Terra's Kitchen - Our First Vessel

I spend evenings private tutoring once or twice a week after work. This means that I don't usually walk in the door until 7 PM, meaning dinner doesn't hit the table til 7:30 (if we're lucky). Ross knows his way around the kitchen, but most of the recipes we eat are foods I grew up helping cook and the recipes exist in my head. For the last several months, we have been relying on pizza as a staple on my late nights. We call it in and I swing by to pick it up on my way home. This is great, but ultimately expensive and repetitive. Terra's Kitchen to the rescue!

Check out my upcoming deliveries.
See how I cancelled the weeks in January
to fit my family's need.

As a bit of a Christmas gift for both of us, I started exploring meal delivery services like Blue Apron and Plated, which deliver portioned and prepped ingredients for the recipes of your choice. There are tons of services like this, some existing nationally, others regionally. I landed on Terra's Kitchen. They have a sustainable model that is based off of reusable shipping "vessels" and they are flexible about cancellations and skipped weeks. Vessels are delivered to your door and scheduled for free pick up the next business day. Terra's Kitchen offers a variety of plans - 3 meals for 2 people, 4 meals for 2 people or 2 meals for 4 people (although we have been having some leftovers with our 2 people portions - perfect for lunch the next day). Most importantly they have 50 down-to-earth, 30 minute recipes to choose from each week. Each recipe requires minimal ingredients from your own pantry.

Since Ross and I still plan to cook 5-6 days a week, we only receive shipments from Terra's Kitchen once a month. We fill our vessel with 4 meals, freezing 3 for weeks to come. We choose our recipes strategically based on what ingredients will and won't freeze well. Terra's Kitchen offers to maximize your shipment by filling empty vessel space with salads, fresh fruits, or additional meat products.

Ross opening up our first vessel.

Our first shipment included 4 meals:
One Pot Taco Pasta
Buffalo Chicken Tacos
Turkey Spinach Meatballs in Skinny Sunday Gravy
Chicken Souvlaki Bowl

Take a look at Ross fervently making me Buffalo Chicken Tacos for lunch. 

We couldn't wait until the week to try out our first shipment!

I think our favorite meal was the Buffalo Chicken Tacos. These were the perfect portion size and they were packed full of flavor. Poaching the chicken made for moist, tender meat that absorbed the buffalo sauce well. The One Pot Taco Pasta was easy and delicious, but could have used an extra kick of spice. The Turkey Spinach Meatballs were great - neither of us had made fresh tomato sauce before. Who knew it could be so easy? It's awesome to watch Ross grow more confident and get his own set of recipes under his belt, but I can't say that I haven't learned anything either. Now I could talk all day about this, but ultimately, I'm not the one cooking any of these recipes. So what does Ross have to say? "Terra's Kitchen 

• is a great learning tool, I'm already more confident in the kitchen. I'll be trying these recipes on my own soon!
• can make anyone into a cook - their recipes have comprehensive and easy to follow instructions. The pictures are helpful for beginners hunting for the proper tools in the kitchen.
• is reasonably priced. The average meal is ~12/serving. This is definitely less expensive than ordering take-out and factoring in beverages, tax and gratuity.
• is convenient. The vessel is stocked with fresh food, delivered to your door step without extra trash. The vessel is scheduled for pick up the next day. No extra boxes worry about breaking down and bringing to the recycling center."

We can't wait for our next vessel to arrive this weekend! Check back in January for a wrap-up of those recipes. Is Terra's Kitchen something that you are interested in trying? Sign up here for $25 off your first delivery (and mine too)!

Have you tried Terra's Kitchen? I'd love some more recipe suggestions! Share your favorites with me in the comments.