Blue Apron Wine?!?

That's right, Blue Apron now delivers wine! It's paired with their meals.  So a genius idea! For just $70 a month you can get 6 bottles of wine.  3 Red and 3 White.  Delivered right to your door or in my case to work.  We won't have the delivery every month.  Probably once every 2-3 months.  But as soon as I found out about the option, we had to try it out.  Today...my order came!  Here is my review so far.  I say "so far" because we haven't opened and tasted any of the wine.  Just unpacked it and put it away in its cozy home.

Let's start with the packaging. It comes in the signature Blue Apron box.  Only this one has wine glasses and bottle openers on the outside instead of food.  It also has very Special Delivery Instructions.  It requires an adult signature and is very specific on the Do not deliver to an intoxicated person. This made me do a burst of laughter as it reminded me of when we got married.  The sign on the wall in the court house for our marriage license said the same thing.  



 

Once you open the box, you can make it into a handle.  This feature is very helpful for carrying it to and from your car.  Kind of wish the food box came that way, but it would be waaaay to heavy.  Now for the opening of the box!  I was so excited.  Oooooooo, look at that.

 

 

When you first open the box, there is a envelope filled with 6 cards.  Each card has a full description of each bottle.  It tells you about the region for each wine and lots of other facts.  All the bottles for Blue Apron are from California. 

 

 

You turn the card over and it has even MORE information.  Including different types of food that would go well with the bottle.  My favorite part is it list 6 meals that are up and coming with Blue Apron that will pair well.  They aren't the next meals in a row, they are scattered over the next 4-5 weeks.  Next week we are making Pork Schnitzel and I already have my bottle picked out.

 

After I got over the joy of the cards, you remove a layer of cardboard and TaDa! 3 pretty whites are snuggled in their pods.  All safe and unbroken. 

 

 

I removed the bottles, another layer of cardboard and you have your reds!

 

 

You probably noticed I've been saying the word cardboard a lot.  That's because there is a lot of it.  Blue Apron has a recycling program with their boxes!  You print off the label and you can mail all of your months worth of cardboard and food packaging back to them.  I'm telling you, if I could work for this company, I'm starting to think I would.  The concept is just amazing. As a closing, here is a full picture of my order.  The bottles are 500ml.

 

 







Colorado Vaca!

My only experience with the state of Colorado has been on church youth ski trips back in the 90's.  We would leave the church parking lot at 5am and drive the whole way until we got to Wolf Creek late, late that night.  I loved it.  Had a wonderful time and great memories.  Someday I hope Dexter gets to do the same, or whatever is the "thang" to do with his youth group.

Fast forward to 2015 and I'm going back to Colorado!  One of my good friends from college lives in Denver with his wife and we have talked several times about visiting.  Finally we just picked a weekend, booked the tickets and a trip was made!  We were very excited and slightly nervous as it was Dexter's first flight.  And boy was it a flight!

For the first time in my life, we watched a lady get escorted off the plane.  Not just any lady...the lady sitting right next to us.  In a row of 3 with Dexter on my lap, yes...the lady. right. next. to. us.  Where do I even begin?!?  All the way down the aisle she was talking to everyone and making a dramatic entrance.  As she was walking towards us I learned to Preston and said, "you know she will sit with us, right?" and he responded with a, "of course, yes."  Sure enough, she did.  ::sigh::  I can't even begin to write out everything she said as none of it was going together.  It was random statements and phrases.  It wasn't until she started speaking politics that another passenger chimed it.  I about lost it.  This was not going to happen, not on our first flight!  Preston just leaned over to me, played with Dexter and said, "stay in our bubble".  It made me laugh.  Within a minute of her sitting down and her saying the words Iran, she was being escorted off.  Whew! It was fast and furious AND something I never want to experience again.  Now back to our vacation!

Normally on vacations I'm taking a ton of pictures.  I'm disappointed that I barely got any.  I got zero with all 4 of us!  But of the ones I did get, I love.  I was sick on Friday which was no fun!  I like to think it was a combination of the altitude and some vino.  Opps! I missed the Brewery tour, but Preston and Dexter went and said it was Awesome.  The next morning we went on a walk and the weather was perfect! I wish it was like that here already.  I'm ready for Fall.  Saturday we spent going to Red Rocks then enjoying lunch on a rooftop patio with views of the mountains.  Back to the house to watch some Football and be lazy.  It was prefect.   

A huge thank you to our friends Clayton and Kelly.  We had so much fun and can't wait for them to come visit us!  Here are the pictures I did get.  Red Rocks is pretty cool! I would love to go to a concert there some day.

 

 

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. 





Building a Crowes Nest

This weekend 3 of my friends and I hosted a baby shower for our friend Kacie.  We had such a good time planning and coming up with ideas.  Too see it all come together was awesome!  It was a great turnout and goes to show how important she is in other peoples lives.  Here are a couple of photos of the shower.  We can't wait to meet their little guy!

 

 

Deep Thoughts

Lately I have been thinking a lot about living in the moment.  Trying to focus on putting down my phone and enjoying where I am.  It was confirmed this weekend when my brother-in-law posted on Facebook a question.  It said:

If you could blink your eyes and make a single modern convenience vanish instantly from ever existing, what would you choose?

I hesitated to answer.  I really want to get rid of the smart phone.  Everywhere you go you see people on their phones.  You look around at a restaurant and the kids are watching or playing a game on a phone.  Sometimes on an iPad.  Parents are checking their phones.  Couples have their phones next to the bread basket.  Even sitting here as I type this my husband is on his phone and I'm on my computer.  This scene never would have been something I would have seen growing up.  You would have found my family watching something like Home Improvement or Murder She Wrote in the living room.  But only after we had dinner at the table in the kitchen....with no TV. 

Maybe I'm getting older! Maybe it's because of Dexter.  I don't know . But I have found myself wanting to take out my phone to take a picture of something I'm doing with Dexter and telling myself NO.  I don't want Dexter growing up with memories of me and always taking pictures.  I want him to remember me playing with him.  I have books and books of photos from my childhood so I know it can be done.  I just don't want to have a phone in my hand 24/7. 

Now, I know that the technology of cell phones is AMAZING and literally has saved lives.  That I don't want to get rid of.  So, I need to find a middle ground.  I know I can do it. 

With all that being said...I have been taking very few pictures.  However, I did have my first Mother's Day!  Obviously I had to capture the moment.  Huge thank you to my husband.  He made it perfect.

The day started out with him making me breakfast! Complete with mimosas.

My Gift! Preston sent off a picture of Dexter and me and had it hand drawn by an artist.  I love it so much!!!

Off to lunch aka Mother's Day Feast at III Forks.

 

My Boys!

Me

My yummy yummy lunch!

I just love him so much!

 After lunch we spent the day at home just chilling.  I even got in a nap and a lifetime movie!! It was perfect.  We then feed Dex some rice cereal for the first time.

We were so full from breakfast and dinner we weren't really hungry for dinner.  But since it was my day....cheese and crackers it was! At least for me.  Preston picked himself up some sushi.

 

 Lastly, I also got this wonderful sign for my office at work.  As you can see, I have it on my window.  It makes me smile every time I walk in or turn around in my chair.

To bring this whole post full circle.  I'm going to try to leave my phone in my purse more.  When I'm at work, it stays in my purse.  When I'm at home, it either stays in my purse or I put it on my night stand. If I get to a restaurant before a friend, look around! Watch what is going on in front of me.  Don't play on my phone.  I know it's going to be hard, for me, but I'm going to try.

This Guy.