Angel Food? Worth it?

[Hellothemouse]

Hi! I am a newbie here and since food is getting more and more pricey and packages are getting smaller and smaller I was wondering if its worth getting Angel Food once a month? Any thoughts?

 

[drcmk]

I've never participated but based on the website . . .

http://www.angelfoodministries.com/menus/menu_2011-08_en.asp

You can buy 11 pounds of meat and 8 pounds of vegetables plus meal sized portions of some prepared foods like soup for $35. If that is accurate, I can't imagine any better deal than that. Is the website inaccurate?

 

[java]

We did it once. And I would do it again. We don't care for the processed stuff and lately it seems to include mostly that*like the beef macaroni so I have not used it but may try it again.

Our place also had a freebie table out front- full of fresh vegetables and baked goods. I didn't try that as our need isn't as great as others there. But it seemed to be making others very happy

 

[ThisIsTheYear]

I ordered it once. The whole experience was good, however we weren't crazy about the food. All of the food has no-name labels. I am in no way a label snob but the food really wasn't that great. I wanted to give it another chance but DH said no way.

 

[abcboys]

We tried it once. It's been a year or 2 back when the main box was only $25. For us I did not think it was worth it and now I see the price is 30 or 35. Some of the stuff was okay but some was just not good. Like chicken fajita strips were gross and nobody liked them, the apples were not very crispy, and some of the stuff we just don't eat like hamburger helper type stuff and a few other things. I do better shopping sales and buying only stuff we actually use. Every once in a while I will look it up to see about trying it again but theres always too much stuff included that nobody here likes.

 

[ThisIsTheYear]

Like chicken fajita strips were gross .

Yes, I remember. They did not taste like chicken.

 

[GinnyEmma]

The meat had the nasty salty taste that walmarts has. You can do better with lossleaders or aldis.

 

[disneymarie]

I am pretty sure some of the providers are location sensitive to the product. You may vary in where the distributor that provides the meats or veggies. So taste or quality can differ.
There are coupons found on the internet. I think I used retailmenot.com for the ones I used. If you order online there is a charge, but pay in advance at the pickup local and save the $. They accept foodstamps also.

I over all purchased from them for several months. BUT the price went up. I found a lot of items in my freezer sitting if I was not diligent to make them. But when I was, my grocery bill was really reduced.

One reason was I was not in the store making impulse purchases, and I also started with Aldi's. There are a lot of things I can get there that are great savings; the canned veggies, fresh veggis and fruit, bread, burger and dog rolls, Bagels, salt, crackers, potoato chip or nachos for a treat with their salsa.

The pizza's are huge tasty and a weekly favorite. Pepperoni and extra cheese.

The butter, juices, great quality and price. The cookies are from Germany as is the chocolate if you like to treat yourself.
The weekly flyer has great buys too. I found yard chairs, pool chairs, area carpets, shelfing all at great buys.

One night I covered security for ds while he was off, and spent twice what I earned that night on "great buys" I told dh that I just offset what I would have bought during the summer anyway. It was half the price and I earned $ towards it too.
(I had not done security work in 25 years, when ds was only 3)

 

[scard192]

Tried it for several months as it seemed to be a good deal. The quality was horrible; most of the meat was fatty, and just gross. When it reached the point that I was throwing away alot because I refused to eat it that was the end for me. And the pictures on the website were not indicitive of the food I received.

 

[miralys]

I ordered the boxes for about six months but gave up because I could do better on my own, for the money involved. The vegetable/fruit portion of the box was okay. It's sort of hard to mess up fruits and veggies, even if they are frozen. But, sometimes you get "seasonal" items which can lead to some interesting menu ideas (I once had three bags of radishes to figure out what to do with!)

I was less than thrilled with the meat selections though. Mostly processed, and the meat itself was tough and salty. It was all prepackaged stuff that you might find in a high school or hospital cafeteria.

Honestly, with a little leg work, you can do better watching the sales at your grocery store. If you have a vegetable market that's a good option for fresh food. Also consider looking into the "ethnic" grocery markets (Bravo for example, or small mom and pop Asian or Hispanic stores). I find really good deals on meats and veggies there.

 

[graygables]

I've tried it a couple of times, both in Ohio and in Florida. Neither time was I very impressed and we felt like we wasted too much due to quality issues. Personally, I love Sam's Club for our meat purchases. I go once a month and stock up, bring it home and use a FoodSaver to repackage. We always get very good quality at great prices without having to watch sales at the local grocery (which the "sale" prices are pretty much Sam's regular price).

I really need to give Aldi another look. The one I went to in Ohio was kind of shabby and not at all what I remember growing up with in Germany, so I gave up on it. I've been hearing good things about the ones around here, so going to try it out next week.

The important lesson in saving money on food bills is pantry management. I learned this several years ago during some hard times. Stock up as much as you can when something goes on sale. Frozen veg is just as good as fresh and that was where I was able to save the most. .99 for a bag of veggies that would hold for weeks in the freezer as opposed to $3 for a head of broccoli that would stink up in a few days. Canned goods, especially, watch for them to go on sale and load up your cart. Keep staples on hand and learn how to bake from scratch to avoid buying packaged mixes.

 

[lajones81]

I appreciate this information, as well, as I had been considering making a purchase. Thanks so much!

 

[mjantz]

I use it & like it. I've had no quality issues & I appreciate having options in my freezer for dinner. I haven't ordered for the past few years due to work issues & it seems like I spent more time stopping at the store to pick up something for dinner that night. With a good selection of meat & frozen veggies in the freezer I can hit the grocery store for some pantry staples & be set for the month. I ordered last month for the first time in awhile & it's definitely saved us money as I'm not hitting up the grocery store every few days.
I've not purchased the veggie or fresh fruit boxes. I usually get the largest general box & a special or two. This month I'm getting the biggest general box, the smallest one, the pantry box & the chicken chunks. A serious amount of food for about $100. Also, I get my box from a local food bank (it's a fundraiser for them) & they always throw in something extra (usually produce or dairy that needs to be used in the next few days). My kids were thrilled when I came home with a flat of Dannon crush-cups.

 

[NancyIL]

I expected this thread to be about cake mixes! (Angel Food cake is my favorite!)

 

[timmac]

I've done it once, and think it was so-so. Food quality of the different items varied from mediocre to good. Some of the items are fresh items (depending on which package you get), but some are processed crap as well. If you consider price of similar goods at a moderate to high end supermarket, then it's a good deal. If you compare against a lower end store with a bit of coupons and discount hunting, then it's roughly on par.

If you look at things like the special steak packs they offer, it's easy to calculate a per pound price and compare... and easy to see that the pricing level is about the same as what many grocers will periodically offer as a sale price.

 

[Meshell2002]

I was using it for 6 mos before I was watching sales & using some coupons. The standard box has a lot of pre packaged foods. I don't normally cook with those items so I wasn't using all of them. If you cook from scratch a lot you may want to just stick to the fruit/ veggie box and maybe the meat boxes. I usually shop Costco for meat....if you like reg ground chuck and aren't picky about fat content you will probably have no problem w/ it....I'd rather wait til a sale and get the lean ground beef...it really depends on what you like to cook...and with what.

 

[Hellothemouse]

I use it & like it. I've had no quality issues & I appreciate having options in my freezer for dinner. I haven't ordered for the past few years due to work issues & it seems like I spent more time stopping at the store to pick up something for dinner that night. With a good selection of meat & frozen veggies in the freezer I can hit the grocery store for some pantry staples & be set for the month. I ordered last month for the first time in awhile & it's definitely saved us money as I'm not hitting up the grocery store every few days.
I've not purchased the veggie or fresh fruit boxes. I usually get the largest general box & a special or two. This month I'm getting the biggest general box, the smallest one, the pantry box & the chicken chunks. A serious amount of food for about $100. Also, I get my box from a local food bank (it's a fundraiser for them) & they always throw in something extra (usually produce or dairy that needs to be used in the next few days). My kids were thrilled when I came home with a flat of Dannon crush-cups.

Are the white meat chicken chunks (not the nuggets) any good (that are in Aug spec menu) ?? They look good but I don't know if its worth that money for them

 

[mjantz]

On the AF Facebook page a lot of people are excited about them because they only offer them a few times a year. They say they're really, really good.