This post is part of my series about the ever popular Meal Delivery Services.  Before I start talking about all of these services, I just want to make it clear that I am not being compensated in any way for this (or other related) posts, and these companies have no idea who I am. Since these services seem to be super popular right now, I just wanted to share my experiences with you all, and maybe someone who is deciding whether or not to try one of these services will find them helpful. I will, however, use my affiliate links and/or coupon codes for the various services when I can.  Not only do I get a few dollars back if you use those links to make a purchase, but YOU also get some kind of discount as well!

One of the first meal delivery services that I had heard of was Plated. A few different people that I knew had tried it, but at the time it wasn’t super appealing to me.  None of the meals that they made seemed like something I would eat, and having a whole meal shipped to me just seemed kind of weird.  Fast forward a couple of years, when I am now busier and also more willing to try things slightly out of my comfort zone, I thought I’d give it a try.

Likes:

+ Almost everything is packaged in one bag (minus herbs, meats, and larger items) and everything is labeled with the recipe it belongs to.  This makes it easier to find everything you need for a certain recipe.  If you are like me and separate out all of the meals right when you get the box, it makes this process a whole lot easier.   I do also feel like it is less likely that you will be missing pieces to the recipe if they are all bundled into one bag ahead of time.

+ Unlike others that offer three different meals at a time, with Plated you can get as little as two meals at a time! I like this for a couple of reasons. The first being that sometimes weeks are busy and as sad as it sounds, we just may not have time to make 3 (or more) time consuming meals.  It also means that if there are only two meal options that you like, you don’t have to pick one other random one just so you can get the box.  (You would be surprised how often this happens!)

+ One thing that sets them apart from others, is that they are the only service (that I’ve seen) that offers a dessert option!  It is at an additional cost of course, but I like that the option is there.

+ Overall this seems to be the one that we most often find things that we want to eat.  I don’t know if that is just because of this particular season of food, or that they are generally less adventurous recipes than some of the others.  It does definitely have to do with the fact that you only have to order two meals instead of three.

Dislikes:

– You have to pay for shipping. ($6) Free shipping is only at $50 and 4 plates (2 meals) comes to $48.  Now, if you add desserts, or purchase one of their premium meals, that gets you to the total amount for free shipping.

– The prep times are not always accurate.  In fact, I don’t know that we have ever made a meal in the amount of time that is written on the recipe.  And sometimes there are even two of us prepping! Are we just slower than the normal person? I don’t feel like we are much less experienced or able than the typical person, but for some reason things always take longer than expected. (This is not specific to Plated, by the way, all of the various companies are always off on their prep times!)

-For some reason, the Plated boxes seem to more often have a container leak.  It hasn’t ever been anything too devastating, but it has happened with tomato paste, and sour cream, usually things with a thicker consistency that are just in a plastic container.  They have started to put those type of items in their own individual ziploc bag so that if they do leak out, it doesn’t ruin everything else in the box.

Will we continue with it? 

Yeah, I think we will for now.  Not every week though, just when there are meals that we know we will actualy eat.  I have a feeling that some seasons will just be better for our tastes than others as far as finding recipes goes.  I do think this is the one that we most often find meals that we like, so if there is one that we keep up with for a while, it will probably be Plated.

Other things worth noting: 

• Up until very recently, in order to pick your meals ahead of time, you had to pay for them ahead of time.  So if I wanted to get ahead on my planning and choose a bunch of meals at once, I also had to pay for them.  However, they recently (like, within the past week or so) re-designed their website, and changed so that you can now choose what you want and you won’t be charged until it ships. (This is how all of the other services are) I was very happy to see this change!
• Plated assumes that you have salt, pepper, vegetable oil, olive oil, and eggs at home, and you are not sent those if they are needed in your recipe. Most of those are pretty standard in all of the meal delivery companies that I’ve tried, except for the eggs. It does kind of make sense that they would have you get the eggs since they are fragile and may not travel well, but they aren’t necessarily something I always have on hand like salt and pepper.
• Yes, I did actually eat that Squash Mac and Cheese with Kale.  It was one my favorite meals that we have made!

For dinner one of the nights we were there, we ate at the Lodge Wood Fired Grill.  We figured it would get pretty crowded with families that had the same idea we did, so we ate a little bit earlier than we normally would to avoid the rush.  The restaurant is definitely kid friendly – which it practically has to be since it is located in a waterpark hotel, right next to the waterpark.  Their menu is pretty diverse too – sandwiches, salads, burgers, steaks, probably something for everyone.

For dinner, I chose the Crispy Chicken Sandwich. (I got it plain, but it does normally come with all of the fixins)  It was not anything particularly special, but it was a good sandwich and fries.

The husband had the Create Your Own Lodge Burger with cheddar cheese, onion straws, and bacon.  He said that his wasn’t anything special, but it was a good meal.

As you can see from the photos, both of them were fairly large portions, too.  Though, if you have been running around a waterpark all day, you probably need a big and hearty meal to fill you up!

Taste: A-, not spectacular, but not bad.
Cost: A, not bad at all considering the decent quality, and large portions. I think our meal ended up around $25 total for the two of us.

Would I go there again? I’m not sure.  I wouldn’t make a special trip, but if we were staying at the Great Wolf Lodge again, I think I will consider it as an option.

I honestly could care less about everything pumpkin, but when Autumn comes around, I am ready for apple everything. We have gone apple picking the past few years, and while I always pick way more apples than I actually end up using I always have big ambitions of making all kinds of different apple treats.  This year (so far) I managed to make two new apple things (as well as eating some of them fresh, and making some apple crisp)

The first recipe that I tried was these Sky High Apple Pie Muffins from Sally’s Baking Addiction.

The recipe was fairly simple, and they turned out really well! The recipe says that they will turn out to be light and fluffy, high domed, bakery style muffins, and I will admit that I was a bit skeptical as to how they would actually turn out.  Our oven is a bit finicky, and while I do always try to follow directions, a don’t exactly do things super precisely all the time. However, the technique worked! These were light and fluffy and definitely reminded me of those giant bakery style muffins – though these weren’t quite as giant.

Ease: A-, not super easy, but just a little bit more work than basic muffins.
Taste: A, these were tasty! Not super sweet, but enough cinnamon and sugar with the crumble topping to make them taste like a treat.

Would I make them again? Yeah I think so! I was thinking about using blueberries instead of apples to change it up a bit but still have that light and fluffy muffin.

This post is part of my series about the ever popular Meal Delivery Services.  Before I start talking about all of these services, I just want to make it clear that I am not being compensated in any way for this (or other related) posts, and these companies have no idea who I am. Since these services seem to be super popular right now, I just wanted to share my experiences with you all, and maybe someone who is deciding whether or not to try one of these services will find them helpful. I will, however, use my affiliate links and/or coupon codes for the various services when I can.  Not only do I get a few dollars back if you use those links to make a purchase, but YOU also get some kind of discount as well!

It has been a few months now that we have been getting weekly meal deliveries from various services. (Hello Fresh, Plated, and Blue Apron are the three that we have tried.)  We have tried each company at least twice, so I figure I have a pretty good base to write some reviews.  Before I write specific reviews about each company though, I thought I would write some general reviews about the whole meal box delivery service concept as a whole.

Convenience

Pro: All of the ingredients (for the most part) that you need for to make the meal comes in the box, so you don’t have to go to the grocery store! One of the biggest reasons that we started trying out these box meals is because finding time to go to the grocery store to get ingredients for a recipe (especially with the new baby) was pretty low on the priority list.  It wasn’t something that either of us were looking forward to doing, and with so many baby related things going on (along with normal, daily house cleaning, and things that needed to be done) these boxes seemed like a way to cut down our every growing to-do list.

Con:  There are some things that you have to provide – salt, pepper, oil, and in some cases butter and eggs, are not included in the boxes.  Those are things that I would usually have already at home, so that is not a huge deal.  However, in four different instances throughout these past few months, with two different companies, we were missing ingredients needed to make the recipes.  In all of the cases, the companies were very responsive and apologetic, but it was still super frustrating. Thinking that you are all ready to go with a recipe and then you realize that you have to go grocery store and pick up that one random ingredient that was forgotten.  It basically defeats the purpose of getting the box in the first place.  Though some of these companies have been around for a few years, I know that they are more popular than ever right now so I’m hoping these mistakes are a temporary effect of the popularity and the companies being more busy, so I’m hoping that the companies will get a better handle on things, and realize that getting ALL of the ingredients in the box really is key to their success and needs to be a priority.

Cost

Pro:  If the alternative to you making a meal at home is going out to eat, then the price of these won’t be much of a change from your normal meal budget. The prices vary but most are from $9.99 and $12.99 per plate, which is about what you would pay for a quick weeknight dinner out.  The definite plus to these though, compared to eating out, is that they are generally more healthy than many things that are options for takeout or restaurant food.

Con:  If you are the budgeting type, the cost per dish might be a little hard to get through. It definitely is not cheap, but you have to remember that you are paying for top quality ingredients (most, if not all, are organic when they can be) and convenience.  But if you are the type of person that shops the deals, and makes the best meal that you can find for a certain amount of money, these boxes probably aren’t for you.  They are a bit of a splurge on the everyday budget.

Time

Pro: Each recipe lists how much time is needed to prepare and cook the meal.  Everything is pre measured, so you just follow the instructions and dump in the ingredients rather than having to take the time to measure out a cup of this, 2 tablespoons of that, etc.

Con: I don’t know that we have ever made a dish in the amount of time that it says it takes on the recipe.  Maybe they are geared towards more efficient or experienced people, but even when we are both preparing the food together, it pretty much never takes less than an hour from start to finish.

Variety

Pro:  One of the other big reasons why we started trying out different meal delivery options is that we were stuck in a bit of a food rut.  Each service varies, but there are usually a few different options that you can choose from for each delivery. You can choose from different meat eater, or non-meat eater options, but no matter what you choose you aren’t going to see basic meals like spaghetti and meatballs, or a hamburger. Everything has a bit of a seasonal or unique twist. So, since we were looking for new variety of foods to add to the rotation, each week there was something unique and different than we would normally eat to choose from.

Con: For a picky eater like myself, it was often hard to find something that I 100% knew I would want to eat.  Yes, the theme of this blog is about me trying new things in an attempt to be not as picky, but when you are spending that much money on something it is hard to justify trying something new.  Luckily, the husband is much less picky than I am, so even if I didn’t love something, it wasn’t completely wasted.  I think there have only been a couple of meals that I have 100% liked everything – often there is some small thing we leave out (like peppers or onions) or some kind of sauce or topping that doesn’t get added because neither of us like it.

Waste

Pro: The waste of food is minimum.  They send you exactly what you need – 2 teaspoons of cumin, or 3 cloves of garlic, or 2 ounces of panko bread crumbs.  Since you are sent exactly what you need, you aren’t stuck with the rest of a container of a certain spice, or a certain food, to use up before it goes bad.

Con: One of the downsides to this is that if you bought a spice, or a bunch of veggies or other food, in bulk it would likely be less expensive than having it already portioned out like this. Also, even though this makes for less food waste, there is likely more paper waste since everything is packaged individually. For us though, I think I lot would get wasted if we bought whole packages of some of the things instead of being sent the pre-portioned version.

As you can see, there are definite pros and definite cons to these boxes.  I feel like it also depends a lot on your lifestyle and situation. They definitely are not ideal for everyone, but if you are in a food rut looking to switch things up, and aren’t on a super strict food budget, I think they are worth giving a try!

Before I start talking about all of these services, I just want to make it clear that I am not being compensated in any way for this (or other related) posts, and these companies have no idea who I am. Since these services seem to be super popular right now, I just wanted to share my experiences with you all, and maybe someone who is deciding whether or not to try one of these services will find them helpful. I will, however, use my affiliate links and/or coupon codes for the various services when I can.  Not only do I get a few dollars back if you use those links to make a purchase, but YOU also get some kind of discount as well!

Anyways.  A few weeks ago the husband and I decided to try out these meal delivery services.  I felt like I needed a little more variety in my meals and food choices – without just getting takeout a few times a week.  I also do generally like making fun meals, but actually finding a recipe, getting the groceries, and hoping that the recipe turns out well once you get around to making it time consuming and a little bit overwhelming sometimes.  I figured that trying these out would give me opportunities to try some new thing, expand my food choices, and have some fun.

So far we have tried a few different meals from Blue Apron, Plated, and Hello Fresh.  I wanted to give them each a few tries before I reviewed them, and now that I have done that I am ready to write some reviews! (Spoiler alert: none of them are perfect, they all have various good and bad qualities, but overall it has been great (and tasty!) trying them all out) Stay tuned for a post reviewing each separate service and then a post comparing the three that I’ve tried. Are there other services like this out there that you’ve tried? Let me know!

Full Disclosure: I paid for this with my money and am not being compensated for this post in any way.  As always, all opinions are my own.  

I’ve always been a fan of pancakes.  Growing up, we made pancakes for breakfast pretty much every weekend.  My tastes about how I like my pancakes has changed a bit though.  I used to be a fan of the Bisquick version, and throughout the years I’ve grown to like a slightly sweeter, eggier, and thinner pancake.  (If anyone has the recipe for the 49er flapjacks at The Original Pancake House, I will be eternally grateful!)

For quick pancakes, my go-to choice now is Kodiak Cakes Flapjack and Waffle Mix.  (I’ve reviewed these before – here) Recently while browsing the food aisles at Target, I came across a “flapjack on the go” version of Kodiak Cakes, and thought I would give it a try.

Calling these “flapjacks” (aka pancakes) is a bit of a misnomer in my opinion.  To me, no matter the flavor or texture, being flat is what makes something a pancake.  These are definitely not flat.  As you can imagine by the size and shape of the container, they are more like the shape of a muffin.  Which is totally fine with me, I just think it is a bit deceiving if someone thought they were going to get a flat pancake out of that container by the name of the product.

I have tried the Cinnamon Maple, and Buttermilk Maple varieties. (Those links are to Target’s website because I can’t seem to find them on the Kodiak Cakes site.  Maybe they are just that new?) While both are good, the Cinnamon Maple is definitely my favorite.  It tastes like a really light and fluffy cinnamon muffin. I like that it is a little bit sweet, too, in times that I am wanting a sweet snack.

Aside from the flavor, I also really like that these are full of whole grain and pure maple syrup!

Taste: A+, so good.
Cost: A-, you do pay for the convenience, but at $1.99 (and they actually were on sale for $1.79 last time I was there) I don’t think it is too bad to have a convenient, quality, food.

Would I buy them again?  Absolutely.  I have, and I’m sure I will again.

While I am not a huge fan of eating blueberries plain, I am a big fan of them in baked goods! So, when I came back with a bunch of wild blueberries that I had picked I searched the internet for a baked goods recipe to use them in.  After some searching, I found this Bakery Style Blueberry Scones recipe from Pinch of Yum that sounded delicious!

The recipe was actually surprisingly easy! Sometimes I avoid making scones because recipes that I have made in the past involved blending the dry ingredients and the cold butter together by hand (or with a fork) but this one just says to use a regular mixer! I was afraid this was going to make them more dense, or somehow not the same, but they turned out just as good as other scone recipes that I’ve made!

Ease: A, easier than a normal scone recipe.
Taste: A, really tasty!

Would I make them again?  Yes, I think so! I may also substitute in a different kind of fruit instead of blueberries.

Maybe it is just because I enjoy most varieties of berries and this is the season when they are the freshest and most prolific, but I am always in the mood for berries in the Summer.  They are tasty on their own, or in some sort of baked good or dessert.  I especially like them in lighter desserts for those hot Summer days.

This is a berry dessert…but it isn’t exactly a light one.

For a family gathering earlier this Summer, we decided we wanted some sort of strawberry based dessert.  In an effort to make something portable, and delicious, we chose these Strawberry Cheesecake Bars from Tutti Dolci.

These bars were delicious – and tasted just like cheesecake – but they were not super easy to make.  I probably should have read the whole recipe ahead of time so that I would’ve know that before we started to make them. Whoops!  Some of the process could probably be made a bit easier – like using strawberry jam instead of fresh strawberries – but a lot of the things just take time.  Pre-baking the crust, chilling in the refrigerator for several hours, and then chilling it quickly in the freezer at the very end in order to make it easier to slice, are things that can’t really be avoided but definitely take up a lot more time than if you were just making a simpler dessert.

Overall though, these were a hit with everyone!

Ease: C+, yeah definitely not a super easy one, but there are a some ways you could probably cut some corners if you wanted too. I’m not sure it would taste quite as good without those fresh strawberries though!
Taste: A+, really delicious.

Would I make it again?  I’m not sure.  Because of all of the time and energy it takes, it might take some convincing.

Full Disclosure: I was sent some coupons for free Nasoya tofu that I used in this recipe.  I am not being compensated in any other way for this post, and the opinions are completely my own.  

Since I started blogging and trying new things more than 5 years ago (!!) there have been a few things that I had never had before and now have grown to love.  Tofu is one of those things.  It is now my go-to for stir fry, and other Asian dishes.  The thing about tofu is that if it isn’t cooked properly, it can pretty weird textured and unappetizing. I started eating at restaurants first – particularly in pad thai – and then started making at home after deciding that I really liked it and actually preferred it to meats most of the time in stir fry dishes.

For stir fry dishes, we use extra firm tofu because (once it is pressed) it gives a great texture, especially if it is lightly fried in a bit of oil instead of just sautéed in a pan.  Dense and crispy is the perfect texture for that.  This new stir fry that we recently tried is one of our favorites: Cashew Tofu and Broccoli from Rodale’s Organic Life

The sauce is similar to a sweet and sour sauce, but definitely on the sweeter side.  It is also a pretty thick sauce, which means that the tofu gets a nice coating of it and soaks up the flavor which I love.

One of the things that I really enjoy about stir fry dishes is that they are usually very easily customizable.  Often times, I substitute my veggie of choice (usually pea pods) instead of what is suggested, as you can see in the photo above.

The husband is a fan of broccoli though, so he had that in his dish.  Those steamer bags that lots of frozen veggies come in make it really easy to use different veggies without feeling like you are wasting a lot of food (and time) chopping, and boiling, and sautéing fresh veggies.

Overall this dish was really tasty, and I’m sure we will make it again soon!

Ease: A-, as with any stir fry recipe there is going to be a bit of work, but this was nothing out of the ordinary.
Taste: A+, we both really liked it!  It was a little sweet, but it still had great flavor.

Would I make it again?  Definitely.

P.S. Nasoya is my favorite brand of tofu!  Along with the extra firm that we used in the stir fry, they have serveral other varieties as well.  (I am super bummed that they don’t carry it at my local grocery store any more though.  Luckily they still have it at Target!) They also have a new(ish) product called TofuBaked which is already cooked and seasoned tofu that is a quick and convenient way to add tofu to salad or sandwiches.  I haven’t been able to find TofuBaked near me yet, but hopefully soon!

P.P.S There is a photo of grilled tofu and zucchini skewers on the front page of the Nasoya site right now and it looks DELICIOUS!

On Independence Day, we were invited to a relative’s house for a get-together.  To contribute to the spread of food, we were asked to bring a dessert.  In the Summer, my go-to when searching for dessert is always either something with berries, or something based on s’mores.  I decided to go for a bit more decadent choice, and go for the s’mores this time.  I went with a recipe for S’mores Cookie Bars from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe.

Overall it came out really well!  I’ll be honest, and admit that the husband did most of the actual work baking this one.  That being said, it was a few more steps than normal cookie bars, but totally worth it for the way that they tasted!

Also, I really appreciated Mel’s tip about not being tempted to use regular marshmallows instead of marshmallow fluff.  I’m not a huge fan of fluff, so I was tempted to do that, but after it was baked, it really just tasted like gooey marshmallows.

Ease: B, a few more steps than a typical cookie bar recipe, but worth it for this delicious treat!
Taste: A+, so good.  Super rich, but really delicious.

Would I make it again? I would – but only if we were bringing it to another gathering. It is so rich that we definitely do not need a whole pan of it sitting around at home!