Date nights with Plated

Weekends are so different after twins.

Before babies, friday nights equaled take out from our favorite burger place, and saturday nights were always for dinner & drinks out the two of us or with friends. Now, the two adorable little humans that have overtaken our lives have changed that. While grandma is more than happy to babysit so we can go out, we quickly realized that the extra expenses of diapers, wipes, and doctors appointments were draining the funds we typically used for nights out. Plus, our babies go to bed between 6:30-7, so we still have extra time before we crash to spend together!

We had been given a gift card to Plated before the babies were born. Have you heard of these boxes that are all over your new feed these days? Essentially, they provide all the ingredients you need, pre-portioned out, along with easy to follow directions. We decided to give Plated a try first.

What did we love?

The ingredients

Typically the recipes are not something part of my staples. They usually contain ingredients I may not have had before, or wouldn't have ever cooked with normally. This definitely added to the "special" feeling of making it a date night. Plus they are all packaged up by meal so there's no confusion on what goes with what meal.

Ingredients for tonight's dinner....
chicken tostadas!

The cost

Normally, when we get takeout we would spend $30-40. A night out would typically cost $100. That is almost $140 a week on date nights! For less than $75 with Plated, we get 3 dinners for 2 people. 3 dinners for less than the cost of one night out! Throw in a bottle of wine from Costco & you have yourself a very frugal date night!

Pollock with blood orange

The taste

Every dish is fantastic (ok there was one lentil dish we didn't love)! The food is always really fresh, the flavor combinations are awesome, and we honestly feel like its a meal we would get at a restaurant.

Baked Gnocchi with Kale

What didn't we love?

Really, only the fact that I have to cook it and clean it up afterwards.  The work of planning and measuring is taken out though, so it does help there!

Parents of twins, or babies in general, jump on this train to make your dinners with your hubby a little more special than heating up a frozen pizza.

Bon Appétit!