I have to share one of the most highly anticipated
boxes that I have gotten the chance to review lately, Blue Apron! I cannot tell
you how excited I was to find out that Blue Apron actually shipped to
Washington, and when they offered to send me a courtesy box! Whoo hoo. I was
like a kid on Christmas waiting for this box!
What is Blue Apron?
Blue Apron delivery comes with all the raw
ingredients you need to produce 3 meals for the week, in exactly the right
portions. Each plate
is designed to be a well-balanced, healthy meal. In addition, each delivery comes with beautifully printed
recipe cards and step-by-step instructions. You can pick from one of two
options for your food choices: One that includes Poultry, Meat or Fish with each meal, and one that is
Vegetarian.You also pick how many people you are serving. The Cost is $9.95 per
person per meal, so for two people that comes to $59.94( 6 meals total).
1st Blue Apron Delivery
(Week of November 1st)
I
decided to go with the Poultry, Fish and Meat option. And Blue Apron sent me a
package full of three meals for 2 people. Right away I noticed that Blue Apron
is packaged very nicely. Very organized, and still VERY fresh when received.
The ice packages surrounding the meat were still ice cold, and the meat was
very tightly packaged so that it was not near the other ingredients. I am very
cautious about spoiled meat, and I have always been very hesitant about cooking
boxes being sent to me, because I do not want anything to spoil. However, Blue
Apron’s packaging and keeping the ingredients fresh was impeccable.
1st Meal
Mexican Albondigas Soup
With Kale and Quinoa
Everything
was perfectly packaged and labeled so their was no confusion as to what ingredients
went with each meal. We quickly separated all the ingredients so that we knew
what meals they went with. We then decided that we would make this Mexican
Albondigas Soup first. I was a little worried because to be honest, I have been
such a meat and potatoes cooker for A the last year, I really have not used my
real cooking skills for awhile. However, the Blue Apron directions were very
good, and everything was super simple.
The
Recipe card was laminated so that if there is a spill, which happens in my
kitchen, it will not make the directions unreadable. Very good!
The
only thing for me is that sometimes I tend to stray a little bit from a recipe,
and since we actually were cooking for 4 instead of two, I added a little extra veggies and meat to make it serve more portions. It worked and turned out excellent!
2nd Meal
Chopped Shirmp Salad
With Watercress, Honeycrisp Apple and
Sweet Potato
I
really like Shirmp, but A, well… not so much. Good thing I had others at home to eat
this with me. I have to say the salad was huge, definitely enough to serve more
than 2 people.
The
Recipe card again was super self-explanatory, and was easy to follow. This time
I followed the recipe pretty well, until I got to the salad dressing. I typically
would not use any salad dressing, but since I was trying to follow the Blue
Apron recipe, and use what they gave me, I made it. I thought I actually had
messed up, since I added some extra tarragon and chives to my dressing as well,
but it turned out very tasty!
What
I really liked about this Shrimp salad was that the shrimp just added to entire
flavor of the salad, they really were so tasty. And I liked the watercress and
the sweet potatoes addition to this salad. I would have never thought to add
sweet potatoes to a salad, but it was very delicious.
3rd Meal
Korean Chicken Lettuce Wraps with Pickled
Daikon and Cellophane Noodles
I
think this meal took a little more planning, since I thought the picked daikon
needed 24 hours to soak in the pickling mix before we ate it. I also, being a
strayer of recipes that I am, decided that the pickled daikon also would
include sliced carrots, green apples and red radish. It really did turn our
delicious!
However,
even though this took preparing a part of the meal ahead of time, everything
else was super easy. The chicken only took a little while to cook, and
everything else just was easy and 1-2-3. I think for the next time I make this
meal I will marinate the chicken more, and add a little bit more flavor.
TICKLED PINK
OPINION
I
really loved trying out Blue Apron, and think it is a great box for people on
the go. For me and my family it really did save a lot of time. Instead of
having to go to the grocery and actually plan the meal, I find the convenience
of Blue Apron wonderfully enticing. The only downside of a subscription like
Blue Apron, is that possibly for a family on a budget spending $9.95 per
person/per meal could be a little pricey, even though the meals in themselves
are definitely worth $9.95, if not more if you bought something like it in a restaurant. The plus is that I found after cooking the meals that were included in this
Blue Apron box is that they actually, with a little additions here and there,
feed more people than it is made for. I guess that would just depend on the appetites
in your household, haha. I also really appreciate that the meals are pretty healthy, which tends to be hard sometimes when you do not have time to make plans for meals. Overall, I really loved Blue Apron, and like that it brought
me the convenience and the ease of having great meals already planned out and
100% ready for my family. I cannot see me getting this every week, but maybe
once or twice a month.
If you are interested in learning more about Blue Apron or sign up for this wonderful subscription box, you can HERE. And right now if you are a new subscriber you can save 30% on your first set of meals. The selection of meals also look fantastic this week, two in particular are the Butternut Squash Mac & Cheese and the Chipotle Steak Salad. Yummy!
Until next time…
Stay Tickled
Pink,
Stephanie
*This box was received for reviewing purposes.
However, all opinions and views about the box are my own, and no compensation,
other than the box, were provided for my honest opinions.
