Plated

Ok, I've slacked. What's new. I don't have the pictures from Plated anymore (I dropped my phone with the pics at the grocery store and shattered the screen so I got a new phone) but it was our least favorite of the meal boxes. One meal that sticks out was a shrimp gumbo with crispy okra recipe. Well, it just so happens that I make a pretty darn good homemade gumbo and the gumbo from Plated sucked. I mean, it sucked big donkey balls.

The other meal was a steak with bell pepper panzanella that wasn't too bad, and the last recipe, I don't even remember. I looked for the recipe card and I don't have it so it was unlikeable enough to where I tossed the recipe card.

So after these boxes, we used home chef for awhile. Then, I went on a low carb diet and paused my subscription.

The idea of the boxes is awesome. I think the price point is fair per meal. If you are stuck cooking the same things over and over (which wasour issue), then these boxes are perfect.

The End.

Home Chef

The next box that came in was from Home Chef. What I liked best about home chef was the meal variety, about 9 meals to choose from plus add ons like fruit or breakfast. The downside, no Monday delivery.

The box came insulated with ice packs. I again wonder how this will fare during hot summer days. The first meal we tried was butter baked chicken. Here is the ingredients and card:

We rated this a 4.5 out of 5. The butter sauce separated fairly quickly, maybe that was the cook error but it tasted good. The chicken was perfect. My husband hated the brussel sprouts because he says he doesn't like brussel sprouts. This was a plain and simple meal but we would eat it again.

The second meal I cooked was a mushroom swiss burger. . I chose this meal cause my husband likes burgers but he will not eat mushrooms. I figured I could omit them. I only had a bite of this meal because I had dinner plans with a coworker.

I would give it a 4 out of 5. Nothing special about the meal itself in my opinion. My husband rated the same. Since my husband was the only eater, I made him a double burger. He really had no complaints.
 


I feel like home chef gave us the most variety. Plus I won a $75 credit from filling out a survey so we are going to be getting more home chef boxes. I looked at the upcoming menus for blue apron and hello fresh and what was offered that was appetizing to us was slim unlike home chef. We would eat maybe 4 or more of the home chef meals per week. So it's become the front runner for meal delivery services.

Plated comes March 1st so stay tuned for that review!

Hello Fresh continued

We tried the last of the hello fresh box, here is the card:

So we rated this as a 3.5 out of 5. I thought the chicken was bland, not as mustardy as I would have expected. My husband said that he's not a fan of breaded chicken and he hates brussel sprouts. The brussel sprouts were OK but I'm going to admit I added some basil and thyme to the seasoning, it called for  just salt and pepper. If given the option, I wouldn't order this meal again. Chalk it up to a "just not for us" meal. Here is the final product plated:

Hello Fresh #2

We did another Hello Fresh meal last night. It was good. Here is the pic:

When steak met potatoes. The hubs and I give it a 4.5 out of 5. Steak and potatoes awesome, the creamed kale not so awesome but edible, and the peppercorn sauce was OK. I don't like onions and the hubs doesn't like cooked onions.

I'm definitely liking the convenience of these meals, plus we eat healthier and the portions are controlled. One more meal left and then we move on to another company.

Hello Fresh

The hello fresh package arrived today, waiting on the porch upon my arrival home from work. It was packed neatly, in individual boxes for each meal minus the meat so no sorting. My impression was "I like this." Meat was cold sandwiched between two blocks of ice.

Here is the inside:

Do the dukkah chicken

I gotta say the name scared me but this dish was good. My  overall rating was a 5 out  5. Same for my husband. It was the most simple meal yet. The one thing I really liked whiched differed from blue apron was that I used 2 pans...one in the oven and one on the range. None of this five hundred different prep containers like blue apron. I forgot to time myself but I would say this was truly a 30 minute or less meal. I can't tell you how much the 2 year olds ate as the plates ended up on the floor. My 6 year old had none. 

Here is the plated result:

Blue Apron continued...

Thursday I made the remaining 2 blue apron meals mainly because the hub's doesn't eat broccoli and I had to work the next day, all day 7a-7p so this was my lunch + 1 for a co-worker.

Black bean & chicken enchiladas

Don't ask me how to rotate the picture, I tried for like half an hour! Here are the ingredients:

 Below is the meal. I didn't time myself since I made two meals together but it was somewhere in the 45-55 minute range for both meals.

I didn't get a pic posted of it plated but my husband ate all 4 of them and rated it a 5 out of 5. He liked the tomatillo salsa.

I had 1 bite. The chicken was super tender. I gave it a 2 out of 5 just because I don't eat beans so other than a small bite without beans, I wasn't going to eat it.

Broccoli Shrimp Spaghetti

The ingredients:

The plated product. I found it a little bland. I brought it for lunch on Friday and a co-worker ate half and said it was good. I rate a 3.5 out of 5. My husband refused to even try it so a 0 out of 5 for having broccoli.

So, the big question, would I re-order? Honestly, my answer is maybe. I think that $50+ a week for what I received is waaaay too much money. I'm not sure if I'm eligible for other discounts/promotions because what I've seen is for new customers. I like that it was different from our same old same old but I want recipes for picky people.

Hello fresh should arrive tomorrow!

Blue Apron

We received the Blue Apron shipment of 3 meals for 2 adults as expected on Tuesday, January 31, 2017. I live in Texas and it was in the mid-70s that day. The veggies were still cool in the insulated package and the meat was packed between 2 frozen ice packs. My mind wonders if this would be the case when summer hits and the temp is in or nearing three digits.

But here's what I got:

Now, I bought a Groupon for $29. I feel that for $29, the amount of food is sufficient but if I had paid the full price of $60, I would have felt gypped.

Burgers & Red Cabbage Slaw

The first meal I prepared, that's right, just me because you aren't going to find my husband cooking up dinner was hamburgers with red cabbage slaw and siracha mayo. I timed myself, it took 45 minutes and 17 seconds. That included making grilled cheeses for the kids and disciplining one of the kids as well. Not too shabby. Here's the ingredients:

 And here's the finished product. I added cheese to mine.

I rate the dish as a 2.5 out of 5 stars. Not fond of the red cabbage slaw (this may have well been my first time ever eating slaw). My youngest ate some of the burger and fries. The middle child had a bite of a fry and handed it back. My oldest had none.

My husband's rating was a 3 out of 5 stars. He hates mayo but sort of liked the siracha mayo. He ate 3 of the burgers and said he'd be willing to eat it again. Since he isn't proclaiming to divorce me, we'll call this dinner a win.

I'm a working, married, mother of three and I'm intrigued by all these food subscriptions that are out there. I'm a picky eater, my husband is a picky eater, my oldest is a super picky eater that *may*have a mild sensory disorder (I say may because the pediatrician thinks she does based on some behaviors we have discussed but we have chosen to forego the label, or formal testing, since it does not affect learning), and twins that will try just about anything.

I've been reading all these awesome reviews about these mail order food subscriptions but as I scan the menus and read them aloud to my husband, I wonder where all the naysayers are because half of the ingredients I wouldn't eat, the other half the hub's won't eat, and my oldest would probably only touch the box.

I grew up eating the same foods over and over, so my palate is limited and not very open to trying new things. I'm lactose intolerant, adult onset. That is important to know because even after 14 years I have not accepted this and still consume milk beverages like milk shakes and ice cream that make my gut hate me and others as well if you get my drift. My husband doesn't eat Mac n cheese, corn unless it's in a soup, broccoli, most soups unless I home make them and probably a ton of other foods that I'm not listing.

So cheers to trying new things and I'll post my biased reviews :)