Plated, Blue Apron, Hello Fresh, & Home Chef Comparisons.

If you follow me on Instagram, then you've probably seen some of these delicious photos below from experimenting with the four companies that I'm going to tell you about. 

These four boxed meal companies are all the rage lately. Perfect for busy mom's on the go or novice home cooks who want to expand their palates and/or cooking skills. 

I really love this concept because it saves me so much time trying to figure out what I'm going to cook for dinner that week and rounding up all of the ingredients at the grocery store. I also love that each recipe comes with each individual ingredient portioned out to exactly how much you will need. No wasting that leftover cilantro that you need once and will likely go bad before the next time you use it. The ingredients are always super fresh and very high quality, as well. 

Simply sign up, select your menu choice(s) and delivery date, and a well-insulated box shows up on your doorstep on your selected date! 

Here is a simple breakdown of each company and photos from the recipes that I made:

Price: $12 per plate

Minimum order: 4 plates

Shipping: Free over $50

Want to try? Use this link to sign up and receive 2 free meals.

Braised Massaman Chicken

Beef Pho

Creamy Garlic Spaghetti Squash

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Price: $9.99 per person the for 2 person plan

$8.74 per person for the family plan

Shipping: Always Free

Family plan option: Two recipes a week {one delivery} or four recipes a week {one or two deliveries, your choice}

 Shrimp and Pineapple Fried Rice

 Beef and Pinto Bean Chili

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Price: 3 Classic Meal Box for Two - $69, 3 Classic Meal Box for Four - $129 

3 Vegetarian Meal Box for Two - $59, 3 Vegetarian Meal Box for Four - $109

Shipping: Always Free

Want to try? Use this link to sign up and receive $40 off of your first order!

Roasted Salmon with Cherry Tomatoes, Green Beans, and Yukon Potatoes

Chicken a l'Orange with Cous Cous and a Citrus Fennel Salad

Peppercorn Steak with Baby Potatoes and Creamed Spinach

Pan-Seared Salmon with Honeydew-Cucumber Salsa and Watercress Salad

Shrimp Ceviche Tacos

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Price: $9.95 per plate

Shipping: Free for orders over $50

Want to try? Click this link to sign up and receive $30 off of your first order!

Chimichurri Pork Chops with Gaucho-Style Vegetable Saute

Herb-Roasted Chicken with Whipped Cauliflower and Lemon Gremolata

Pan-Seared Salmon with Papaya Salsa and Roasted Asparagus

Salmon Encrusted with Everything Bagel Seasoning Over Arugula Salad with Lemon Caper Vinaigrette

With all of these companies, you are able to skip a week, or two, or however many you want until you are ready for them to send you a new box. You may also cancel your account at any time. 

I can honestly say that we enjoyed all of our meals! If I had to choose the box that was our favorite, Cameron and I both agreed that we liked the meals from Hello Fresh and Home Chef the best. 

Feel free to ask me any questions that you may have!

This post was not sponsored in anyway, however the sign up links do contain referral codes.

Trader Joe's Reviews.

As promised, here are a few Trader Joe's reviews from my last trip to the store. I must have been in a really lazy cooking mood because almost everything I bought were freezer meals. What can I say? Sometimes I just like to keep things simple in the kitchen after a long day. 

Chicken Chile Verde Burritos

These burritos were our favorite item of my shopping trip. I will admit, I really didn't even know what "chile verde" meant other than the fact that verde means green in Spanish. They were filled with creamy tomatillo salsa, chicken, and veggies. I will probably always throw these in my cart from now on. 

Greek Style Chicken with Orzo, Spinach, and Feta Cheese

This dish was my second favorite of the trip. I'm a huge fan of Greek food and this dish was very flavorful. My only complaint was that the box said serving size of 2, yet there was only 1 sliced chicken breast inside. Splitting one small-ish chicken breast is not enough for me to eat and it SURELY isn't enough for Cameron. I would definitely buy this dish again, but cook an extra chicken breast to go along with it.

Beef Pho Soup

I had never tried Pho before trying this one, but after hearing about it so often on Christina's blog (she happened to do a healthy products Trader Joe's review today, check it out!) once I saw it in the freezer section, I knew I had to try it. I was pleasantly surprised that I liked it. The flavors were very good and vibrant, and there were a ton of veggies (onions, bell peppers, carrots, etc). My only disappointment was there there were literally only three pieces of beef in the whole thing. And I likes my meat. 

 Mahi Mahi Burgers

I've been wanting to try mahi burgers from Costco for a while now, but every time I go I can't find them, or I don't feel like shelling out $20-$30 for something I'm not sure I'm going to like. This 4-pack of mahi burgers at Trader Joe's caught my eye so I threw them in the cart to try. I served them on a toasted wheat bun with lettuce and some garlic lemon aioli I whipped up. They were slightly fishy to me, but I am a wimp in that department. Cameron really enjoyed them and I would definitely buy again. 

Sparkling Limeade

I was originally planning on picking up some of the sparkling pink lemonade that is so tasty, but sadly they were out. Instead, I decided to try the sparking limeade and am so glad I did! It's not overly sweet, which I was afraid of. Would be perfect with a splash of vodka during the summertime. ;)

Fettuccine Alfredo with Grilled Chicken

Fettuccine alfredo is one of those dishes I do not get to cook as often as I like because it's not a favorite of Cameron's. Well, on this trip I decide it had been long enough since I deprived myself of it so I threw it in my cart. It was pretty good for being a frozen meal, but obviously not the best I've ever had. I would buy again to keep in the back of the freezer for when Cameron has a work dinner or something and I'm home alone. 

What should I pick up during my next trip?

UncommonGoods.

A few weeks ago I was contacted by UncommonGoods to go a review of one of their products. I quickly jumped aboard! UncommonGoods is one of my go-to websites to browse for Christmas and Birthday gifts. They always have the type of gifts that you would never think even existed..which is a great thing!

 

 

While browsing on their website, trying to decide on which product to review, I came across numerous gifts under $50, Father's Day gift ideas, and gift ideas for that recent graduate in your life.

 

 

Here are some of my favorites:

 

 

Gifts Under $50

Personalized Baby Book

Himalayan Salt Tequila Glasses

Agate Bottle Stoppers

Even more gift ideas under $50 can be found here.

 

 

Father's Day Gifts
 

Framed Dog Blueprint

Framed Ballpark Blueprint

More ideas for Father's Day gifts can be found here.

 

 

Graduation Gifts

All Things Are Possible Necklace

Portable Speaker

Come In, Go Away Doormat

More graduation gift ideas can be found here.

 

 

Ultimately, I (ok, Cameron) chose the Sunset Wine Tote. The perfect and cutest insulated, portable tote for you winos out there. Along with the portable tote, it comes with two plastic wine glasses, two blue gingham cloth napkins, and a wine opener. How handy is that?!? I personally plan on taking ours out on the boat one day after work ASAP.

Sorry, wine not included.

 



100% Natural Lipton Iced Tea - Get Some!

The people at Gen-YKnot recently contacted me about doing a review of the new line of 100% Natural Lipton Iced Tea. I immediately replied YES, SIGN ME UP! Ironically, I had just finished a glass of flavored tea with my lunch.

I received some six bottles of flavored tea - two flavors were previous, fan favorite flavors (Green Tea with Citrus & Iced Tea with Lemon) and two new flavors (Pomegranate Blueberry Tea & Green Tea with Passionfruit Mango)! The other two new flavors were Diet (no calories!) and included Diet Watermelon Green Tea & Diet Citrus Green Tea.

All flavors were so light and refreshing and I could definitely tell that the flavors were not fake. I have a really hard time staying hydrated during the day because drinking water just doesn't do it for me. Having flavored tea that tastes as good as these do will definitely do the trick!

My favorite flavor was the Pomegranate Blueberry, with the Diet Watermelon coming in as a close second. The Diet Watermelon was not as sweet and sugary as I was expecting, which is a very good thing! Cameron's favorite was the Diet Citrus Tea, in which he commented was a good drink for when it's really hot outside (pretty much April - October for us South Carolinian's).

The tea is available in 20 ounce bottles and will retail from $.99 to $1.59.

Lipton has also teamed up with Pandora to allow listeners to enjoy the natural side of music. The summer long stations include Lipton Pop, Lipton Country, Lipton Rock and Lipton Hip-Hop.

To find out more information, visit Lipton's Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/liptonicedtea.

I wrote this review while participating in a blog campaign by Gen-Yknot on behalf of Lipton and received Lipton product samples and a subscription to Pandora One to facilitate my candid review. Gen-Yknot also sent me a promotional item to thank me for my time.

CSN Review: Dirt Devil Steam Mop

Like I mentioned last week, I was contacted by CSN to do a review of one of their products. I chose the Dirt Devil Steam Mop because even though most of my house is carpeted, we do have 3 dogs and the tile/laminate floors often get neglected. Also, Cameron's house is mostly hardwood floors and tile.

Here are the stats:

Features:



Contoured Loop Grip Handle
Quick Release Cord Wrap
Adjustable Chromed Steel Handle
Easy Fill Water Reservoir with Water Level Indicator
On/Off Power Switch
Power-On and Steam-Ready Display Light
Pivoting EdgeWedge Steam Head
18-Foot Power Cord
1500 Watts with ETL Listing


Included Accessories:


2 Multi-layer micro-fiber cloth pads - machine washable
Micro-fiber "shaggy" dusting pad (machine washable)

Carpet glide attachment for all carpet/rug use
Fill cup
Funnel


The verdict:
 
Fast heat up time. It worked pretty well on my kitchen floor. Didn't leave a puddle of water like some of the other reviews said their's did. I like how its triangle shaped for those hard to reach corners.



durrrrrrrty.

However, when I put the carpet attachment on and tried it on one of the numerous spots on our carpet, it didn't work at all. Not even slightly. But I didn't buy it to use on carpets, so I can get over that.
 
Overall, I'm happy with this product and hope it makes me motivated to clean.......right.....