My wife recently saw an add for a “prepared meal” place called Factor. We read over it and decided to give it a shot. They’re basically high end microwave dinners. They have quite a variety of options for various dietary needs; keto, gluten free, dairy free, etc.
Our purposes were speed of preparation, so we don’t eat out when we’re too busy/lazy/tired to make dinner, and also circumscribed portions. I’ll go back for seconds in a heartbeat for my wife’s cooking, but I’m unlikely to warm an entire new dinner for seconds.
We each got to pick what dishes we want. The one I had last night was called a Taco Bowl. Here it is with just the cardboard sleeve removed.
There are a dozen or so jalapeño slices in the top right, a chipotle yogurt cup in the bottom right, and the main dish on the left.
The instructions were to take the yogurt out, poke holes in the plastic, and microwave for 2 min. Here’s how it looks right out of the microwave:
The blob in the center concerned me, but when I started mixing I realized it was refried beans. That made me super happy. I don’t like the flavor of jalapeño, and I don’t like yogurt, so that left me with the taco stuff. I also don’t like veggies in my taco, so this was really ideal for me. I put some Taco Bell mild sauce in the meat and stirred and got a small bowl of chips to go along. I also mixed some lemonade and La Croix.
Taste
I quite liked it. It’s different from my wife’s, but also quite different from Taco Bell. I was very happy there were no veggies in it, and I suspect even people who like veggies will be happy with that fact. I don’t think lettuce and tomato would last well in this packaging, and they’d be way better added in fresh.
Volume
When I was done I felt pleasantly full. I didn’t need to go get something else to eat. I can eat a lot, so that’s not insignificant.
Packaging
The food containers all came in a box that had been packed with what felt like big plastic bags of ice. They were thick black plastic, much much tougher than a garbage bag, and it felt like there was a large block of ice inside each one, and they were about half thawed.
As it turns out, they’re not water ice, but rather some kind of gel. The gel gets thrown in the trash and the plastic bags are recyclable.
In fact, the only part that wasn’t recyclable was the thin clear plastic over the food. Everything else was cardboard or recyclable plastic.
Evaluation
I liked it quite a lot and I’m looking forward to the next thing. My wife had a roasted chicken last night that I tasted and it was quite good. I’ll blog a review of each food as I go.
