My husband and I have been toying with the idea of trying Blue Apron for some time now. The thought of trying out new menu options that A) can help us get the kids interested in cooking with us and B) are delivered straight to our front porch sounded amazing. We received a promo code that gave us $30 off and decided to finally give it a try. We opted for the twice weekly meal for four, which costs $69.92 per week ($8.74 per serving).
One thing I really liked when I first signed up was that I was able to choose certain options we did not want sent (lamb, shellfish, meat, etc). Even better is that once I signed up I could choose between their weekly menu options (at least this is the case with the twice weekly plan), meaning that each week I can go in and choose two out of the four menu options they offer. Another plus is that if we ever choose to not have Blue Apron deliver (if we are out of town, have guests, etc) we can simply skip the week and are not charged nothing at all.
For us, the cost was easy to digest- heck, it’s usually $40 for us to order pizza anymore!- at about $35 per meal for four. What we were anxious about is whether the food would be as easy to digest as the price tag.
I was super excited to open our first box from Blue Apron when it arrived, and it did not disappoint! Everything was packed super nice and orderly, with big enough icepacks to keep everything (meat included) cold. There were printed recipes and instructions for the two meals of the week, as well as a informational brochure on avocado (an absolute favorite at our house!) and a cooking lesson for kids (limited time only on the kids lesson- but perfect timing since part of us signing up was to involve the kids). Everything looked fresh and I liked that literally everything (besides salt, pepper and EVOO) was included. No trips to the store necessary!
Our first week included Spiced Steaks & Tomato-Avocado Salad and Zucchini & Mozzarella Pizza Paninis.
As hoped, the kiddos both chipped in and helped cook our first Blue Apron meals. I found that the recipe was super easy to follow (even for the kids), and both prep and cook time were pretty quick. (I would say that I average about 1 hour in the kitchen, between prep and cook times for most Blue Apron recipes)
The end result?? Both adults and kids LOVED both of the first week’s recipes! Hurray!!
We have continued with Blue Apron since we first tried it and, I can honestly say, most of the recipes are awesome (and they are usually between 600-800 calories per serving). There have really only been two or three that we would’t make again. What has been really great is that Blue Apron offers ingredients that I wouldn’t normally cook with. We always make the kids try everything, so it has been really neat to see them expanding their experiences with food.
Do they always help cook the meals? No, not really. But I do have them sit with me and help choose which meals they think sound the most interesting. This still ensures that they stay involved, and helps in the case their is something they end up not liking so much.
Blue Apron is a definite win in our house!
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