Every Plate for a change

Hadn’t had Every Plate for a few weeks… months… I liked their meal options this week, so went with them. I forgot that they packaged things a bit more than Dinnerly. Also, they have the recipe cards. I have gotten used to using the Kindle to get the recipes for Dinnerly… but the recipe cards are good too.

Only ordered 2 different meals this time – which was actually right before Christmas… it was to come on Wednesday but didn’t come till like 7pm… so I didn’t cook that night. On Christmas Eve we ordered Chinese (tradition) and then I didn’t cook them on Christmas. I cooked the first one on Saturday… and then tonight.

Meal #1

Crispy Caesar Chicken

I ordered this for 4 but could easily stretch with extra chicken and potatoes. In fact, I didn’t even cook the potatoes they sent because we had plenty still left over from Christmas dinner. I will keep them to add to another meal when I need to stretch the potatoes.

Ratings: Wayne – ⭐⭐⭐⭐ – it was good. He really liked the carrots and the crust on the chicken. Esther – ⭐⭐⭐ .9 (yep, 3.9) She did NOT like the carrots. Said they weren’t flavorful enough. Me – ⭐⭐⭐⭐ I don’t do carrots. Period! The chicken was very good. The parmesan crust was very tasty!

Meal #2

Pork Chops

I added extra pork chops (remember, I buy a whole tray of them and freeze them in pairs in baggies). I also added extra biscuits. Because this meal was another carrot meal, I added some extra spice to them to try and improve them for Esther. Since I don’t like carrots and Lydia isn’t a fan either, I cooked up some of the broccoli I had on hand. I also added some more of the leftover mashed potatoes to finish out the meal.

Rating: Wayne ⭐⭐⭐⭐ He LOVED the carrots. The gravy was very good. I do agree with that. This was probably the best gravy of any of the pan gravies I’ve made in the last couple months. Me ⭐⭐⭐⭐ The pork and gravy was very good. (I also like the broccoli – but it doesn’t count.) Lydia ⭐⭐⭐ 1/4 The pork was tender. The gravy was good. The biscuits were good. Not a fan of carrots. Esther ⭐⭐⭐1/4 She thought the carrots were better this time.

Next week back to Dinnerly for a week or 2… and then once the kids go back to college, I’ll go back to trying out other services. 🙂

Dinnerly this week….

Sadly, the delivery was delayed a day AGAIN! My daughter said hers has been delayed for a month and she keeps calling and getting her shipping refunded. So… I called. They said they would refund the shipping.

Meal #1

Beef Pot Pie

It came with a pizza dough for the crust… it was fully defrosted, though still cold. Even though I didn’t plan to make this first this week, I did. I added extra veggies (corn and green beans) so it wasn’t just onions and potatoes and carrots.

Ratings: Lydia ⭐⭐⭐ -no comments. Wayne ⭐⭐⭐ – it was good just not his favorite. Me ⭐⭐⭐ – not bad, it might have been better with something other than the pizza dough crust. Usually a pot pie crust is flaky. The pizza dough wasn’t bad, it was just hard to cut through.

Meal #2

Meatloaf, broccoli, and mashed potatoes

I used extra broccoli because we all really like broccoli! I also used extra ground beef to stretch the meatloaf. And, of course, extra potatoes to mash.

Ratings: Me ⭐⭐⭐⭐ – the broccoli and potatoes were good, I don’t do meatloaf. Wayne ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ MEATLOAF!! He loved the broccoli and the taco sauce was good over the meat. Esther ⭐⭐⭐ 1/4 – she liked the broccoli.

Meal #3

Chicken, broccoli, potatoes

I added extra broccoli – we are really getting our broccoli this week!! I had ordered this meal as double, so I didn’t add extra chicken or potatoes. The lemon pan gravy sauce… I don’t like lemon, thankfully, it is served on the side.

Ratings: me ⭐⭐⭐ 1/2 – the broccoli and potatoes were good (I cooked the broccoli in the oven instead of on the stove top as the recipe said), the chicken was a little bland to me. Lydia ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 1/2 – the broccoli was a little dry but the lemon sauce was good and was good on the broccoli as well as the chicken. Esther ⭐⭐⭐ 1/2 – she thought the potatoes were bland. Wayne ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 1/2 – it is good but not as good as meatloaf. The broccoli is excellent!!

Dinnerly disappointment

For the first time since August, we have been really disappointed in a meal this week. While some of those early meals were too spicy and not quite to our liking, this time it was just not good. 😦

week 2 – meal 2

Chicken Noodle casserole…. at least that is what it was supposed to be… it ended up being more soup.

I added some extra chicken to stretch it and reduced the amount of carrots and onions. It just ended up way too runny, I even added some additional flour to try and thicken it up. We all were disappointed. It was dark meat chicken for the most part, I added a breast to stretch it.

Ratings: Me – ⭐⭐1/2 – way too soupy, it was just eh. Wayne – ⭐⭐1/2 – it wasn’t terrible just not his thing. Esther – 1/2 – the chicken was gross too chewying and too soupy. Lydia – ⭐1/2 – the chicken was not good.

week 2 – meal 3

Burgers and fries

I added extra potatoes for the fries and used some frozen burgers for the extra people. I also added a can of peas. Nothing spectacular about it but after yesterday anything would be good.

Ratings: Me – ⭐⭐⭐ – just a burger, nothing exciting about it. The fries were good. Wayne – ⭐⭐⭐1/2 – it was good, he liked the “special sauce” (mayo, ketchup and bread & butter pickles). Lydia – ⭐⭐1/2 – she didn’t like the seasoning on the fries (that is on me, because we had extra seasoning from the fries from last week, a steak seasoning, and I put it on these fries too). Esther – ⭐⭐⭐ – the fries are good!

Dinnerly again for this week. Hopefully the box arrives on time for a change!!

More Dinnerly Reviews

We have had a rough couple weeks… dementia world is refusing to nap… and things are just outright crazy!

Meal #2

Chicken, fries, and spinach salad

I added extra chicken to stretch it. I could have added extra potatoes but only 4 of us were eating afterall. The extra chicken was to have leftover for the next day.

Ratings: Esther: ⭐⭐⭐ She doesn’t do tomatoes in the salad. She enjoyed the seasoning on the fries – it was a steak seasoning. Though she thought the chicken needed more seasoning. Wayne: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ good. Plating was gorgeous! Very appealling. Me: ⭐⭐⭐+ it was good. the Salad was OK, but needed more flavor, I added some italian dressing and cheese to it. The potatoes were good.

Meal #3

Steak and potatoes

I added extra potatoes and a can of green beans.

Ratings: Wayne: ⭐ ⭐⭐+ good but not as good as yesterday. Me: ⭐ ⭐⭐+ good but some of the other steaks have had better flavor on them or a better pan gravy. Lydia: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ – no comments other than it was fine. Esther doesn’t eat beef, so she had that leftover chicken.

Week 2 – meal #1

Shepherd’s Pie

I only ordered this meal because it said feeds 4 for the price of 2. I figured that was a good idea since the college girls are home.

So much onion and green pepper!! I only used half of the green pepper (primarily because I don’t like it… it doesn’t like me). Could have used more beef, so I added a couple frozen hamburgers to stretch that.

Rating: Me: ⭐⭐⭐ – eh – it was OK. A little bland. Wayne: ⭐⭐⭐ – good, pretty average. Lydia: ⭐⭐ -could have used more sauce and other veggies. Like make the bottom more stew like – carrots, corn, green beans, etc. More like a traditional shepherd’s pie? Esther: ⭐+ – she doesn’t like beef products – I’m actually surprised she even tried it.

Again this week, it was a day late with the delivery. Last week I could almost understand because of the snow. There was no excuse this week. This bothers me because I was planning on it for Tuesday dinner. Not much I can do about that other than let them know, which I did.

Dinnerly double week

Because the “college girls” are home, I ordered double the meals this week from Dinnerly.

Basically, it was just a bigger box! Everything was cold and packaged the same. It was a day late due to the weather. I got an email apologizing and telling me to call if there was an issue or if it wasn’t cold.

The one “problem” with Dinnerly is that the ingredients are not separated out by meal, they are all just thrown in the box. However, from an overpackaging stand point, this is better. It does mean I have to look at the recipes to figure out what goes with each meal. Remember, Dinnerly does not send recipe cards (economical) and I have to look it up online. I got the Kindle fired up and used that. Works great.

Meal #1

Pork and Broccoli

I added a box of couscous to finish out the meal. I also added 2 extra pork chops to stretch it to feed 5. The instructions are not for double the ingredients, so you have to figure that out yourself and “do math.”

Ratings: Wayne – ⭐⭐⭐⭐ It was good. “Have I given anything a 5?” “Yes, meatloaf.” Me – ⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2 The broccoli was good with the addition of garlic butter on it. The pork tenderloin was great as always. I have been pleased with the pork (and all protein) quality every time! Lydia -⭐ ⭐⭐⭐ It was a little salty (that’s on me) and there was too much butter on the broccoli. Esther – ⭐⭐⭐.7 “I liked the broccoli. The pork scared me.” “Why?” Apparently she doesn’t like chewy meat and she wasn’t sure what it would be like. I don’t understand either!! 🙂 It must have met her approval because she ate it. She did think the couscous was weird. I have to agree with that. I had a box of it, so I cooked it… I don’t have the box anymore… moving on.