Chef's Plate Meal Delivery Service - 4 free meal referral [General]

2015 Nov 29
I have been intrigued by the Chef's Plate delivery service but it seems hard to find 2-3 meals for 2 that I like on the same week that I would want to pay extra than shopping and cooking myself or going out to eat lol..

Found a facebook offer for 2 free plates/meals so finally bite the bullet and trying the 2 meal per week for 2 (where I only pay for 2 meals and $6 delivery charge). After ordering my meals for Dec 8th, there is an offer for referral where the person I referred would get 4 plates (could use on 2x meal for 2 I presume but not sure) and I would get 2 plates. This seems to be a good deal if you want to try the service.

Either PM me with your email or try to use the referral link below.

www.chefsplate.com


2015 Dec 1
Thank you! I snagged the referral and am excited to try this. Food prep is probably the thing my husband and I fight about most so I'm really hoping this helps him cook a bit more, or at minimum, takes some of the meal planning stress of of me.

2015 Dec 1
I choose flat iron steak and sage butter turkey for Dec. 8.. What did you choose ara?


2015 Dec 1
I'm vegetarian (though my husband isn't) so I just picked both veggie options. I think they were a burrito bowl and veggie stir fry and my delivery is on Dec. 15th. I couldn't figure out how to double up on the meals, so only picked those 2. Hopefully it will let me get another 2 free meals next week, but even if it doesn't I'm still looking forward to trying it out.

2015 Dec 1
yeah I would have preferred to double up on the flat iron steak but was not able to so picked the turkey as 2nd choice.

Actually went to Red Apron yesterday and they had lots of frozen meals for 1 or 2 with 1 being $9.50 and meal for 2 around $18-20 and fresh meal for 2 around the 20$ mark...

2015 Dec 11
Any feedback from those who ordered? I placed an order for next week delivery using the referral code. Interested to see how it works out...

2015 Dec 11
Hi LuLux,

What did you order?

2015 Dec 11
Okay. I ordered Chef's Plate last week for delivery this week with Flat Iron Steak and Sage Butter Turkey as my choices.

The delivery came on Tuesday Dec 8th and despite finding a new items saying they have an office in Orleans, the food was shipped from Toronto Dec 7th. It was well packed with an insulated bubble type packaging inside the box. The meat, turkey cutlet and flat iron steak, are on the bottom between 2 gel packs and there is some insulating material between the meal and the rest of the ingredients. Nothing is prepped so basically they put together (measured) ingredients with the recipe cards.

It came with 2 recipe cards. They are nicely in color and the instruction are simple to follow but
* it does not have full nutritional information, just the the calories
* The sage butter turkey said prep time is 25 mins but it is off since if you have to follow instructions, you have to preheat oven, so some minor prep, cut the squash and roast them for 22 mins where you have to do the kale salad and the turkey.

It seems that they are changing mid-Dec so that you can change your delivery date to Thurs or Friday. Instead of Tuesday.


2015 Dec 11
Recipe card for Sage Butter Turkey

2015 Dec 11
Instructions for Sage Butter Turkey

2015 Dec 11
Ingredients

2015 Dec 11
Cooked the Sage Butter Turkey for my parents tonight. I did not want to spend time on a week day to roast acorn squash so microwaved some sweet potatoes (12 mins) and heated up some corn and added a chicken breast from Slipacoff for myself.

I made the kale salad with dried cranberries with a lemon, olive oil and honey dressing used to message the kale. Decent sized salad for 2 and with 2 other sides, more than enough for 3.

Instead of using cooking oil, I ended up using 1 tbsp of black label hazelnut oil since you put pecan in to brown butter sage sauce. The turkey breast cutlet is 3 mins per side but one can do chicken breast either as it or butterflied. One cutlet was butterflied and the other was fairly thick on one end.

There were no real pan juices so I ended up melting 2/3 of the 2 tbsp of butter since was trying to keep it lower fat. added the sage and fried for 2 mins and added the crushed pecan.

Feedback is that the turkey / chicken was nice enough but nothing special but I was happy that the parental units did well with the kale salad but I think the cranberries were the hit lol..


2015 Dec 11
Flat Iron Steak Recipe card

2015 Dec 11
Flat Iron Steak Instructions

2015 Dec 11
Flat Iron Steak with collard greens and cheddar polenta ingredients


2015 Dec 11
The flat iron steak seems a bit fatty...

2015 Dec 11
I ordered the Peruvian Chicken Thighs and the Hungarian Beef and Vegetable Stew for delivery next Tuesday.

2015 Dec 11
It would be great if we can trade recipes lol...

I passed on next week since still have Slipacoff meat to work though but looking at the sirloin steak and rosti and ponzo salmon for week after.

2015 Dec 16
I made the Peruvian Chicken Thighs tonight. Instructions were easy to follow and resulting dish was very flavourful. The recipe had baked potato wedges, a tomatillo salsa, cucumber salad and the chicken thighs. The thighs took more than twice as long to cook as the recipe called for but other than that it was very easy.


2015 Dec 17
The Flat iron steak with collard green and cheddar polenta went fine and it was fairly tasty.

Minor issue in the recipe in that it called for delivery of 3/4 cup of cornmeal but only 1/2 cup was delivered in the small bag. Thus adjusted 3 cups of water called for to 2 cups to keep the ratio. used the leftover butter from the sage butter turkey but used the full cheese to keep fat down.

Only 1 shallot for the carmalized shallot and would have been better with 2 since it would have been nicer.

2015 Dec 17
Okay, found out a way to double up on a meal.

You have to select different meals since it is a software limitation that each meal could only be placed in the cart once.

I found the work around to double up. You have to choose different meals (including one you don't really want) then checkout for delivery. Then go back and edit the order to changed the bogus meal order to double up on the particular meal as desired.

2015 Dec 18
Our order came this week and I'm very happy with it. We had a stir fry and even had enough left over for 1 lunch the next day. The other vegetarian meal was a fancy rice and bean bowl, which was super tasty and we had no leftovers. I paused it for next week since we'll be out of town, but I look forward to seeing what meals they have in the new year. Also, I'm thinking of switching to the 4-person meals even though there's just myself and my husband. That way we'll be certain of having leftovers for lunch the next day.

2015 Dec 18
srs,

Maybe go to 3 meals of 2 and double up on a meal you like to start.. I have 2x ponzi salmon next week and a steak and rosti

With 3 meals of 2, you get free delivery so save $6. So the 2 extra meals over the 2 meals of 2 is $16 or $8 per meal which is less than what you would likely pay for a takeout lunch.

2015 Dec 18
If you want more detailed nutritional information, you can email hello@chefsplate.com and ask. What I don't understand is why they do not just post the bloody thing with each menu so people can make informed choice.

This is what I got from them for Ponzi Salmon which I ordered.. Really high sodium and potassium.

2015 Dec 19
The Hungarian Stew was less successful than the chicken. I was skeptical from the outset as it stated that the stew would be ready in less than 30 minutes while a stew generally takes a while before the meat cubes are tender and there was a lot of liquid to be added. I wasn't sure about the amount of stock but seeing as the dumplings are cooked in the stew and I had never made these before, I didn't know how much liquid should be in the dish and whether dumplings absorb some of the liquid. I just followed the instructions. Also, I didn't feel that the spice mix added any complex flavours to the dish. The result was an under salted, overly liquid stew with tough meat.

2015 Dec 19
yeah stew tend to be braised meat and takes time.. Maybe chicken or turkey might be okay in 30 mins since you can bake a whole chicken in less than 60 mins...

If you hit the link below and change the number 339 to another number, you might see a different recipe. I am going over the list to see some of the options.
www.chefsplate.com

2015 Dec 19
I knew that the stew would be tough but I wanted to do a fair evaluation of the recipe as per the instructions. I would have continued cooking it to reduce the sauce and allow the meat to get tender but I didn't have time to the night I made it. Someone would need to be a more experienced cook to recognize the shortcomings of the recipe and be able to adapt it. However I don't think that is the purpose of this type of service.

Personally, I tried this to get some ideas of things to cook that I might never consider and someone else has done all the leg work. It's not something I would use on a regular basis though.

2015 Dec 19
LuLux,

If you just want some ideas, this might be a better place...

www.culiniste.ca

They have the actual instructions on the website but not the actual quantities but you can try to reverse engineer it.

The shrimp one looked pretty interesting but min order is 3 of 2 meals and I don't like enough of the menu to try it. So will try to reverse engineer it if I can find the spice mix recipe somewhere

2015 Dec 19
Thanks FoodTravel! Looks interesting. I actually bought some ras el hanout recently (at Trader Joe's in Florida) as part of a set and could probably figure out that recipe!

2015 Dec 19
If you get a good version of a recipe, please share :D Might also want to try google with that and shrimp.

Culiniste is similar with Chef's plate's website that if you want to poke around, just change the 3 digit number after the menu..

2015 Dec 19
I found a recipe for the Ras El Hanout spice mix...

moroccanfood.about.com

This is a quick reduced version that is less authentic..

I saw it on William Sonoma's us catalog so maybe the one in TO stock it.

Here is an interesting recipe from LA times from a restaurant using isreali couscous and Ras El Honout.
www.latimes.com

Found a recipe with shrimp and a similar one

2016 Jan 1
Okay, I did the 2 person 3 meals plan my 2nd week ordering for week of Dec. 21. 2x Ponzi Salmon and Steak and Rosti.

Got the requested nutritional information for the Ponzi salmon after the cut off for changes and found out the sodium was way high but could not do anything about it. Well packed but package was left in the damp for a little bit outside.

Tasted the Ponzi sauce and way too salty so instead of full bottle (for 2 people) ended up using only 1/2 bottle for 3 salmons filets and some of the ponzi sauce left from the glazing the salmon plus 1 tsp of low sodium soya sauce went into the asian vegetables which is a pretty basic combination of brocolli, carrot, napa, baby corn and bean sprouts. I was sitting down to have dinner with my parents and even with the ponzi at 1/3 of recipe amount to get it more reasonable in terms of sodium, my mom found it a bit too salty.

I Ended up cooking the last salmon filet and flaked it to make a salmon and asparagus quiche for Xmas appetizer.

End up running low on time so skipped the rosti and had sweet potatoes. The steak and rosti is a slightly nicer meat and potatoes meal with a little bit of sauteed kale with onion. Decent but nothing spectacular.

Some are really high in sodium and they tend to be easy to spot but some are also very high in potassium which are a hidden nutritional bomb in view that my mom have reduced kidney functions after her heart attack. I really wish they would just post the full nutritional info or provide a link somewhere on the menu pages.

2016 Jan 1
I think for finding out the potassium and other nutrients the Agriculture Canada website and The US agriculture database is great.

Someone in my family has kidney problems and the dietitian they were sent to was just dumb-and it was at the Ottawa general hosp.
They were misinforming people and saying this is what the kidney foundation told them,so they thought it was right.
And the kidney foundation people were saying this is the info they have been given for years-so they thought it was correct.

Both were saying pineapple was bad for you and some other fruits and veg were high in potassium. When most of the ones on their accepted list were much higher.

Same for them saying "all brown soft drinks have too much potassium and phosphate", which is just silly as tons of drinks are brown and have none.

I know you can get reduced sodium soy sauce or maybe there is something similar and sodium-free?

2016 Jan 2
My mom's creatinine level have been climbing off and on since her heart attack 2-3 years ago. Potassium is one to watch since sodium is almost always displayed on nutritional labels but potassium not as often and some of the salt substitute available are potassium based. It is funny since my Dad is using potassium supplements and my mom has to watch it. Yes I switched my parents to Kikkoman low sodium soya sauce a couple of years ago but really there is not sodium free ones.

The dietitians in hospitals may try but they tend to toe the line on the normal diets for the average person and not as informed about specific needs or unwilling to put themselves out. Mom has had several bouts with pancreatitis and was told by her specialist in 2009 she really should be eating 30-40g of fat versus the normal of 45-60g. Also her cardiologist have said after her heart attack in 2013 that she should limit herself to 1500mg of sodium per day versus the average recommendation of 2000-2300 mg.

The dietitian from Montfort that we talked to originally sent an intern/student dietitian to talk to my mom and I had to insist to talk to the real dietitian since the student basically could not answer the detailed questions and was going back to ask and coming back the next day or so. Finally spoke to the dietitian by phone and she keep going to the normal recommendation of 60g of fat and 2000 mg of sodium by the candian food guide.

2016 Jan 4
One of the dietitians I saw said "if a drink has the word milk in it it is always a dairy product."
-I was asking about RICE MILK- made with water, not dairy.

*You should not eat a lot of cereal because the only thing you can put on it is regular milk.
(again, really??).

*For bread the white kind with no grains has the least potassium.
Get the sliced bread like wonderbread or similar.

-the problem with those packaged loafs is they are full of preservatives and chemicals.

-I mentioned buying the in-store baked bread made from just flour,olive oil,water -but apparently that is not a better choice??

It is too bad that so many people rely on this info that is really not accurate,

2016 Jan 5
well if you get real bakery bread, I remember asking Kevin at Art-is-in the nutritional content of a couple of bread my mom liked and it took about a week for me to get some info back and it was approx. per loaf.

They had to work out the total batch and the nutritional info in terms of sodium, etc with approx. number of loafs and give it and it does not tell what it is per slice but you have to do match with the number of slices a loaf get one time...

I have met a couple of great nutritionists but some very mediocre ones too.

2016 Jan 7
Found Ras El hanout at the middle eastern store on st. Laurant. It has Paprika coriander cumin allspice ginger and Salt in the red version I bought and their is a yellow version without paprika. $3.49 for 100g

2016 Jan 7
I would think Cedar's grocery sells it also.
I will try and remember to check when I go there.

That huge middle eastern store on St Laurent is neat, but far for me in the winter (well 1 hour by bus during the summer).

I can walk to at least 3 small middle east grocery shops on my street-I'm guessing they have similar spices too.

If there is a restaurant that uses those spices near you, maybe they can sell you some?
I've gotten nuts and baking stuff from a bakery I go to and have had some places I eat at sell me some sauce I liked.
Funniest thing I've been offered is a big bag of salmon heads...lol.
I have no freezer space at the moment ,so maybe when I get my new freezer......

2016 Jan 8
I had to be at Cora's for lunch today anyway so basically took a little stroll after lunch to the store. They had strained yogurt so bought a small container to try... Probably serve it with a little bit of honey and some fruits. I also found chia for something like $6-7 / lb in a container but still have some organic ones from the US I am trying to finish so that is on my later list.

Saw some good recipes for Ras el hanout on food.com, etc but would need to get a whole bunch of spices, likely from bulk barn.

my dad like salmon head cooked with tofu... Or it can make some decent fish broth for cioppani or some fish stew.

2016 Jan 10
For those of you who are looking for recipe ideas from meal kit delivery service ...

1) There is another service out of Montreal, MissFresh that puts the entire recipe and nutritional information on their website.
www.missfresh.com/
If you want a lower cost way to try the kits, they have a groupon deal right now with 3 variations for about $5.50-6.50 per serving.
www.groupon.com

2) A US meal kit delivery service called Hello Fresh a friend is using... they have full pdf recipe cards you can download and nutritional information
www.hellofresh.com
www.hellofresh.com
www.hellofresh.com
www.hellofresh.com
for the weeks, there are recipes under all 3 box types with some overlap..

3) A US meal kit delivery service called Blue Apron ..
You can download pdf recipe card from both 2 person plan and family plan side but only calories details not full nutritional information
www.blueapron.com

4) A US meal kit delivery service call Chefday featuring recipes and step by step videos from some of the restaurants of NYC such as Steak Au Poivre by chef Christian Fischhuber - Le Cirque
www.chefday.com
www.chefday.com/recipes
www.chefday.com/

2016 Jan 12
Cannot find enough interesting and healthy recipes to order 2 meals on chef's plate for 2 weeks now so going to give missfresh a try next week. In view dad just got admitted to Montfort after 10 hrs in emergency yesterday so likely to be pressed for time. I had to send my vegetarian sister who does not really cook home to Mom to cook her some marguez sausages and sweet potatoes for dinner and stay with her.

I got a groupon for 5 meals of 2 for $55 on the gourmet plan for next week where the meals are:
Spaghetti alla vongole
Balsamic Flank steak
Quails in a sweet chili sauce
Swedish Meatballs
Roasted Chicken and Romaine
This works out to $5.50 a serving so pretty low risk way to try them. There were a couple of worrying reviews about things not arriving on time during the holidays or an item for each meal arrived in bad shape.

This service would be $10.49/serving normally for 5 meals of 2 and $11.49/serving for 3 meals of 2 which is slightly higher than Chef's Plate and Red Apron but the recipes looks a little more interesting and I really like the fact that the nutritional information is clearly stated on their website and I can further control it while cooking. The 4 person plans are more attractive prices wise than 2 person plan but higher than the Culiniste prices on 4 people plans.

The bad thing about this service is that if you choose the 3 meals for 2 on the gourmet plan, you do not get to selection the recipes yourself but have to take missfresh's selection of 3 which means a favourite may not be available or something you don't really want is in the mix. They claim that new functionality will be introduced late Jan or mid Feb which would make it possible to select recipes. Similarly the 3 meal vegetarian plan cannot be mixed with anything in the gourmet plan.

There is enough interesting recipes for the next few weeks, I would likely try the services for a few weeks, especially if I can choose the meals. I might give my sister some money and get her to order for parents delivered to her house a set of 5 meal for 2 on groupon or 3 meal for 2 directly via the $30 off referral link which bring the price for 3 meals for 2 to the same as the groupon deal option but no problem of promotional value expiring.

If anyone want to give missfresh a try, the 30$ off referral link is
msfr.sh/Pav

2016 Jan 21
Back to Chef's Plate next week with 2 meals that pass the finicky different tastes of Mom and Dad and nutritional details are decent..

Steak and Red Wine Pan Sauce
Mustard Crusted Salmon with Israeli couscous, roasted broccoli and apricots

Mom loved isreali couscous from a Trader Joe's harvest grain blend I brought back a few years ago and bought her several lbs of whole wheat Isreali Couscous but she and I do not really know what to do with it so this would be a good lesson / trial lol.

LF check your PM

2016 Jan 21
We had the tilapia with black quinoa and kumquat sauce last night and we both enjoyed it although for my husband, the jury is still out on the kumquat sauce. One comment I have on their instructions for both the bulgur and the quinoa is that they underestimated the time. It took longer than the instructions said for the water to be absorbed.

Tonight we had the beef enchiladas and it didn't look like much. We quickly changed our minds and enjoyed this as well. My only negative here is that the avocado had a couple of small bruises but on the other hand, it was actually ripe. If someone knows avocados, can they tell me if bruising is common? I'm not sure what they added to the dish other than a certain richness, as they were served plain.

So far, so good. We'll see how we fare with next week's order.

2016 Jan 22
Yeah similar to Chef's Plate saying roasting acorn squash for 22 mins when it takes longer and that the whole meal would take 30 mins when it takes 15 mins to preheat the oven and at least 22 mins to cook it and ??? to cut it.

I think they are under some pressure to state the meal would take 30 mins or less. I had seen several comments on facebook and elsewhere that these meal kits often take 40 mins or longer.

I had kumquat before and I think kumquat sauce might be a little too different for some people. I had homemade enchiladas before by the husband of a friend in California. It looked a bit of a mess but tasted great!

2016 Jan 26
okay Chef's Plate is having a contest to draw on Feb 1st some 3 prize packs which the grand prize include 3 months of Chef's Plate (did not specify which meal plan), 1 year membership at Good Life Fitness and a throwaway one for a financial consultation.

www.chefsplate.com

When you sign up for the contest, they try to give you as a freebie 40% off Chef's Plate (you are better off with the 4 free plate referral), or 3 days free pass at goodlife fitness which I am not impressed about since GoodLifeFitness have been trying to push a free 7 day pass to bring me in for a chat and I keep telling them I am too busy with Dad in hospital last 2 weeks or this week on appointments.


2016 Jan 26
I request for those who are ordering Chef's Plate regularly or semi-regularly.

If you don't have any needs for the gel packs from Chef's Plate or have too many and plan to recycle it, please let me know since I gave some last Sat to my mom's home help, who is a nursing student, for the day care center she works at 1 afternoon a week. She said it would be useful for the kids and I promise to give her some of my spare one in the future too but it sounds like the don't have many ways to cool the kids injuries or some stuff they need chilled sometimes and can use as many as they can get. I you have any that you were planning to dispose of, throw it in a plastic bag or a box and I can pick it up from you once you have a few you want to dispose of.

Thanks in advance.

2016 Jan 26
I just got my order today and it had two packs but I drained them. I will keep future ones for you.

2016 Jan 26
For the squash, maybe start cooking it in the microwave and fisnish in the oven?

I also defrost puff pastry in the microwave by putting it in 10 sec at a time and that works great for most other frozen items!

2016 Jan 26
My order for the pan fried steak in red wine sauce and crusted salmon with Isreali couscous arrived too but too tired to make dinner tonight so parents had to do with the many leftovers of meals I cooked over the weekend. Will likely make the Salmon tomorrow night and steak Thurs.

I did some cheat meals I had made this weekend:
* stroganoff style pasta using Lou's beef in red wine, some French mushroom in cream and white wine sauce (with girolle and button mushrooms), sliced mushroom, evaporated milk and whole grain pasta
* a turkey pot pie without the crust by using Lou's roast turkey thighs, canned corn, frozen peas and some cut up baby carrots and some evaporated milk..
* pizza made with onions, plus leftover steak and quail meat (from Miss Fresh meals that my dad would not eat) with low sodium pizza sauce I made and grated mozzarella.


2016 Jan 26
I microwave sweet potatoes and potatoes quite often but I think squash would get a different texture microwaved than baked.


2016 Jan 27
Last night we had the Chef's Plate Honey Ginger Chicken with Hazelnuts, Pear and Endive Salad. My skepticism about there being enough food was unfounded. This was a very tasty dish and I am keeping the recipe card as I will make it again. I would replace the hazelnuts with slivered almonds as I find hazelnuts dry. Minor quibble. I meant to add some hot pepper flakes to the dish which I forgot but have made a note to do this next time. Tonight I am making the steak dish but will sous vide the steak instead of cooking it entirely on the stove.

2016 Jan 27
so you are going to sous vide then sear it?

Almond would be good and I think Macademia nut or cashew can be good variations too.

2016 Jan 27
So this is the steak dinner. It was a flat iron which I did sous vide at 132F for 7 hours then seared. The spuds were my addition, they were not part of the package. This was an excellent plate of food. The steak was fork tender.

2016 Jan 27
Did you do it your instant pot

2016 Jan 27
No. I have a proper sous vide set-up. However, one day very soon I am going to try it in my IP. Probably try chicken as that can stand to be off a couple of degrees.

2016 Jan 29
There was some delays so ended up doing Mustard Crusted Salmon with Israeli couscous, roasted broccoli and apricots last night.

Dad liked the salmon and the dijon mayonnaise sauce lemon which I put on the side by the salmon then on top as Chef's Plate had it. I added some maple syrup to the dijon on the salmon before added the breadcrumb mixture. Mom thought the salmon was decent but really liked the dijon mayonnaise sauce and the Isreali couscous as I suspected.
The roasted broccolli got a hands down from both and mom said broccolli should never be roasted but should be stir fried with lots of water or steamed lol.

2016 Jan 30
Last night we had the Tunisian Beef Sausage Ragu. I have to admit that I did not have high expectations for this dish, but boy, was I wrong. It was really, really good. The plate could have benefited appearance wise from a sprinkling of parsley but they did not send any and I didn't have any. I should mention that both of the pasta dishes we have had to date came with fresh, not dried pasta.

2016 Jan 30
Oops. Forgot to attach the pic.

2016 Jan 30
I've been pretty impressed with the Chef's Plate vegetarian dishes. Earlier this week we has a stir fry with Japanese eggplant and lotus root. Now I'm a good cook, fairly adventurous, and have been vegetarian for 20 years, but I've never cooked with lotus root before. It was really tasty! and good on Chef's Plate for giving me a new ingredient to try. I did jazz up the sauce a bit as it was just yellow miso and seemed a bit boring.

Last night we had the roasted poblano peppers with black bean chilli. Also tasty. I'm a bit of a snob when it comes to beans and prefer making my own to using canned, but I just rinsed these well and they were fine.

I work full time, am in school working on a masters, and I simply don't have time to fuss over things these days. My husband, while much better than me at all cleaning related chores, is only now learning how to cook and meal plan. So it is a HUGE time and stress relief to not have to think about dinner on weeks when we order Chef's Plate. So far, all of the meals have ranged from decent to very good and, while I doubt I'll ever order from them every week, I'm definitely going to keep it up once or twice a month. I also saw a coupon for 2 free Culiniste meals somewhere online, so think I'll give them a try at some point as well.

2016 Jan 30
SRS, glad you chimed in. I too am really enjoying the meals. With one exception, and I think that is a personal taste thing, we have been satisfied with all of the Chef's Plates meals. While all have been good, some have been great and I enjoy trying out some new things. It really cuts down on impulse buying which is always a good thing. Please post how the Culiniste meals work out for you.

2016 Jan 30
Ok,
I think I will try Chef's Plate soon.

If my parents- or my mother did not like my food that I made, I would just tell them/her to make or get their own food.
Actually I do not cook when my mother visits, as she hates or finds fault with most of the food I make (the salmon has to be organic, wild "king salmon" or whatever the expensive kind is).

That I use tap water and not bottled water to boil stuff? (really).

*If you find hazelnuts are too "dry", the Duchilly? hazelnuts from Nuts.com look like almonds and taste like hazelnuts. They are grown somewhere in the US.

Macadamia or brazil nuts would be more oily.

For pizza you could just use some roasted vegetables and some flavored oil w no cheese.
It is really good like that.
I get a vegetable pie from prince Ali bakery and they take tomato and chopped yellow and red pepper w spices and put that on their bread and bake in the oven, fold in half and serve it to you in a paper bag...
It is really good wthout cheese,you can get cheese For $1 extra,but I can not eat much cheese without being extremely sniffly-so try to avoid most cheese.

2016 Feb 1
PTR, I think I used bottled water to boil stuff in Mexico but I know the water in Ottawa is prefectly safe.

2016 Feb 3
Did the pan fried steak with red wine sauce and the roasted parsnips, beans, tomatoes, etc. last Sat.
Felinefan's looked much better than mine but despite the slightly reduced appearance, it was pretty tasty. I did take a photo but I guess my skill as photographer need work since I can only see a dark frame.

Dad seem to be not for steak these days even though I sliced it to make it easier but Mom enjoyed her steak lol.. Same thing with the Loblaws steamed lobster last night. Mom has developed quite the taste for lamb chops, steak, short rib, lobster, etc. Dad were so so on most of that and prefer pork, chicken and fish.

2016 Feb 3
Felinefan,

The Buffalo Mozzarella Gnocchetti was fresh pasta too. So I am seriously eyeing the calamari with blank ink pasta...


2016 Feb 3
srs,

I think I am running at about 2 orders a month from Chef's Plate and that order from Miss Fresh. Some weeks I may not like enough of the meals that fits Mom and Dad's dietary restriction to get in an order in and sometimes there is other things catching Mom / Dad 's fancy or my eye like the salmon and lobster sale at Loblaws this week. We had lobster last night for Mom's official Bday but not her real one since she uses lunar calendar lol..

If you end up trying Culinste before I do and they finally get nutritional information on their website which is a possibility, I would take a referral please. I pointed Culiniste to Miss Fresh a couple of weeks ago and they now have 1 more vegetarian option to 7 different meals for 2 and have 4 different meals for 4 that are separate from the meals for 2 which is not that efficient. I notice Miss Fresh often have a couple of dishes that are similar at the core but one has protein and 1 is vegetarian.

BTW, if you like lotus roots, you can buy them at T&T and any chinese grocery store around town.

2016 Feb 3
Prettytastyreviews, I sent you a PM.

2016 Feb 3
Tonight's dinner was called "Blackened Tilapia and Sunshine Salad". The salad consisted of roasted red pepper, roasted sweet potato, corn, Avocado and a mandarin orange in a honey-lime dressing. This was a fine meal and I am keeping the recipe card as I would make it again.

FT, the menus for the week after next only have two dishes that appeal to me, one being the calamari with the black pasta. I forget at the moment what the other one is, but it is the one without the hominy and chick peas. I am also saving the freezer bags for you.

Edited to add: there was just over a pound of fish and plenty of vegetables. I find their servings to be very generous.


2016 Feb 3
FF, That was the one I really liked this week but thought I was going to be in Toronto this past weekend plus Monday and Tuesday so did not order but had to switch my dates. What else did you order this week?

So which recipes have you kept and did Chef's Plate got back to you about what was in the spice mix for the enchiladas?

Next week I like the calamari with black pasta and the ZA'ATAR Spiced Steak with the chickpea and the eggplant ratatouille. Looked at the Pulled pork Posole with hominy but think I will do it try it myself with pulled turkey thigh from Lou's since it is much lower fat than the pulled pork.
Were you thinking about the roast chicken with white BBQ sauce? Can they roast a chicken leg in 30 mins?

Thanks for saving the freezer bags for me, FF. My mom's home help and the day care center she works at 1 day a week would be very happy. I would take any recipe cards you plan to throw away too. I like my parents to start looking at the cards to see what they want and they find it easier with the cards then the online version lol.. BTW, I got the nutritional info for the next week.

Nice that you got over 1 lb of fish.. Salmon has been coming in about 6 ozs per serving and steak often 5 oz per serving.

2016 Feb 4
Tonight we had the roasted chicken with roasted potatoes, sunchokes and rapini in a lemon sause. This was very good except we discovered that we really, really, dislike rapini. On the other hand, we discovered that we really, really like sunchokes. No picture as I screwed up taking it and only discovered that after we had eaten. The chicken legs were seared on the stove top and finished in the oven. They cooked in 18 minutes.

FT next week I am getting steak and roasted tarragon potatoes, chicken carbonara and a moo shu pork stir fry. I have kept the recipe cards for: Steak and Red wine Pan Sauce, Honey Ginger Chicken, Fish Khao Soi, Blackened Tilapia and Sunshine Salad and tonight's chicken dish. I wish I had kept the enchilada one. Thanks for the reminder about the spice mix. I will write to ask them for that and also to ask them if they will give me the recipe card. They were really good. I will keep the recipe cards I don't want for you.

If anyone else is thinking of trying them out, I am finding that everything is of very good quality, the recipes work and they send lots of food. I can also give you a referral which gives you a hefty discount on your first order.


2016 Feb 4
FF have been doing very good reviews of the Chef's Plate meals, a better job than I have lol

If you like Sunchokes, otherwise called Jerusalem artichokes, my mom grows them and I can give you some seeds/roots next April or thereabouts. Only caution is that they can grow to about 6-7 feet tall and can get fairly invasive if not controlled for 1-2 seasons.

Rapini can be quite bitter so may be a bit of hit or miss with some. My mom loves them but I can take it or leave them.

The moo shu pork stir fry had over 1500g of sodium and the recipe is not quite authentic which my mom would notice lol. Can I suggest a few changes?
1. instead of slicing green onion into little rounds as they imply, cut chunks of 1.5-2 inches and quarter them if you can, half them if you cannot. alternatively, cut it on a long diagonal.
2. if possible, leave half of the hoisin sauce out of the mix but I think when they say chef's sauce it is already mixed. Real moo shu pork, peking duck, etc. people put a smear of hoisin sauce on the pancakes with the green onion and cucumber before adding the meet.
3. I think the nappa would sweat too much liquid for the pancakes or tortillas, making it soggy. I would do the nappa separate from carrots and celery so people can pick their own favourites and it would be easier to drain the liquid. I would also cut up some small spears of cucumber to add some crunch and texture. Celery is not really authentic either but might give it some crunch whereas the authentic lily bud, mushrooms and wood ear might be a bit acquired taste for some.
4. My mom used to make those pancakes (sometimes called mandarin pancake or Chinese pancakes) and I have made pancakes myself only twice in my life since it takes a bit of time. If someone attempts the pancakes from scratch a short cut my mom developed is to put 2 pieces of pancake dough together with a small bit of vegetable oil between so that when you roll the dough, you can separate them after and get 2 pancakes done at 1 time.

en.wikipedia.org

2016 Feb 5
FT thanks for the suggestions on the Moo shu pork. I will make your suggested adjustments. As for the sunchokes, I live in a condo and have nowhere to grow them. Too bad, because we really liked them. I had no idea they were that good. That is one on the nice things about this service - trying new things and finding you really like them (sunchokes) and finding out what you don't (rapini).

2016 Feb 6
We still have some in the ground to be dug up in the spring. Depends on how much we have I can probably give you some to eat

2016 Feb 6
Oh wow, that would be great!

2016 Feb 6
You can also eat the Sunchokes/Jerusalem Artichokes raw.
I read that online and they are crunchy like water chestnuts.

I had quartered some Sunchokes and cooked with some mushrooms in the oven and it was quite good, but I had a terrible stomach ache the rest of the night.

Apparently if you eat too many they contain some kind of starch that can be hard to digest for many people.

As for the raw sunchokes-I just had a couple slices,so I'm sure it was not from that.

2016 Feb 7
Someone else had said to mom that is good for people with diabetes so mom started growing them for dad but not 100% sure if there was scientific backing for that.

Ptr when you roast the sinchocks did you peel them?

2016 Feb 7
FT, I realize your question was not directed to me but I roasted them with the skins on. I cut them into about 1" pieces, washed them really well, dried them, tossed them with olive oil, salt and pepper and roasted them.

2016 Feb 7
You can also put in in a stir fry and had a fantastic soup with it in Paris

2016 Feb 7
FF, FT and PTR, Thanks for sharing all that great info on sunchokes:) After reading felifan's comment I was so curious to try them. I got pack from cedar on bank but was sure what the best application. I tried two boiled, tasted a bit sweet and less starchy than potatoes. As PTR mentioned, apparently they should be eaten in small quantities to start if you're not use to innulin vegetable fiber. Can't wait to try those others preparation (thin raw slices, stir fry, roasted and maybe soup if I can find a recipe;)

2016 Feb 7
We had the Mexican Beef Tamale Pie the other night. I did not take a picture. This is the first real disappointment we have had. We did not care for this dish at all and would not get it again. FT, sure you want me to save this recipe card for you?

2016 Feb 8
LF, please post what you do with your sunchokes. I found them yesterday at Produce Depot on Carling (2.99/lb.) and plan on roasting them again. They are so good done that way but I am curious to hear how you like them prepared.

2016 Feb 8
If you guys read french I can see where that recipe book I bought from the restaurant in Paris is located. Very good sunchoke soup and a fantastic grand Marnier souffle. My BIL add it to stir fry instead of water chestnut and I have tried it roasted.

I think supply and demand had it on their menu for a little bit as fried sun chock chips

2016 Feb 8
Ff yes please. My parents are better with paper than electronic files.

If it was Lou's pulled beef I might try it with their pulled turkey and packaged cornbread mix I have.

Made some spring rolls this weekend but baked then rather than deep fry but might try some sunchoke next time in the filling

2016 Feb 8
Hey FF here are the results of the sunchoke experiment;) I agree roasted is a great way to go:) My favourite was sunchoke chips with a touch of freshly ground pepper and salt flakes (bottom left). Boiled were less impressive (not shown). PTV - I think you're right about the raw vs cooked, while thin raw slices taste good the cooked version felt much easier to eat. Also tried soup and stir fry like FT said, they were similar to water chestnuts in stir fry (bottom right) and in soup brought a nice velvety texture (top left sunchokes, pear and parsnip soup topped with the chips) The recipe I tried was a bit on the sweet side but tasty, smooth and light, l'd totally make soup with these again. Oui oui FT I'd love to try that Paris recipe ça serait génial ;) Thanks FF too for the supply info, I might check the nearest produce depot for more sunchoke chips yum!

2016 Feb 9
LF, nice looking stir fry you have there. I assume the chips were deep fried?

FT how did you like the baked spring rolls?

2016 Feb 10
Did spring roll for some friends for Chinese New Year this weekend as a test run for my parents. My own (or rather Mom's recipe lol) filling with pork, 4 types of mushrooms, bamboo shoots, nappa cabbage. Did not have any sunchoke since I was in TO at the time. Roll it up in purchased store wrappers (from Ocean, a T&T type store).

I took my friend out for a belated birthday dinner at Cafe Boulud while husband (also an university friend) baked some spring roll in the oven as I suggested. 400F with oil brushed on both sides and he said a bit over 10 mins until they were golden browned and crispy like I mentioned.

Will try it for parents later this week since I think they would like it and baked is not so much of a no-no as the deep fried ones for them.

2016 Feb 10
FF - for the sunchoke chips, I cut them thinly with skin on, add to taste a bit of oil grounded pepper and salt flakes and baked them at ~ 350 on cookie sheet with parchment paper and cooked until toasty.

2016 Feb 10
FT we are having the Moo Shu Pork tonight. I have cucumber so are you suggesting I use that instead of or in addition to celery? I have hoisin sauce so it will be easy to put some of that on the pancake and I will cut the green onion lengthwise. I have good, sharp knives. I will also cook the Napa separately. They gave us flour tortillas. Should I make some Chinese pancakes instead? I can always use the tortillas for something else.

2016 Feb 10
Hi FF,

1st time use the cucumber in addition to the other vegetables and later on you can choose what you want in terms of drained nappa (they tend to sweat a bit of liquid and would make the pancake or spring roll soggy), cucumber, green onion and carrot/celery. Carrot celery is not as authentic but good for some crunch and different textures.

Maybe use a little less of the chef's sauce and have the hoisin sauce on the table if someone want to add a smear.

Another website suggested quartering 1/3 on both ends without cutting it through and then put them in ice water for 15-20 mins to get more flower shape. I would just quarter them lengthwise myself lol..

The texture is different between Chinese or mandarin pancakes and flour tortillas and the pancakes are thinner than tortillas. Personally I would prefer the chinese pancakes for moo shu pork or peking duck (or peking duck breast) but might not want to spend the extra 45-60 mins to do them.


2016 Feb 10
LF, nice oven fried sunchoke chips :D

2016 Feb 10
Thanks:)

2016 Feb 11
Okay I ordered 3 meals for next week:

YAMCHOPS' VEGAN CHICK*N MILANESE for my vegetarian sister (interested from their Dragon's Den appearence Wed night)
www.chefsplate.com
www.cbc.ca/dragonsden/m/site/
Episode 15 season 10

and 2 meals calamari with squid ink pasta and Za'atar Spiced Steak to cook for my parents...

2016 Feb 11
I ordered the roasted chicken, calamari pasta and the yamchops because I saw them on tv.

2016 Feb 11
I ordered from Culiniste for next week. Probably will for the week after also as I really like their vegetarian options. I'll report back on how it all turns out.

2016 Feb 11
Got my calamari and yamchops kit too:) first time trying. The referrals code didn't work so used the default facebook code and got 2 meals discount. I was on the fence but FT you sold me on these;) the dragon den coverage on yamchops was interesting and I had never tried squid ink pasta so looking forward to it:))) Ff an Ft would love to hear what you thought of those when you get them as well as the chicken and zaatar steak:)

SRS - looking forward to your culiniste post:)

2016 Feb 12
srs,

I was going to try Culiniste until I realized that with their 600, 700, 650, etc. calories for recipes and inability to provide any other nutritional information, they likely do not do software analysis on their meals. It is not an issue for most people but I tend to use this to cook meals for my parents and they need low sodium, low fat, diabetic diets which can be rather challenging.

Let me know how your meals from Culiniste are. Which ones did you order for next week? Kale and coconut curry looked interesting.. Would be interested in the feedback on their meals :D

BTW did you use the 25$ off offer for Culiniste? that was the best one I found before I passed due to lack of nutritional info.


2016 Feb 12
LF,

The Yamchops looks interesting and with the Dragons Den appearance and investment from Jim Treliving, I was interested to try them.

The referral link on the 1st post is a little deceptive. You seem to have just been linked to Chef's Plate main page but there is a little line of text about 1/4 way down just under the navigation with a little giftbox symbol saying
"You have 4 FREE plates waiting for you! Your referral discount will be available during checkout"
It seems that the referral link is not working until you actually hit checkout and then they take off the $44.

If you have started an account and logged in, hitting the referral link does not seem to work you would not even see that little note about the 4 free plates. I know someone asked me about it and I checked and found that quirk.

Alternatively, if you have created an account already but is ordering for the 1st time, you probably have to go the coupon code route. After you choose your meals and at checkout, if the $44 discount does not show up then use the social referral tag #2mealsFromMaryH at checkout. Most of the social referral tags are structured as #2mealsFromXXXXXX where XXXXXX is something you put in or Chef's Plate generate for you.

Now that you signed up, you can refer others too.

FF, how was the moo shoo pork?

2016 Feb 15
here are a couple of slightly more authentic moo shu pork recipes if anyone want to try to make it from scratch..

www.epicurious.com
This I would probably use pork tenderloin or pork loin then pork butt and hoisan rather than oyster sauce... Note they repeated the 2 eggs twice by mistake but really only 2 eggs total.

www.food.com
This one by spice bunny has the more authentic bamboo shoots, wood ear and lily buds. Could use the addition of corn starch with the pork and I think when she says white cabbage she means nappa which is the version most uses.

2016 Feb 18
My box only arrived today, 2 days after shipping. Normally it is next day but I guess the snow slowed it down.

2016 Feb 18
FT, mine too but the ice packs were still frozen and everything was really cold. In fact, the squid was still partially frozen. Trying the Yamchops tonight.

2016 Feb 18
Same here. I'll make the pasta and yamchops this weekend. My calamari looked a little on the less than fresh side, I'll do a veggie version of the recipe. The yamchop Milanese on the recipe looks fantastic! can't wait to try it, I'll add a side of carrot, cauliflower and broccoli:)

I'm glad to have tried chef plate, thanks FT for posting about it. This week's selection looked very unique with new ingredients to try:) ingredients were fresh, well measured, there's a lot of packaging felt a little bad about that from environmental perspective but they probably used recycle or biodegradable packaging, on the other hand their freezer bag are reusable (FT I'll give you the freezer bag on Monday;) love that you are collecting them for a good cause:) Instructions were good and professional, friendly and effective customer service. Great company and concept. For improvements they could add recipe variations, more creativity in presentation and include more of those special unique and international ingredients/recipes at each cycle (at least 1/5 recipes). But overall I'll definitely try them again!

FF do tell about the results of the yamchops;) the zaatar steak looked neat too, wish I had ordered it, post that one too if you can:)))

2016 Feb 19
My steak had a small puddle of blood in the bag and either it was not fully sealed or there was a puncture since there were blood from the steak in the calamari and in the bottom of the cooler bag. The calamari was less than fresh as well. I was intending to cook it Wed night and I was out Thursday night with a meeting and likely Friday as well so don't have time till Saturday most likely. I think I have some squid in the freezer so might use the frozen one instead. They advised cooking seafood within 2 days of delivery but remember most of their customers are in Toronto and get same day delivery... This is really the 1st time something arrived in less than good condition.

LF, if you are not going to use the calamari due to freshness issues, email hello@chefsplate.com and let them know.

I have stuck some of the washed packaging bags in the freezer to reuse them although I am not sure they are the freezer ziploc type. I use them for some short term stuff or double bag situation so they should be fine. I am going to check into the good companion meals on wheels as well to see if they can use some extra freezer bags for their frozen meal delivery or even the insulated boxes... LF, you should keep a few freezer bag yourself... They are rather handy for going shopping in the summer or picnics. But having ordered about 2x per month I have them coming out of my ears lol.

I can bring the za'atar steak recipe card with me on Monday if you want...


2016 Feb 19
I got my first Culiniste order this week, also delayed 1 day because of the snow. Everything was in good condition, but I don't order meat or fish and veggies are less likely to spoil in a day. I've only made 1 recipe so far (gnocchi with veggies and pesto) but it was tasty. I'm getting it next week and maybe the week after as well as I'm pretty busy right now and appreciate not having to meal plan.

I can't say for sure until I've tried more of the recipes, but I'm probably going to order more from Culiniste than Chef's Plate from now on. The fact that they have 3 vegetarian recipes instead of only 2 is a big draw and so far all the recipes I've seen have been things I'm pretty sure I'll enjoy.

2016 Feb 19
srs,

I think Miss Fresh also have 3 vegetarian options per week but maybe not as adventurous as Culiniste right now. Miss Fresh used to have more interesting things at the beginning from what I can see so I suspect their meal planner have changed.

If you get a chance to snap a pic of the meal please post but don't worry about it if you are busy.

2016 Feb 19
Tonight's dinner is a lentil minestrone soup and I'm not sure if it'll be all that photogenic, but I'll try to remember to take a pic. I'm not a big food photographer though, so we'll see if it turns out.

I checked out Miss Fresh, but the recipes didn't really appeal to me. It mostly seemed like the kind of stuff I do on my own while both Chef's Plate and Culiniste are the kind of things I do on my own, but slightly different/better. Like making a stir fry with lotus root and Japanese eggplant, which are 2 ingredients I don't normally think to buy, or frying sage leaves to top off tonight's minestrone, which I probably wouldn't usually bother with. Later this week I'm going to make a kale and white bean curry, which is a combo that wouldn't have occurred to me to try. Next week I'm going to make palak paneer for the first time. Miss Fresh just seams kinda boring in comparison.

2016 Feb 19
Oh, and Culiniste makes you wait a bit before you can give out referral codes, but I should have some soon if people are interested.

2016 Feb 19
The yamchops were not a success. I believe one was"off" and I could not eat it. My husband's was fine and he said it was good. He then tried mine and barely had two little pieces when he too announced that it wasn't good. He said it tasted totally different from his. I contacted Chef's Plate and they wrote back right away to say that had given me a two plate credit. Very good customer service.

On the other hand, the black and white calamari pasta was a huge hit. It was delicious. One thing I have learned from their recipes is that when they say for example, the juice of one lemon (probably applies to limes as well) they are not asking you to actually juice them. Rather, squeezing the juice out by hand is all that is required otherwise the amount of juice overwhelms the dish.

I did not order the zaatar steak. I was going to but we don't do beans or chickpeas in this house.

2016 Feb 19
They put the yamchops with the veggies so it was not kept as cool as the meat and squid. I wonder what temperature it should be kept at? Also they put the yamchops between the container of marina sauce and a tomato so they got a bit crushed. Hope it is okay since plan to give it to my sister to try.

With the snow, I stayed in and cooked the calamari pasta as well. Added some red cherry tomatoes for color and it was quite tasty. There were some blood from the steak in the calamari but ended up rinsing it off and it seemed okay so I was too lazy to defrost the frozen squid I had and cut them into rings. Dad was a little freaked out with the calamari and black pasta so only put a little bit into a small bowl and barely touched it. Whereas Mom really liked it and ate more than half maybe 2/3 and I finished the rest lol... Really glad I only used 2/3 of the butter since 3 tbsp was 45g of fat which is more than Mom should have in a meal. Dad ended up reheating some curried pork and cauliflower I made a couple of days ago.

I squeezed the lemon by hand and ended up cutting the remaining lemon into quarters and put in to a jug to flavour some water.

Phone was recharging so did not take a picture.


2016 Feb 19
Here's a photo of tonight's beluga lentil minestrone with toasted cheese bread. Very tasty, though if I made it again I'd add some red chilli flakes for a bit of heat. Instead I just added some siracha at the end. Both my husband and I really like spicy food though, and the overall flavour was really good.

2016 Feb 19
Thanks FT - they accidentally sent me the wrong recipe sheets, so I have the zaatar steak recipe which looks amazing! I'll post the results of the pasta and yamchop dish, fun to try:) very unique ingredients

2016 Feb 20
LF,

Do you have the recipes for the pasta and yamchop? If not let me know...

2016 Feb 20
Thanks FT - I contacted customer service and they e-mailed me a pdf of the recipes on the same day. Great customer service!

2016 Feb 20
I love the sauce included with the kit for Yamchops Vegan Chick*n Milanese. Added a side of Asparagus (on sale at 2.50:) and used crispy shake 'n' bake instead of the bread crumbs and veggie parm instead of the nutritional yeast. The yamchop veggie chicken was really good! A side of fresh colourful salad with it would have been nice too. If I lived In Toronto I would definitely check out their store. Very tasty stuff:) Hope to see more of their delicious products.

2016 Feb 20
Nice LF. I hope the one I got for my sister is going to be okay.

I think they featured yamchops in a chinese chicken stir fry in Dec and maybe something with beef a bit before.


2016 Feb 20
LF, glad you liked it. I agree with you on the sauce. We too liked it very much.

2016 Feb 21
Tonight we had the Roasted Chicken and White BBQ Sauce with Potato Wedges, and Sauteed Vegetables. Because this was shipped last Monday I didn't know how safe the meat would be to eat so I discarded the legs and bought some thighs today. This recipe is a keeper. The sautéed vegetables were a mix of red onion, red bell pepper (came with green, which I don't like) and corn. We were very happy with this.

2016 Feb 22
Sorry I took a bite of the pork medallion and some of the side before I realized that I had not taken a photo yet..

I liked the Za'atar spices on the steak and the 3 pork tenderloin medallion I added to try to cater to my dad and do a meal for 3. It is Sumac, sesame seeds and some herbs I cannot identify.

The chickpea and eggplant ratatouille was fine but I think I would use the more traditional zucchini then the chickpeas next time. I added an extra grated tomato rather than use the 1/4 cup water the recipe called for. I cooked it slightly longer than the recipe called for but the skin of the eggplant was still a little bit tough. If I had not spend so much time at LCBO, I would have done a salad as well with the meal since we had some nice greens.

Blackened or Cajun seasoning are my favourite spices for a quick steak or pork chop but I can see using za'atar again since it was tasty and a bit exotic.

Dad is really getting picky since he liked neither the steak nor the pork medallion this time and had only a little bit of the veggies. Maybe his unhappiness with the CPAP is coloring everything. But I know he still eats since his sweet tooth is in full bloom. Mom had everything and liked the dish...


2016 Feb 23
Had the Asian Chicken Paillard with Candy Striped Beets, Romaine Lettuce and Tamari Dressing tonight. This was really good. The dressing had tamari, honey, oil and togarashi in it. Included were soya nuts for added crunch. The salad also had celery and orange segments in it. Any one else get this?

2016 Feb 23
No. I skipped this week since we are getting some frozen foods from Timesaver foods friday and need to make some room in the freezer. I will be away in April so going through some controlled tests of options.

Almost changed my mind Sunday night and was thinking of ordering 2 meals for Friday delivery but missed the Sunday midnight deadline.

Changed the delivery day back to Tuesday and a few hours later chef's plate autogenerate an order since the switch in delivery day removed all my skipped deliveries. I typically skipped deliveries ahead by 4 or 5 weeks then unskip when I see meals I like. They supposedly randomly generated the order but it included an Vietnamese noodle bowl I would never have ordered and it had less expansive ingredients so I wonder if the autogenerate have a bias.

If I again change dates due to schedule, I may even hit the pause until I am ready to select if I don't know what I want already.

I changed my order for next week to steak and the Tilapia piccata. Suggested to customer service it would be nice if I can rank the type of main for example seafood 1st meat 2nd fish 3rd, etc.

2016 Feb 24
Had the Asian Chicken Paillard with Candy Striped Beets, Romaine Lettuce and Tamari Dressing tonight. This was really good. The dressing had tamari, honey, oil and togarashi in it. Included were soya nuts for added crunch. The salad also had celery and orange segments in it. Any one else get this?

2016 Feb 24
Sorry, forgot to add the picture.

2016 Feb 24
Tonight we had the flat iron steak with collard greens and cheesy polenta. Very good.

2016 Feb 24
The flat iron steak with cheesy polenta and collard green was the first dish I made. Did the give you 1/2 cup of cornmeal or 3/4 cup? Did they ask for 2 or 3 cups of water?

On mine recipe said 3/4 cup of polenta but they only gave me 1/2 cup. So when recipe called for 3 cups of water I only used 2 cup.

I liked the dish too.

2016 Feb 25
I didn't measure the cornmeal, but thinking back on it it looked like 3/4 cup. The recipe called for 3 cups of water.

2016 Feb 25
Tonight we had the flat iron steak with collard greens and cheesy polenta. Very good.

2016 Feb 25
Tonight, Thursday, we had the Shanghai Bok Choy and Udon Noodle Soup. This is the sort of dish you want to eat if you are feeling under the weather. Since we were both feeling hale and hearty, we would have liked a bit of oomph in the soup. If I had it again I would put some gochujang or something similar in it as it was rather bland.

2016 Feb 25
So FF, which was your favourite this week?

2016 Feb 26
The chicken dish with the salad was the one I liked best. I also liked the steak dish but found the collard greens a bit too bitter, although if you ate polenta, collard greens and a piece of steak together all in one bite it was fine. How about you?

2016 Feb 26
I did not order this week since I am picking up some timesaver frozen food to do some controlled test in advance of going away for a week or 2 in end of March/Apr...

I liked the steak one but would not have ordered it a 2nd time. My all time favourite is the gnocchitti with buffalo mozzarella...

2016 Nov 9
LuLux or anyone with a Good Food account (formerly culiniste) , can you refer me since there is a current deal where the referred person get $40 off and the person refering get $25. Pm me and I will send you my email

2016 Nov 9
Sorry FoodTravel, I don't have a Good Food account.

2016 Nov 10
LuLux You were a customer of Culiniste were you not? Did it not automatically convert to Good Food account when they rebranded?
www.makegoodfood.ca

Okay they had a $30 offer and a couple of meals I really want to check out so might giving them a try on the intro offer of $35 rather than $25 with the referral..


2016 Nov 10
I tried Chef's Plate but never tried Culiniste.

2016 Nov 11
ah sorry I thought you tried it... sorry my memory failed me and it was srs lol