So I have a rule – we sit down to dinner as a family. Even if there are only two of us here, we sit down. We don’t eat on the run – ok, ok, 3 times a year we get crazy and eat junk in the car between here and someplace far away, but those are the exceptions.
I count myself as a pretty darned good cook (thanks mom) and can handle most anything the average person eats here in the US. However, as all of you super busy women (and men) know, it is mentally exhausting to come home and cook dinner from scratch. And boring. Really really boring. I swear that if I made stir fry one more time I was going to lose my mind.
Enter the world of partially prepared meals.
By partially prepared I mean that some amazing person has narrowed the choices for me from 102,384 down to 7 complete meals. I get to pick three I pick, and they shop, package and sometimes even DICE my food for me. It arrives nicely labeled and beautifully organized and I don’t have to think. Not. Once. Ok, again, maybe not true, I have to decide which scrumptious concoction I will whip up but I usually pawn that responsibility off on Chris. I then pull everything in the handy box/bag out, add oil or an egg as needed and Poof. Dinner. We haven’t eaten the same thing twice in a month in months! Seriously.
So far we have tried:
- Plated
- Hello Fresh
- SunBasket
They are all yummy and work out to about $25 for a dinner for 2. Not as cheap as I could do making meatloaf every day, but hey – it means we don’t have to eat meatloaf every day.
Bonus.
And – AND – Chris can rock a dinner out without being intimidated #nomorehotdogs
Double Bonus.
In the next few weeks I’ll post feelings on each of the services, their meal offerings and what I like and don’t. In the mean time, let me know if you want to try one out for yourself, I have a few credits that may earn you a free box of food.
Last night was Plated, Sesame Orange Shrimp with fried rice and it was AHMAZING. Seriously fantastic. So good, in fact, that we neglected to take a picture and I had to borrow the one on this post from the Plated menu page.
Tonight’s dinner is also courtesy of Plated – Vietnamese Beef Meatballs over Rice with Chile-Lime Dressing – sounds promising…
PS – I don’t get anything from these companies – they make me pay for my dinner just like everyone else 😉