Let me introduce you to my new best friend, PlateJoy. PlateJoy is a meal planning service that lets me personalize my weekly menu pretty much every which way and is always changeable during the menu-making process. Some of these customizations include family size, weight loss goals, types of cooking appliances on hand (like microwave, slow cooker or instant pot), dietary preferences (like low carb, Paleo, Mitterrandian, keto, low FODMAP, diabetic, vegetarian, kosher, gluten-free, dairy-free, and more — even nursing mother). 

So many “other just-for-me” considerations are taken into account like how much time I have for breakfast, whether I’m in a leftover mood, preference for variety, and what specific ingredients I want to avoid due to allergy, availability or that I just don’t have a taste for. Read on to learn how easy the plan is to implement into life (I even have a great $10 off PlateJoy discount code FITFORK10):

After preferences are set (which can be changed at any time), PlateJoy steps up to the plate, creating a personalized queue of recipes that meet all of my specifications. Recipes in the queue are displayed for Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Batch Cooking and Snack/Dessert – if I don’t like the looks of one, I can simply skip it or delete permanently from the queue. 

From the queue, PlateJoy pulls a weekly menu of delicious foods where the unique feeding needs of me and my family remain the focus — and again, I can tweak as desired.  I set my preferences for a low-carb meal plan (which could then be further refined by the percentage of carbs desired), to avoid overly process foods and to pull from seasonal produce. As I mention earlier, there are also Keto meal plans, Paleo meal plans, gluten free meal plans and more. In the first week, my low-carb meal plan included: 

• Herbed Turkey Egg Muffin Cups (make ahead and reheat on cray-cray days)
• Make Ahead Spinach Scramble Quesadillas (quick breakfast, lunch OR dinner)
• Strawberry Broccoli Salad with Creamy Poppy Seed Dressing (loving those seasonal strawberries)
• Middle Eastern Tilapia with cucumber Salad
• Manhattan Seafood Chowder with Tilapia & Shrimp (maximizes weekly purchase of tilapia to minimize food waste)
• Carmalized Bananas with Sesame Seeds and Nut Butter (not pictured, but amazing)

After menu-making, PlateJoy keeps on simplifying life with the push of a button – it makes a weekly shopping list for me (that takes into consideration what I already have in the pantry or fridge) that will get me in and out of the market FAST.

Or, if I don’t want to shop “in real life” my list can be sent (at my expense) to a grocery-shopping service (like Instacart) so that they can check off that chore and bring the goods straight to my door!

For me, the benefits of using PlateJoy are:

• Obviously, time-savings in making menus and shopping lists
• A boost of meal-time creativity when I’m stuck in a rut
• Easy compliance with the dietary eating pattern that I follow
• The freedom to make exactly what I want
• Access to nutritional information
• Cost-savings

Why do I say cost savings? Well, first, this meal plan service is much cheaper overall than using delivery services that either send the whole prepared meal or a big box of ingredients needed to make the recipe. The PlateJoy meal-plan service focuses on just the meal plan and leaves the shopping up to me, which honestly, I appreciate because 1) I know where the deals are, 2) I can use manufacturer and store coupons and 3) I can scale down on the spot if I decide it’s too much food.

Another smart, beautiful, money-saving thing about PlateJoy is that it automatically prepares my low carb menu plan in a way that maximizes purchases at the grocery store in order to minimize food waste (no more bits of this and that rotting in the fridge)!  When it comes to food waste, industry experts say that About 40% of everything we bring home from the market and are supposed to be eating, we end up throwing out in the trash. Let’s STOP doing that, ‘kay?

In addition to improving my family’s health and virtually eradicating my meal-planning stress, PlateJoy saves the family budget in the long run by smartly using ingredients and minimizing waste (like I just mentioned). The $99 annual subscription fee (just $8/month) is SO WORTH IT (a shorter duration is available as well). After a FREE 10-day trial, you can save $10 off the meal planning service with my {PlateJoy coupon code FITFORK10 at checkout.

Try a 10-day free trial of PlateJoy meal planning service TODAY and then save $10 with a full subscription using my coupon code FITFORK10

What are your biggest obstacles in sticking to your low carb meal plan, keto meal plan, paleo meal plan, gluten free meal plan or what ever “plan” you follow?  My obstacles are not enough time and being stuck in a rut! Please share in the comments – XOXO, Jennifer

 *Note, this is strictly a meal-planning service, PlateJoy does not ship food or ingredients to you.

This post sponsored by PlateJoy and contains affiliate links; however, I am an actual client and all opinions, comments and enthusiasm remain all my own!