EveryPlate – A New Meal Kit Review

December 16, 2019 No Comments

Disclaimer: I was not paid to review EveryPlate or any other meal kit, but this post does include referral links which will credit me if you choose to sign up.

EveryPlate bills itself as the “Affordable Meal Kit for Everyone” with kits starting at $4.99/serving. I’ve been a long time proponent for meal delivery service kits, starting with Hello Fresh and am currently using Sun Basket and Blue Apron. You can see my review of these services here. I’d been seeing EveryPlate advertised online and received a 40% discount for my first 3 weeks.

Each week, you can select 3 recipes from 9 different options. Some options (like steak) are an extra charge per serving. It is also easy to skip weeks if you won’t be home or don’t like the menu options. I’ve been ordering the 2 serving meal kits for my family of 4 (kids aged 7 & 3) and it provides us a nice reasonable sized meal. My 3 year old hardly eats anything, so I would consider it really 3 servings. I’ve also found that pasta dishes are much larger servings than other meals and many times we have leftovers.

Every recipe indicates that it can be cooked in 30 minutes, but I’ve found that so far I’m usually done quicker. EveryPlate also relies on your home “staples” more than other meal kits I’ve tried. They assume that you will have milk, flour, oil, and butter on hand. Oil is the only one of these ingredients that I regularly have, so I have to be prepared and stock up in advance.

Like other meal kits, the food is shipped to you on ice, within a bag designed to stay cold. The box is smaller than the other meal kits I’ve used, so a little friendlier on the environment. Within the box, you’ll find each recipe on its own recipe card, the meat in the lowest section right next to the ice, and the remaining ingredients in a nice little cardboard crate that fits nicely in the fridge. The ingredients are delivered in their purest form, so some prep is required.

EveryPlate is a great option if you want to save money and like simple options for your family that are quick to cook.

EveryPlate finished product — The finished product

Meal Kit Comparison

	EveryPlate	Sun Basket	Blue Apron	Hello Fresh
Weekly Menu Options	9 recipes	18 recipes	11 recipes	20
Starting Price / serving	$4.99	$10.99	$7.49	$7.49
Key Differentiators	Price	Organic produce; Lots of weekly options; Plans for multiple diets (paleo, gluten-free, etc.)	Good middle of the road option	Great entry to the space; Long history in the industry

For a comprehensive look at even more meal delivery kits, check out ConsumersAdvocate.org. They studied different meal delivery options and analyzed their costs, the freshness of their ingredients, eco-friendly packaging, and their variety to find the best option for everyone.

Nutrition

Shred10 Prep – 5 Steps to Prepare for the 10 Day Health Program

November 4, 2017 No Comments

Are you trying to figure out how to complete a Shred10 prep? Or wondering how you could survive 10 days without dairy, gluten, refined sugar, alcohol and caffeine? Preparation is key! It’s very easy to fall back into unhealthy habits, but with a little advance work, you can do it!

Shred10 Background – What Is It?

Shred10 Prep

Meal Plan

Meal planning is key! When you schedule your meals in advance, you can grocery shop for several meals at a time, and be prepared when dinnertime has come. I like to meal plan early in the day on Sunday while looking at the calendar for the week, then head to the grocery store later in the day. It’s important to look at your calendar when meal planning so you know when a quick meal is needed. For my family, we have one day where we go straight from work to soccer practice, then it’s nearly bed time for our little one. I can’t be planning a meal that requires an hour prep that day. That would be a perfect example for when a crock pot meal is needed.

See my full post on how I meal plan here – Meal Planning

Advance Prep

Prepare veggie strips (like carrots, celery, bell peppers) that you can keep in the fridge to snack on during the day. When you have a healthy snack ready, it is much easier to avoid the chips or candy so readily available. You can also roast veggies ahead of time to reheat for meals or snacking. Great veggies to roast include sweet potatoes, broccoli, squash, and brussel sprouts.

Going to the grocery store before Shred10 starts is also good advance prep. If you haven’t bought good food, you can’t eat good food. Planning and buying in advance prevents you from going through the drive-through, as you know you have something good to eat at home and you don’t want to waste the food that you have already paid for.

Mindset

Mindset is key in so many areas of life, but is essential in believing that you can accomplish your goals, including completing a Shred10. I love affirmations and here are a few that will work well as you prepare and complete your Shred10:

I always succeed.
I love and respect myself.
This is the greatest day of my life.
I am very positive at all times.
Everything I do turns out exquisitely better than I could have ever planned.

I use an app called My Affirmations that would periodically provide a notification with one of my affirmations. You can also write down your affirmations on index cards and pull them out throughout the day to read.

Get Your Kids Involved

The great thing about Shred10 is that it is safe for children too! Have your kids pick out their favorite fruits & veggies at the grocery store for lunch and snacks. My son loves coming up with new combinations to blend with his Complete shake, from blueberries and peaches to peanut butter and kale.

You can also let your kids help prepare meals. Give them age appropriate tasks like stirring and cutting. My son also loves forming meat balls and anything that involves his hands. When kids help pick out their food and help prepare it, they take so much pride in the food and can’t wait to try it.

Clear the Cupboards

As we just wrapped up Halloween, there is so much candy on our counters and throughout the house. Before Monday, I will be gathering all the candy and hiding it in a low, minimally used cabinet so I won’t be tempted. Out of sight, out of mind. If you think you’ll still be tempted, you can go ahead and throw it all away or donate it to the many organizations who collect for military overseas.

Now is also a good time to clear your cupboards of other non-Shred10 approved items – sugar filled, processed, and gluten. If it’s not there, you can’t eat it.

Ready to Shred10?

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Nutrition

Meal Delivery Kits – Hello Fresh, Blue Apron, Sun Basket

April 3, 2017 No Comments

Disclaimer: I was not paid to review any of these services, but this post does include referral links which will credit me if you choose to sign up.

Meal delivery kits have become popular for combining convenience with fresh food. Our family has used 3 different meal delivery services and have enjoyed trying new foods and eating a variety of cuisines. The meals come in various stages of preparedness, usually just requiring some dicing and then cooking. The average estimated time to prepare is 25-35 minutes. This post will outline our experience with each company. For each company, we enrolled in 3 meals a week for 2 individuals.

Hello Fresh

Hello Fresh allows you to sign up for 3, 4, or 5 recipes for two people each week, or 3 recipes for four people. If purchasing less than 5 recipes per week, you choose your meals from the 5 total for the week. There is also a Veggie Plan with 3 vegetarian meals per week. Hello Fresh shipped their meals with all ingredients for 1 meal boxed together. This made it very easy to pull those ingredients when ready to prep the meal. The meal selection was good, but we no longer use Hello Fresh as the quality of their ingredients became worse and worse. We would receive rotten vegetables and meat that was brown. When contacting customer service, they would always place a credit on our account for a portion of the meal cost to replace the bad ingredient.

Pricing starts at $7.49 a meal.

Blue Apron

Blue Apron was the second company that we tried and one that we still use regularly. They provide a selection of 11 meals to choose from each week. If you’ve tried Blue Apron in the past, you may remember that the selection of certain meals would eliminate other options. This contingency has been removed and you can select any 3 meals that you wish.

The meals are very easy to prepare with only some minimal prep, such as dicing potatoes, grating cheese, removing stems from kale, or pressing garlic. The ingredients for all three meals are lumped together in the delivery box, not separated by meal. Although, the ingredients are individually wrapped and labeled with the exception of garlic, lemons and limes. Pricing starts at $7.49 a meal.

Comment with your email for a chance to win a free delivery.

Blue Apron also provides how-to videos on their site, plus options to order corresponding wines and cooking tools.

Sun Basket

Sun Basket is by far my favorite meal kit delivery option! Each week you get to choose from 18 different recipes, with no restrictions. You can even select to receive multiple of the same recipe. This would be a great option for a dinner party or when having company.

When selecting your meals, each recipe indicates if it is paleo, gluten-free, dairy-free, vegetarian, or vegan. There is the option to upgrade proteins for an additional charge, like upgrading chicken thighs to chicken breast or for organic options. All of their produce is 100% organic. They also have add-ons, like breakfast egg bites, oatmeal, salad kits, and snacks.

Like Hello Fresh, the ingredients for each recipe are packaged together in paper bags. Pricing starts at $10.99 a serving.