Tag Archives: 91

Providing even more variety?

As you know, we get tons of feedback each month.  One common request has been for us to offer 4, 8 or 12 ”half-meals” at a Let’s Dish! session.  Unlike traditional “splitting”, where dishers get two of each half-sized meal, “halving” (so to speak) would provide more variety by allowing dishers to make just one half (not two halves) of a regular, full-sized meal.

We’re all for variety, and this seems like a pretty good way to achieve it.  But halving is not without its potential snafus, as our whole operating systems (online and in-store) revolve around a meal for 4-6.  (For example, there is no place on line to indicate you want to make half-meals, and once in stores you’ll see our chicken breasts come 6-to-a-bag).

But we’re currently developing a “work-around” test, i.e., a relatively simple way to accomplish our objective of increased variety.  Our tentative plan (probably to start in November) is to create a “promo code” (likely “HALVES”) that customers enter on checkout at letsdish.com.  It will “discount” a traditional 4, 8 or 12 meal session to just $13.50 per dish.  Once in store, customers will dish half-meals, rather than splits or fulls.  They’ll have to ask staff to help them split some of the proteins, but hopefully that help will be provided quickly and efficiently.  Most other ingredients (veggies, breads, etc) can be halved easily by the disher.

We’ll start this as an experiment (more info forthcoming), in hopes that it will give dishers a chance to “halve” your cake and eat it too!

About Jeremy

The in”side” Dish on side-dishes

Sides, sides everywhere!

The customer feedback has come in loud and clear. Sugar Snap Peas, Sweet Potato Fries, Exotic Grains and Fire Roasted Vegetables. You love our sides, and you want more of them.

We hear you.   And we’ve responded by including more sides as part of the regular Let’s Dish! menu.   We’ve added Sugar Snap Peas to our Marinated Flank Steak, Sweet Potato Fries to our Parmesan Crusted Pork Chops,  Jasmine Rice to our Savory Apricot Crusted Salmon, and more!

Plus: We’ve extended our special sides offer through the fall, meaning you can choose 4 family-sized sides for $20!

So sign up for a session today, and you’ll see we are filling your family’s plates with more deliciousness than ever before!

About Jeremy

simp-lot-sides-001small-2.jpg

RECOMMENDED LINKS
>
1 Dish? 6 Dishes? 11 Dishes? We’re Flexible.
> Wow the crowds at home and on vacation!

Click to continue reading “The in”side” Dish on side-dishes”

Diet Pointers for Health-Conscious Dishers

(small space)
Weight Watchers - scaleMany customers use Let’s Dish! as part of a plan for attaining (or maintaining!) a healthy weight. And we’re making it easier than ever. Complete nutritional information (including ingredients, calories, fat, etc., as well as Weight Watchers® POINTS®) for an entire menu can now be downloaded on a single document from the Let’s Dish! website. From the letsdish.com homepage, click on See our menus, then look for the line “Click here for a printable menu, just above each month’s first menu item. You may be surprised to see that many of your favorites dishes have great health benefits too!

Prefer the old-fashioned way?

Click to continue reading “Diet Pointers for Health-Conscious Dishers”

Let’s Dish!: The savings might surprise you.

Boston Globe: Rising Cost of Groceries GraphicGas station. Coffeeshop. Dry cleaners. Just about any place you open your purse or wallet these days, you’re spending more than ever. This is especially true when it comes to shopping for food. According to a report from the Department of Labor (cited in the Boston Globe), a year-on-year increase in food prices like this hasn’t been seen in nearly two decades. Eggs are up 60%, pasta 30%, fruits 20%, and vegetables 20% versus last year – just to name a few examples.

So where does a family turn when faced with these economic challenges at the dinner table? Let’s Dish! is part of the solution. When you compare our costs to what you’d spend at grocery, you’ll find that the more you dish, the more you save. In fact, to illustrate just how much we save our dishers, we recently did a comparison of grocery costs vs. dishing costs for two of our most popular menu items (cited in a previous blog): Thai-Marinated Flank Steak and Mahi Mahi with Red Ancho Marinade.

The savings might surprise you. Here are some of the highlights:

  • If you bought all the ingredients at a grocery chain, you’d spend up to 7% more per serving than you do at a Let’s Dish! in-store session.
  • Those leftover ingredients not only clutter your pantry but they create additional costs. That Red Ancho Marinade, for example… you only need $0.69 worth (or 2 TBS) but the grocery store charges $9.95 for one 14.4 oz jar!
  • Check the price of flank steak recently? We can offer you the entire, marinated meal for close to the same price as steak alone!

Accounting for waste, Let’s Dish! can save you almost 50% vs making it yourself. And who wants to go through all that shopping and chopping hassle, just to spend more money than you would by dishing?! Check out the numbers for yourself. We think you’ll agree there’s no better (or more economical) way to put dinner on the table than with Let’s Dish!.

Don’t let rising food costs force your family into unhealthy dinner choices. Let’s Dish! is convenient, healthy, and always a great value.

Jeremy’s Signature

RECOMMENDED LINKS:
> “Surging costs of groceries hit home“: Boston Globe article cited above. Graphic (right) in post courtesy of the Globe.
> “More time and money are just a dish away

> Kid-Friendly Let’s Dish! Meals featured on WUSA9

FREE Delivery for New Moms!

Let’s Dish! bibLet’s face it - when you are a new mom, the first three months are bliss and a blur, full of sweet cuddles and sleep deprivation. That special time with your new baby is wonderful - but, unbelievably, the rest of the world keeps on moving and expects you to keep up! You’ve got a house to keep in order, a family to feed and take care of (especially if there are other kids), shopping and errands to do, outside responsibilities to fulfill (which may include a job!) and - oh, yes - that sweet new baby to tend to every minute of the day - whew! This hazy period of my life solidified my overarching philosophy on motherhood (sorry, Nietzsche!) : “That which does not kill you makes you a better mom!”

So, new Moms, would you like some help with dinner? Or, how about with three months of dinner? Here’s a special offer from Let’s Dish! just for you.

FREE Delivery from Let’s Dish! for new moms
Let’s Dish!
has a special delivery for new mothers: FREE DishDelivery for three months after your baby is born! That’s right, with our “You Deliver, DishDelivers! offer, we’ll waive all delivery fees on 8-meal DishDelivery orders placed within the first three months after you have a baby. You can select your meals from our monthly menu and order from all Let’s Dish! locations in Maryland and Northern Virginia - then, the meals are delivered right to your door.*

Eight (or more) easy and delicious meals without leaving the house - now that’s a new mom’s dream come true! Here’s how to qualify for our “You Deliver, DishDelivers” offer:

  • Simply email newmoms@letsdish.net to set up your own unique promotional code that will waive the delivery fee.
  • New moms must provide proof of baby’s birth date (via email or brought into your nearest Let’s Dish! store) to qualify for the promotion.
  • This offer is valid for 90 days from your baby’s date of birth. (So, don’t delay in emailing us - it is three months from your baby’s birthdate, not three months from when you contact us. So, ask your friends, family and “baby daddy” to remind you - it’s worth the effort!)
  • This offer applies to 8-meal DishDelivery sessions only and is a savings of $25 on every order!

We know our healthy, delicious meals are a help during challenging times - and let’s face it, new moms need all the help they can get!

ShareThisSpread the word! Pass this offer on to other new moms - Email This Post Email This Post or use our ShareThis tool below and share the offer on all your favorite social-networking sites!

Corcoran FamilyAs a co-owner of Let’s Dish! and mother of two, I hope all you new moms in the mid-Atlantic can take advantage of this special offer. Speaking from experience, I barely remember stumbling through those first months - and we had not yet opened our Let’s Dish! stores so I was in the same boat as everyone else! I’d try to look and act like a coherent, put-together woman instead of the exhausted, two-under-two-mom I was. And, when my second decided she wouldn’t sleep through the night until she was eight-months old, to say I missed sleep is a massive understatement. Hibernating bears would have nothing on me if I could have found a dark room and a “Do Not Disturb” sign. Here’s a pic of me on *the day* I would have contacted Let’s Dish! for my much-needed You Deliver, DishDelivers offer! :-)

Wishing you a doorstep full of DishDelivery and as many hours of sleep as you can get - and look forward to dishing with for you soon!

Alexa’s Signature

RECOMMENDED LINKS:
> Kid-Friendly Let’s Dish! Meals featured on WUSA9
> See the Let’s Dish! Menus and Sign up for DishDelivery today!
> Wow the crowds at home and on vacation
>
DishDelivery to the Summer Vacation Rescue!

(small space)
*Offer not valid on in-store or Dish-n-Dash sessions. Offer valid for exactly 90 days from baby’s birth date. No exceptions or extensions will be made. You Deliver, DishDelivers promotion launches June 3rd, 2008. Babies born more than 90 days prior to June 3rd are not eligible. Offer cannot be applied to previously-booked sessions or combined with other offers. Delivery fee covers cost of delivery within the Mid-Atlantic covered zones covered by DishDelivery only. Visit letsdish.com for details on eligible delivery areas.

Kid-Friendly Let’s Dish! Meals featured on WUSA9

WUSA9 Kid-Friendly MealsWant to keep your kids happy, healthy and full for less than $4 a serving? WUSA9 in Washington DC shares how you can do just that with a little help from Let’s Dish!. Today, reporter Lesli Foster features our store as the one-stop shop for kid-friendly meals for you and your family.
(small space)
Many thanks to customer Karen Mahne and her son who came to pick up dinner at Let’s Dish! in Rockville, MD, and shared how much her family loves Let’s Dish!. Our own Elizabeth Marcotte gave the viewers a sneak peek at some of our most popular recipes on our monthly menus, including our top-rated Chili-Lime Chicken with Black Bean Salsa! And, Jeremy Kugel brought in his son, Leo, confessing his love of Let’s Dish! Teriyaki Sliders. Watching just a few minutes on WUSA9 can truly help you keep the kids happy when dinner rolls around!
(small space)
Plus, don’t miss our offer of FREE DishDelivery for WUSA9 viewers!
(small space)
Visit the Let’s Dish! feature on WUSA9’s website to see our kid-friendly recipes (gasp - yes, we shared recipes!), then scroll down to the bottom of the page for the exclusive WUSA9 coupon code for FREE DishDelivery throughout the mid-Atlantic!

[youtube EYDG9peY7fE nolink]

(small space)
If you’re experiencing trouble with the video above or do not see the video player, you can visit this story on WUSA9 by clicking here or pasting the link below in your browser:
http://www.wusa9.com/rss/local_article.aspx?storyid=72208
(small space)
RELATED POSTS:
> See the Let’s Dish! Summer Menus and Sign up today!
> Wow the crowds at home and on vacation
>
DishDelivery to the Summer Vacation Rescue!
> Let’s stop calling our kids picky eaters

Finding the Best Way to Cook All Those Vegetables

As summer approaches, you find more and more fantastic produce in the grocery store, including vegetables that will pair perfectly with meals on the Let’s Dish! menu. But, what’s the best way to prepare vegetables to get the best flavor and retain all the important vitamins and nutrients?

We recommend this New York Times Health article by Tara Parker-Pope that answers that very question:

link-post-icon.gifFinding The Best Way to Cook All Those Vegetables
By Tara Parker-Pope (New York Times, published May 20, 2008)

Enjoy!

Alexa’s Signature

(small space)
RELATED POSTS:
> We Recommend: Fruits and Veggies
> Superfoods: What are they?
> Pop Quiz: Test Your Knowledge of Nutrients

DishDelivery to the summer vacation rescue!

Let’s Dish! was featured on Beltway Gourmet this morning as WBAL’s Doug Roberts talked with us about preparing meals for vacation. Roberts asks the question: “While the rest of your gang is having lots of summer vacation fun, how much time are you going to spend planning and shopping and preparing all those meals?

DishDeliveryOur answer: DishDelivery!

Roberts lets folks know that all they have to do is head to Let’s Dish! for meals and “you’re good to go!” In his interview, he features our Baltimore store, but don’t dismay - DishDelivery is offered at all our Let’s Dish! stores in the mid-Atlantic, so you can order and *finally* get that relaxing summer vacation!*

Co-owner Rick Corcoran explains how it all works and why this has become one of the most convenient ways to “dish” and benefit from healthy, delicious and already-prepared meals at home or on vacation. Order online and have your meals delivered to the beach - it couldn’t be easier! And, Julie Linz was in Timonium to dish on a crumptious salmon recipe on May’s menu.

The real proof of the convenience of DishDelivery is shared by Let’s Dish! customers, Tracy Pohlhaus and Kay Carney. Traci is having her meals delivered to the beach house - and going green with her saved space by downsizing the car they use to get there. Kay echoes her sentiment: “Now I don’t even have to go and pack the things in my car…they’ll bring them right to me! How much easier could it be?”

So, take a listen and find out more about our NEW delivery option. It’s DishDelivery to the summer vacation rescue!

We RecommendBeltway Gourmet on WBAL AM 1090
(Dave Durian and the Morning Team, Interview by Doug Roberts)

Alexa’s Signature
(small space)
RELATED LINKS:
> DishDelivery for Mother’s Day: Make your Mom’s day even brighter
> Learn all about DishDelivery
> Sign up for a DishDelivery now
(small space)

*Let’s Dish! locations referred to in Food for Thought post are: Baltimore, Bel Air, Columbia, Gaithersburg, and Rockville, MD and Alexandria, Ashburn, Fairfax and Leesburg, VA. Let’s Dish! is currently offering corporate programs, including delivery, in the mid-Atlantic region. For more information, please email Food for Thought.

“Good” Fat, “Bad” Fat: What’s the Difference?

Heart HealthThe idea of ”good” and “bad” fats in food is quite confusing.  At Let’s Dish!, our commitment to our customers is that our monthly menu of dinners will always be trans fat free and contain at least four heart-healthy meals. (During American Heart Month, we had thirteen!)  We can offer such heathful choices because of work by our menu development team as well the fact you prepare your meals in our store using many fresh and unprocessed ingredients.  But there is so much more to understand on the different types of fats - and how to identify them.  We turn to Catherine Joiner, our AHA nutritionist, for a tutorial:

There are three main types of fat in our diet - saturated fat, trans fat, and unsaturated fat.

When you hear someone talking about “bad” fat, they are referring to saturated or trans fat.

Click to continue reading ““Good” Fat, “Bad” Fat: What’s the Difference?”

Tackling the Grocery Store

Tips on tackling the grocery storeWhen you’re not eating meals from Let’s Dish!, choosing healthy foods from the grocery store is important for maintaining good heart health. Here are some helpful hints for tackling your grocery shopping…

Make a list! Before you head to the store, take time to make a list. It will save you time and money.

  • List out meal ideas for the week and determine what ingredients you will need to pick up. Make sure your menu includes all of the My Pyramid food groups to ensure that you are eating a wide variety of foods.
  • Organize the ingredients according to the section in which they are located in the grocery store.

Click to continue reading “Tackling the Grocery Store”

Fruit juice vs. whole fruit: which should I choose?

When Alexa and I went on WBAL for Sunday Brunch, one of the topics we discussed was fruit vs. fruit juice.  In today’s post, Lisa follows up on the issue with some quick guidance on the difference in healthfulness between fruit and fruit juice:

QuestionsLisa, does fruit juice count as one of your dialy servings of fruit?
And, is drinking fruit juice just as hearth healthy as eating fruit?

AnswersFruit juice is only a serving of fruit IF it is 100% fruit juice.
So, be sure to read the label to make sure the juice is 100% fruit juice, not a fruit “cocktail” or juice “drink” as some of those only contain as little as 2% fruit juice.

Click to continue reading “Fruit juice vs. whole fruit: which should I choose?”