This post is brought to you by our sponsor Blue Apron.
Happy New Year! I hope the new year has been treating you well! We’re 10 days into the year, and I can honestly say 2017 is going to be an awesome year. So far I’ve been on track for a few of my goals this year, so I’m really excited about that. One goal that sticks out the most for me this year is to cook more home cooked meals. So to make things a little easier on myself, I decided to look into meal kit delivery companies. I did a little research and looked into Blue Apron, since they are pretty much a household name when it comes to meal kit deliveries nowadays.
The set up was so easy and simple that within minutes I was signed up. You pick from a variety of plans based on you’re dietary preference, from there you also get to tweak the meal choices to your liking before it ships out. There was a Fish, Seafood and Vegetarian option as well as the usual meat choices. All plans have no commitment; so you can skip a delivery or cancel at any time with one-week’s notice. The Blue Apron 2-person plan includes 3 meals per week at $9.99/meal, $59.94/box . The Blue Apron Family Plan includes either 2 or 4 meals a week, at $8.74/meal, $69.92/box.
When I received my box, I got a menu of Spaghetti Squash Marinara, Potato & Artichoke Quiches and Roasted Cauliflower Pitas. I decided to cook two meals in one day, and the 3rd meal the next. All the years of watching the Food Network channel was finally being put to use with these meals. All the recipes required dicing, chopping, mincing and/ or peeling. I also had to make a salad dressing from scratch and the garlic oil for the garlic bread. I honestly felt some of those things could have been sent already done, to cut down on the time. They advertise the meals take about 35 minutes to prep, but each meal took about an hour or more to make. You also need a good knife, cutting board, peeler, baking sheet and a nonstick pan for most of the recipes, along with lots of olive oil, salt and pepper.
What about the taste? I would say the food is pretty good, the pairing of the side dishes really complimented each other in all three meals. I would have to put in a disclaimer though, I spiced up the food to my liking. Most of these recipes rely only on salt and pepper for seasoning. So I used a lot of red pepper flakes and zero salt seasoning whenever I could to spice things up.
Overall, I really enjoyed the meals from Blue Apron. These meals really took me out of my comfort zone, as far as what I’m used to eating and cooking. I actually ended up liking a few of their spices and ingredients and plan to in corporate them somehow into my cooking repertoire. I do wish there were more options to choose from for the pescatarian and vegetarian plan. You’re kind of stuck to the 3 veggie meals they have for the week if you’re not up for the fish or seafood. But the meals change every week so most weeks are probably better than others. It all depends on your preference and your flexibility.
As a treat, I teamed up with Blue Apron and you too can try out your very own Blue Apron box! Head over to the Blue Apron site and redeem your free 3 meals offer here .
Happy Cooking!
