Mom's Meals review

Mom’s Meals provides home-delivered, nutritionally balanced meals for people with chronic health conditions and those living at home who require assistance with meals.

Specifically, Mom’s Meals designs its meals for:

• people managing chronic health conditions at home
• those who need a little extra support following discharge from the hospital
• individuals in long-term care programs to help them age at home
• people living on their own who could benefit from some help with meals
• those caring for others who need help with meals

Some people who may make use of Mom’s Meals products and services include:

• healthcare organizations
• case managers
• caregivers
• self-paying customers

Available programs, menus, and prices

Mom’s Meals offers customers a choice of four programs:

• Long Term Services and Support/Home and Community-Based Services (LTSS/HCBS)
• Chronic Care
• Post-Discharge Care
• Self-Pay

Self-paying customers can choose meals from nine menus that cost $7.99–8.99 per meal. All meals heat in the microwave in 2 minutes or less, and a person can store them safely in the refrigerator for up to 14 days.

Mom’s Meals offers the following menus for specific dietary needs:

• General Wellness
• Heart Friendly
• Renal Friendly
• Diabetes Friendly
• Cancer Support
• Low Sodium
• Gluten Free
• Pureed
• Vegetarian

Self-paying customers can also decide if they want their orders to include breakfast, lunch, and dinner, or lunch and dinner only. Customers can choose their meals. Alternatively, they can select the chef’s pick, which allows customers to swap out meals they do not like.

Placing orders

Self-paying customers can place one-time orders or choose auto-ship. They can also decide to receive meals once or twice per week. Depending on these selections, each delivery includes as few as seven and up to 21 meals.

First-time customers can order a three-meal trial package before placing regular orders. Customers can also cancel automatic shipments at any time but must cancel before 1 p.m. on the Friday before the upcoming delivery.

Mom’s Meals has both advantages and disadvantages.

A person may begin receiving Mom’s Meals due to:

• signing up for the service themselves for convenient access to healthy food
• healthcare plans supplying the service after a hospital stay
• case managers approving the service to support their clients’ nutritional and emotional well-being

Mom’s Meals allows people to select every meal they receive. People can choose from various options, some targeting certain health conditions.

All meals are pre-prepared and can keep in the refrigerator for 14 days. However, the company does not recommend freezing its products.

All entree labels include heating instructions, which generally involve warming in the microwave.

Mom’s Meals says professional chefs and registered dietitians design the menus. Specific menu choices vary according to which state a person lives in, as well as their individual dietary requirements.

Offerings include:

• traditional dinner choices, such as meatloaf with vegetables
• international offerings, such as tacos, lasagna, or stir-fry
• soups
• sandwiches
• breakfast items

Ingredients

Mom’s Meals claims to use high quality ingredients and provides information on these ingredients so people can choose the best options to meet their dietary requirements. The company also updates its menus each season.

The company also offers customers consultations with registered dietitians to discuss the nutritional components and ingredients in the meals.

Diet-friendliness

Mom’s meals are portion-controlled and do not exceed the recommended dietary intake for calories. For example, meals from the General Wellness menu range from 400–700 calories per meal.

The company offers menus to serve the dietary needs of those with diabetes, gluten intolerance, renal issues, and heart conditions. They also offer low sodium and vegetarian options.

People receiving Medicare or Medicaid may be eligible for Mom’s Meals for free or at a reduced cost. State and local agencies serving older adults may also include this service in their offering.

Other people may receive Mom’s Meals as part of their treatment plan or discharge instructions from their healthcare team.

In all the circumstances above, the organization or agency making the arrangements will determine the final cost to the user.

For people signing up for Mom’s Meals independently, the company offers 10% discounts to veterans and auto-ship subscribers.

The company offers a self-pay program for people who do not qualify to receive the meals under an eligible health plan or government assistance. These customers typically pay around $6.99 per meal. However, meals from the Renal-Friendly, Pureed, and Gluten-Free menus cost $7.99 per meal.

Shipping fees are $14.95 for regular deliveries and $12.95 for the 3-day trial deliveries. Auto-ship deliveries receive a 10% discount.

A list of prices is also available on the Mom’s Meals website.

Older adults can sometimes experience difficulty in getting adequate nutrition. Changes to specific health and dietary needs may cause older adults to become less interested in food, less able to prepare food, or both. Mom’s Meals’ “General Wellness” meals can help agencies and individuals deal with age-related nutritional changes.

Mom’s Meals also provides other meal plans for people with the following health conditions:

• Heart disease: All meals within this plan contain fewer than 800 milligrams (mg) of sodium and less than 30% fat. They also meet the nutritional guidelines of the American Heart Association (AHA).
• Diabetes: Dietitians specializing in diabetes control developed these meals to help people with diabetes maintain stable blood sugar levels. Each meal contains fewer than 75 grams (g) of carbohydrates.
• Cancer: Dietitians trained in oncology developed these meals to meet the American Institute for Cancer Research guidelines. These meals support healing and protect against weight loss. Each meal contains at least 25 g of protein and 600 calories.
• Kidney disease: These meals help support the kidneys and reduce their workload. Each meal contains no more than 700 mg of sodium, no more than 833 mg of potassium, and no more than 330 mg of phosphorus.

Mom’s Meals also provides the following:

• pureed foods, for people who have difficulty swallowing
• gluten-free foods for people with celiac disease
• vegetarian foods, for people who want to restrict their intake of animal products

According to the Mom’s Meals website, the company has received 99% customer satisfaction over the past 8 years. It adds that 97% of clients report eating more healthily and regularly with Mom’s Meals.

Many meal delivery options exist for older adults and people with chronic health conditions. Below are two alternatives to Mom’s Meals.

MagicKitchen.com

MagicKitchen.com makes and delivers what it calls “homestyle” frozen foods. The company places a special emphasis on serving older adults and those with special dietary concerns, such as people with diabetes or those receiving dialysis.

MagicKitchen offers complete meals and à la carte options. Their menus note whether meals are low fat, low sodium, renal-friendly, or gluten-free.

Highlights of Magic Kitchen include an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau and a 4.3 out of 5 rating on Trustpilot.

Advantages of Magic Kitchen include:

• variety
• meets specific dietary needs
• complete meals and à la carte options
• suitable for weight loss, with low calorie meals that are high in protein and fiber

Disadvantages of Magic Kitchen include:

• lack of information about ingredients
• meals not manufactured in allergen-free facilities
• shipping costs

Magic Kitchen meals cost from $10 to around $14 per meal. The company also offers meal programs with weekly delivery ranging from $72–275, depending on the number of meals per day.

Home Chef Fresh and Easy

Fresh and Easy is a meal delivery service from Home Chef. The company delivers pre-prepared salads for serving, as well as pre-portioned ingredients in oven-safe meal trays or grill-safe bags for cooking.

People can select the cooking experiences they desire, ranging from 30-minute meal kits to oven-ready dishes. They can also select their daily menus weekly. People who are carb-conscious, calorie-conscious, or vegetarian can filter the options available.

Highlights of this service include options for those hoping to lose weight.

Advantages of Home Chef Fresh and Easy include:

• convenience
• meals in oven-ready and grill-ready dishes
• easy ordering and delivery

Disadvantages include:

• limited options to suit specific dietary needs

Common questions and answers about Mom’s Meals include:

Is the packaging sustainable?

Mom’s Meals does not state whether its packaging is sustainable.

Who is Mom’s Meals service suitable for?

People covered by the following plans or programs may be eligible to receive Mom’s Meals:

• Medicare Advantage plans
• Medicaid plans
• Long-Term Services and Supports programs
• the Older Americans Act

Mom’s Meals also offers a self-pay program for individuals and caregivers.

The company offers menus for a range of dietary needs, and all meals meet the specific dietary requirements of older adults.

Does Medicare pay for Mom’s meals?

Clients covered by Medicare Advantage plans qualify to receive full or partial discounts on Mom’s Meals.

Meal delivery services offer access to convenient and healthy foods for people of all ages and dietary requirements.

Mom’s Meals is a meal delivery service that provides meals for the elderly and people who require extra assistance following discharge from a hospital. It also offers tailored menus for people living with specific health conditions, such as heart disease, diabetes, and kidney disease.

A person considering a meal delivery service can choose from various options, including Mom’s Meals, Magickitchen.com, and Fresh and Easy.

Alternatively, people who are seeking a convenient, healthy cooking option can try cooking and freezing extra meals at weekends to enjoy throughout the week.