For about a year now, my husband and I have subscribed to Blue Apron, a subscription meal delivery service that takes the stress out of that dreaded question: "What's for dinner tonight?" We subscribe about two weeks a month for three nights a week. We are devoted to Blue Apron and here's why: The food is fresh and seasonal, the recipes are restaurant quality, and there is no planning or shopping required--my least favorite part of meal prep. If you enjoy cooking and eating, but hate the planning and shopping, you will appreciate Blue Apron. The subscription is flexible and you can cancel or pause your service at any time. I have a giveaway at the end of this post. But first read on to see if Blue Apron is right for you.
Delivery day is terribly exciting around here! As we empty the box we oh and aw over the pretty food. To keep things simple on cooking day, everything goes into the bottom drawer of my refrigerator. I pretty much know what nights we'll be home to eat during the week, and since we are almost always home on the evening of the Tuesday delivery day, around 5:00 my husband will pour us each a glass of wine and we'll sit on the patio and I'll read the recipes aloud and we'll plan our week of dinners.
Everything you need, every ingredient, including something as small as a pat of butter or a teaspoon of red pepper flakes comes in the refrigerated box in recyclable containers. The only thing you have to have on hand is salt, pepper and olive oil. Each dinner takes about 30 minutes to prep and cook. There's always plenty and most often we'll have leftovers. (I have to share that because people who know us know my husband has a very hearty appetite.) The food is always fresh and seasonal but because of our big summer garden I tend to use Blue Apron less in the summer. Take at a look at a week from last fall:
Everything you need, every ingredient, including something as small as a pat of butter or a teaspoon of red pepper flakes comes in the refrigerated box in recyclable containers. The only thing you have to have on hand is salt, pepper and olive oil. Each dinner takes about 30 minutes to prep and cook. There's always plenty and most often we'll have leftovers. (I have to share that because people who know us know my husband has a very hearty appetite.) The food is always fresh and seasonal but because of our big summer garden I tend to use Blue Apron less in the summer. Take at a look at a week from last fall:
Menu
Chicken Meatballs and Creamy Polenta with Tomato Sugo and Lacinato Kale
Cod and Potato Brandade with Watermelon Radish Salad
Roast Pork with Sauteed Spinach and Olive Smashed Potatoes
Tuesday: When the refrigerated box arrives (first picture), I unpack it and put in the refrigerator. We decided to have the Chicken Meatballs and Creamy Polenta with Tomato Sugo and Lacinato Kale that night (second picture). It was scrumptious and we both rated it a 5 out of 5. I have a smaller appetite than my husband so he gets about 2/3 of the dinner; that just works for us. The plated dinner is a picture of my smaller serving, but I couldn't finish it as it was very filling; but no problem, my husband happily ate my extra meatballs. Leftovers? Yes, some polenta which I fried the next morning and served with eggs and salsa. We loved it. By the way, I'm gluten free and always keep gf breadcrumbs and bread in the freezer. It's easy to switch out and I just tossed their breadcrumbs away or give it to my neighbor's chickens.
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| Three dinners for two are in the box. The little brown paper bags have the individual "knick-knacks" to use for each dinner. |
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| The knick knacks for the chicken meatball dinner were butter, breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese and meatball spice blend. |
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| Hmmm, I not so great at taking food pics, but you get the idea. This is my small serving, my husband's was much bigger. |
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| Leftover polenta served as a base for an egg and salsa for next morning's breakfast. |
Wednesday: My husband played poker that night and had dinner at his club. I met my girlfriends downtown for dinner, so no Blue Apron for us this night.
Thursday: I go to choir practice on Thursday evenings so I like Thursday night's dinner to be as easy as possible. We decide on the Cod and Potato Brandade with Watermelon Radish Salad and happily it turned out to be one of the faster recipes to make this particular week. Since I was in a hurry that night there's no prep pictures to share. We gave this meal another 5--we both loved the crunchy topping on the casserole and the simple salad. Again, that's my small portion below--my husband's portion was much larger. I am gluten free so I switched the Panko breadcrumbs for my own gf breadcrumbs and asked my husband if he wanted the garlic toast. He said no, so the loaf went to my neighbor's chickens. Leftovers: Nope.
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| The knick knacks for the fish dinner were butter, red wine vinegar, shallot and breadcrumbs. Besides that, there's also a head of garlic and fresh thyme for the brandade and watermelon radishes for the salad. |
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| My plate with a smaller serving. We gave it a 5 out of 5. |
Friday and Saturday: We went out both nights so on Thursday night I popped the remaining pork roast into the freezer just to be on the safe side. The vegetables will be fine in the fridge.
Sunday: Roast Pork with Sauteed Spinach and Olive Smashed Potatoes was our third and last dinner of the week. We both love spinach and it had such a bright taste with the addition of lemon zest. The potatoes were fantastic with the surprising addition of lemon juice and olives. This dinner showcases one of the reasons why I love Blue Apron: The recipe requires only 2 tbsp. of sour cream and that's all you get. No need to purchase a pint and throw away the spoiled, unused leftover two weeks later! My husband rated this a 5 as he loves anything with meat and potatoes. I gave it a 4 because I would have loved to see a simple sauce for the pork. Leftovers: None--my husband would never leave meat and potatoes behind.
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| Knick knacks in tonight's pork roast were Castelvetrano olives and sour cream. |
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| Lemon zest flavors the spinach. |
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| Lemon juice, sour cream and chopped Castelvetrano olives and garlic chives will go into the smashed potatoes. They were fantastic. |
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| The recipes are easy step-by-steps tutorial with pictures. |
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| A shot of my smaller portion. |
Hungry yet? That was our delicious week of Blue Apron. Of course, you can order more if you have a bigger family and you can opt out of fish or beef or anything else you don't care for. We opted out of vegetarian meals as my husband is just that kind of guy who opts out of anything that doesn't include some kind of meat. I think this service is for anyone who likes to cook but doesn't care for the planning or the shopping (that's me) or for busy people who enjoy cooking together but need some incentive! The latter is not us as my husband leaves the cooking to me, but he is a great guy to cook for because he really appreciates a home-cooked meal and lets me know, plus he has been known to wash a dish or two.
I have tried other subscription meal services and prefer Blue Apron for their food and restaurant quality recipes, and by they way, Blue Apron doesn't know me from Adam. Over the past year they have given me close to a dozen free weeks to give away to introduce my friends to BA. I have saved 3 weeks for 3 lucky winners!
(edited 8/1, this giveaway is closed and winners have been chosen) Giveaway: I have 3 free weeks of dinners to give away. Each winner will receive one delivery of 3 meals for two people (6 free meals total). If you would like to enter, please leave me a comment and include YOUR CONTACT information which is either your email address or your Ravelry ID. This giveaway is for US residents only. Click here to make a comment. Good luck! I'll come back early next week and announce the 3 winners.
(edited 8/1, this giveaway is closed and winners have been chosen) Giveaway: I have 3 free weeks of dinners to give away. Each winner will receive one delivery of 3 meals for two people (6 free meals total). If you would like to enter, please leave me a comment and include YOUR CONTACT information which is either your email address or your Ravelry ID. This giveaway is for US residents only. Click here to make a comment. Good luck! I'll come back early next week and announce the 3 winners.
The links:
You can find the individual recipes here:
My bowls and plates are from Arte Italica.
Rowan Pure Wool Superwash DK can be purchased at your local Rowan stockist or online at
- See more at: http://knitionary.blogspot.com/2015/12/my-options-kal-is-finished-wardrobe.html#sthash.z40QzSLf.dpuf
- July 27, 2016
- 40 Comments
