Healthy meal delivery services in Memphis
The “Quarantine 15” is the new “Freshman 15” but for adults. While we were all staying “safer at home” this past spring, most of us were in the kitchen cooking and baking everything from homemade bread to sugar-filled whipped coffees.
As we now start to venture out, shedding our PJS and sweats for real clothes, many of us might be feeling that we need to focus on a healthier diet.
Luckily for us Memphians, there are several small businesses in town offering a solution. These entrepreneurs and chefs are providing pre-made healthy meals delivered straight to your front door. All you have to do is reheat and serve; no cooking required.
Emvision Foods Co.
emvisionfoods.com
Emvision Foods Co. is a Memphisbased home delivery meal service that was created by Emily Nokes Turngren. This busy mom of two has been in the prepared food business for decades.
She launched Emvision Foods after the birth of her youngest child to help busy parents put a healthy meal on the table.
Her definition of healthy is focused on using fresh ingredients and making everything, including salad dressings, from scratch.
“I try my best to incorporate a little of each kind of healthy eating — like paleo, keto and vegetarian — in my weekly menu,” Turngren said.
A recent menu included dishes like Paleo Salisbury Meatballs with Cauliflower Mashers, a Salmon Nicoise Salad and a Chicken Feta Burger.
She explained that she has her husband, who she says is a big meat eater, taste test each dish before she puts it on her menu. “If he likes it, I know it is good to go,” she said.
Her weekly menu offers a selection of five dishes. Most can be ordered in single portions or in a family portion that feeds four. Emvision has a minimum order of $50. Customers can customize their selection from her offerings. Orders must be placed by 6 p.m. on Saturdays for delivery on Tuesdays.
Amplified Meal Prep
eatamplified.com
Amplified Meal Prep co-owners Richard Mccracken and Molly Duchemin offer a customizable prepared foods menu.
“Whether it be busy parents or fitness competitors, everyone’s needs are different. A cookie-cutter plan just doesn’t do sometimes,” Mccracken said.
The two former collegiate athletes have created a menu that they describe as “healthy comfort foods.”
“We recognize that you need dishes you love to eat. We just make them healthier,” Duchemin said, explaining that for their lasagna they use ground turkey instead of fattier ground beef and sausage as well as replace one of the noodle layers with zucchini.
Buffalo Chicken and Barbecue Chicken Cauliflower Pizza are two of the most requested dishes.
The online menu includes 12 proteins, 12 carbs and 12 vegetable options. Customers choose exactly what they want with no minimum order.
Orders must be placed at 4 p.m. on Thursdays for a Sunday delivery.
15md Wellness
15mdwellness.com
Breanna Boyd founded 15md Wellness two years ago after her own fitness journey taught her that diet was the key to achieving her goals.
She hopes that her company, which provides prepared meals, personal training and even access to a dietitian, will help Memphians live a healthier lifestyle. Customers can choose whichever services they want.
“The name 15md stands for 15 minutes a day,” she explained. “So many people look at this as a diet where they should be doing it for a lifestyle change. Our meals make it so our customers only have to spend 15 minutes a day to have a healthier life.”
Boyd and her team cook dishes that are low in sugar and sodium. Cooking techniques that are healthier (for example, baking versus frying) are used.
Dishes like Jerk Salmon and Jerk Chicken Wings are two popular offerings. “We use our own special homemade Jerk sauce and serve it (as) a side like a vegetable medley or a sweet potato puree,” Boyd said.
Customers can choose from a fivemeal lunch or a five-meal dinner menu; ordering both lunch and dinner (10 meals) is an option as well. There is also an option of a lunch meal plan for kids.
The menu changes weekly. Order by noon on Fridays for delivery on Monday mornings.
Recover
chefphillipdewayne.com
Chef Phillip Dewayne, the chef of Park+cherry at Dixon Gallery & Gardens, knows firsthand how a lifestyle change can make a huge difference. When he moved to San Diego years ago, he lost over 50 pounds simply by following the West Coast lifestyle of healthier foods and portion sizes.
Recover is a meal delivery service based on the premise of giving people a better way to eat. “So many people are looking to get their health back — that’s where the name Recover came from,” Dewayne said.
Dewayne defines healthy as using healthy ingredients and healthy cooking techniques and avoiding additives like sodium.
Dishes like lamb chops, collard greens (which he makes with turkey tails versus pork) and turkey meatloaf have customers realizing that healthy doesn’t have to mean boring.
He explained that he likes to get to know his clients and what their needs are. “Most people start to lose weight,” he explained. “But we can also address underlying issues like heart disease and hypertension.”
Customers can choose from a five- or 10-meal plan. The menu changes weekly. Order by 5 p.m. on Friday for a Sunday delivery.
Jennifer Chandler is the Food & Dining reporter at The Commercial Appeal. She can be reached at jennifer.chandler@commercialappeal.com, and you can follow her on Twitter and Instagram at @cookwjennifer.