How EveryPlate Taught Me How to Cook

I've always been a city girl, and when I lived in NYC, IF I had a kitchen, it was just a place to store my leftover Thai food and wine. I hardly ever turned on the stove and didn't need to since I had some of the world's best restaurants right around the corner. After living in a 300 sq. foot studio apartment with a hot plate and mini fridge for six years, I packed up and moved back to Washington, D.C. where I finally experienced space and the luxury of a real kitchen. But my cooking lessons truly didn't begin until the pandemic struck and I was forced to move (again) to the 'burbs for the first time in 20 years. All of a sudden, cooking became a necessity and I turned to meal subscription services to teach me how to create delicious dishes and that's when I first discovered EveryPlate.

EveryPlate

Maybe you're also a relative newbie in the kitchen and hadn't heard of EveryPlate, but with each meal starting at around $4.99, they are one of the most affordable meal kit subscription services out there today, and one of our best meal subscription boxes. You can sign up for meal subscription plans for 2 or 4 people and receive 3-5 meals per week. Customers can select their favorite dishes from a weekly rotating menu that has 21 options, and each of EveryPlate’s meals comes with all the ingredients you need and recipe cards to ensure you never miss a step.

Now, I'm a picky eater and as someone who only eats carbs, veggies and poultry, my options can be quite limited at times. So, before I even signed up for EveryPlate, I combed through the site to make sure they had meals for me and my ex. As I scrolled through the weekly menus, I noticed they had lots of veggie and poultry options, and dishes he'd like too, so we compromised and got 2 dishes to meet my needs, and 1 for him each week.

A Lifestyle Change

I've always been athletic, and in NYC I used to wake up at 4:30am, four days a week, to hit the 24-hour gym across the street. I'd spend 30-45 minutes running sprint intervals on the treadmill and then weightlift for the last hour of my workout. I was obsessed with exercise, but never saw real results because I'd hit happy hour after work and then order Thai, Chinese, and fried foods for dinner—this went on for 14 years and it's no wonder I have high blood pressure. It wasn't until I moved south, suffered a bad foot injury, and got cut off from the real world in 2020 that I realized how your diet really makes the biggest difference in your physique. I suddenly had no choice but to learn how to cook and eat healthy, and I was shocked by the results. You mean all I had to do was eat healthy and I'd see better results than killing myself at the gym? Geez, I wish I knew this much sooner.

Fast forward to today and while I'm not with my pandemic buddy, I'm still with EveryPlate, and it's a pretty great relationship. Since I'm no longer in a big city setting, the food options around me aren't the best, and I'm still working from home, so EveryPlate has been a lifesaver from a convenience and health standpoint. I hate to admit it, but I have days when I don't even leave my apartment complex, and having delish pre-planned meals lined up and waiting for me to prep makes life so much easier, plus a lot cheaper and healthier than a last-minute food delivery service.

The Meals

EveryPlate has a few different options you can choose from when you order your meals like the Meat & Veggie, Veggie, Family Friendly, and Quick & Easy. Since I only eat chicken and turkey (one day I may sprout feathers), and I love my veggies and starch, I ended up going with the Meat & Veggie plan. Each week, EveryPlate gives you 21 meals to choose from, so if you've got commitment issues like me, you've got lots of options!

Ok, how were my cooking skills? Let's just say I'll never live up to Martha Stewart's standards, but I did a pretty good job. And despite being of Ukrainian and Irish ancestry, I always tend to lean towards Asian and Mediterranean foods. I tried the 3-meal option for 2 people (leftovers for me!) and ordered the Tunisian-Spiced Chicken, Chickpea Curry, and the Couscous-Stuffed Delicata Squash. Yes, I know they're not everyone's cup of tea, but they were delicious and now it's just me (and my bunny rabbit), so I can eat whatever I want.

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Since I don't have a family to feed, I definitely have a lot more freedom when it comes to planning and cooking my meals, but I am a freelance writer and I spend a LOT of time at home on my computer. Sometimes if I break my concentration to run out for food it can ruin my writing and it's almost impossible to get back my train of thought and ideas.

Verdict

Food subscription services make life so much easier. With the hurricane and other unpredictable threats looming, I already had all my ingredients stocked up in my fridge and didn't need to suddenly run out in a downpour or at 8pm on a weeknight to grab an onion or cilantro to complete my dish. On that note, despite sometimes scoffing at the weekly price, the truth is nowadays I easily spend over $50 every time I go to the grocery store and walk out with maybe seven items, tops. That's hardly enough to create more than one or two meals per week, and I end up spending gas money going back and forth. It's clear to me that EveryPlate makes dollars and cents!