I’ve got a real treat for my readers today. Mandi from Doodles’ Place mentioned to me recently that she was picking up her first order from Angel Food Ministries, so I jumped on the opportunity and convinced to write a review on the service.
Be sure to check out all the cute and fun things she does with her three girls to “make the most of every moment” on her blog, and if you like what you see, subscribe to her RSS feed!
Ever since I first heard about Angel Food Ministries several years ago, I’ve been periodically checking their website for a local pick-up location so that I could participate.
This month, I finally had the opportunity to do just that thanks to a woman in our church who is organizing a local branch by driving to the closest one (which has been too far for me to make work) and then bringing all of the boxes back to a local pick-up point. Tara asked me if I’d be willing to write a review of the program to share with her readers here at Deal Seeking Mom, and of course I said yes!
First, if you’ve never heard of Angel Food Ministries, it’s a ministry that was founded to provide grocery assistance to families across the United States.
From their website:
Angel Food is available in a quantity that can fit into a medium-sized box at $30 per unit. Each month’s menu is different than the previous month and consists of both fresh and frozen items with an average retail value of approximately $60. Comparison shopping has been done across the country in various communities using a wide range of retail grocery stores and has resulted in the same food items costing from between $42 and $78.
One very important aspect of this program is that, unlike other ministries, participating does not mean that you are taking away money or food from someone else whose need may be greater. Rather, by participating, you actually enable them to purchase food at better prices, which benefits everyone.
This month, I decided to purchase the main unit as well as one of each of the additional boxes offered – a grill box, a stuffed chicken box, and a steak and meat combo, as well as a fresh produce box. My total was $106, and for that price I received everything in the attached PDF document.
Here are the pros and cons of this program, from my point of view.
- It includes a lot of prepackaged, prepared foods. If you’re more of a cook-from-scratch kind of family, this ministry is probably not for you.
- As I was pulling things out of the main box, it definitely exceeded my expectations as far as quantity and quality. I was very happy with that box and kept thinking, “Oh, I didn’t realize that’s what that meant.”
- I was really worried about whether the food would survive the transport from the original pickup location to the place where I picked it up and then 40 minutes back to my house. But the meat is frozen and packed tightly in boxes, and it was still frozen solid. And even the frozen products in the main box made it. That was a huge relief to me when I started unpacking the boxes!
- While we do eat a lot of chicken, we don’t eat red meat that often, so I’m expecting that the meat will last us at least three months.
- Because you cannot control the variety (other than to choose to purchase it or not!), you must be willing to try new things to get the full value of the program. I actually consider this a benefit, as it is forcing us to try new things.
- I’m admittedly very picky about produce. We eat a LOT of produce here (it’s probably one of the biggest components of my grocery budget, but I don’t do well with icky produce). I actually went to the grocery store on my way to pick up the boxes to get some peaches, bananas, grapes and blueberries because those are pretty much staples in our house right now. That said, the produce box was not up to my standards, and I don’t think I’ll be purchasing that box again in the future. There was nothing wrong with it, per se, but I prefer to pick out my own and probably would not have purchased a lot of what was in there if given the choice. Live and learn. (To be fair, though, the cantaloupe and honeydew was some of the best I’ve ever had!)
If you are currently on a very tight grocery budget, cook everything from scratch, combine coupons and store deals and shop multiple stores to get the very best deal, you probably won’t find these prices to be better than what you currently do. However, if – like me – you simply aren’t able to do those things (we live out in the boonies, and right now, our time is more important than getting the best deal), you may want to give it a try.
You can see September’s menu here, including their new “senior” box, which includes 10 pre-made single-serve meals. My husband is looking forward to these as lunches on the days he’s home and I’m working.
It sounds like a winner to me! My husband is bad about not packing his lunches some days (I know I should pack for him, but hey, he’s picky!) and ends up eating out, so I think the senior box would be great to have on hand.
Has anyone else tried Angel Food Ministries, and if so, what did you think?
Jon and Melissa
I looked into doing it and my friend tried it. It was not up to par for me either. A lot of processed foods that we don’t eat in our home. It is great for those that are not super concerend about nutritional content more then having food to fill the belly.
Jon and Melissa
I looked into doing it and my friend tried it. It was not up to par for me either. A lot of processed foods that we don’t eat in our home. It is great for those that are not super concerend about nutritional content more then having food to fill the belly.
Danyel
We really liked it. There are some things we tend to give away… but overall it is great. The meats are really good . Thats basically why we purchase it. The other things are just a bonus. We have a family of six and it helps out a ton with our grocery bill. We are really glad we tried it!
Danyel
Danyel
We really liked it. There are some things we tend to give away… but overall it is great. The meats are really good . Thats basically why we purchase it. The other things are just a bonus. We have a family of six and it helps out a ton with our grocery bill. We are really glad we tried it!Danyel
jenarow
We did it for the first time ever in August and I agree it was a great deal but, like someone else said, not exactly up to what I normally cook. My huband and the kids are thrilled with the few things I have made (processed food wise) and me no so much. It IS a nice treat for them though as I never buy this type of thing at the grocery store.
jenarow
We did it for the first time ever in August and I agree it was a great deal but, like someone else said, not exactly up to what I normally cook. My huband and the kids are thrilled with the few things I have made (processed food wise) and me no so much. It IS a nice treat for them though as I never buy this type of thing at the grocery store.
Dr. Mom
It is a great deal if you don’t have the time to shop with coupons. I tried it for a couple of months. Some of the food was very good, other things not so great. I found that I could get a better deal on much of the food and buy name brand if I used coupons and shopped the sales. I might still purchase occasionally just to get the meat as it is a good price. Unfortunately, you have to buy the main box to get to buy the meat boxes.
Dr. Mom
It is a great deal if you don’t have the time to shop with coupons. I tried it for a couple of months. Some of the food was very good, other things not so great. I found that I could get a better deal on much of the food and buy name brand if I used coupons and shopped the sales. I might still purchase occasionally just to get the meat as it is a good price. Unfortunately, you have to buy the main box to get to buy the meat boxes.
Melissa
I did write a blog about it awhile back. A friend and I liked the extra packages more than the main box so one month we were going to buy one main box and split it and then just buy grill boxes that we wanted. In the end neither of us had the money because it was due that day and one of us would have to drive a good hour to get it there. A church near my house just signed on in July and takes debit/credit so I didn’t have to drive over with a money order (as the first farther church requested) so it works out much easier. Each month I just look at what is in the main box and how much I will use. I skipped August but I’m actually looking forward to Septembers box. anyway.. check out my blog I even have pictures attached.
my blog
Melissa
I did write a blog about it awhile back. A friend and I liked the extra packages more than the main box so one month we were going to buy one main box and split it and then just buy grill boxes that we wanted. In the end neither of us had the money because it was due that day and one of us would have to drive a good hour to get it there. A church near my house just signed on in July and takes debit/credit so I didn’t have to drive over with a money order (as the first farther church requested) so it works out much easier. Each month I just look at what is in the main box and how much I will use. I skipped August but I’m actually looking forward to Septembers box. anyway.. check out my blog I even have pictures attached. my blog
wv_mom
I like angelfood very much. I have a cafemom group devototed to taking that one box and making a months worth of meals (you have to buy extra stuff to make the meals, but not much). https://www.cafemom.com/group/47303
I do have to agree with the prduce though. I will not be buying that box again. My box was shipped to close tot he frozen stuff and the produce box was frozen too making the lettuce and cucumbers bad as soon as they thawed. Some of the other stuff in the box wasn’t so good after thaeing either.
wv_mom
I like angelfood very much. I have a cafemom group devototed to taking that one box and making a months worth of meals (you have to buy extra stuff to make the meals, but not much). https://www.cafemom.com/group/47303I do have to agree with the prduce though. I will not be buying that box again. My box was shipped to close tot he frozen stuff and the produce box was frozen too making the lettuce and cucumbers bad as soon as they thawed. Some of the other stuff in the box wasn’t so good after thaeing either.
Lori
We’ve been buying it for a coupon of months now and we are happy with it. No, it’s not the healthiest, but it just supplements our other food and I try to cook healthy when I can, but with the price of groceries these days, it’s hard with a family a 5. How healthy is the food when we take our kids out to eat? We don’t always know what’s in that either. We will continue to buy it, as it is helping our budget. What I really like is the fact I can pay for it one week, then two weeks later pick up my food and it doesn’t come out of that week’s budget! Thanks for the post.
Lori
We’ve been buying it for a coupon of months now and we are happy with it. No, it’s not the healthiest, but it just supplements our other food and I try to cook healthy when I can, but with the price of groceries these days, it’s hard with a family a 5. How healthy is the food when we take our kids out to eat? We don’t always know what’s in that either. We will continue to buy it, as it is helping our budget. What I really like is the fact I can pay for it one week, then two weeks later pick up my food and it doesn’t come out of that week’s budget! Thanks for the post.
Nikki
My mother in law started getting this for us last winter and I was paying her back for it (plus she would bring whatever she and her mother didn’t want in their boxes) so it really did help out our family of 6. I didn’t have a church close to me that did it until recently so I am going to be looking into getting the next package. We raise hogs to butcher also so if the produce or something doesn’t live up, we feed it to the pigs and in theory we really aren’t wasting food then.
But I agree – as we are rural, there are no stores close that offer decent grocery prices and the coupon options here aren’t that great either when you factor in the drive to actually get to the store.
Nikki
My mother in law started getting this for us last winter and I was paying her back for it (plus she would bring whatever she and her mother didn’t want in their boxes) so it really did help out our family of 6. I didn’t have a church close to me that did it until recently so I am going to be looking into getting the next package. We raise hogs to butcher also so if the produce or something doesn’t live up, we feed it to the pigs and in theory we really aren’t wasting food then. But I agree – as we are rural, there are no stores close that offer decent grocery prices and the coupon options here aren’t that great either when you factor in the drive to actually get to the store.
Briana
We have tried it a couple of times and did not care for the quality of some of the meats. The chicken was just too fatty and most of the breaded chicken items said they had to be fried. ICK!
I find that I get better deals by shoppings sales and using my coupons for the quality of the items.
We still have some of the meat in our freezer that I might as well throw out.
I still think it is a good ministry but it is not for us.
(We now buy our meat directly from our neighbor who is a farmer and we then have it processed. It worked out to about $2/lb for all cuts of beef and it is the best tasting beef I’ve ever had!)
Briana
We have tried it a couple of times and did not care for the quality of some of the meats. The chicken was just too fatty and most of the breaded chicken items said they had to be fried. ICK! I find that I get better deals by shoppings sales and using my coupons for the quality of the items.We still have some of the meat in our freezer that I might as well throw out. I still think it is a good ministry but it is not for us.(We now buy our meat directly from our neighbor who is a farmer and we then have it processed. It worked out to about $2/lb for all cuts of beef and it is the best tasting beef I’ve ever had!)
Anonymous
We tried it for a few months and then I started couponing. I could get more of the things that my family eats on a regular basis(including meats) with my coupon deals and sales than with Angel Foods. I was getting the pre breaded chicken in my box every month and it was just time for me to stop wasting money on a freezer full of things we don’t really like or want to eat. I think it is great for people who really have a low budget monthly for groceries and their mission is really good!
Anonymous
We tried it for a few months and then I started couponing. I could get more of the things that my family eats on a regular basis(including meats) with my coupon deals and sales than with Angel Foods. I was getting the pre breaded chicken in my box every month and it was just time for me to stop wasting money on a freezer full of things we don’t really like or want to eat. I think it is great for people who really have a low budget monthly for groceries and their mission is really good!
anon
I tried it one month and didn’t like it at all. To say it’s restaurant quality is silly. All the food was of extremely poor quality but what do you expect? It’s the same stuff you can get in the dollar stores, the food you normally would not buy. I plan on donating much of it to a food pantry or soup kitchen but I don’t know if they’ll be able to do anything much with it either. I just hope they’ll take it so I don’t have to throw it away.
anon
I tried it one month and didn’t like it at all. To say it’s restaurant quality is silly. All the food was of extremely poor quality but what do you expect? It’s the same stuff you can get in the dollar stores, the food you normally would not buy. I plan on donating much of it to a food pantry or soup kitchen but I don’t know if they’ll be able to do anything much with it either. I just hope they’ll take it so I don’t have to throw it away.
John in Michigan
“To say it’s restaurant quality is silly. All the food was of extremely poor quality but what do you expect? It’s the same stuff you can get in the dollar stores, the food you normally would not buy.”
Restaurant quality? Not by a long shot!! Most of their food is gross, much of it not worth ever eating.
What they try to pass off as steak is wretched. It’s so fat, and grissel ladden, that I had to throw at least half of it away. I can get 400 times better steak for a mere $3 dollars per pound at my local butcher, and that is not even on sale!!
The vast majority of this is dollar store food, that you know is low quality.
All of the meat is filled with a nitrate based seasoning, that makes the meat smell funny, and taste funny too. No thanks, I would rather season my own food.
Had some pork chops from them, it was some of the most foul tasting meat ever, and also jammed pack full of fat. Ick!
I don’t think you can even argue this is a good value, at the current $30 dollar price for the basic kit.
John in Michigan
“To say it’s restaurant quality is silly. All the food was of extremely poor quality but what do you expect? It’s the same stuff you can get in the dollar stores, the food you normally would not buy.”
Restaurant quality? Not by a long shot!! Most of their food is gross, much of it not worth ever eating.
What they try to pass off as steak is wretched. It’s so fat, and grissel ladden, that I had to throw at least half of it away. I can get 400 times better steak for a mere $3 dollars per pound at my local butcher, and that is not even on sale!!
The vast majority of this is dollar store food, that you know is low quality.
All of the meat is filled with a nitrate based seasoning, that makes the meat smell funny, and taste funny too. No thanks, I would rather season my own food.
Had some pork chops from them, it was some of the most foul tasting meat ever, and also jammed pack full of fat. Ick!
I don’t think you can even argue this is a good value, at the current $30 dollar price for the basic kit.
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money-svr
my church used to distribute angel food but we dont any longer. the menues never changed,we had recieved food late, we were often not given all of the food we ordered for our community, and once recieved pork loins at our church and every one was THAWED!!!(yuck). that is a health code violation if i ever saw one. so we switched to another food program called “Great food for all.” it is the same price but the food is better and we get more variety of food like fish. their specials are better too with a breakfast box that had sausage patties, hash brown patties, bacon and gourmet coffees. and a kids box for lunches, i also like the “cheesecake factory” cheesecakes we get in the dessert boxes. plus our church gets twice the bennevelance that angel food gave us. check it out man. greatfoodforall.com.
money-svr
my church used to distribute angel food but we dont any longer. the menues never changed,we had recieved food late, we were often not given all of the food we ordered for our community, and once recieved pork loins at our church and every one was THAWED!!!(yuck). that is a health code violation if i ever saw one. so we switched to another food program called “Great food for all.” it is the same price but the food is better and we get more variety of food like fish. their specials are better too with a breakfast box that had sausage patties, hash brown patties, bacon and gourmet coffees. and a kids box for lunches, i also like the “cheesecake factory” cheesecakes we get in the dessert boxes. plus our church gets twice the bennevelance that angel food gave us. check it out man. greatfoodforall.com.
Heather
I have to say, my sons , who are 15 and 20, eat a lot! I bought the first Angelfood order back in September and with the exception of one month, i have been happy! The food is good, and the selection is pretty much what we ,as an active family would buy. My son loves to take the steaks and grind up half in our processor to make some really lean hamburger. We usually buy 3 orders of regular box and that takes us through untill the next order period. With the exception of some milk or other basics, we really don’t go to the store much anymore. You really do have to pick and choose what month is best for you, but we usually just freeze what we don’t need right away and find it later. Summer is coming and the grill stuff will be good!
Heather
I have to say, my sons , who are 15 and 20, eat a lot! I bought the first Angelfood order back in September and with the exception of one month, i have been happy! The food is good, and the selection is pretty much what we ,as an active family would buy. My son loves to take the steaks and grind up half in our processor to make some really lean hamburger. We usually buy 3 orders of regular box and that takes us through untill the next order period. With the exception of some milk or other basics, we really don’t go to the store much anymore. You really do have to pick and choose what month is best for you, but we usually just freeze what we don’t need right away and find it later. Summer is coming and the grill stuff will be good!