Whole Foods + Plated.com

DenaNovember 27, 2013

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If you visit my little blog frequently, you may have noticed that I’ve been talking more and more about whole foods recently. The more that I learn about human biology and nutrition, the more passionate I become about the importance of whole foods. If you’re not familiar, whole foods are foods that are unprocessed and unrefined, or processed and refined as little as possible, before being consumed. Whole foods typically do not contain any additives. Examples of whole foods include unpolished grains, beans, fruits, vegetables and non-homogenized dairy products. Originally (and naturally) all food is whole food. The term whole foods is often confused with organic food, but whole foods are not necessarily organic, nor are organic foods necessarily whole.

Whole foods are important because a lot of the food on the market today — especially in the United States — is processed with dangerous chemicals, preservatives, salts, artificial sweeteners, and so on. While these artificial substances may taste “good” and may make food cheaper — they are toxic. They cause cancer, obesity, heart disease, and diabetes, just to name a few. It is naive to believe that the government is protecting us from toxic food. The U.S. is far behind the curve when it comes to food safety and nutrition. The U.S. government allows for a whole variety of dangerous foods to be sold that are actually banned in other countries. Over the coming months, I will be introducing a series about whole foods and nutrition, so stay tuned for that.

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Today, I would also like to introduce Plated.com. Plated compiles gourmet recipes from noted chefs and delivers all the ingredients necessary to make a home-cooked meal. This means everything from the meats, vegetables, and spices directly to your door. Plated costs $14 to $15 per plate for non-members, and as little as $10 to $12 per plate for members. After learning about my commitment to nutrition and whole foods, Plated reached out and invited me to give the service a try. I was impressed.

A few of the things that I like about Plated… The company works hard to build relationships with the same reliable, quality-controlled companies that supply top-notch ingredients to some of the finest restaurants in America. Plated strives to support local suppliers and American farmers by limiting the number of imported ingredients included in their recipes. Plated pays close attention to sustainability of resources, and keeps environmental implications at the forefront when scoping out new suppliers. Plated’s menus are seasonal to help support sustainable farming! The menus are nutritious and each meal contains a generous helping of fruits and vegetables. Since the fruits and veggies in each box are sourced direct from farmers, Plated greens are fresher than what you’d buy at a grocery store.

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The service is easy to use. Plated posts new chef-designed recipes to the site each week. You choose your plates and order online. Soon the fresh ingredients you need to create each plate are delivered to your door in a custom-made, 100% recyclable & biodegradable box. After trying it myself, I can confirm that it really is that simple and easy. The box includes prep and cooking instructions to make preparing the meal easy for even “simple chefs” like me. We ordered two meals and my favourite was the Fall Harvest Vegetarian Squash Chowder. If you follow me on Instagram, you already know that it was the best soup I’ve ever had. I’m not just saying that. It was so good. (There may have been some licking of the bowl involved…) I took all of of the photographs in this post while preparing & enjoying the soup.

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I hope that you enjoyed my first post about whole foods. If there are any topics that you’d like me to cover in future posts, leave me a comment and let me know. You can also head over to the Plated website to learn more about their service and the cool things they do like supporting Teach for America and donating remaining ingredients to local food banks. It’s a neat company and I’m pleased that I got to work with them on this post.

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Comments (7)

  • Suzy

    November 27, 2013 at 11:28 am

    Love it! Plated would be fun for special occasions, like Valentine’s Day. We always make a fancy dinner at home.
    (We actually just printed their postcards yesterday: ) Small world)

    Can’t wait to see more from this topic!

    1. Dena

      November 27, 2013 at 11:29 am

      What a coincidence… And that’s a great idea. It would be such a stress-relief for holidays!

  • dragonfly

    November 27, 2013 at 4:17 pm

    I love whole foods. And I wish more and more people become aware of what they eat. We are what we eat, right? 🙂

    1. Dena

      November 27, 2013 at 4:37 pm

      Absolutely! 🙂

  • Rachel Torres

    November 27, 2013 at 5:42 pm

    The hubby and I just did a “clean eating challenge” last week and we both FELT so good after NOT eating processed food!

  • Clare

    November 27, 2013 at 9:40 pm

    And a bonus– Plated is a Techstars company! I love those guys.

  • Misty Carone

    November 28, 2013 at 2:41 am

    Well that all looks delicious. Funny, I’ll be doing a review on Plated as well 🙂 I’ve been putting it off but your yummy post just lit the fire under my rear. Thanks.

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