Blue Apron… Worth it?

Hi friends! It’s been quiet around here because my life has been ridiculously hectic with Aria starting school, the shop orders constantly coming in (struggling to keep up!), and now heading out to Mexico in a week! EEEK!! 

So basically I was having a tough time keeping up with it all! One of the most annoying parts of my day had become dinner because I just had no energy or time to figure it out or come up with something that was good AND healthy. Our evenings had turned into a lot of chaos with trying to feed/bathe/entertain two kiddos while I try to prep something nutritious for us to eat… a little glimpse below at our full hands (and full hearts!)…

Literally took this picture in the kitchen while making dinner and the hubs watching them! My heart always explodes at these pictures…I’m such a sap. Or a mom. Is there a difference?

Anyhow, I had read about Blue Apron a few times and never really thought to give it a try and then one day when I was meal planning for the month and had basically run out of ideas for new meals, I decided to go ahead and give it a try. Like, what do I have to lose at this point right? =) BTW, I feel like I need to add that Blue Apron didn’t ask me or pay me to write this. This is just a mama who loves this service and wanted to spread the word because who couldn’t use a little extra help getting dinner on the table? Am I right or am I right? =P

Nonetheless, two weeks later, this big box arrived around 4 PM right to my door. It was a refrigerated box, which they explain to you in the email prior to the delivery. I have to give it to them for their organizational skills for sure. I’m type A, so I LOVED it. 

Opened up the box to find all sorts of goodies! Everything was labeled beautifully and packaged ever so neatly. Again, LOVE the organization! There were a few inserts about how to cook each one, what you would need for each one (all provided for you besides salt, pepper, and oil), and the nutrition for each meal. 

Everything looked super fresh. I was honestly impressed. 

The three meals that I got were:

1. Seared Cod and Fregola Sarda

2. Tandoori Spiced Chicken

3. Seared Pork Chops and Kamut

Some of those words were absolute gibberish to me…what in the world was Sarda? Fregola? Kamut? All foreign words. But my oh my, after cooking with these things, my life has turned around. Blue Apron is basically making my life easy, and teaching me new ingredients for meals that are healthy! Talk about a double win. 

The seared pork chops with the kamut and a salsa on the side. By far the best dish out of the three.

Each meal took about 25-30 min to prepare start to finish which I thought was pretty reasonable given how amazing each meal was. PLUS, it saved me time from going to grocery store and meal planning for those nights that we were planning to eat this. And who couldn’t use more time right? Can I get an amen? 

The seared cod and fregola sarda.

All the meals tasted incredibly fresh. Even my husband was noticing how fresh everything tasted. 

Another great point was that they tell you how to plate/serve the meal which made it all the more fancy. The hubs and I were talking about how if we even did this after the kids went to bed, it could easily be a simple date night because some of the meals that we’ve gotten are pretty fancy! Add a little vino, candlelight, and presto! 

The tandoori spiced chicken over lentils. DELICIOUS.

I got my blue apron delivery for this week and am excited about cooking each one. I love that you can go to the website and customize exactly what you like and don’t like. A herbivore? Not a prob! There were options for vegetarians! Not into seafood? You could uncheck that little box and probably not receive any seafood in your deliveries! 

Another positive is that you get to keep these pretty sheets that spell out how to make all these meals. Keep the ones that you love and you can easily duplicate! 

This salsa was my absolute favorite thing. Tomatoes and plum with basil. I would’ve never thought of that combination and to say that it was delicious would be a massive understatement. It was so freakin’ good you guys.

I know you’re wondering what the negatives are… The main thing that I have a hard time with is that I don’t necessarily like every week’s menu so some weeks I’ve definitely skipped. So of course, on those weeks I have to plan the whole week instead of just a couple of days. Not the end of the world but they obviously can’t please everyone. 

The only other negative is that you need to be on top of your deliveries. If you decide a certain week that Blue Apron isn’t going to work for you, then it needs to be cancelled about two weeks in advance. I understand their dilemma because they need a heads up on who’s needing meals, but sometimes life can get in the way and if you have other plans one week, and forgot to cancel Blue Apron, you may potentially be in a pickle. Now of  course, it’s easy to remedy this by setting reminders on your phone and such, but did want to point this tiny little flaw out.   

Anyway, is Blue Apron worth it? YES. For me, it gets me excited to make something new to try. Some fun meals to look forward to and also to let Aria try some of these new meals! 

Hope you guys can benefit from this review! 

XO,

Alfa