{I was not compensated to write this post and all
opinions are my own. I received four free meals from Factor 75 to facilitate my
review. This
post contains affiliate links to the Chicago Jogger Landing Page,
which means I receive credit if you purchase meals using the CHICAGOJOGGER code. Look for details below - thanks for supporting the companies I believe in!}
As the
busy holiday season nears, I'm expecting all of us will have less time to cook.
A local Chicago company, Factor 75, contacted me last month to see
if I would be interested in tasting and reviewing a few healthy meals from
their delivery service. Factor 75
meals are fresh, not frozen, and ready to eat or go into the fridge for another
day. This was my first experience with a meal delivery
service and it was an easy process! The meals arrived right on time, packed in
a box with ice.
I
ordered four meals for K and I to try, including Butternut Squash Lasagna,
Pumpkin/Apple Hash with Chicken Sausage, Chicken Fajitas, and a Taco Bowl. All
of the meals we tried were delicious, but my absolute favorite was the squash
lasagna. Butternut squash is a fall staple in our house, and this version was
cooked perfectly, paired with marinara, ground turkey, and spinach as a hearty lasagna. Factor
75 meals are intended as individual servings. However, the chicken fajitas
ended up extending to two meals for me when K was out of town for work travel,
with the addition or corn tortillas and extra avocado. Healthy fats! Check out this week's menu here.
Factor75 currently delivers to the whole state of Illinois, including the Chicagoland
area. The company is developing plans to expand regionally in the Midwest in
the next few months. Enter your zip code here to see whether the company delivers to your area. If you're interested in checking out Factor 75, you can get one free
meal with the purchase of five items. Click here to check out the Chicago Jogger landing page -
enter the code CHICAGOJOGGER to get your free meal. Purchasing any combination of five items
qualifies you for a free meal {buy five, get one free!} - even breakfast and snacks.
Factor 75 is located in the
neighborhood Pilsen, with a new kitchen in Northbrook, IL. I am
impressed by Factor 75's tasty offerings and the company's dedication to
healthy meals for busy people. The company even has an eBook: FiveSteps to Optimal Nutrition. I asked company founder Nick
Wernimont to answer a few questions for readers, to provide additional
background and throw my support behind a growing local company.
Q&A with Factor 75's Nick
Wernimont
How was Factor 75 founded?
I had a
full time job and was an MMA fighter so between 8-10 hour work days and 3-5
hours training a day I didn’t have time to eat healthy or make my own
meals. My body broke down after a short time. Fortunately a trainer
of mine introduced me to a personal chef who worked with athletes and she
started making my meals for me. The difference it made was incredible and
almost immediate. I had no idea how big of an impact what you put into
your body was as to what you got out of it. I found the biggest factor
that impacted my performance, both physically and mentally, was food.
I
immediately wished I had discovered nutrition earlier. I thought more people
should know how it feels to walk around every day with the type of energy,
focus and motivation that I did only from a change in how I ate. People are
busy, though and most can't afford a personal chef. So I dropped everything and
started working on a way to make it happen for them anyway.
Factor
75 isn’t about dieting. It is about Performance Eating. We want to help our
customers eat optimally so they can perform at their best and get the absolute
most out of their precious time. Whether you’re a marathoner, a tri-athlete, a
cage-fighter; or a busy professional looking to perform better at work, a mom
or dad looking to get more out of the time you have with your family, eating
better means living better.
What is Factor 75's mission and inspiration?
We believe
people should spend their time creating moments that matter. That
life is not valued in number of years, but quality of moments you create. Our
mission is to help people eat better so they can live better.
Our
inspiration comes from our community. These are people who lead by
example, people who are always striving to improve and want to perform their
best no matter the activity they choose. They are athletes,
professionals, mom’s and dad’s, anyone really who is passionate about living
life to the fullest. We respect that and are here to serve them.
How often do your menu items change, and what
inspires the changes?
We add
new dishes to our menu weekly, sometimes bi-weekly. It depends on if we
believe we have a dish that fits ours and our customers expectations. The
inspirations come from our entire team and our customers. We all sit down
and ask ourselves what dishes Mom and Grandma made that we would love to eat
more often and can make healthy. We take the dishes we all love and re-engineer
them with healthier ingredients. The result is comfort food that not only
taste great but is incredibly nutritious.
Does Factor 75 use seasonal and/or local
ingredients?
Yes. We
use a lot of seasonal ingredients as we rotate the menu through the year.
All of our ingredients are organic and whenever possible we use local farms to
source them.
What types of meals are available?
We have
recently revamped our menu so there has been some changes. All of our
dishes are now Gluten-Free, Soy-Free and 100% Organic. A lot of our menu
is also Paleo. We had vegetarian options but recently removed them for
the time being. Our nutrition philosophy does include animal protein and
fat so we have taken them off.
What is the service area in Chicago?
We
currently serve anywhere in the state of Illinois.
How can Factor 75 help a busy lifestyle?
The
average American spends 2.5 hours a day sourcing their meals. Often
these meals have very poor nutrition and frankly, taste like crap. We
save you 2.5 hours a day, delivery delicious meals that make you feel
awesome. Simple enough…
Nick is a sweetheart - we've been working on getting Factor75 into my workplace, and he's just awesome about all of it. Great service and good food - definitely worth a try!
ReplyDeleteThat's awesome! You must have a great workplace :)
ReplyDelete