Blue Apron: Gourmet Recipes Delivered To Your Home!

Hey guys!  I am SO excited about this blog post!  Today we received our first ever Blue Apron box, and I cooked and prepared one of the meals in it already as well, and I really wanted to hop on here and share what I thought with you.  If you haven't heard of Blue Apron, it is a food delivery service that you order online - but instead of getting already prepared food, you are just sent the groceries.  YOU cook the food fresh.  

There are a lot of options when ordering your meals.  Blue Apron typically sends you 3 meals a week.  You are under no obligation to order ANY meals, you pick what day of the week your box comes, if you need to skip weeks, whatever.  When you order a box of meals you specify any dietary restrictions and what foods you prefer.  For us I selected that chicken, seafood, shellfish, pork, and beef were okay.  (I specifically unselected duck, as I am not a big fan).  Since we are just trying this for the first time, I don't have any more boxes scheduled to deliver.  I wanted to cook these meals, see what we thought, and then decide on ordering more.  Right now on the Blue Apron site, they have a special where you can get your first 2 meals FREE.  I am not affiliated with this site, this is not my offer code, simply go to their homepage and you will see the offer.  Blue Apron can send 3 meals/week for 2, 4, or 6 people and the price changes accordingly.  For this box (our first one with an offer code), we got the groceries for 3 complete meals for 2 people for $39.  Shipping is free!  I will tell you more as we go, but for now let's look at what I got.

Everything came in this tidy medium sized box.  Let me just say, their packaging is PHENOMENAL.

Opening the box there was a letter telling me about this weeks meals on a beautiful cardstock-like paper, and then really nice kind of plastic coated instruction sheets for each meal.

I put all the paperwork to the side and noticed all the food was wrapped up in this padded, insulated silver bag.  Sooooo nice.

When I opened up the bag I seen all my ingredients were in their own packaging with everything labeled nicely.

Arugula, thyme, mint, garlic, carrots, scallions, etc.

Chard, tarragon, etc.

Freekah (I hadn't ever even heard of this, but it's a roasted green wheat), Miso noodles, beets, Totsoi (again, never even heard of this, it is an Asian rosette bok choy).

There were 2 layers of really substantial ice packs over the meat, again, the silver bag itself is super insulated and padded.  Everything is super cold and fresh, so it's not crucial you get everything into the refrigerator the minute your box arrives.  Mine was delivered via Fed Ex and it didn't arrive till 4pm or so.  Everything is still super cold and fresh, so no worries.  They couldn't do a better job packaging, I can't believe shipping is free!

The meats for our 3 meals:  chicken thighs (2), pork chops (2), and salmon (2 filets).

I wasn't for sure what 'Knick Knacks' were, but after opening them I seen it was just additional seasonings and stuff for each meal.  Again, everything measured out and labeled and ready to go.

Champagne vinegar, pecorino cheese, sugar, almonds, kumquats, and a shallot.

The meal I am making for tonight called for the rainbow chard.  Look how beautiful!  EVERYTHING is so fresh and at perfect ripeness, not the least bit wilted or anything.  Perfect.

Info sheet for pork chop meal.

Directions on back.

Info sheet for salmon.  Again, these instruction sheets are on what feels like a cardstock - they are very thick and strong, and feel like they are coated with like a plastic.  Super sturdy and nice.

And this is the meal I made tonight for dinner, crispy chicken thighs.  I was a little worried about how big the portions might be, as we only received 2 pieces of chicken.  But, we actually had leftovers and were both stuffed.

Everything was super easy to do and I had no trouble following the directions.  I love cooking so I jumped right in and everything was ready in no time.  Here is the finished product!

Super generous helpings!  (This was only one of the plates).  I think this is such a GREAT meal delivery service.  If you like food of a really good quality, something that's tasty and super healthy, then maybe you should give Blue Apron a try.  You get everything you need for your meals, everything is already measured out and ready to go, it's just so incredibly handy.  I will mention, the recipe called for salt/pepper and olive oil that I had to use of my own.  I cook all the time so of course these are things I keep on hand, as I would assume most everyone does.  If you are a simple food lover (fast food, corn dogs, mac and cheese, hot dogs, tater chips, etc.) then you might not be a fan of all their food....kumquat relish might not be everyone's thing, haha.  But, if you are into gourmet food and love to cook, this might be a great option for you.  Especially if you're like us and you get tired of cooking the same things over and over again and are wanting  more of a variety in your diet.  I am 100% pleased with this meal, it was healthy/fast/delicious and it was reasonably priced.  We got all this food for 3 meals this week, there's no way I could have went to the grocery store and bought everything for that cheap.  Plus, no groceries will be going to waste, because you get the exact amount of every ingredient you need.  The offer code I used was only good for this first box, so usually for 3 meals it would be $59/week.  I still think that is an unbeatable price for all the healthy/delicious food and the perfect packaging, which includes shipping.  Blue Apron lets you know what the next week's meals are going to be so that you can decide if you want that box or not.  Everything is up to you and is customizable to your family's needs.  HIGHLY RECOMMEND!

(My plate of food I had leftover. Very generous helpings!!)

The 2nd dinner - Pan Roasted Salmon Ramen!
If you have any questions just let me know!  I can't wait to cook tomorrow night's dinner!  So fun!