Tovala

[medtran49]

It was past time to replace our ancient Black and Decker toaster oven. It still worked okay for baking and toasting, other than it was taking forever to heat up. So, we decided to get a Tovala. We upgraded to the oven with the steam option. The meals start at $9.99 and up for 1 serving. Breakfast meals are $6.99. That's a bit expensive, but still cheaper than eating out or even buying the pre-made meals at Publix, which were $12.99 the couple times I bought them.

The meals come in individual little boxes with everything in them. You scan the QRC and then press start. Not only does the oven make a noise, but you get a notification via the app on your phone when you meal is done. The oven turns itself off after you open the door.

They also have recipes you can make from scratch. They even encourage you to reuse the heavy foil baking dishes your meals cooked in for frittatas, cakes bread, etc.


Craig had his meal, a Carne asada bowl, and stated it was pretty good. I'm still waiting on mine. Scanned the QRC and then forgot to press start. Duh!

Just got done with my meal, ricotta stuffed shells with bechamel and a pork ragu. The shells weren't anything special, but were good. The pork ragu was delish. It was a little too much for me so Craig got about 1/4 of mine. I think he wished he had mine instead of his.

 

[TastyReuben]

I’d never heard of one of those until just now. Interesting!

Curious…so if you have two meals with different cook times, you’d have to do one and then the other, right?

 

[medtran49]

I’d never heard of one of those until just now. Interesting!

Curious…so if you have two meals with different cook times, you’d have to do one and then the other, right?

Yes, but that's okay for us because Craig is usually hungry before me, so I have to cook dinner for him before I really want to anyway. Besides that, they pretty much only take 20 minutes to cook for the most part.

Of course you can always get the same meals. We have 2 of the same chicken meals. Then we have another set where he picked something I didn't want so we have different.

I can't believe you haven't seen their commercials at some point. They've been around for several years and I've been thinking about it, but wanted to see if they stuck around.

Oh, obviously I haven't tried any yet, but supposedly they have partnered with a lot of the big frozen food companies and the packaging has QRC that tells the oven how to cook the foods.

 

[SandwichShortOfAPicnic]

Well that's an interesting buy.
Look forward to hearing how it fairs.
I'm guessing a toaster oven is a mini oven with a grill in it for 'broiling'?

 

[medtran49]

I'm guessing a toaster oven is a mini oven with a grill in it for 'broiling'?

Yes.

I forgot to mention the Tovala is also an air fryer.

 

[SandwichShortOfAPicnic]

I had a look, it's a clever idea but those meals seem a bit pricey? I suppose it depends how good they are.

 

[medtran49]

Just made breakfast in 2 of the foil pans from last night, used a recipe from the Tovala app. Tore up some deli ham into little pieces, grated some cheese, mixed eggs with some heavy cream, S and P, poured it in, hit the start button on my phone in the app, sat down while it baked. Used a small bowl for the eggs, a microplane for the cheese, 2 forks, 2 of the foil dishes from last night's meals, and a couple of plates, but the plates weren't strictly necessary, could have used hot mats or folded dishtowels to hold. Tossed the foil pans since there was egg residue baked on them.

I'm liking this. Quick, minimal clean-up. Can't get better than that!

 

[medtran49]

I had a look, it's a clever idea but those meals seem a bit pricey? I suppose it depends how good they are.

I did mention about the price in my original post.

The meals start at $9.99 and up for 1 serving. Breakfast meals are $6.99. That's a bit expensive, but still cheaper than eating out or even buying the pre-made meals at Publix, which were $12.99 the couple times I bought them.

As noted, the 2 meals so far were good to delish. We're going to have 2 more for dinner tonight as we need to do some clean out/get rid of stuff outside while it's still coolish here and we'll be tired later.

The breakfast I made this morning, as above, was the easiest I've ever made and was a heck of a lot cheaper than pretty much the same meal Tovala sells for $6.99. They have other recipes on the app that look pretty good and are easy to put together so I'm sure we'll use those as well.

Regardless though, the meals are cheaper than eating out, whether takeout, delivery or in-house, plus I don't have to get dressed to go out or drive on nights I'm tired or arthritis is bad, or just not feeling well.

Craig can't drive at night because of not seeing well, besides the fact that he gets "lost" sometimes, particularly if he hasn't been to a place several times. He's iffy about driving during the day, getting "lost" as well, so he doesn't drive without me at all anymore.

So far, it seems like it will work out well for us.

 

[SandwichShortOfAPicnic]

I did mention about the price in my original post.

The meals start at $9.99 and up for 1 serving. Breakfast meals are $6.99. That's a bit expensive, but still cheaper than eating out or even buying the pre-made meals at Publix, which were $12.99 the couple times I bought them.

As noted, the 2 meals so far were good to delish. We're going to have 2 more for dinner tonight as we need to do some clean out/get rid of stuff outside while it's still coolish here and we'll be tired later.

The breakfast I made this morning, as above, was the easiest I've ever made and was a heck of a lot cheaper than pretty much the same meal Tovala sells for $6.99. They have other recipes on the app that look pretty good and are easy to put together so I'm sure we'll use those as well.

Regardless though, the meals are cheaper than eating out, whether takeout, delivery or in-house, plus I don't have to get dressed to go out or drive on nights I'm tired or arthritis is bad, or just not feeling well.

Craig can't drive at night because of not seeing well, besides the fact that he gets "lost" sometimes, particularly if he hasn't been to a place several times. He's iffy about driving during the day, getting "lost" as well, so he doesn't drive without me at all anymore.

So far, it seems like it will work out well for us.

When I looked at it I did think the prepared stuff would be great for when energy or time is in short supply. I was rather unwell yesterday, it would have been great to blap a barcode and lie back down while it did its thing.

I also thought (but didn't want to say in case it sounded rude) that it would be a brilliant gadget to get to grips with whilst firing on all cylinders so later on (when perhaps something like the arthritis or normal ageing wear is menacing ones day) you can cook on autopilot and ensure some good nutrition.

Overall I'd definitely like to give it a whirl. If it was available here I'd have my eye on one, especially as the meals are free of preservatives and balanced for you.

 

[TastyReuben]

So far, it seems like it will work out well for us.

I just watched a review of smart ovens from ATK, and they liked it quite a bit.