Prepped, Cooked, Served – A Review of Plated.com SUBSCRIPTION BOX Recipes Prepared, May 2017
What is Plated?
Plated is a meal delivery kit you order by subscription. For each week that you order a box, you will choose from a selection of recipes and then be sent a box filled with all the ingredients you need to prepare and cook those recipes at home. You receive a glossy recipe card with each recipe giving you all the instructions and tips needed to cook your meal (recipes are also available online). You can easily skip any week you like via your online account.
Plated: What I like best:
- The recipes that I have tried have, for the most part, been really good.
- I like that you can choose your weekly recipes from a menu that gives you a choice of thirteen different (and interesting) looking meals, and that there is a nice variety of meats, seafood, and vegetarian dishes. Your menu choices include six “encore recipes” that have received high ratings from previous Plated cooks. And here’s something else I like: choice of fourteen weekly recipes is coming soon!
- The ingredients that I have been sent have been very high quality and the vegetables quite fresh. The food seems more organic than what is mainly available at my regular grocery store.
- The fun of trying out new recipes (and not having to go to the store to buy the ingredients!).
Why I sometimes skip a week:
- Main reason I skip is the cost (just can’t afford to pay this much over what I would pay for the food products at my grocery store).
- As the weather starts to warm up, I have some concerns about the food sitting in a box on my porch in 90 degree heat – though, so far, I haven’t had a problem (there are lots of ice packs in the box to help!).
Let’s Eat! – PLATED BOX REPORT with honest opinions about each recipe we made and ate (box was received on May 11th):
Ratings: 4 stars = Super Yummy; 3 stars = Yummy; 2 stars = Meh; 1 star = Yucky
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HOMEMADE CANDY BARS with CARAMEL, CHOCOLATE, and SALTED PEANUTS
“Homemade Candy Bars”, made in three layers. Yum. Enjoy, all you chocoholics out there! — I would call these “Chocolate Caramel Cookie Bars”. This is a three-layered bar made by baking a simple cookie layer, then spreading a caramel-nut blend over the cookie, then pouring and spreading a chocolate layer. This called for six wrapped caramel squares, but Plated only sent me four. Oh well, still tasted good. Easy recipe, tasted strongly of the chocolate flavor more than anything else. Yummy. – *** ½
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BRAISED CHICKEN, APRICOTS, AND CURRENTS with ROASTED FINGERLING POTATOES
Braised chicken in a sweet and fruity white wine sauce, served with spinach and roasted fingerling potatoes on the side. Plated and served. — This dish involved searing the chicken breasts, braising in pan sauce, then roasting briefly in a hot oven. There was also a simple side dish made with potatoes and spinach to be roasted. With multiple different steps going on at once, this dish was fairly easy to create with two people working together. Though the roasted potato side was plain, there was plenty of the yummy braising sauce made with white wine and orange juice to soak those potatoes in (if desired). Really, really good meal — this dish was totally delicious! Loved this (so glad I picked this recipe for the week!). – ****
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CUBAN BEEF PICADILLO with SPINACH RICE
Recipe card plus all the ingredients needed to make the Cuban Beef Picadillo dinner at home – sent in the Plated box. — Once the aromatic vegetables were all chopped and diced, this was a very simple to prepare recipe – a sautéed beef dish served over rice. The flavorings in this dish were subtle, but nice. I really thought the addition of golden raisins into the simmering beef mixture added a nice touch and flavor to the overall dish. We enjoyed this quite a bit, a real comfort food meal that wasn’t too difficult to prepare. Perhaps a little extra spinach in the rice part of the dish would have made me feel more like this was a true “one-dish meal” (rather than sort of feeling like I needed a small salad on the side). This made lots, so I saved some for the next day. – *** ½
Plated up, ready to eat – Cuban Beef Picadillo with Spinach Rice. Dinner is served.
Here’s the scoop on subscription and pricing information:
The current cost of a Plated meal is $12 a plate for the plan that includes 2 dinners (recipe + ingredients) for 2 people (total $48). They have add-on desserts that are $8 and shipping is free for orders over $50 (so a good idea to save on shipping costs is to be sure to order a dessert to bring your cost above $50). The plan with 3 dinners for 2 people costs $71.70 and includes free shipping. (There are also other plans available for more dinners per week and/or more servings.)
Each week Plated currently offers a total of thirteen recipes including seven “new” weekly recipes featuring meat, seafood, and vegetarian choices – plus six “Encore” recipes (home cooks top-rated favorites). There are also two weekly desserts to choose from (optional). You get a choice of delivery date (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, or Saturday) and can hit the “SKIP WEEK” tab (you can skip as often as you like) via your online Plated account. There is a button to click to cancel your subscription, if you need to.
NOTE: Beginning the week of June 25th, menus include fourteen recipes! Please check the Plated website for the current cost and menu choices.
Happy cooking everybody! #platedpics
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