Simple Plate Explained

This is for all of those who need a written explanation of things. (I am one of you!)

What is Simple Plate?

Simple Plate Meals are the amazing new meal kits from Thrive Life. They are made mostly with freeze dried foods and are fabulous! (They also have pasta, rice, sauces, and things like balsamic glaze included.) They are fun to cook and most meals are done in less than 30 minutes! Some in 10 - 20 minutes! No chopping, peeling, slicing, dicing or handling raw meat. There is a nice selection to choose from right now, but they will be offering new meals on a regular basis. They do have vegetarian and gluten free options available. 

Here is what they currently have available:

SIMPLE PLATE MEALS

What does a meal look like?

The meal comes in a box like this. 

I even love the cute sayings on the side of the box! 

You get a beautiful color recipe card with easy to follow instructions. And my favorite part is the food is packaged separately with a big number on each pouch that coordinates with the step on the recipe card. Brilliant! Even kids can easily make these meals! 

Here are some of the delicious completed meals!

What is the shelf life of these?

They put a "Best By" date on the box that is about 6 months from the date it was packaged. They will probably last much longer than that, but these meals are intended to be EATEN, not stored! How could you let these delicious meals sit on your shelf and not eat them? :)

How much do they cost?

These meals are ordered in groups of three, and you can choose whatever meals you would like. You also get to choose if you want a 2 person meal or a 4 person meal. The serving sizes are huge and from my experience they feed more than 2 or 4 people, even in my family of big eaters! I noticed that the serving sizes on the nutrition label say 3 servings and 6 servings (according to regulated serving sizes). When my daughter and I made the 2-person Tuscan Style Beef Pappardelle, we each ate a nice sized serving and went back for seconds, and still packed some up for her lunch the next day.

Three 2-person meals cost $50.04. Four 2-person meals cost $66.72, etc. (So it's $16.68 a meal, or $8.34 a serving)

Three 4-person meals cost $89.88. Four 4-person meals cost $119.84. (So it's $29.96 a meal, or $7.49 a serving)

Remember that if that 2-person meal actually feeds 3 people, then your cost per serving goes down! ($5.56 per serving, and even less on the 4-person meals if you make it serve 6) So it just depends on how you stretch the meal. I haven't yet, but I think I will usually serve these meals with a salad or some fruit, or maybe some garlic bread or rolls. I usually have other side dishes like that on my dinner table. If in Utah, don't forget the green jello salad! haha! (I have never served that and never will! Sorry!)

I went through the drive through yesterday for two people and spent $17.15! And we didn't order drinks! It was greasy, unhealthy and unsatisfying. I should have waited until I got home and eaten one of these yummy, much healthier meals. 

How much is shipping?

If you are a Preferred Customer (meaning you commit to order 3 shipments of any amount within 90 days), you will always get free shipping on any of their Preferred Items when your order is $100 or more. Preferred items are the Simple Plate Meals and any of their freeze dried products. (They offer a huge variety of freeze dried products in #10 cans and the smaller Pantry Cans, and some favorite freeze dried munchies in the Snackies pouch.)

If your order is under $100, shipping will be $8.00 on three 2-person meals and $10.00 on three 4-person meals. 

I'm a tight wad and don't want to pay shipping when I don't have to. So I suggest to just become a preferred customer and have your order over $100 (you can order three or more Simple Plate Meals and any of their freeze dried food in cans to make up the $100.) You get free shipping, and all of your money goes to buy food! There is no long term commitment...just order at least 3 shipments within 90 days, and then you can quit, postpone shipments, or order as often as you like. 

How does this compare to other meal kit companies? 

I have tried out FIVE of the other meal kit companies and I have A LOT to say about this, and will write a separate post later with tons of pictures about my experience. (I tried one company at a time, not all at once!) I DID like most of them for certain reasons, but there were many negatives. Many times my shipments would arrive with leaky hamburger blood or raw shrimp juice throughout the whole package, including all over my fresh vegetables! YUCK!

 

And often my vegetables would arrive bruised and crushed, or they would go bad before I could cook the meal that week. It's hard to see in the pictures how exactly soft, mushy and rotten these veggies were.

And most meals took over an hour to make!! One time after a vacation week I forgot to manage my meal calendars online and ended up with 13 meals on my doorstep within a 2 day period! Yikes! The whole meal kit experience was honestly very fun (I love cooking and trying new meals), but so stressful too! I was relieved to quit my shipments from these companies. Just the huge amount of packaging alone was overwhelming (seriously millions of cold packs, styrofoam, insulated liners, boxes, and other packaging.) We were going to need our own area of the local landfill if we were going to keep ordering these! 

Now I have Simple Plate Meals, and the only real negative so far was that I only ordered three of them to start with and wanted more! It took UPS 5 days to get me more meals because I live 2200 miles away from the warehouse! But my lucky Utah friends can pick theirs up from the showroom or get 1 or 2 day UPS shipping! LUCKIES! These Simple Plate Meals are delicious and fun to cook, most are ready in less than 30 minutes (there's no chopping peeling, slicing, dicing or handling raw meat), these don't spoil on the shelf, and they are less expensive than all of the other meal companies (which are about $9 - $15 a serving.) 

How do I order them?

Well, if you don't love navigating websites, the easiest way to order is to contact me and I will get your order set up for you. I just need to know your contact info (name, phone, email address) and what meals you want, and if you want them to be 2-person or 4-person meals (you can mix and match). Then I can call you for your payment info.

If you want to set it up yourself, see the instructions below. 

I almost always offer a special promo! Please ask me what my current promotion is for becoming a Preferred Customer or Consultant!

Let me know if you have any questions! I am happy to help you! You definitely want to try these meals because you are going to go crazy over them, and they are going to help you love dinner time again! 

Melissa : ) 

Thrive Life Independent Consultant

803-818-1569 (I answer texts quickly!)

macoombs5@comporium.net

www.mythrivefavorites.thrivelife.com

To sign up for Simple Plate as a Preferred Customer:

1. Go to www.mythrivefavorites.thrivelife.com

2. Click DELIVERY SERVICE at the top of the page, then click SET UP DELIVERY SERVICE. Now you need to add your name, email address and password to create your customer account (or log in with your existing account.)

3. Scroll down towards the bottom of the page where you see Simple Plate and click ACTIVATE YOUR SUBSCRIPTION.

4. Now you can click EDIT GROCERIES and EDIT MEALS to adjust what you would like in your shipment. You can also edit the date the order processes. If you are not sure yet what you want, just click NEXT and you can adjust your shipment and make changes after your account is set up. 

5. Now enter in your shipping address. Then click the circle next to "Yes, please!" in the Become a Preferred Customer section, and then click the circle next to the 3 Delivery Commitment. Now enter your payment information (nothing will be charged yet...you can still choose your groceries and set the date after you finalize the set up.) Now click FINALIZE SETUP. 

6. On this page click MANAGE DELIVERY (or look at the perks for being a consultant.) You will now see a tutorial video at the top left of the page if you need it. Click ADD MEALS and ADD GROCERIES to order the Simple Plate Meals and Groceries that you would like. There is a button there to SKIP either section if you don't want it included in your current delivery. At the bottom of the page you can adjust the date the order processes. Just click the date link and choose the day you would like, or click SHIP NOW.