MOM HACKS
5 Meal Delivery Ki�s We tested these cool services that make life easier in the kitchen
BY HESTER ABA AND DONNA LADD
B
efore I became a mom, I was always in awe of my mom friends, who were always sharing their tips on how they made dinner for their growing families. I had one friend who would spend her entire Sunday cooking meals for the week. I can recall when
I was younger my own mother cooking up eggplant lasagna and soups that she would freeze and use as time savers down the line. With three kids, she was always working hard to have a healthy meal on the dinner table. Now, as a busy mother, my friends and I swap recipes and tips on making quick yet nutritious meals. We also do meal kits. I have
FAMILY MEAL KIT: Plated What makes Plated unique and the right fit for me as a mother is that their chef-designed meals are the sorts of dishes I always aim to create. High-quality meals with seasonal ingredients and sourced the way I like to shop, which is preferably organic, no added hormones or antibiotics and sustainability sourced fish. How it works is Plated features 20 recipes each week, you choose how many servings you like and dishes can be mixed and matched in any combination. Meals are delivered with all the fresh ingredients you need, pre-portioned, along with detailed recipe instructions. Why It Works: In my dream world, I
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Brooklyn Family | October 2019
found meal kits to be one of the ultimate dinner hacks. Like any meal, kids have opinions, and for the money that is spent these meals have to work hard. Thankfully we have tested the following five (one is actually a cake kit, yay!) and we feel that they are worth being listed as our top picks for familyfriendly meal delivery services!
can get all of this together but in my real world, getting out, putting everything together only happens when I have the time, which are weekends. During the week when I return home from my workday, home-cooked meals are not ready until 7 or 7.30pm. This means a late kid bath, story reading, and bed wrangling. I find myself ordering out at least three times a week, which can be expensive. Another advantage to using Plated is unlike a gym subscription you can’t get out of, it’s easy to skip weeks of Plated deliveries as well cancel under their ‘no strings attached cancel anytime’ policy. Best value three servings a night for fournight — perfect for two adults and two kids. Favorites: The Seared Steak with Roasted Broccoli and Caesar Dressing is super tasty and the Taiwanese Chicken Lettuce Wraps with Cashews and Dates are not too heavy and easy to whip up.