Tried & Tested Real products. Real people. Real verdicts.
I recently found myself in the unusual position of being a dinner guest at my own home. You see, Lite n’ Easy, the ready-made meal service I’d dabbled with before for weight loss, sent over a week’s worth of their senior menu, called My Choice. And instead of eating it alone, we shared it among the three people living under our roof: me, a 64-year-old man of 100 kilos who can eat like a small horse; my wife Ali, a culinary wizard whose pasta dishes could charm a monk; and Catherine, Ali’s mother, 87, once an excellent home cook whose verdict on anything pre-packaged is usually “meh, fresh is best.”
Challenge accepted.
What We Got
The delivery looked like something from a food stylist’s shoot – photographs on the packaging that actually matched the real meal once microwaved. There were mains, soups, and desserts, a sort of culinary smorgasbord:
Mains: Spaghetti Bolognese, Tasmanian Salmon with White Wine Sauce, Parmesan Crusted Fish, Curried Prawns, Slow-Cooked Lamb, Butter Chicken, Roast Chicken with Mushroom Sauce, Chicken Parmigiana, Beef Lasagne, Creamy Chicken Bosciaola Pasta, Irish Stew with Mash.
Soups: Pea & Ham, Potato & Leek, Creamy Tomato, Pumpkin, Chicken Noodle, Chicken & Sweet Corn, Beef & Barley, Creamy Chicken & Mushroom.
Desserts: Vanilla Custard, Sticky Date Pudding, Lemon Sponge, Apple & Cinnamon Crumble, Rice Pudding with Blueberry & Apple Compote, and a few cheesecake crumbles.
We did the sensible thing: Ali claimed the pasta, Catherine claimed the seafood (especially prawns), and I took a bit of everything.
The Taste Test
From my perspective, it was a resounding success. The portions were generous enough to leave me pleasantly full – and trust me, that’s saying something. The Irish Stew, slow-cooked lamb, and Butter Chicken were winners; the soups – Pea & Ham and Potato & Leek in particular – were hearty, comforting, and not at all watery like some frozen offerings can be.
Ali, naturally, gravitated toward the pasta dishes and declared the Bolognese, Lasagne, and Bosciaola pasta “properly satisfying.” She also loved the desserts, particularly the custard. Her exact words: “Better than I can make it.” Which, coming from her, is practically Michelin-level praise. The desserts were the perfect size: indulgent but not overkill.
Catherine, however, is tougher to impress. She tried the seafood dishes with good grace and said they were “good”. But when pressed to choose between Lite n’
Easy and something freshly cooked, she still picked fresh every time. That’s fair – after all, you can’t turn someone who has spent a lifetime in the kitchen into a microwaved-meal convert overnight.
Convenience Factor
This is where Lite n’ Easy really shines. The ease of having a week’s worth of meals delivered and ready to eat is tremendous. No shopping, no prepping, no hours in the kitchen – just heat, eat, and enjoy. For seniors, or anyone who struggles with the logistics of cooking daily, this is a game-changer.
Even for a household like ours, where two of the three residents are excellent cooks, the convenience cannot be overstated. And let’s not forget the variety: you could eat two weeks without repeating a main. The highlights? Irish Stew, slow-cooked lamb, and the custard desserts. Honestly, it felt like a treat every night.
Value
Lite n’ Easy’s senior menu isn’t just about convenience – it’s about cost. With the Commonwealth Government’s Support at Home program, eligible seniors can get up to 70 per cent of their meal costs covered. For example, a My Choice 21 Dinner pack can cost as little as $70.79 – roughly $3.37 per meal. Considering the average Aussie living alone spends $111 a week on groceries, that’s a huge saving. And the meals are healthy, nutritionally balanced, and delivered straight to the door.
CEO Nathan Hayman calls it a way to enhance quality of life while easing cost-of-living pressures. And having road-tested the meals myself, I can confirm: it works.
The Starts at 60 Verdict
For me? Absolutely thumbs up. Filling, tasty, and convenient. For Ali? The pasta and desserts were a hit. For Catherine? Respectable, but nothing beats fresh.
The truth is, if you’re still capable of cooking, you might prefer your own creations. But for anyone who wants an easy, reliable, and surprisingly satisfying option, Lite n’ Easy is a winner.