Staying in is the new going out, which is a shame because we loved going out for dinner on weekends! For my fiancé and me, it was a Friday night tradition where we could pick anything, but we'd usually cycle between Thai, pizza, and Indian.

Now, we try to order in once a week, but it's a delicate transaction, and the normal routine of breakfast, lunch, and dinner has gone out the window. Our new tradition has been nightly ice cream benders, but that would have to stop soon.

Since I'm only grocery shopping once every 2 weeks, the end of that cycle is rough. It's leftovers-city, and we're tired of "getting creative" or falling into easy frozen food traps.

We talked about stocking up on more hearty vegetables that last, but what we really needed was access to fresh foods and new recipes every week. On a zoom conference call, my coworker was eating salmon with greens and purple potatoes, and I told her how jealous I was of that "just went grocery shopping" meal.

She told me she was ordering from Green Chef - 3 times a week, and she had the ingredients and instructions delivered to her door to cook full meals for herself and her family. She was on a "balanced living" plan, but they also have plans for keto, paleo, and plant-based diets.

She highly recommended Green Chef for its taste and variety, so we decided to check them out - we're not on any specific diet, so the balanced living would also be our option. Looking at the menu made my stomach growl - there was a huge variety of proteins, vegetables, and sauces, many of which weren't available near us or would be too intimidating to cook.

We decided to order Green Chef for the two of us, just to try. If we didn't like it, it was super easy to pause or cancel our subscription.

Our first shipment arrived on a Friday - we can't go out anymore, but this would be our new Friday tradition, for the time being. We selected the Japanese Vegetable Fritters, made of cabbage, carrots, scallions, and tamari-mirin sauce with Ginger-Sriracha aïoli, broccoli, cashews, rice, and edamame. The fried fritters were a comfort food, but surrounded by nutritious foods, this was going to be an amazing meal.

The directions were simple, and it took about 40 minutes (but most of their meals are closer to 30). It was so good, we devoured it. We were so full, we didn't need to take out the ice cream for our nightly round.

With Green Chef, we've now made Thai and Indian inspired meals, along with meals from many other cultures, so it's almost like we're still trying new things, just from the comfort of our own home.

Also, not worrying about what to make for dinner 3x a week is an incredible weight off my shoulders - I spend less time making grocery lists and throwing out food that went to waste.

Green Chef feels like a treat, but our plan is only $11.99 per meal, and we had a discount for our first week! It's affordable and an absolute improvement to our weeks at home.

The days make more sense when we cook Green Chef 3 times a week, and we're definitely feeling better, even though we're still more sedentary than usual.

Green Chef brought us back into a routine and gave us fresh vegetables when our local shops couldn't. It's also so tasty; you'll just have to try it for yourself!

Update: Our friends at Green Chef are extending a special offer to our readers. Follow this link to get $60 off + FREE shipping!