Reviewed by: Anna Horevay
I’m a busy, single mom, so anytime that someone claims they can save me time, I tune in. Right now, I cook about 10 meals a week, and I’m always on the lookout for quick easy and healthy recipes that I can adapt to fit my family’s and my likes. Relish! promotes itself as a mom-friendly, time-saving service for simple, healthy, homecooked meals. In other words, Relish! is made for moms like me who can use a helping hand. I gave Relish! a test drive for a week to see just how much time and energy it really saved me.
I fired up Relish! on a Monday to get my shopping and recipe list together for the rest of the week. When you log into Relish!, you pick out what recipes you want to use from their database. Relish! starts you off with a list of suggested recipes, but you can add in others you find on the website. You can also select how many servings you want of the food to help with portion control and avoid having excess leftovers (or extra helpings during the meal). Each recipe can be easily identified by qualities like low cal, quick, or one pot from the icons featured next to every recipe. From the recipes you choose, Relish! populates a grocery list. The list is then broken down into categories of food to make for easy shopping. You just have to go to the market and then bring the food home to cook.
But I quickly ran into some trouble while using the site. There aren’t many recipes to pick from, and as a person who likes variety on the dinner table, this system complicates things. If you were to use this on a regular basis, you would probably have to do quite a few repeats because of the limited selection. Another downfall is that you also can’t add items onto the list that you want but aren’t a part of the recipe you selected. Let’s say I wanted to pick up some chicken broth but it’s not in any recipe. I’d have to add it into the list by hand because you can’t type in items you need. Relish! also advertises tips for cooking and lifestyle, but there are few tips or new ideas to be found.
In sum:
Pros:
- Weekly menus are laid out
- Recipes can be portion controlled
- Easy to spot low cal meals
- Weekly shopping lists created
Cons:
- Not many menu choices
- Few cooking/lifestyle tips
- Inability to alter list
Relish! is a good tool for dieters who want to know how many calories they consume in a meal and who also want easy portion control. But it’s only good for dieters that won’t grow tired of repeated menu choices and don’t stray from what’s in each recipe. For calorie counters, Relish! gets a thin:dependence stamp of approval. For those of us that have a family of picky eaters, Relish! isn’t a good deal because of the limits of available recipes.
