It’s back to school time which means I need meals! Although I used to eat with the other teachers, the pandemic changed my routine. Now I bring my own lunches. This semester I’ve started off the year with Fuel Weekly Meal Delivery here in Korea since they sent me some samples.
About this Review
Last month FUEL sent our house a PR box of meal samples to try! After a few weeks of testing their food, it’s time to share my thoughts. Does the PR Box mean that I will write a glowing review? No, because I’m not that motivated by PR Boxes and I don’t need the internet drama surrounding over-hyped “review for hire” content. Plus, I’m just not a great hype person if I don’t like something.
However, I am a tired teacher who needs healthy food options and I’m pretty sure there are other folks out there in the same situation. This review of FUEL Weekly will be like the ones I did for NOSH and BistroBox. I’ll tell you right now, I’m fond of all three choices. I couldn’t pick a favorite meal delivery option but FUEL has KETO meals which I need so they edge forward in that area.
Before we get started, I want to say that I don’t care who you get your meals. I just want to make sure that you know your options. Educators and business people across South Korea need access to home-cooked food that meets their dietary needs.
About FUEL Weekly
FUEL Weekly offers healthy, home-cooked frozen meals with less than 600 calories a piece. The company ships its frozen meals, snacks, and desserts across South Korea. The company was started in 2021 by two ex-pats from different countries who wanted to offer the taste of home.
According to them, they feel that:
Our mission is to our customers, to provide the best service and serve up the tastes from home with balanced nutrition.
www.fuelweekly.com
Knowing what FUEL is focused on, let’s look at how they strive to meet that mission.
FUEL Weekly Offers Variety
When you visit the FUEL Weekly menu (for ordering) page you find that they offer many types of healthy meals. Additionally, they have sorted the menu items to make it easier to quickly find what you need to make it easy to order. Additionally, vegan and KETO meal plans provide around 5 choices meaning you can eat something different each day of the work week.
FUEL Weekly Menus Change
FUEL Weekly meal delivery in Korea rotates its meal options and offers new options. This means that you may have new choices each week.
FUEL Weekly Provides Detailed Labels
The labels on each of FUEL’s meals are clear and informative. Each day, I could quickly grab a meal, and scan the ingredients and cooking times to know what I wanted. Plus, the design of the labels makes it easy to find the information I needed quickly.
FUEL’s meal labels may include such things as:
- Nutritional Data
- Ingredients
- Cook instructions
- Freezer & Fridge recommendations
FUEL Weekly Pays Attention to Health
Each meal delivery company in Korea has its own dietary focus, FUEL Weekly meal delivery in Korea creates meals for a variety of health-focused diet plans. This means they pay very close attention to:
- Calories
- Protein
- Fat
- Carbs
- Fiber
FUEL Weekly Offers Meals for Different Diets
FUEL Weekly targets their meals toward:
- Restricted calorie diets (the meals are almost all under 600 calories)
- KETO
- Vegan / Vegetarian
- Health-focused individuals
FUEL Weekly Offers Easy Ordering
FUEL Weekly’s website has an easy online ordering system. They organize their options clearly and make it easy to place your order. It’s fast and simple.
FUEL Weekly Has a Recycle Program
Although the recycling program is not listed on the FUEL Weekly website, it does exist and they will work with you to make reduce landfill waste.
What I Learned Eating FUEL Weekly
After eating FUEL for lunch for two weeks, here is what I’ve learned about them:
The Meal Variety Matters
I personally found it nice that FUEL Weekly meal delivery in Korea offers more variety and I have more options than other delivery options. I tend to lean toward KETO because of food preferences but I also enjoy certain carbs sometimes and I like vegan food. Each day I had something a little different.
FUEL Weekly Focuses on Quality, Not Quantity
Since FUEL focuses on calories, their meals aren’t always huge. This worked out well for me since I don’t like eating large meals. I like that they maximized the nutrition rather than maximizing the food amount. I felt full but not over-full.
The fact that FUEL tracked the calories meant that I felt good after lunch. I didn’t feel too tired from overeating or undereating. However, sometimes I wanted the meal to be bigger just because it was enjoyable. I would open the container and think, “This is only half-full” but that was my eyes talking, not my stomach.
I Often Missed the Extra Sauce
Sometimes I wish FUEL Weekly cared less about calories since I care more about the sauce. However, if FUEL did that it would ruin the point of ordering healthy meals. So, after thinking about it a bit, I realized less sauce was a smarter idea. I added a dash of water to my meals before heating them to make my sauce go further.
I Need to Try Things Without Judgement
Quite honestly, when I opened the PR box I wasn’t excited about some of the meals. Some of the meals I dreaded eating turned out to be my favorite. Sometimes I get distracted by meal names and I need to stop that.
I Need Lighter Options During the Week
Sometimes I just wanted a break from all the heavy flavors and needed a salad. Obviously, since FUEL Weekly creates frozen meals, salads aren’t really an option. However, it does mean that I need alternate salads and frozen meals.
I’m making this observation because I don’t want to burn out on pre-made meals because such meals make my life easier. It would be very easy to eat too many frozen meals and get tired of the concept. Something I need to regulate for myself. Mixing
frozen meals with salads will mean that I keep my tastebuds looking forward to something new.
Things I Will Order Again with FUEL Weekly
Pretty much everything I had from FUEL met my needs and tasted delightful. I loved the Quesabirria Tacos and Cabbage Roles in all their forms. The Bagel Fat Bombs were the perfect snack.
Things I Will NOT Order Again with FUEL Weekly
The only meal I didn’t like was the breakfast burrito because it was too hard to heat up and tasted mostly like a potato. However, even that wasn’t the end of the world bad.
FUEL Weekly Desserts Worth a Try
I’m not a huge dessert fan and I’m even less of a healthy dessert person. However, FUEL desserts turned out to be pretty good. I might need to keep a few in my freezer for those days when I suddenly need a sweet treat.
Who Will Love FUEL Weekly Meals?
Fuel won’t be the answer for everyone but it might be right for you. If you fit into one of the following categories you should highly consider ordering from Fuel Weekly.
Keto
If you are following a KETO diet look no further. The KETO lunches were delicious.
Tracking Calories
With FUEL you will know your calorie count easily each day since it’s right on the box, no need to check a website or PDF.
Quarantining
If you find yourself needing to quarantine, FUEL Weekly meals make it simple. No mess and no cleanup. The perfect option.
An Educator
Educators who don’t eat in the school cafeteria may love FUEL Weekly. You can take a break from doing your own meal prep every once in a while.
Living Alone and Hate Cooking
Not everyone wants to cook but that doesn’t mean they want to go out or order out. FUEL Weekly means you can eat homemade food at home without cooking. Go ahead and just make this your life plan. You don’t have to punish yourself when there are easy solutions like FUEL Weekly.
Busy
Maybe you don’t have time in your day to cook but you still want affordable and healthy food, go order from FUEL. It solves your problems.
FUEL Weekly Offers Pricing Packages
FUEL Weekly offers discounts of up to 15% for ordering multiple meals. This can make ordering food for the week a little more affordable.
Give FUEL Weekly a Try
You can order from FUEL weekly via their website and follow the FUEL Weekly Facebook page for announcements and specials.
Lanae Rivers-Woods moved to Korea in 2011 where she lives in the countryside with her family, friends, and puppies. She holds a BSSW (Bachelor’s of Science in Social Work), a MAIT (Master’s of Arts in International Teaching), and registered by the Pyeongtaek Korean Times with the Korean government as a Cultural Expert.
Ms. Rivers-Woods used her 15 years experience as a social architect, UX/UI designer, and technology consultant to found South of Seoul in 2015. South of Seoul is a volunteer organization that leverages technological tools to mitigate cultural dissonance in multi-cultural communities.
Through South of Seoul, Ms. Rivers-Woods works with independent volunteers, non-profit organizations, businesses, local & federal government, universities, and US military organizations to develop solutions to support English speaking international residents in rural South Korea.
Additionally, Ms. Rivers-Woods founded the South of Seoul smart phone app available for Google Play and iPhone. The app provides information a resources for those living and traveling in South Korea.
When she isn’t in South of Seoul development meetings or working her day job, Ms. Rivers-Woods loves to be outside at skate parks, the beach, or playing in the mountains.
