Once again meal delivery has come to the rescue right in the nick of time! I first heard about Plated earlier this summer and was able to meet the team in person when I attended Northside's NExT Conference (you can read about my experience here).
Anyway, fast-forward to last month, and I was invited to participate in their blogger outreach program, and the meal delivery coincided with my recent trip to Columbus. It required a bit of logistics to work out as the meals only come on certain days and Mr. Lovebird had to make sure he could receive it at work, but when I returned from my trip I was glad to see my fridge drawer stocked wtih my fresh Plated ingredients.
Here are the two Plated meals I selected and prepared (sorry no picture of the box presentation as Mr. Lovebird is still learning the blogging value of such things - he's just now understanding the concept of blogger grace!):
Asian Beef Kebabs with Coconut-Edamame Rice
Shrimp and Grits with Tomato-Bacon Gravy
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This was our favorite of the two meals so much so that we went out and bought all the ingredients so we could make it again on our own! |
Here's what I liked:
- High quality/good taste - ingredients were top notch (check out that fancy imported tomato can above!), and while I was skeptical of such few ingredients included in the recipes, every ingredient was well chosen and made the dishes pop - hello fresh rosemary!
- Downloadable recipes listed on the website-
- Little waste - with recyclable packaging and just enough ingredients I didn't have to worry about anything spoiling or having tons of trash left over
Here's what I'd improve:
- Show more nutrition info on the recipe card besides just the calories
- Larger portions - the portions on the cards looked bigger than what the ingredients made; also, this could be because the dishes were so good I craved more when my portion was done!
Want to try Plated? Here are the details:
- Geography: eastern seaboard Boston to DC and Chicago (see more details here)
- Schedule: you can place a la carte/no commitment orders or subscribe to a monthly membership when new menus are released on Tuesdays and are live for about a week on a first come-first serve
- Cost: a la carte plates are $15 each for 4 plates; monthly membership plates are $10 each for 4 plates (at 6 plates cost decreases to $14 and $10, respectively)
Thank you Plated for making my return from my trip easier and tasty!