One day closer to my birthday so you know we have a delicious giveaway lined up for you today!! As some of you may have noticed (if you follow our Instagram stories and Facebook page) we’ve been testing out the Chefs Plate home delivery plans for the past two weeks. We had tried something similar two years ago but recently noticed that there’s quite a few companies who will gladly menu plan and shop for you and your entire family! When Chefs Plate asked us if we’d test out their Family Plan, I knew we also had to test out the 2 Person Plan because at first glance, the 2 Person Plan had more options to choose from and the menus seemed a bit more adventurous.

 

Disclosure : This post is in partnership with Chefs Plate but, as always, opinions  are totally ours!

 

Signing up online is super easy and you can see the menu two weeks ahead so it’s easy to figure out your plans. I also like the fact that Chefs Plate allows you to change your plans easily. This means that you can choose 4 recipes for one week and then if you have an event filled week following that, you can opt for just two recipes (or none at all!) and they won’t ding you for it! You can try Chefs Plate with no commitment and can skip or cancel anytime.

Brilliant!

As long as you place your order by Thursday, you can have all your weekly plates delivered to you by the following Monday. Please note that you still have to do the cooking. Fresh ingredients and fun recipes are delivered to you so you don’t have to spend hours on Pinterest after a long day at work, trying to figure out what to feed the family. You also don’t have to fret over hard to find ingredients, because Chefs Plate delivers EVERYTHING you need minus any salt/pepper and olive oil you may need to prep an interesting meal.

 

Here’s what I loved about Chefs Plate

1. They do the menu planning for you.
2. They do the grocery shopping for you and ensure everything is measured out. Farm-fresh ingredients from local businesses and meats from animals raised without antibiotics or hormones. 
3. They deliver everything to your door (or leave it with your concierge) in a refrigerated box, which stays cool for up to 48 hours.
4. Everything is labelled properly and every recipe has stellar detailed instructions.
5. Recipes are international and not your boring run of the mill mac ‘n cheese or meatballs and spaghetti. Their motto is “Locally sourced and internationally inspired”.
6. Ginormous portions that will shock you.
7. They sneak in plenty of veggies in a deliciously healthy manner. Recipes are designed to be balanced and nutritious.
8. Gives the kids something fun to look forward to and they enjoy helping me cook.
9. Took the stress out of cooking and allowed us to go for a pre-dinner swim.
10. The hubs stepped in to test out some recipes (which NEVER happens otherwise).

 

Bonus points : They introduced us to life changing things like Champagne Vinegar and Gochujang!

 

Tips for families

• The portions are HUGE! Quite a few people in my building have Chefs Plate deliveries and I chatted with a fellow mom in the building who told me that the family of three (2 adults and a 3 year old) order the 2 Person Plan and each day they have enough leftovers for an office lunch! With the four person/ Family Plan Baby Boy, Little Monkey, the hubs and I ate VERY well and would still have two meals leftover. You must remember that my kids aren’t the biggest eaters. The four person plan is meant for 4 adults. We had my dad join us for dinner one night and with three adults and two kids, we still had a lunch leftover!
• My advice to parents with young kids is to opt for the 2 Person Plan because you have a wider range of recipes to choose from (about 7) and with the portions being so large, you can find recipes that will please everyone. I also noticed that the best value for money is the 3 or 4 plates per week options because the two recipe/plate per week package charges a delivery fee. Each meal comes out to under $10 on average per person and you’ll easily have lunch covered the next day as well.
• Look at the recipes and figure out which steps you need to omit or alter for the kids. For example, I knew I couldn’t put even a tiny bit of chili powder in anything for Little Monkey, so I pulled the items for her aside and then added chili at the very end for us. I also knew Baby Boy wouldn’t eat salad, but if I placed all the veggies without the greens, he’d eat it!
• This is a great option for days when you have extra-curricular activities as you can prep right before the class and then come back and have dinner on the table within 15 minutes. I’m thinking of ordering another week when I’m travelling for work in a couple weeks!

 

Of course there’s a couple things to highlight that were a bit of a miss! If you’re a family with severe allergies or dietary restrictions, this may not be a good option for you. The 2 Person Plan offers a bit more flexibility in recipes but with the family option if you’re looking for 4 days worth of meals, you have to stick to the four offered. If you have a small fridge, storing four days worth of meals may be tough (our large fridge was full to the brim on day 1 mainly due to the hot sauce and condiment collection we have!).

 

While Chefs Plate is currently only serving Ontario, there’s plans to expand nationwide before the end of the summer so stay tuned! Oh also, if you’re a vegetarian, take a look at the 2 Person options as there’s SO many amazing veggie recipes that I hope to duplicate in the future for my mom! Just looking at the daily menus will get your creative cooking juices flowing, that’s for sure!

 

We’ve got a fabulous giveaway for one lucky Ontario family! Enter below for your chance to win 3 Family of 4 meals! That’s 3 different meals for one week for 4 people (12 plates in total!). How awesome is that? For those that don’t win, you can use the code #BABYANDLIFE to receive 3 FREE PLATE CREDITS off your first order. Good Luck!

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