Reviews from Consumers
Watery, Tasteless Food
Overall: No Medal
- Website Ease of Ordering: Fair
- Reheating: Fair
- Customer Service: Fair
- Shipping: Fair
- Taste and Food Quality: Poor
- Value: Poor
Watery tasteless food, small portions, poor quality fruit and vegetables.
-Christina M Schaefer
Connecticut
We Wonder if Mom's Meals and the Nutritionists in DC Government will be Reading these Comments
Overall: No Medal
- Website Ease of Ordering: Good
- Reheating: Excellent
- Customer Service: Good
- Shipping: Excellent
- Taste and Food Quality: Poor
- Value: Poor
Our family (4 seniors over 65 years old) has been receiving Mom's Meals for several years. The menu of Mom's meals looks impressive, but the colorful photo on the cover is misleading, and the actual food is worst. W have complained to the company phone assistants as well as DC government who pays for these meals, but everything remains the same. The label of each meal contains written information on the ingredients, but the size of the font (perhaps size one? ) is almost impossible to read even with a magnifier. The recent menu (as of January 2021) lists 25 "different" dinner meals under the headings "American Classics", "Soup or Sandwich", and "International Flavors".
The two meat eaters in our group soon discovered that what looks like chicken breast (as in the BBQ Chicken and Chicken & Waffle dishes), are probably a mix of chicken and paper (yes, paper) because when you cut the "chicken" to eat it, the threads do not naturally break as natural chicken breast does. And the flavor is definitive chicken and paper. Do they really mix chicken with paper, we don't know, but that mysterious ingredient is always there. The turkey (two Turkey Breast dishes) is not natural either. It has been injected with saline water and who knows what else, maybe it is "processed" turkey. Other dishes that have processed meats are the Chili Dog and the Sausage Jambalaya, which we as senior will not eat. And after tasting the red meat dishes loaded with questionable ingredients in the dark gravy, all of us decided to order vegetarian dishes only.
There are 5 dishes listed as vegetarian. The broccoli cheese soup is a watery concoction that looks like milk with a tiny shredded broccoli floret. The Teriyaki Stir Fry Vegetables could be a great dish, but it is immersed in a sugar- or corn syrup-loaded teriyaki sauce, items we cannot eat due to our pre-diabetic condition. The Cheese Lasagna is OK, although we remove the shredded cheese that is on top of the lasagna because it does not taste like cheese, we add our own parmesan cheese. We always order the Three Cheese Ravioli but rinse them to remove the "garlic basil butter sauce" because we don't see nor taste the basil and we don't know how much butter is in that mix. We add our own home-made basil pesto sauce. The ravioli comes with "seasoned" green beans, but we wish they will just serve the green beans without the "seasoned" part because it is very greasy. We rinse these "seasoned" green beans in hot water to remove most of the greasy stuff. We also like the Vegetable Primavera with Pasta, but. again, we rinse the pasta to remove the sauce whose ingredients are unknown to us, and use our own marinara sauce.
There are 13 breakfast meals, 4 of them are vegetarian. The Cinnamon Apple Oatmeal is good, although heavy on sugar, so we divide the oatmeal into two or three servings and add almond beverage (a.k.a. almond milk), fresh blueberries and apples. This dish comes with scrambled eggs which we discard since the "eggs" are not real eggs. It also comes with a small box of orange juice, wheat bread and margarine. The Waffle with Colby Cheese Omelet comes with a mix of cranberries and apples, an orange and syrup. We discard the omelet (not real egg) and the syrup. The Buttermilk Pancakes are good but we discard the egg patty and the syrup; we use fresh fruits and apple sauce on top of our pancakes. We don't order the Vegetable Egg Scramble (no real eggs).
Each box comes with several boxes of milk and granola bags, which we give away since we don't drink milk and there is plenty of sugar in the granola. We also give away all cookies, syrup bags, peanut butter, and margarine that come with the dishes.
We wonder if Mom's Meals and the nutritionists in DC government will be reading these comments. If so, please make the food with less, less sugar, remove the artificial ingredients and colorants, prepare more vegetarian meals, and stop sending milk. Please replace the milk with almond beverages and include more fresh fruits such as apples, grapefruits, mandarines and pears. BTW, we love oranges, keep them coming!
And we wonder also why we, who live more than 1,000 miles from Iowa, cannot receive food produced locally in the Washington Metropolitan area. Based on the number of Mom's Meals trucks we see in our streets, the DC market is huge with clients. Could DC Government bid with the large catering companies and restaurants in this area for food services to seniors?
-Connie E. T.
Washington DC
I Am So Happy to be Done with Mom's Meals
Overall: No Medal
- Website Ease of Ordering: Poor
- Reheating: Poor
- Customer Service: Not ObservedGood
- Shipping: Poor
- Taste and Food Quality: Poor
- Value: Poor
I am the sister of Sarah who has been receiving these government meals from Mom's meals. I cannot express enough how horrible this food is and how much of it has been thrown away as it is not eatable. They ship across the country and when the delivery arrives watch out. Never know what you will find. We live in Florida and during this hot heat the boxes are totally water logged as the ice packs are totally melted about time they arrive. I can recall one time so bad that it busted before delivery and had to wait another few days for a new box to arrive. Maybe they can get away with this during the winter but not hardly in the summer months. They insisted upon sending power milk with lots of granola packs which are useless. Most of there breakfast meals already come with a granola mush so whats the need for all the additional packs. I called and informed them that I did not want this powder milk and granola but the lady insisted that I could use it to cook.
Before my sister came to reside with me I have lived a single lifestyle and cooking was never my favorite thing but compared to this stuff I deserve a metal for my cooking. Back to the food, looks nothing like there photos, filled with water, mushy, frozen veg. and definitely not real meat. I should have taken it to Port St. Lucie Civic Center when Dr. Oz generally comes there to see what he thinks of this stuff. It is not nutritious at all. They send you concentrated juice packs and on orange. LOL. They once sent a package that laid an extra day in the Fed Ex truck and when I called and complained they said that OK because they are still fresh. Not fresh at all.
I cannot even figure out what kind of meat it is but do know the veg. are frozen probably from the Dollar store. Due to the fact that these meals are shipped across the country most times the cartons have holes in them, air pockets and who knows whether the chemical in the ice packs have seeped into the meals. My sister refuses to eat them and I cannot blame her. That would be horrible if I sat and ate my food and watch her 71 Year old eat something that is making her sick who has high blood pressure and a kidney disorder. I've tried tasting several different one's and generally that all have a poor taste and smell.
My sister is on LTC Insurance with Sunshine Health Insurance and the case managers are a joke. They lie from hell about what other options she has only to save them the money that was granted to her by the government to benefit the Insurance pockets. I've reached a point recently and questioned Case manager #2 about changing the food plan and she told me to get online with Sunshine's Website so I could change it myself. Dead-end for me after spending a few hours trying to figure it out. So I took it upon myself to tell Mom's meals to put the orders on hold as we were taking a vacation and would get back to them, buying myself some time to figure some other alternative to them. To my surprise Mom's meals stated to the insurance co. that I told them to cancel so now my sisters benefits are suspended and I have to file an appeal in order for them to be reinstated. Are you kidding me.
Case manager #2 was just at my house again, questioned me as to the cancellation when I informed her that I told them to put the meals on hold until this can be figured out. They also sent a copy of their determination to the kidney doctor who just recently informed me about my sisters diet because she now has high blood pressure and more kidney failure most likely from these meals. I have never had to deal with such a bunch of liars like these case managers that work for Sunshine Health Insurance. I believe they send them to training so they can relate to the member that there are very limited benefits to offer us SENIORS. It was represented to me by both case managers that Sunshine Insurance would rather pay for my sister to go to a Nursing Home as opposed to given me any extra help. God Bless America. We are American Citizens and with so many other seniors living in this Sunshine State they should be ashamed of themselves. I would love to watch the corporate's eat this crap. They sent the Kidney Doctor a copy of their suspension who has warned me about my sisters diet and her deteriorating kidney condition. So Glad to be rid of Mom's poison meals.
I am so happy to be done with Mom's meals. I do not have to carry 40 lb boxes, melted ice packs to my trash a distance away from my main entry door especially since I weigh only 88 - 90 lbs. I could not stand it any more. So tired of cleaning the spilled food and pancake syrup of of everything that came in the package. As far as the insurance co I am considering seeking a lawyer in regards to several different matters that I have experienced with their trained Case Managers that are useless. The first on retired but I must say she did spend some good time hear with us as a Case Manager except for some of the misleading facts that was represented to us. The Case Manager #2 wants to run in and out quickly, maybe she's afraid what I will ask for??? As for Mom's meals stop trying to kill our seniors.
-Sarah Iannarilli, Florida
This review was written by Charlene Porcuri,
Sister/Caretaker for member
Discontinued Some of the Better Meals
Overall: No Medal
- Website Ease of Ordering: Poor
- Reheating: Good
- Customer Service: Good
- Shipping: Fair
- Taste and Food Quality: Fair
- Value: Good
I've been eating Mom's Meals for about 16 months. All the meals are small. They have discontinued some of their better meals such as red beans & rice with Andouille sausage, bar-b-cue chicken, and a few others. The bar-b-cue chicken was replaced with a processed pork riblet. Their food quality has been declining.
-Art Benson, CA
The Neighborhood Strays Don't Even Want It
Overall: No Medal
- Website Ease of Ordering: Fair
- Reheating:
Fair
- Customer Service: Poor
- Shipping: Fair
- Taste and Food Quality: Poor
- Value: Poor
This place must cater to people who are totally incapable of preparing even a corn dog in a microwave. The food arrives(whenever they decide to bring it, and you never know) in a box and it doesn't matter what you order or say, they keep sending you the same, nasty crap they want to. My stray dogs and cats in the neighborhood even take a second look at this S___. Just raping Medicaid for money. Never more here! My tax dollars would be better spent spaying cats and neutering dogs so their offspring wouldn't be subjected to eating this crap.
-Randy
So Far, So Good!
Overall: Gold Medal
- Website Ease of Ordering: Excellent
- Reheating:
Excellent
- Customer Service: Excellent
- Shipping: Excellent
- Taste and Food Quality: Excellent
- Value: Excellent
Well so far all of the meals have been very good. My favorite is the creamy chicken and vegetables soup. So if you need the meals to come to you just call them That's MOM'S MEALS .COM.
-Mary Verrinder
ST. Maries, ID
No Value, Bad Quality and Small Portions
Overall: No Medal
- Website Ease of Ordering: Poor
- Reheating:
Fair
- Customer Service: Good
- Shipping: Fair
- Taste and Food Quality: Poor
- Value: Poor
NO Value quality is bad portions for a child of 3-10 years old! Tastes bad, cheap quality fruit, oranges have seeds not good for seniors to swallow. Some of the breakfast items are fair all are skimpy not really enough for a child of 3 to 10 after that they will starve! I normally do not complain, hey they are free for me but....most go to the trash can after I see what they are! I will be switching to some one else when I can find one better. I am spending more money to build a meal out of them and they still suck BADLY! Go try somebody else!
-Bob B., Phila., PA
Tasted Good, Digested Badly
Overall: No Medal
- Website Ease of Ordering: Poor
- Reheating:
Poor
- Customer Service: Good
- Shipping: Poor
- Taste and Food Quality: Poor
- Value: Poor
The food taste good but in the end gave me diarrhea every time!
-Connie, Akron, OH
Needs Better Vegetable and Fruit Choices and Bigger Portions
Overall: No Medal
- Website Ease of Ordering: Poor
- Reheating:
Poor
- Customer Service: Good
- Shipping: Poor
- Taste and Food Quality: Poor
- Value: Poor
Be nice to have new items added to menu every week or at least every month. Better choices of vegetables instead of mixed vegetables. Most of the portions are not enough. Also better fruit choices would be nice. My microwave is 700 watts. And have to figure out how long to heat them. I would recommend if the person needs to eat less portions. I doctor them up with salt and pepper and butter. But no hope for mixed vegetables. Potatoes are mushy.
-Peggy, Frederick, MD
Low Quality, Skimpy Meals in Poor Packaging
Overall: No Medal
- Website Ease of Ordering: Good
- Reheating:
Good
- Customer Service: Fair
- Shipping: Poor
- Taste and Food Quality: Poor
- Value: Poor
I ordered mom's meals to see what is available out there for home delivered meals. When the meals arrived 2 of the fruit cups were broke open causing a mess in the box. One of the meal trays was leaking and ran down my arm. The food was terrible, obviously low quality and the portions of some of the meals were very skimpy!! There are several other meal delivery services out there- do your selves a favor and look in to them no Mom's meals!
-Name Withheld
Watered Down and Soft With No Flavor
Overall: No Medal
- Website Ease of Ordering: Poor
- Reheating:
Poor
- Customer Service: Poor
- Shipping: Poor
- Taste and Food Quality: Poor
- Value: Poor
I ordered these for my grandma in hopes of finding a better solution then frozen meals from the grocery store, but the taste, smell, and quality of the food was horrible. My Grandma said it was like eating baby food....., all the meals were so watered down and soft even the meats, with no flavor. We ordered 10 meals but threw half away, it was just nasty.
I would also like to say the weight of the box was more then most seniors can lift I'm 41 and the ice packs alone were heavy for me. I think they really misrepresent there food in the pics on the website, because none of the meals came close to looking like they did in the pic. I would definitely say stick with healthy choice or lean cuisine frozen dinners, even they are better quality then the slop my grandma received from Mom's meals.
-Angela, Escondido, CA
It Is Horrendous!
Overall: No Medal
- Website Ease of Ordering: Good
- Reheating:
Poor
- Customer Service: Fair
- Shipping: Good
- Taste and Food Quality: Poor
- Value: Poor
Do not ever use Mom's Meals or send to anyone, especially for elderly or loved ones. If you tasted it or tried it personally you would agree in a heart beat. I have! It is horrendous! They should be somehow stopped from misrepresenting what they offer. We need to protect and warn readers about Mom's Meals to steer them away from it. It is thrown out money!
Mom's Meals gives an outstanding presentation of their service and enticing menu with good pictures and descriptions to go along with it all. They also are wonderful with their communication/contact at the outset of ordering, making the individual feel very positive of the program and excited. And, the box that arrives is totally exciting to see, a big beautiful box, packed so nicely. It is fun to unpack and it comes with written material inside. Everything is spot on from their marketing, advertising, website, initial communication to new customers, and packaging....but that is where it ENDS!
Sadly, the meals do not stand up at all to what is promised. Portions are small, but that would be ok if the food was at least edible. I got seven entrees. The first one I ate was so horrible I should have thrown it out instead of forcing myself to eat something so dreadful. And, after eating it, I got a stomach ache from it. It was the Beef, Noodles with sauce. The noodles were like very thick card board and the primary component of the dish was too salty sauce. The "beef" were little ground pieces of what seemed to be gristle and bone because it crunched or was unchewable forcing one to either spit it out or just try not to gag as you swallowed it. Definitely an unpleasant disgusting entree in every facet.
Giving the benefit of the doubt and because all the written material about Mom's Meals is so enticing as are the pictures, I decided to try the other meals I purchased. All, but one side dish ended up going into the trashcan due to being unedible! I wouldn't even give it to my dog! I know this sounds extreme, but believe me it is not. At the end of this letter, I will detail out specifics on the meals I ordered and recieved as I tasted/attempted to eat every one.
I am a healthcare provider myself and so I am appauled that this company is getting away with this and mortified that so many families think they are taking care of their loved ones/their parents sending these meals to them and giving them piece of mind in doing so thinking that their parents are eating well, when in actuality that couldn't be further from the truth. In truth, the parents would be better off not getting these meals because anything else would be more optimal.
The truth is that this company is exploiting people who want to care for their loved ones and this company is getting away with it. This angers me, especially because it is hurting the very people in need that the company says that they are helping, the frail, elderly, disabled individuals who need meal assistance.
Families who purchase from this company for their loved ones think that they are taking care of and helping and insuring that their loved ones get a good meal which is so important. And, because this company gives such a good front and presentation, the family has no clue that what is being sent is abominable. But the food is something no one would EVER let a loved one or parent eat because if they ate it themselves they would come too a quick conclusion that it would do more harm than good to them. And, of course, no parent receiving this, out of love from their child, would ever dare complain or say anything to their child of how dreadful it is because it would hurt their child to know when their child went to such lengths of love to send meals to their parent/s.
This company, in my opinion, needs to be put to a hault as it is exploiting people and people's attempts to care for their loved ones. It is taking advantage of children's love for their folks and attempts to help take care of them and taking advantage of the elderly's vulnerable position and also of their love back to their child not wanting to disappoint or upset their child's acts of love by letting them know.
Mom's Meals provides such an incredible presentation that it is hard to believe what food that comes is from the same company that is the website and materials/communication/packaging. I learned of Mom's meals from a family member wanting to help me, thinking also that it would be a good way for me to get good healthy meals in. I was so excited anticipating good healthy meals as the company presents. I got a nice welcoming phone call from Mom's Meals after I placed my order and an email from them. Then a big nice looking and inviting box arrived, styrofoam lid and packaged all so beautifully. That's where the goodness stopped.
I already shared about the beef, noodles, sauce. The other entrees I received were:
Turkey Goulash and Blueberry Apple Crisp - the goulash genuinely tasted spoiled and the blueberry apple crisp was way too sweet, even for a person with a sweet tooth.
Salisbury Steak with Mushroom Gravy, green beans with bacon and onions - the beans smelled extremely foul and tasted equally as foul (?if spoiled from bad bacon?) and the salisbury steak was salty. There was one small shriveled up mushroom slice carefully placed in the center of the salisbury steak which I guess is how they qualify the gravy as "mushroom gravy".
Banana Walnut Pancakes with Turkey Sausage - I never saw such a small sausage in my life. It was tiny shriveled up dark 1 1/2 inch, if that, in size. The pancakes also thin and small and the pancakes were completely inedible. I took a bite and what was in my mouth was so foul, it had to be spit out. I never tasted anything so dreadful. MUCH better off to go to McDonald's. A healthier better breakfast! Better proportion, better quality and better price and fresher! What does that say about a meal when McDonald's is the better option for breakfast entree. Pancakes at McDonalds, much bigger and fluffier and even good. Sausage also better and bigger. And, you can get real eggs at McDonalds (with a yolk or more like an omelet or scramble...your pref and choosing).
Stuffed Green Pepper - The pepper was actually on the side and the meat presented like a meatloaf, which actually was a nice way to present it for the ease of eating. However the rice in the meat was not cooked enough and so the meat had harder (very ala dente) rice throughout the meat making it very unpleasant because rice not cooked yet still in the meat. Additionally, the meat was too salty.
Cheese Lasagna - of all the main entrees, this was tho only one that seemed to taste ok although still was a little on the salty side but not as extremely so as the other entrees were. And, the noodles on this had such a strange/ consistency....sort of mushy/mealy type texture (not totally appealing or optimal).
Turkey Chili with Beans and Cornbread Pudding - This meal does not heat up well. The chili, arrives frozen and takes many times longer than the pudding to heat. The chili is also primarily sauce and it is an unpleasant sauce at that ....both because of it's taste and because of what they consider "meat" that they put in it. The "meat" within it is like 1/2 tbsp of pureed meat that gives such a weird sauce texture that makes it definitely undesirable. The corn pudding needs to be removed from the container as the chili continues to heat although they do not advise or tell you of this. (The chili takes very long to heat up.) However, the corn pudding was actually good! One good item (side dish only) of all that I recieved. I ate the corn pudding and so far, no ill effects to me.
I tasted at least one bite of everything so that I could provide valid actual true factual feedback about the food given by Mom's Meals. It is definitely NOT a viable source of good food to send or give to anyone you love or care about.
Please share outward that it is better to get delivery from a diner or local restaurant to their loved one than it would be to get Mom's Meals. I take personal offense to this company's misrepresentation and exploitation of all families trying to take care of loved ones. In fact, that is how I ended up getting a week of their food was from a loved one wanting to help me and sharing with me because there is no way to know how horrendous it is unless you've eaten it. As Mom's Meals certainly puts forth a strong good front and impression.
Please protect your readers, elderly and disabled from this company and do not recommend this meal program outward.
-Wen, Phila, PA
I'm So Glad to Have Found Them
Overall: Gold Medal
- Website Ease of Ordering: Excellent
- Reheating:
Excellent
- Customer Service: Excellent
- Shipping: Excellent
- Taste and Food Quality: Excellent
- Value: Excellent
I have to eat pureed meals & it is very hard to find these type of meals. But when I ordered from Mom's Meals, the food is absolutely delicious. The pureed Roast Beef is so good & a lot of food too. They are so nice in customer service, even if you were to have a problem, they will be sure to fix it. I have to be very careful in what I eat & everything has to be fresh & nutritious. Well, that is what I found in Mom's Meals & I think they are wonderful. I am so glad to have found them & will continue to use them.
-Robin G., Smithfield, NC
Sure Glad it's Not My Mom
Overall: No Medal
- Website Ease of Ordering: Fair
- Reheating:
Poor
- Customer Service: Fair
- Shipping: Poor
- Taste and Food Quality: Fair
- Value: Fair
Some of the meals aren't bad, but some of them are very disappointing, for example the NEW Vegetable Primavera in Creamy (HUH) Alfredo Sauce; no Sauce so much as a tasteless watery concoction, and the so called vegetables, sparse and small, frozen I assume. The Cheeseburger-the cheese always ends up around the burger and you have to scrape what you can get to put it o the burger, which by the way tastes eerily like McDonald's $.99 cheeseburger except there's no pickle and the limited amount of cheese you can manage to scrape to make it a "Cheeseburger".
When I ordered the Fruit Breakfast Pizza the first time, I loved it, it had a great texture and berries in a delicious sauce; the second time I got it, they've changed it to a waffle with a nauseating mixture of cream cheese and canned peaches on top...disgusting. I ate half of it and couldn't stomach any more. Canned peaches seem to be used wherever possible instead of berries. The NEW Chicken Pepper Pasta has a nice quality pasta, but the sauce, tastes alright, but it's very sparse.
And enough Oranges! Yogurt or a healthy muffin would be nice and a lot more imaginative with some of the meals instead of all those oranges! The powdered milk is a waste and a joke. I've had a similar service who managed to send small cartons of real low fat milk.
All in all, very unimaginative, creative, and seemingly not much concern for pleasing the clients. They make "Mom's Meals" sound so caring and folksy, but I'm pretty sure all they're concerned with is cost. When I receive them, there's always a problem lately; I'm always appalled and annoyed with "Mom's". Sure glad it's not my Mom!
They're much better than Meals On Wheels, but that isn't really saying much...When I receive my box, the first few times UPS delivered and carried the box up to my third floor apartment, now they're using Fed-Ex who just rings the buzzer and leaves the box in the unsecured common area entry hall, and as they never come at the same time, anyone can take it if I'm not here. The last few times they delivered, and both times it was after noon.
This morning I had an appointment in the morning and was home by 11:45. It is now 7:40, no meals. I waited until 6:30 and then decided I would call Mom's, but it was too late. So tomorrow I'll have to deal with this hassle all because Mom's started using the infamously fast but not concerned about security Fed-Ex, a cheaper alternative. If they want to use Fed-Ex, a signiture should be required so they can't just ring the bell, dunp the box, and take off as quickly as humanely possible. TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE!!!!
-Arthur, Framingham, MA
Open Meals And Unhelpful Customer Service
Overall: No Medal
- Website Ease of Ordering: Poor
- Reheating:
Poor
- Customer Service: Poor
- Shipping: Poor
- Taste and Food Quality: Poor
- Value: Poor
I received a nasty box of opened meals with pudding and magic cups melted mess. I tried to call customer service and they were non-helpful and told us to let our mom eat it anyway.
-Lester, Pensacola, Florida
Spaghetti and Marinara Sauce
Overall: Bronze Medal
- Website Ease of Ordering: Excellent
- Reheating: Excellent
- Customer Service: Excellent
- Shipping: Excellent
- Taste and Food Quality: Poor
- Value: Fair
When I first opened this package, I thought Mom's accidentally forgot the Marinara Sauce. The small amount that came with this meal was hidden under the spaghetti. The spaghetti was okay. The sauce left much to be desired. There were some bits of meat called Sweet Italian Turkey Sausage on the label, but there wasn't enough sauce to cover the pasta. What sauce did come with the meal was very watery. Maybe they meant Marina instead of Marinara. The nutritional label said this meal had 16 grams of fat, and I can't figure out where that came from.
The string beans looked liked typical frozen beans you can buy at any supermarket, less any of the flavor. I would not recommend, or want to reorder this meal again. Any jarred sauce over your own pasta would be considerably better, and a much better value.
-Jan F. NY
Consumer Supplied Mom's Meals Pictures
Stuffed Pepper
Overall: Bronze Medal
- Website Ease of Ordering: Excellent
- Reheating: Excellent
- Customer Service: Excellent
- Shipping: Excellent
- Taste and Food Quality: Poor
- Value: Fair
One of the things I have always run home for are my mother's stuffed peppers. It may be one of the best comfort foods of all time, so I was very excited to get a stuffed pepper meal from Mom's Meals. I was disappointed.
The meat was stuffed with rice, but it had no flavor. The meatball wasn't stuffed in a green pepper. Instead, some sliced pieces of pepper were mixed in with more of the rice that may have been leftover. For a company that promotes itself as a healthy meal solution, I would have liked to see a vegetable come with it. This meal had 16 grams of fat, 45 carbs, and 1 gram of trans-fat, which I was surprised to see on the nutritional label.
The side rice had no flavor, which seems to be a recurring theme. It didn't have any texture either. I swear if I were blind-folded I would have had a hard time identifying what it was.
-Jan F. NY
Consumer Supplied Mom's Meals Pictures
Meatloaf
Overall: Bronze Medal
- Website Ease of Ordering: Excellent
- Reheating: Excellent
- Customer Service: Excellent
- Shipping: Excellent
- Taste and Food Quality: Poor
- Value: Fair
The best part of Mom's Meals Meatloaf was the standard Mixed Vegetables, and I think Mom gets these from the frozen section of the grocer too. The meat continues to be flavorless, and it seemed to me, the recipe for this meatloaf started with bread crumbs. The ketchup they put on the meatloaf was disgusting, and I am not being dramatic. The potatoes were mushy and flavorless as well. I tasted each component of this meal and threw the rest out.
-Jan F. NY
Consumer Supplied Mom's Meals Pictures
Baked Ziti
Overall: Bronze Medal
- Website Ease of Ordering: Excellent
- Reheating: Excellent
- Customer Service: Excellent
- Shipping: Excellent
- Taste and Food Quality: Poor
- Value: Fair
So far, I gave all the Mom's Meals I tried a bronze medal in respect to the low-price point Mom's is trying to maintain per meal. However, they are also proving to me that you do get what you pay for. The frozen store-bought vegetables were good, and once again, the best part of the meal. A sad statement in itself. The pasta was mushy and without texture, the sauce was awful, and I couldn't taste any of the three cheeses that came with this meal.
The meatballs were out of this world, but I don't mean that in a positive way. I have never seen anything like them. They had an unusual spongy texture. Very strange. The nutritional label said 19 grams of fat and 66 carbs for this "healthy meal."
This is all of the Mom' Meals I can taste for one day.
-Jan F. NY
Consumer Supplied Mom's Meals Pictures
3 Bean Chili
Overall: No Medal
- Website Ease of Ordering: Excellent
- Reheating: Excellent
- Customer Service: Excellent
- Shipping: Excellent
- Taste and Food Quality: Poor
- Value: Poor
This was much more like a tomato vegetable soup than a chili. In fact, the heating instructions say to stir the soup after one minute in the microwave. Yes, it had a hint of chili spice. The vegetables are good, but without any seasoning and a watery flavorless broth, this chili is one to pass on.
-Jan F. NY
Consumer Supplied Mom's Meals Pictures
Beef Stew
Overall: No Medal
- Website Ease of Ordering: Excellent
- Reheating: Excellent
- Customer Service: Excellent
- Shipping: Excellent
- Taste and Food Quality: Poor
- Value: Poor
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and I think that is what you will get from my photos. One of the things missing from this beef stew is the stew. It is more of a collection of vegetables with some beef. Two of my pieces of beef had too much grizzle on them. I am getting tired of writing flavorless and inferior. I ate just enough to write the review and threw the rest out.
-Jan F. NY
Consumer Supplied Mom's Meals Pictures
Chicken and Noodles
Overall: Silver Medal
- Website Ease of Ordering: Excellent
- Reheating: Excellent
- Customer Service: Excellent
- Shipping: Excellent
- Taste and Food Quality: Good
- Value: Good
Here is a Mom's Meal I would be happy to recommend. The noodles are thick and have a very homemade texture. Nothing beats homemade pasta. The diced chicken is plentiful, flavorful, and tender. The portion size is nice, and the sauce is good. It could use some seasoning and a green vegetable, but this was a good meal you will want to add to your order.
-Jan F. NY
Consumer Supplied Mom's Meals Pictures
Florentine Lasagna with Turkey Sausage
Overall: Gold Medal
- Website Ease of Ordering: Excellent
- Reheating: Excellent
- Customer Service: Excellent
- Shipping: Excellent
- Taste and Food Quality: Excellent
- Value: Excellent
This was the best Mom's Meal I have tried so far. I am a huge fan of lasagna, and I have to admit I was concerned about getting a watery one when I saw this was a Florentine Lasagna, which means spinach. This meal reheated perfectly and wasn't too watery at all. The turkey sausage added a nice texture, and the sauce was good. The noodles were perfectly cooked too. This lasagna stands a lot higher than most others too. Great job Chef!
-Jan F. NY
Consumer Supplied Mom's Meals Pictures
Tuna Casserole
Overall: Silver Medal
- Website Ease of Ordering: Excellent
- Reheating: Excellent
- Customer Service: Excellent
- Shipping: Excellent
- Taste and Food Quality: Good
- Value: Good
Tuna Casserole is not a meal you see on the menus of many prepared meal delivery companies. In my opinion, that's a shame because it is certainly one of the all-time comfort foods. Mom's Meals does a good job with theirs too. The tuna is good, the noodles are good, and the vegetables round out a very economical meal that only needs a hint of salt and pepper. Well done.
-Jan F. NY
Consumer Supplied Mom's Meals Pictures
Pork and Marsala Sauce
Overall: Bronze Medal
- Website Ease of Ordering: Excellent
- Reheating: Excellent
- Customer Service: Excellent
- Shipping: Excellent
- Taste and Food Quality: Fair
- Value: Fair
The portion size of this meal really makes it a tough meal to recommend. You can see in the picture the amount of pork you get with your order. Basically 1.5 slices. Quality-wise, the pork is great. It is from the tenderloin, which is the most expensive part, but appetizers can have more meat than this meal. The white rice was a little gummy, and there wasn't enough sauce to dip the rice into. A side green vegetable would have been nice.
-Jan F. NY
Consumer Supplied Mom's Meals Pictures
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