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| Simplify Your Life with PlateJoy's Meal Planning Service |
PlateJoy is an innovative meal planning service designed to save you time and money while helping you eat healthier. As a registered dietitian and mom, I understand the struggle of planning nutritious meals every day. That's why I was eager to try PlateJoy and see if it lives up to its promises.
What is PlateJoy and How Does it Work?
PlateJoy is an online and mobile app that creates customized weekly meal plans based on your food preferences, dietary needs, household size, and more. Its algorithm generates recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks.
Here's an overview of how PlateJoy works:
Sign up and enter details about yourself, your family, and your diet.
Choose recipes from PlateJoy's extensive database or add your own.
Review your weekly meal plan and make changes if desired.
Sync your shopping list to grocery delivery services.
Access recipes and cooking instructions.
Rate recipes and further customize future meal plans.
The service aims to save you time on menu planning while helping you eat balanced, nutritious meals. Read on for my full review from a dietitian's perspective.
Key Features and Benefits of PlateJoy
PlateJoy stands out for its high level of personalization based on your household's unique needs. Let's look at some of its best features.
Fully Customizable Menus
Right from signup, PlateJoy asks for your dietary preferences like vegetarian, paleo, or low carb. You can also exclude ingredients you dislike or trigger allergies.
Whether you're feeding a family or cooking for one, you can set the portion size for each person. If your kids are picky eaters, no problem − you can customize their meals separately.
I love how easy it is to swap recipes in and out as needed. You're in full control.
Curated Recipes and Meal Plans
With over 2,500 recipes in its database, PlateJoy makes it easy to put tasty, nutritious meals on the table. The recipes emphasize whole, unprocessed foods and natural ingredients.
If you enable the new PlateJoy Path option, your weekly plan will include the service's healthiest recipes, called Balance Plates. These provide an optimal balance of carbs, protein, fat, and other nutrients.
As a dietitian, I appreciate PlateJoy's focus on balanced nutrition. No more worrying if your meals hit the right macro and micronutrient targets!
Detailed Nutrition Information
Wondering if a recipe fits your diet? PlateJoy shows complete nutrition facts for each recipe, including calories, carbs, protein, fat, sugar, fiber, and sodium.
You can view this info per serving, tailored to the portion size you set for each person. No more guessing nutrient counts or doing confusing math conversions.
For subscribers of the PlateJoy Path, your daily and weekly totals help ensure you eat a balanced diet.
Organized Shopping Lists
Once your weekly menu is set, PlateJoy generates a grocery list with everything you need to buy. Items are categorized by section like produce, dairy, meat, etc. to simplify shopping.
The app even tells you exactly how much of each ingredient to purchase, minimizing food waste. You can also remove items already in your pantry.
Integration with Grocery Delivery
My favorite thing about PlateJoy is its integration with major grocery delivery services. With one click, you can send your customized shopping list to Amazon Fresh, Instacart or others.
This saves so much time compared to manually adding items to your cart or shopping in-store. Plus you still get to cook each meal yourself.
The direct grocery ordering makes weekly meal prep a breeze!
How Much Does PlateJoy Cost?
PlateJoy offers subscriptions starting at $12.99/month. However, Healthline readers can access an exclusive discounted price of $4.99/month!
Here's a breakdown of all the pricing options:
- $4.99/month (Healthline discount)
- $12.99/month (1-month plan)
- $11.50/month ($69 every 6 months)
- $8.25/month ($99 per year)
The service also provides a free 10-day trial so you can test it out before paying.
While pricier than some competitors, I think the customization, nutrition data, grocery integration, and cooking guidance you get with PlateJoy easily justify the cost. It's cheaper than a meal kit service too.
Try the free trial today to see if PlateJoy is right for your needs.
How PlateJoy Compares to Other Meal Planners
So how does PlateJoy stack up against other popular meal planning apps? I compared it side-by-side with top competitors:
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| How PlateJoy Compares to Other Meal Planners |
PlateJoy stands out for allowing the highest level of personalization for your household and showing complete nutrition details for every recipe.
The ability to sync your cart with Amazon Fresh and others is also a huge perk compared to competitors without integration.
However, services like eMeals and Mealime cost less per month. eMeals has more recipes to browse each week, while Mealime has a larger overall recipe database.
So while not the cheapest option, I believe PlateJoy provides the best value overall, especially thanks to the Healthline subscriber discount!
Step-By-Step Guide to Using PlateJoy
Curious how the meal planning process works? Here is a simple walkthrough:
Sign Up and Create Your Profile
First, visit PlateJoy.com or install the iOS/Android app and sign up for an account.
The onboarding questionnaire asks for your dietary preferences, food avoidances, typical cooking time, meal staples, and more.
Be thorough here so PlateJoy can suggest recipes suited to you! You can always change these details later.
Build and Customize Your Weekly Meal Plan
Next, review the 5-day sample menu PlateJoy generates based on your profile. Swap out any recipes you're not feeling. You can also specify which meals should be leftovers.
If you enable the PlateJoy Path option, your plan will be optimized for nutrition automatically.
Generate and Sync Your Shopping List
When your ideal weekly menu is set, click Confirm. On the next screen, check off ingredients you already have. This removes them from the generated shopping list.
Then simply select your grocery store or delivery service and sync or export the list. Now you're ready to order ingredients!
Cook Up Amazing Meals
When it's time to cook, just open the PlateJoy app or website and access each day's recipes. Step-by-step cooking directions and timer guidance make following along simple.
Use the notes section to customize flavors to your taste and mark favorite meals you want to repeat in future weeks. Happy eating!
With this straightforward process, you'll save tons of time while enjoying delicious, homemade meals customized just for you.
My Experience and Review Using PlateJoy
As an experienced dietitian and mom, I loved testing PlateJoy as part of my meal planning routine for two weeks. Here is my honest take:
What I Liked Best
- Tons of customization for my family's needs
- Helpful nutrition details on all recipes
- Organized shopping lists synced to grocery delivery
- Timesaving compared to typical meal planning
I have a vegetarian husband, toddler son, and try to eat lower carb myself, so having customized menus was amazing. I loved getting nutrition info at a glance too.
The integrated groceries were a total game changer! I was able to pull recipes together that fit us all.
Room for Improvement
- More filtering of recipes (e.g. by cooking method)
- Wish you could include your own notes/modifications within recipes
- Occasional inaccurate cooking time estimates
While recipe customization is PlateJoy's strength, more advanced filtering would be useful. I also wanted an easier way to note substitutions I make, like using almond milk.
Lastly, some baking recipes had off time estimates. But for the most part, cooking guidance was helpful for getting a meal prepped quickly!
Final Verdict: Totally Worth Trying
At the end of my two-week trial, I saw major time savings compared to my usual Sunday meal planning talks. I also discovered amazing new recipes I would never normally find.
The grocery integration honestly made it so much less stressful to cook during busy work nights too.
While not 100% perfect, the customization alone makes PlateJoy stand out from any other meal plan service I've tried. I don't see myself going back to my old meal planning method!
For anyone seeking convenience, variety, and nutrition balance in your home cooking, PlateJoy is absolutely worth trying thanks to the risk-free trial.
Who Should Use PlateJoy?
With its unique perks like custom menus, Balance Plates recipes, and grocery integration, PlateJoy can benefit:
Busy parents − Simplify dinner time with nutritious recipes tailored to your family. Let PlateJoy handle the planning work!
Households with dietary restrictions − Finally find recipes that work for gluten-free, paleo, vegetarian, and more unique needs.
Anyone seeking nutrition balance − Follow the PlateJoy Path to eat balanced meals without tracking.
Frequent takeout eaters − Save money by replacing delivery with planned homemade options.
Singles and couples − Even cooking for one or two is easier with PlateJoy. Customize serving sizes as needed.
Really, anyone fed up with typical dinner headaches can benefit! PlateJoy also scales easily as your family's needs change.
Meanwhile, those wanting pre-made meals may prefer a full meal delivery service instead. You still have to cook with PlateJoy.
Frequently Asked Questions about PlateJoy
Before you sign up, here are answers to some common questions about PlateJoy:
Does PlateJoy provide recipes or cooked meals?
PlateJoy provides recipes along with grocery lists tied to your meal plan. You still purchase ingredients and cook meals yourself. There is no meal delivery.
What foods does PlateJoy offer?
The recipes emphasize lean proteins, vegetables, healthy fats, complex carbs, and natural ingredients. You choose recipes based on your flavor and nutrition preferences.
What if I want to change my meal plan or recipes?
You can fully customize and swap recipes each week. PlateJoy makes it easy to tailor plans to your liking.
What devices can I use the app on?
PlateJoy has free apps for both iOS and Android mobile devices. You can also access your account on a desktop web browser.
Can I import my own recipes into PlateJoy?
Yes! You can add both personal and website recipes to your account. PlateJoy will even calculate nutrition info automatically.
How do I cancel my account?
You can easily manage or cancel your subscription through the PlateJoy website at any time.
Start Meal Planning Smarter with PlateJoy
If you're overwhelmed trying to plan varied, diet-friendly meals every week, let PlateJoy lend a hand. Sign up in minutes to access customized recipes, simplified shopping, and more balanced eating guidance.
Thanks to the exclusive Healthline discount, PlateJoy subscriptions start at only $4.99 per month. Plus you can test the full service for 10 days totally free.
Take control of dinner time and nutrition balance for your family without the usual headaches. Get started with PlateJoy today!
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