Since my father is convinced we're overpaying by doing our monthly dinner program, I thought I'd do a simple cost comparison. I settled on making the Harvest Pork Tenderloin again, because it was really good, and I knew exactly what the ingredients were. Mind you, it might be one of the more pricy of the meals we made there, at least in comparison to some of the stir frys or pasta dishes.
Dinners by Design is 210 for 12 entrees, which is 17.50 per entree.
Ingredients: Pork Tenderloin; Brown Sugar; Orange Juice; Apples; Cranberries (fresh); ground ginger; ground allspice; ground cloves
Since I would not normally use orange juice or cranberries, I decided it would be more cost effective to make 2, to minimize waste. I had ginger, allspice, and brown sugar, so I'm not including them in the cost (though this finished off the brown sugar and it will have to be repurchased). The real kicker was the ground cloves -- I had neither whole nor ground cloves, and have never once needed them, so it really needed to be included in the cost. I'll do a comparison with and without the cost of the cloves though, since if I make this frequently the cost of the cloves becomes less significant.
Pork Tenderloin (2) 13.90 and 12.71
bag of fresh cranberries 2.39
orange juice (quart) 2.39
apples (4) 3.78
ground cloves 9.79
Total Without cloves: 35.17 or 17.59 each
Total With cloves: 44.96 or 22.48 each
I'd say they were very cost effective! Especially when you add in that they provide the containers, the utensils, and the prep work. Obviously, if the meals they use are ones you would never make or eat, they become not-so-good, but for me I think I can say they are well worth the cost :)
Now, I went to the small local grocery chain that has better quality meat and better quality produce, but slightly higher prices overall. I'm sure it would have been slightly cheaper elsewhere. Also, the meat was the real cost here, if I knew where to go (Costco maybe?) I could probably save significantly there. Also, I have leftover OJ and cranberries, which would reduce the overall costs for someone who uses those anyway. Still, I thought it was an interesting comparison.