DISCLAIMER: This is a sponsored post brought to you by Blue Apron. The opinions are 100% my own.
In general, I would not consider myself a snob when it comes to food. Not even close. I mean…my mother put us through a decade of what we called ‘the experimental years’….a period of time when my mom explored the realm of culture cooking. There was a time when she served cold onion soup for dinner. It had a piece of bread that was floating on top…and had some weird cheese melted on that. but it was cold. Sorry mom and French people…but that was a terrible idea.
But the thing that mom got really really right was that she was into health food before it was cool and she exposed our little taste buds to a huge diversity of flavors and textures. There was a time where I was so scared to even try cooking because I knew that as hard as I tried, it would be untasty compared to my mom’s cooking…and cooking in general is really scary. But now that I am a mom, I wanna be like my mom…exposing those little taste buds to a diverse array of foods. I dig the idea that they will eat fruits and vegetables (Jeremy was completely veggie opposed when I met him and slowly but surely I have been breaking him like a wild stallion).
(spoiler alert to my mother in laws – JEREMY ATE ALL OF THE ABOVE. CAN YOU EVEN!?!)
That’s one of my goals – feed the boys good food.
Which is pretty hard to do when I have yet to go to the grocery store since LJ has been born. Yup. That’s scarier than a truck stop bathroom in my book. Three kids? Screaming? While I pick out fresh produce? Not an ideal way to spend a couple hours.
So when Blue Apron asked if I would like to try out some of the fresh meals that they send directly to my house (no grocery store trip required) and cook up these flavorful dishes, I was all like YESANDWILLYOUWASHMYDISHESTOO?
Seriously…the box arriving to my front door was the highlight of my week. I would say month…but you know, LJ was born 🙂
The boys were really excited to help me open the box and see what we were going to make.
Both of them acted like each item they pulled out of the box was gold. Also, Weston tried to eat most of the stuff raw.
That is why the red pepper is broken…it went straight into Weston’s mouth.
Each box comes with three different meals. They serve two people each (we found that the two servings were a little large for our dinner so we actually fed all four of us with each meal). Each meal has every ingredient you need (although I did need olive oil and salt and pepper) but everything else – even garnishes are in the box. Also, there is a big laminated recipe card that walks you through what each meal is supposed to look like…the ingredients and all the steps with pictures (helpful for people like me that haven’t made lamb before!).
I found it really helpful to go ahead and sort the meals so that each one had all it’s ingredients and just to be honest…I was getting a little intimidated. I mean…eggplant caponata? yuca? fregola sarda? Not exactly what we are used to cooking here in the Bower household.
But the detailed instructions did boost my confidence a little. It took me a bit longer than the 35 minutes to prep everything but only because I am not used to chopping while picture taking 🙂
That first meal we decided to have the chicken…I think Jer was a little nervous about the vegetables and salad with ‘mashed sort-of-potatoes’ was a little more safe.
It wasn’t nearly as hard as I thought it would be. In fact, I thought that I nailed the chicken and the salad – the yucca I got distracted with a nursing infant, so I added a little more milk than I would have preferred. LJ’s gonna have to take the heat for that one.
And let me tell ya…it was really good. I could definitely taste the freshness. I know it’s not saying much but it was definitely better than the restaurant food out here in the sticks.
The boys liked it too. Will really liked the capers on the chicken…which doesn’t surprise me at all because he likes things a little salty. Jeremy actually said that he liked the yucca.
The next day I got really brave and made the caponata….which required a lot of chopping. Iron Chef here I come 🙂
I have to admit…I thought I had zero chance of getting this in Jeremy. I mean…it’s all veggies. And this is a guy that goes to a fancy joint and orders steak and fries…every.single.time.
But in the end, he said that it was his favorite part of the meal! He actually loved it with the fish! Also something he never eats!
The greatest part of this was that I got something that I really liked – good food in the boys. But I also learned that as much as I like good food, I really like the making part too. And the eating….that’s nice too. But I like the pride of presenting my family with something I cooked and it being really delicious.
Also I like not going to the grocery store.
It felt like the best kind of baby gift….you know like when a friend brings you a meal…except this was three meals. And dude…I cooked them!
So I know what you are thinking…But Katie, doesn’t this cost like a bazillion dollars!? Why would I do this if shopping is so much cheaper?!
Well, here’s the thing. Blue Apron sends you three meals per week…(you can do 2 or 4 or 6 people) and each meal is $9.99 per person. Shipping is FREE. Plus, right now they are doing a 30% off promotion if you are one of the first 250 people to order. That means it’s $7 per person. That’s actually cheaper than fast food for us. And you save the hours that you spend at the grocery store. PLUS you have less waste because everything is delivered in exactly the right proportions.
I know it sounds crazy but for Jeremy and I, it makes a whole lot of sense. I love the idea of sending these as a gift to friends that recently had a baby (ahemPetersiks) or to family that is far away that I just don’t know what they would choose. I personally am planning a whole slew of date nights where we can put the boys to bed, make a romantic dinner together and skip the cost and stress of a babysitter, spending $50 on a dinner out, and pop in a RedBox movie.
Can I get an amen from my fellow mommies?! Amen and praise the Lord.
So have you tried this kind of thing before? A fresh ingredient delivery service? If you are interested in Blue Apron, here is the link to get 30% off your first order. Check if the shipping is available in your area by clicking here. Also, Blue Apron has a cookbook with all of the recipes of all the meals they’ve ever done! Happy fresh food eating!
My brother-in-law and sister-in-law use this in Chicago and love it! I hope they start delivery in iowa so we can use it too!
This is something that I have been DREAMING about!! I also have three little ones, and the grocery store is not my BFF. Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Can’t wait until they deliver in Minnesota!
I LOVE the idea of sending this to new mom’s, especially new moms who already like to cook.
What an amazing company!! Curious to see if they are available in Canada. If not, I hope they will be soon!
So funny, the boyfriend and I signed up for the german equivalent a few months ago and we’re in love with it. We never knew what to cook and always bought produce we didn’t completely use up or which ended up going to bad before we could use it because of leftovers from other meals. We get one box with three meals delivered once a month (it would be to pricey for us every week) and we’re so looking forward to it. Unboxing is always so exciting. I’m curious whether Blue Apron offers recycling service, too? If we collect the paper bags and other stuff the ingredients were packaged in and even the big box they came in, we can send them back every fifth box and they will be recycled for us. It feels so good having less waste, yummy fun meals we would never have thought of ourselves and good quality organic fresh produce. Also, between the deliveries we always cook the recipes they sent us again, because we liked them so much 😉
I would love for you to keep us a little bit updated on your meal boxes. I think they’re great.
Aww I got excited for this, but they DON’T DELIVER TO TEXAS. WAHHHH! I would love it as a full-time working mom of twins. My husband and I are always ordering takeout for dinner since there’s just no time to grocery shop and plan for meals. Boo.
My hubby and I have been using BlueApron for a couple months now and we love it! We initially got hooked because a friend used one of their “send to a friend” things on us. We try to get it about once a month, and I love that it challenges us to make things that we never would have even thought/known about before. There’s only been 1 meal out of like 15 that I haven’t liked, and we keep all of the cards to use in the future (I’m planning on making a binder to house them all – we’re currently using an empty clementines box). We sometimes get a little put off about how long it takes some of the meals, and we usually have to tag team everything to make it go by faster, but it’s nice that it gives us something to do together. I’ve been a little bummed because we found out I’m preggers three months ago and ever since we had to hold off on any of the BlueAprons because I’m never hungry for anything with the amount of flavor that comes with the meals. Can’t wait til I actually want food again to get back into getting our boxes of goodies again!
Wow that’s actually a really good price. And it looks delicious.
It looks awesome, but unfortunately, delivery to “most of the country” somehow excludes all of us in the Midwest!
This seems like a pretty cool service. It’s definitely not doable on our tiny grocery budget ($50 a week total) but if our budget was bigger I would be interested. And I agree that it seems like a great gift idea. Also, I just wanted to say that this was a really well written post. Good work lately, Katie!
I am SO HAPPY to see this!! My friend received her first box yesterday and I am chomping at the bit to hear her review. But your post might be the thing to make me order.
Have you heard of Raddish Kids? I thought of the Bower family when I saw them. Similar to Blue Apron but kid-focused recipes and recipe cards so they can help in the kitchen. Here’s hoping they sponsor a post for you!!
I’ve looked into this several times. I’ve read tons of sponsored posts about it.
But none of you say if you’re actually going to do it.
Are you going to buy the service for yourself?
This sounds AMAZING!! I wish that they shipped to my area. My husband and I currently live in Puerto Rico but we are moving back home to Florida in about a month. I might treat myself and have a box show up the week I get home (or maybe 2 weeks after we get home so my kitchen is unpacked…) Can’t wait to give them a try!
Thanks for the post!
I love this! Too bad they’re not in Texas yet………
How Cool! We get a crop share box right now and I love that it forces me to eat outside what I would normally pick up at the grocery store. This seems a lot like that but with less brain power involved in deciding what to make. (Brian power is usually depleted around my house by the time time to make dinner rolls around 😉 )
Whoops, see brain power gone, Brain* not Brian.
thanks so much for this! my friend in NY subscribes to this and I thought it was awesome. I didn’t even think it’d be available outside of the big city! And, since I’m expecting my first child in early June, signing up for my first delivery to be June 4 was perfect! 🙂
Oh I love this idea and it would be perfect for my lifestyle. Hopefully they expand the shipping area soon…I’m close but not close enough!
All that sounds really yummy!!! Big high five to you for stretching some little (and not so little in Jeremy’s case) minds and palates 🙂
Funny about that French onion soup because it’s absolutely NOT supposed to be served cold! Maybe it’s a “foodie” thing but traditional French onion soup, with the slab of toasted baguette and melted cheese on top should be serve so hot it steams up your glasses when you poke your nose above it!
The rule growing up in my house on food was you had to try something 3 times, cooked 3 different ways, before being allowed to say you didn’t like it. Of course mom didn’t always tell us what all the ingredients were so before you knew it you’d give a thumbs up to Jerusalem artichokes 😉
Say what?! Your boyfriend does CrossFit, but doesn’t eat his veggies? 😉
It all looks delicious!
This is very cool! I don’t mind shopping for ingredients or cooking, but I run out of ideas of what to make. People want to eat EVERY. NIGHT. What gives? 🙂 Looking through their website I saw about 8 things I want to make. Thanks Katie!
Be still my heart…. this is probably a little more pricey than I would normally go..but worth a try for SURE!! We have a family of 6 to feed but 2 of those are little people. And guuurl… the date night you just described would make me quite happy. 🙂
That is so awesome!! I would have totally been intimidated too though. Not sure if I would be able to get my 3 year old to eat the stuff or not. That’s great that you did though!
oh my goodness this sounds amazing! 😀 only issue I see is… we eat 100% organic. 🙁 they need to come out with an organic version of this ASAP for crunchy moms 😛
I love this idea. I’m a household of one, and I always spend at least $10 a meal – whether I cook or go out to eat.
I like the idea of not having to “think” about what I would fix.
Off to check out the website!!
Look at you, getting your Martha Stewart on. I keep seeing this pop up on my side bar (someone must have let on to Google that I can’t cook to save my life 😉 ) and I’ve been super curious about it! Those meals look a-mazing!! I might just have to try it out! 😀
oh, please, bring them to italy.. I could totally do without the groceries part of my meals…
So cool, I didn’t know something like this existed. I jumped on over to place an order but sadly they don’t deliver to my area 🙁 bummer!
Excellent! I think I saw them on Shark Tank 🙂 Whatever increases your confidence and nourishes your family 🙂 you GO girl
This sounds like a great idea for new parents. We’ve never brought babies home, let alone more than one, so I have to ask, if I gift this to someone in an email, are they really gonna check their email and figure out what I sent? Our friend lives 8 hours away, they’re having their 2nd child this weekend. They have family staying for the first little while and then I thought this would be great to send after family leaves. But, I’d hate for her to ignore the email, you know?
I wonder exactly what is their delivery range. I live in one of the biggest cities in the US and they don’t deliver here. Bummer, I was convinced I was ready to try.
He told me that he is contemplating Paleo and I seriously guffawed!
xo kb
We’ve been doing blue apron three nights a week for a few months now. We absolutely love it! Everything is delicious and I’m so excited to be eating different things that all taste like they came from a restaurant . I don’t have to decide what to make and I have cut my grocery store time to a minimum. HIGHLY recommend!!! Yum yum yum!
Jeremy and I decided to do it at least three more times and one more as a gift. We plan on spread out the meals so that it’s once a month treat.
xo kb
That looks so good, and I love that they literally send EVERYTHING to you!! Definitely checking this out, thanks Katie!
Your review was very complimentary, so I followed the link. The menu looks delicious! I think it might be helpful to amend your review to include something about the fact that by ordering, you are subscribing to weekly deliveries that you have to cancel 6 days before the delivery if you want to skip a week (like if you’re going on vacation) AND that 30% discount only applies to week one. After that, it’s $60/week (which I still think is decent for fresh! But, from a momma to other mommas, you gotta admit that remembering to cancel a week just adds one more thing to the to do list. And forgetting this item on the list is going to cost you! Thy said, your dinners look phenomenal!
First off, I think it’s hilarious that you put too much milk in the yucca when you were nursing 😉 I love nursing humor.
It’s a little pricey for us but I thought we might give it a try–until I realized Nebraska isn’t in the delivery zone. Bummer, dude.
I have looked into this a bit. I think the idea is great. We are gone a lot though so most weeks it doesn’t make sense. I love all of the variety of the recipes. You would never get bored with dinner.
oh wow! sounds like the right thing to do…:) Should give it a try!
I like your chopping block … where is that from?
I love blue apron! It’s seriously changing my life. It was getting to the point for us where I didn’t want to have to even think about what to eat- I love that they decide, shop, deliver, and it’s tasty and nutritious.
Yes, did that some years ago, also when we had our second and third girls (we’re a girl factory here! ;-). Loved it, for several reasons: saved the stress of planning the week, no grocery shopping involved, and got to try many new vegetables and dishes that I did not know existed! A bit expensive, but it made my life a whole lot easier at the time! You go Master Chef Katie! 🙂
Looking forward to my first order! We have Relay Foods up here in Baltimore and they offer some meal kits like that and I love getting exactly the right ingredients!
Love this! I’m expecting #2 at the end of June, and i would definitely like to sign up for that time when leaving the house seems so daunting and putting brain power into meal planning is impossible. Hopefully the promotion will still be available in a few weeks when delivery is available mid/late July! Thanks for introducing this service. Can’t wait to try it out!
Hi Diana. I live in Texas and there is a service called Plated that delivers here. One of my friends uses it and loves it. I just ordered my first plates from there!
Carol, there is a service called Plated that delivers in Texas. One of my best friends uses it and loves it. I just placed my first order so we’ll see!
I’m 20 weeks pregnant and I love to cook but the whole figuring out what to make and getting all the ingredients at the store is something I don’t always have time to do. I really wanted to sign up for this because it looks perfect but they don’t deliver to Texas. 🙁 I’m bummed but hopefully they will get Texas delivery down soon and it will assist me in my life once the baby arrives. Thanks Katie!!
Hi,
just dropping by from France to insist that we never eat onion soup cold ! Especially since one usually add cheese on top just seconds before eating and it should melt. you should try it again 🙂
Your post was so great (I have the same veggie-opposed boyfriend at home…) that I actually looked up if they had an equivalent of Blue Apron here in France. Sadly, they only have it in Paris, and I live in the Alps.
Congratulation on your cooking skills !
Diane
I LOVE to cook and hate to grocery shop! Well, except at Whole Foods.. that’s like a cook/food lovers dream, but way too pricey for us to enjoy shopping there on more than just a few select occasions! This really doesn’t sound too pricey! I joined a CSA starting in June, but I may check this out in the meantime! It sounds fun!
This looks awesome….but the price really isn’t right. Not that I endorse heading to the grocery store with small children (two of the worst experiences of my life were exactly that.) But with couponing, planning in advance, and really following the sales, we generally feed our family of four for less than $3 per dinner. Obviously the couponing and grocery shopping time is still included, but there’s no way we could swing $28 per meal extra for our fam. (P.S. we also eat mostly fresh food, and hardly any processed food, so its not like we’re buying ramen for that price 🙂 I should say we’ve also worked out some strategies – hitting up farmer’s markets, our coupon book is arranged in the same order as the aisles in the store, etc.
Someone have us two weeks of meals as a baby gift (our first arrived in January) and while I love the premise- I found it hard to make with all the chopping and steps with a little one. I cannot believe you could do it with 3!!! You are my hero!
On a side note – my mother loves this for her and my dad empty nesters!
This looks really cool! I would love to give it a try. It would be a nice thing for my boyfriend and I to do together once a month or so. He LOVES to cook and is really an amazing cook! I don’t mind cooking but have no where near the pallet or skill level that he does so I think this would be a nice happy medium for us both.
Hey Staci,
If you sign up for the recipe newsletter, Blue Apron will email you with their midwest launch (which is in the not too distant future!)
xo,
kb
Hi Alex,
If you sign up for the recipe newsletter, Blue Apron will email you with their midwest launch (which is in the not too distant future!)
xo,
kb
Hi Lea,
If you sign up for the recipe newsletter, Blue Apron will email you with their midwest launch (which is in the not too distant future!)
xo,
kb
Hi Rebecca,
If you sign up for the recipe newsletter, Blue Apron will email you with their midwest launch (which is in the not too distant future!)
xo,
kb
Hi Carol,
If you sign up for the recipe newsletter, Blue Apron will email you with their midwest launch (which is in the not too distant future!)
xo,
kb
Hi Meg,
If you sign up for the recipe newsletter, Blue Apron will email you with their midwest launch (which is in the not too distant future!)
xo,
kb
Hi Diana,
If you sign up for the recipe newsletter, Blue Apron will email you with their midwest launch (which is in the not too distant future!)
xo,
kb
Hi Kristin,
If you sign up for the recipe newsletter, Blue Apron will email you with their midwest launch (which is in the not too distant future!)
xo,
kb
Hi Jennifer,
If you sign up for the recipe newsletter, Blue Apron will email you with their midwest launch (which is in the not too distant future!)
xo,
kb
Do they deliver to Australia 🙂 🙂 🙂
It looks GREAT!
I’ve been using Blue Apron as a single lady and it’s perfect – the three meals are enough for lunch and dinner for me all week. I only have to shop for breakfast!
I think their distribution centers are on the east and west coast right now, but they will open one in the Midwest soon to cover the rest of the country.
There’s lots of chopping of all the fresh ingredients, and I took a knife skills class a few years ago that I think helps enormously in reducing the prep time.
Finally, a nice bonus is that you get free boxes to send to your friends and family. I’ve probably sent six or seven free ones in the last six months.
That’s awesome! I know that free dinner is the best kind of gift from a friend or family member 🙂
xo – kb
I got it at Southeastern Salvage 🙂
xo – kb
Yes! Definitely everyone needs to read all the details before deciding whether any service is right for you!
xo – kb
Yeah…maybe you could print out the email in a card and send it to her via snail mail instead? It might be like the bonus of a hand written note that makes it less ignored?
xo – kb
Yes, I definitely wouldn’t compare this to just normal dinners…this is for me compared to ‘date night dinner’ or ‘going out’. Also, how do you coupon for fresh food? Nothing in my area ever has coupons for fresh? Curious because that is one of the reasons why I quit couponing…it just ended up being cheaper for me to buy bulk.
xo – kb
Katie, do you know if there’s an organic version of this?
This post came at just the right time for us! I have a 7 month old and our meals have gradually been going down hill over the last few months and I try to juggle work and a baby. So I signed up with the discount and my first box comes this week! So excited to try it, get some healthy food in us, and save me a trip or two to the store!
I don’t know but I will ask around.
xo – kb
ohh thanks Jill! I’ll look into it. I did sign up to get notified for when Blue Apron delivers to our area.
Can’t believe I’m doing this! I have a pantry stocked full of Awesome, wholesome, convenient foods…yet pulling a meal together is happening less and less! This might save us from disappointing last minute meals 🙂
I was just going to ask if it was organic/pasture-raised…maybe in the future. I’m a crunchy mama, too (check out my blog ;), and love to find good resources. This is a really cool idea though especially for new mamas that do like to cook.
Thanks for the post, Katie! Hooray for you hubby eating all those veggies 😉
As someone else mentioned, check out Plated. I’m in Texas, too, and they do deliver there.
Bethb-check out Plated! It looks crunchy-friendly to me 😉 Gotta love biodegradable/recyclable packaging and locally sourced ingredients…plus they deliver to Texas.
So excited! I ordered today and can’t wait for the first box. We both work full time and I love to cook but the grocery store is exhausting at the end of the day and the last place I want to brave on the weekends!
Oh Marie, please share the company!
Fellow German girl here, although I fear it won’t be available in my neck of the woods……