I tried out NMC, which is a meal prep service in the Charleston-Huntington area. Each meal is $7 and under 500 calories. There's a good variety, and all you have to do is heat them up. I figured this is a perfect solution for those super busy weeks where it's tough to find time to cook dinner, but you also might not want to spend the money ordering out. Bonus points that it's in a portion-sized container so it can help with those diets. And, they deliver for $5.
I reached out to them last week and ordered 6 meals for the week: Seafood Pasta - Tri-colored rotini with shrimp and crab with some veggies and a mayo-based sauce, Turkey Enchiladas Stuffed Peppers, 3 Meat Lasagna with Broccoli - with zucchini, Hibachi Chicken with Fried Rice and Mixed Vegetables, Pork Egg Roll Bowl and Honey Jerk Chicken.
Everything was pretty solid, even though it was "healthy." My favorite was the stuffed peppers because there was a lot of flavor, and I also enjoyed the seafood pasta for something different. I'm not crazy about the skin on the chicken or grilled chicken in general, but not bad.
This week, I'm going to be trying the following:
CAPRESE PASTA (vegan)
BUFFALO CHICKEN STUFFED PEPPERS
424 CAL. C15G, P 466. F 22G
SWEDISH MEATBALLS W/MASH & GREEN BEANS
465CAL. C 48G, P 32G, F 236
CHICKEN TERIYAKI & STIR FRY VEGGIES
P 32G. F 14G. C 26G, 350 CAL
HOT HONEY SALMON W/S. POTATO & BROCCOLI
P 30G. F 5G. C 46G. 367 CAL
BBQ PULLED PORK C.MAC
P19G, FI4G, C30G, 308CAL
I saw 9290, LLC posted on Facebook that they were going to be serving up dinner plates today.
Because they are primarily a catering business, I hadn't had a chance to try much from them.
So, I jumped at the opportunity and placed an order for fried chicken, sweet mac & cheese, potato salad, honey cornbread & water. All for $17.
The fried chicken was nice and crispy, but it was a bit difficult to bite through to the meat without ripping all the skin off in one go. The mac & cheese was a little sweet, which is my favorite. I could have eaten an entire box full of that. The potato salad had sweet pickles/relish, which is not my favorite. And the cornbread was OK, but the entire edge of mine was burnt so I tossed that part of it all in all, a nice comfort food meal perfect for a Sunday.
Grade: B
I recently attended an event that was catered by Hungry Bear Catering in Fayetteville.
While the offerings were fairly simple - a sandwich, salad and cookie - I was impressed with the freshness of the components. Simple, but enjoyable. The salad had a base of cabbage, which I was a huge fan of. The cookie could have used more love, as it was a bit dry.
Grade: B
Thyme After Time is a restaurant and caterer in the Charleston area that has been around in a few different forms on the East End.
First, I visited them when they were located on Ruffner Street. I ordered carryout from the menu - a bbq pulled pork sandwich with truffle fries - and mac & cheese.
This was very tasty comfort food. Just simple food done well and full of flavor. Familiar flavors but very good.
They moved to Washington Street and toward a buffet format. It was much of the same type of food, but in a ready-to-go format, rather than made-to-order.
Quality can suffer a bit with buffets, but you do get the variety, which is nice.
While the restaurant is currently closed, I believe they are still catering and we'll have to stay tuned for their next chapter.
Grade: B
I may be weird, but I get excited when I get to try a new caterer.
Because, you can only check their food out in certain circumstances. You can't just decide to order a meal whatever you want. There has to be an event with food, and you have to hope that it's not just a generic provider.
I got lucky I had a recent Junior League of Charleston event where we celebrated our centennial anniversary. And one of the highlights for me was getting to eat food from Tastefully Dun.
We were able to enjoy crabcakes, antipasto skewers, fig and goat cheese crostini, stuffed meatballs, and, my favorite, a Swiss almond dip that I could have eaten the entire container of.
Plus, there were desserts: Macarons and fruit tartlet bites. I wish I could have dinners like this all the time. Just a bunch of hors d'oeuvres and I'm happy especially when they contain a lot of cheese.
Have you had the opportunity to enjoy any food from Tastefully Dun?
Grade: A
In honor of Pride Month last year, Low Ivy Catering produced some specials at Starlings that were super colorful.
There were 5 colors of steamed buns stuffed with 16-hour smoked pork, gochujang bbq and lime-honey napa slaw.
Have you enjoyed any Pride-themed meals this month?
Let's keep it going all year round!
At a recent holiday party, Saving Thyme was the caterer.
They are fairly new in town, and And there were so many tasty treats that I wanted to share!
Mini Shrimp Cocktail
Chili & Mini Cornbread Muffins
Mini Baked Potato Bites
Spinach & Artichoke Phyllo Cups
Veggies, Fruit & Cheese, Mini Biscoff Cheesecake & Mini Peanut Butter Pie
Pecan Pie Bites
Chocolate Peppermint Bundt Cakes
Have you had a chance to try Saving Thyme yet?
Amy Cakes Catering has made Sunday evenings an exciting event in my household.
I hold my breath as I await the post detailing what the week's offering will be. Will this week be meatloaf? Tacos? A casserole?
Amy Cakes Catering is a caterer, of course, but they also offer dinners to go. I love this, because I may not have an event to cater at the moment, but it gives me an opportunity to try a meal there and keep them in mind for the future.
The process is simple - just look for the post on Sunday, message the page to reserve a meal, and then show up at the South Charleston church on Wednesday during their pick-up time.
I couldn't wait to check it out, so rather than wait until the *perfect* meal to try, I went with the first one I saw - which was still good! The meal was chicken and dumplings served with mashed potatoes, seasonal salad with apples, cranberries and golden raisins; cheddar biscuits; and a mini banana pudding - all for $15. I paid at the window in the auditorium and went on my merry way.
The salad was so surprisingly good! It's not the main attraction, of course, but it was fresh and a little different, and I enjoyed it. It was needed before the heavy, tummy-filling meal of chicken & biscuits. I used my side of a cheddar biscuit as an extra dipping vessel to give some more texture in the mashed potato and chicken gravy trough. I'm glad no one watched as a I ate every last bite. And finally, banana pudding - which I've really developed a healthy love for recently - was delish. The lovely gentleman who packed my dinner said he "hooked it up" with a GOOD banana pudding, and you, sir, are the GOAT.
Grade: A
I've mentioned before how exciting it is that during this time of quarantine when more folks are spending time at home, we are seeing a surge in home bakeries and other sort of cottage kitchens. That's how I found A Guy And A Girl Catering.
This local catering company offers a ton of options - from catering events to seasonal offerings to just a few options. The latter is what appealed to me. I didn't have a huge event to cater, but I did have a hungry tummy and a curiosity to check this place out.
They have a number of sweets, but they also had two of my favorites: macaroni & cheese and pepperoni rolls. Let's start with the pepperoni rolls - these are definitely some of the better pepperoni rolls I've had. It has a healthy topping of garlic and parmesan that gives it a ton of flavor. Plus a nice marinara dipping sauce.
Do I need a giant pan of macaroni and cheese? No. Do I want one? Yes. This is probably a pretty good crowd-pleaser since it's pretty straightforward. I doctored mine up a bit with some more melty cheese, a pinch or two of sugar and some cream. *chef's kiss*
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