Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Blue Apron - My Review

Prior to moving and becoming a family of three, we cooked often.  It was something we both looked forward too and had made up names for our made up dishes.  We often would find a recipe we liked and make it correctly the first time.  As time would go by, we would make slight variations, usually due to lack of ingredient or time.

Time has really gotten smaller for us, especially when it comes to grocery store shopping.  I have been eyeing several food services online for a couple of months.  After much research and a rabbit whole of internet roaming, I settled on the company Blue Apron.  It's 3 meals a week for 2/4 member families.  You can find all the details here.  We picked the 3 meals for 2 people.  I chose this company because

A. It had good reviews,
B. the pricing was the best for the money, and
C. their menu items seemed the most like our lifestyle.

You also get your choice of delivery for Tuesday or Thursday.  Seeing as the weekends are a crap shoot on when and where we will eat, Tuesday was our pick.  Today is Wednesday....you know what that means.  Blue Apron is HERE!

I was so excited to open it.  It was like a food Christmas morning.  And instead of Santa it was Blue Apron.  And instead of toys.....it was food.  It was delivered to my work around 4:15pm.  I didn't get home until a little after 7pm.  I was nervous if it would still be cold.  Yup yup yup!  It was packed with 2 big ice packs.  All insulted so the box didn't get all wet.  So the time came to open.  Ekkkkk!
 
It was so pretty.  I loved the card inserts with all the recipes and a tip guide!  It was so cool.  I quickly open it up and this was my first view.  Baguettes, herbs, and tomatoes.  
 
After moving those to the counter, below was the rest of the fresh vegetables.  It was like a store in a box! 
 
 Here is the whole thing.  Laid out on the island. It was so organized, just fantastic.
 
Everything is labeled so there is no question on what you have.  My favorite surprise was the little brown sacks with the spices for each recipe.  They called them knick-knacks.  So cute.



 
I put everything away and went to bed dreaming of my next meal.  Not really, I put it all away then made a quick meal of frozen fish while my husband put Dex to bed. Today was Christmas morning all over again!  So I guess that makes it Groundhog Day? I digress.  Dinner tonight was:
 
Crispy Catfish with Sicilian Caponata
  Here are all the ingredients.
 


 The back side of the cards have full instructions with literally step by step.  It not only helps you make a fresh meal, it also can teach you a thing or two.
 
It was at this moment that I realized I hadn't cut fresh garlic in a really long time.  I buy the pre-minced garlic these days.  But they sent a garlic bulb, so cut I must!
 

My next photos are the different stages of the recipe.  I made the caponata first, then while that simmered, I made the catfish.




 
The whole thing took me about 45 mins to make and it was 550 calories per serving.  Here is the final photo.
 
Sarah's Review: I highly recommend this service.  May it be Blue Apron or some other food service that may fit your family's needs.  All in all, it was great.  I love that we can make full meals with ease and get to make dishes we would never make on our own.  I feel like anyone can do this regardless of your level of cooking skills.  The instructions are very basic and guide you step by step.  Our other 2 meals are Mexican Tortas (been wanting to try my hand at this since I had my first Torta last year) and classic Steak and Potatoes.  Another feature of this service is you CAN pick your meals.  They give you 6 options and you select 3.  If you don't select anything, they will give you 1 beef, 1 chicken, and 1 fish dish.  There are vegetarian options as well. 
 
So go my friends! Go put on that Blue Apron and join in on the latest box subscription crazy.