My Review of Blue Apron Meals

Last week, we tried something a bit new!  My sweet friend Sharon sent us a 1-week trial of Blue Apron Meals.  She and her husband have been enjoying their meals and thought we might like to try it also.  I am always up for trying new foods as well as new ways to plan our menu and prepare foods.

So, after having 3 of their meals, here is my review.  Being Type A, I absolutely LOVE the whole idea of this type of service.  Blue Apron is one of the many companies out there now who plan your meals for you, ship you foods, and have recipes ready for you to make.  It's really pretty ingenious.  Blue Apron's service includes a few different options for ordering based on the size of your family and also the foods your family wants to eat.  Their menu changes each week.  Then, it shows up at your door in a box that has everything you need to prepare your meals that week.  And don't worry if you aren't home...it's packaged with ice packs so that your food stays fresh until you are able to unpack it all.

On to the meals themselves...we had three meals shipped to us.  Our trial was free, but usually a week costs $59.95 for 3 meals that serve 2-3 people.  So, you are looking at $20 per meal.  Based on how your family typically eats, you can decide whether this is money-saving for you or not!

Here were our meals:

Dukkah-Spiced Cod

  They send you a wonderful color card with the entree and step-by-step instructions...

And all of the ingredients are pre-measured and ready to go!

And, they are SUPER beautiful once they are plated.  Seriously...the pretty plates were one of my favorite aspects!

Steak & Eggs

The cabbage slaw on this was amazing...

Chicken Fried Chicken

This one was also really good!  The sides were especially easy to prepare.

The verdict...I absolutely love the idea of this, and the food was really quite delicious.  But, for our family, it's not the best use of $60 per week.  I can shop for our groceries a little less expensively for foods that we eat a little more regularly.  For each of the meals, I substituted different foods for the kids because some of them were definitely things my kids would not have eaten enough of to be full.  Also, some of them would have been a bit too spicy, or there wouldn't have been enough meat for all 5 of us.  

However, I will take some of the ideas of these recipes and incorporate them into more of our meals.  I learned about layering flavors in a different way, and I always love finding new ways to flavor foods and prepare them in a better way.  But, all 3 meals took 30-40 minutes for me to prepare over the stovetop.  While I may make a 30-minute stovetop meal 1 time a week, I cannot do this 3 times a week.  It's a little too much standing and chopping for dinner all at the same time...I typically make foods that I can prepare earlier in the week or day so that I don't have to do so much right at dinner time.  My kids enjoy a variety of proteins, fruits, and vegetables, although they don't always like them layered and mixed together.

But, if you are a busy family who needs more ideas for dinner and even help with the shopping, I definitely recommend your giving this a shot!  Blue Apron and other services could be the PERFECT fit for a busy mom who doesn't have time to menu plan and shop for all of her family's meal each week.  With a service like Blue Apron, you would know you had 3 meals, ready to make, at home and in the fridge, which may keep you from hitting the drive through.

So, that's my review.  For this time in my life, it's not a fit.  But, the food is incredible, the recipes were easy to follow, and the fact that groceries show up on your doorstep is pretty much magic.  Give it a shot if you think it would be a good fit for your family!

April 3-10, 2016

Taking this week off...see you next week! :-)

March 27 - April 2, 2016

Sunday:  Easter Sunday!

  We always host Easter at our house…our kids love that our local family all get together to eat and hunt eggs!  This year, I took an easy route and made BBQ Pulled Pork in the crock pot.  All you need is a pork roast (I made 2), a bottle of BBQ sauce, and a can of Coke.  Put them all in the crock pot together and cook on low all day!  Then shred the pork and it’s ready for sandwiches, nachos, tacos, or anything!  I made ours on Saturday, and then just put the crock pot on warm before we left for church Sunday morning.  We served ours on hamburger buns.  Everyone brought dishes to add to our meal including roasted sweet potatoes, salad, cole slaw, deviled eggs, beans, and dessert.  J

Sunday Night:  BBQ Pork Pizza

  Normally one of our Sunday meals is leftovers or just sandwiches.  But, we had leftover BBQ Pork from lunch, and I just thought we would have nachos or something along those lines.  The hubs randomly asked if pizza would be a possibility. When I realized it was almost 6:00, I looked up on Pinterest "self rising pizza crust."  Well, this recipe from Babble.com was the first one that popped up. Only 2 ingredients!  I actually don't have any Greek yogurt on hand, but I had itss less-healthy cousin, sour cream!

Well, this experiment was a HIT!  Not only was it super easy using my mixer, but the crust was so tasty!  Our BBQ pizza was so, so delicious. We actually baked the crust for about 5 minutes before we topped it with BBQ sauce, cheddar cheese, BBQ pork, and then a little bit of Muenster cheese. Then we baked it for about 10 minutes more. Yum!  If you find yourself wanting to jazz up leftovers, or just have a quick (no rising necessary!) pizza, give this recipe a shot!

Monday:  BBQ Pork Taquitos with Beans & Roasted Sweet Potatoes

  Being on a cash budget often means the end of the month is using what we have on hand to create meals rather than going to the store just to buy something else.  And, we still had some BBQ pork leftover from Easter lunch, but we definitely didn’t want sandwiches again.  Also, I couldn’t freeze the meat because it had been frozen before I cooked it.  So, I typed in “BBQ Pork Leftover Recipes” into Pinterest.  When a recipe for taquitos popped up, I knew it was perfect because we had some corn tortillas in the fridge.  These were super simple, and we all enjoyed them.  I added a little Muenster cheese over the top during the last 5 minutes of baking to make them a little cheesy.  I also reheated some beans that were leftover and roasted some diced sweet potatoes and broccoli.  This meal FINALLY used up all the pork.  J

Tuesday:  Pasta with Ground Venison Marinara Sauce with Roasted Green Beans & Carrots

  It’s nice to always have some type of ground beef, venison, chicken, or turkey on hand for easy meals like pasta and tacos.  I had a healthy dinner on the table for our family in no time by simply pulling some ground venison out of the freezer and also some homemade marinara sauce I had frozen a few months back.  Roasting vegetables is a family fave, and I also made garlic bread out of some leftover hamburger buns from Easter. 

Wednesday:  Dinner with Small Group

Thursday:  Crispy Tilapia & Quinoa with Kale

  Chad took the boys out to eat after baseball practice, so I made dinner for just Payton and me here at home.  She wanted chicken nuggets and apple sauce, and I had some crispy tilapia from Costco in the freezer that made for a quick and easy dinner for me!

Friday:  Pizza & Movie Night!

  We ordered Dominos…the kids’ favorite!  I always serve ours with fresh fruits and veggies to round out our meal.

Saturday:  Leftover Pizza

  Chad had his draft for his fantasy baseball league, so the kids and I had leftover pizza from the night before.  J

March 20-26, 2016

Oh my goodness...we were barely home this week!

Sunday:  Breakfast for Dinner

  We had our church potluck and Easter egg hunt that day after church, and Chad was out of town for work, the the kids and I were wiped out!  Eggs, bacon, and waffles from the freezer (anytime I make pancakes or waffles I make a ton, so I always have some in the freezer for easy breakfasts...or in this case, dinner!) made for an easy, filling meal that we all enjoyed.  I fancied up my eggs by layering them with fresh spinach, feta cheese, and salsa.  The kids had their's plain.


Monday:  Dinner at Mom's


Tuesday:  Chick-Fil-A  :-)

  Both boys had baseball practice on Tuesday late afternoon/early evening, so we cashed in some of our Chick-Fil-A cards we earned at the church egg hunt on Sunday!


Wednesday:  Sandwiches at the Park

  Our small group has been meeting at the park on Wednesday nights, so making sandwiches for everyone is pretty simple.


Thursday:  Crockpot Crack Chicken & Roasted Broccoli

Crockpot Crack Chicken
  Well...it's about time I actually cooked something!  This was super simple and super delicious!!  I served ours on whole wheat mini buns with roasted broccoli.  Ranger had a game at 7:10, so this was the perfect dinner that everyone enjoyed.  I didn't add the extra cheese at the end...I just plopped the chicken on the buns and called it good.  :-)  (Yummy recipe courtesy of Cookies & Cups)


Friday:  Crack Chicken Nachos

  I was out for the evening with girl friends from church, so Chad was in charge of dinner.  I intentionally made more of the Crack Chicken from the night before so he would have dinner pretty much ready to go.  He served the chicken in multi-grain scoop chips with shredded cheese on top.  He told me the kids demolished them!  I cannot tell you how much joy it brings me to prep a meal once that we are able to eat TWICE!


Saturday:  Soy & Citrus Grilled Duck, Brown Rice, & Roasted Broccoli

  We had 2 baseball games today, and Chad was home, so I asked him to grill for dinner.  He's always happy to grill for us...particularly if it's something he's hunted and shot!  ;-)  While he grilled the duck, I made simple sides of brown rice and roasted broccoli.

March 13-19, 2016

  *This week had a few unexpected events, so there were several nights we weren't at home.*

Sunday:  Bean & Cheese Quesadillas with Rice & Fruit

  We had leftovers for lunch after church that morning, so I wanted to cook something Sunday night.  I had some refried beans in the freezer leftover from the last time I made a big batch of slow-cooked beans.  Just puree them, and freeze!  I made some tortillas, and in no time we had bean and cheese quesadillas!  It was a beautiful evening, so we ate outside.  The kids loved these and ate almost every bite!


Monday:  Out of Town


Tuesday:  Out of Town


Wednesday:  Sandwiches at the Park for Small Group


Thursday:  Cheeseburgers, Tator Tots, Sweet Potato Fries, & Salad
  It was the first night since Sunday that we were all home together as a family, so an easy, family favorite was the perfect meal.  :-)


Friday:  Leftovers & Family Movie Night
  I had Chad grill double the amount of burgers on Thursday because I wanted plenty for us to have Friday too.  This time we had roasted green beans and sweet potato fries along with the burgers.  It was also family movie night...our fave!


Saturday:  Smoked Turkey, Broccoli, & Sundried Tomato Pasta with Garlic Bread

Smoked Turkey, Broccoli & Sundried Tomato Pasta
  Callen played his first t-ball game that morning, we had a church seminar during the day, and then Ranger played his first baseball game of the season that evening.  So, by the time we arrived back home, we were dirty and tired!  While Chad bathed the kids, I made a simple, healthy meal with some smoked turkey from the freezer (Chad had bagged it in the Food Saver from Christmas) that I warmed in a saute pan with a little olive oil.  I added in sun-dried tomatoes and fresh broccoli as well.  While that warmed together, I boiled some quinoa pasta in salted water.  Once the pasta was cooked and drained, I added it to the turkey, tomatoes, and broccoli, drizzled on a little more olive oil, and then sprinkled on a little freshly-grated Parmesan cheese.  It was delicious!  I love when our meals are just random ingredients thrown together and it turns out so well!

March 6-12, 2016

Sunday:  Slow Cooker Beef & Broccoli with Rice

Slow Cooker Beef & Broccoli with Rice
  This is a wonderful recipe that has great flavor but requires very little time and work.  :-)  It's also a nice way to use a cheaper cut of beef and cook just a little bit longer in the crock pot on low, which saves a bit of your grocery money!  Sundays are great slow cooker days...especially when my mom came over to watch the Downton Abbey finale with me.


Monday:  Chicken Crescent Squares with Broccoli & Carrots

Chicken Crescent Squares
  I haven't made these in FOREVER, but they are an absolute HIT with the kids!  My niece was staying with us for a few days, and Chad was gone, so my menu was all about what the kids would eat.  These may not be the healthiest entree, but serving them with tasty, roasted broccoli and carrots helps a bit.  These are also easy to make ahead of time and just pop in the oven 30 minutes before dinner, or even freeze for easy, weeknight meals.  (Jennablogs.com)


Tuesday:  Leftovers
  The kids enjoyed it the second time around just as much as the first!  :-)


Wednesday:  Sausage, Egg, & Cheese Breakfast Burritos with Fruit
  Another kid friendly meal!


Thursday:  Spaghetti with Spinach Salad & Garlic Bread
  Chad was home again!  I had some cooked ground chicken and diced veggies in the freezer from making tacos a few weeks back, so I just thawed that out a bit, boiled some whole wheat spaghetti, and added the chicken and veggies to some pasta sauce.  Easy dinners are a fave!  Plus, have salad ingredients is a quick, simple way to have some veggies on all of our plates.


Friday:  Date Night!
  My mom kept our kids so Chad and I could have a much-needed date night.  And...what did we choose to do?  We ordered pizza and an Amazon movie and stayed at home!  Perfect.


Saturday:  Chicken Fried Venison, Roasted Sweet Potatoes, & Spinach Salad
  The fruits of Chad's hunting labors make some of our favorite meals.  The kids ask for him to chicken fry venison often, so occasionally he whips some up for us...outside, on the grill burner thankfully!

February 28 - March 5, 2016

Sunday:  lunch – Grilled Turkey, Muenster, Green Apple, & Blackberry Preserve Sandwiches with Fresh Veggies & Chips

  Lunch after church needs to be something quick and easy that I can throw together, and it also needs to be very kid friendly.  But, I like to try and have it be a little something different than what we eat for lunch the rest of the week.  So, I fancied up our grilled cheese by adding thin-sliced green apples and a thin layer of blackberry preserves.  Yum!!

Sunday:  dinner – Chili Dogs & Steamed Broccoli

  Because it was the end of the month and we were eating what was available without having to go to the store.  We pulled some venison chili out of the freezer and served it over the last of the hot dogs we had in the fridge.  We didn’t even have buns, but none of us minded!  We also didn’t have a block of cheese or shredded cheese (ha!), so Payton helped me cut sliced cheese into itty bitty squares.  J  She loved it!

Monday:  Dinner with Mom

  Chad was gone, and my mom offered to feed us.  Hooray!

Tuesday:  Breakfast for Dinner – Eggs, Bacon, Pancakes, & Toast

  Our new normal is going to be baseball practice on Tuesdays for Callen and Thursdays for Ranger, both ending at 6:00.  This week, Chad was also out of town for work.  So, our dinners needed to be simple, mostly healthy, and kid-friendly since I was a solo act.  So, while the kids were taking showers and getting cleaned up, I made a quick dinner of eggs, bacon, pancakes leftover from the freezer, and…after the kids ate all of that…I also made toast!  Happy kids, happy mommy, easy peasy.  (I made my eggs with spinach, but not the kids.)

Wednesday:  Cheeseburgers with Fresh Fruit & Veggies

  Normally we eat with our small group on Wednesday nights, but Ranger had a possible case of pink eye, so we stayed home.  Alas, that meant I needed dinner on a night when I hadn’t planned any!  But, earlier in the day, I saw that Sonic had their junior cheeseburgers for 89 cents all day!  So, I picked up one for each of the kids, and then they ate them at home with fresh fruit & veggies.  They were beyond thrilled, as was I.  J  I made a salad for myself topped with some tilapia from Costco that I baked in the oven.

Thursday:  Popcorn Chicken with Roasted Broccoli & Carrots

  Again…simple meal for a baseball night.  Frozen chicken nuggets to the rescue!

Friday:  Homemade Pizza with Cauliflower Pizza Crust

  Chad was finally home!  So, we were all happy to have our Friday family movie night.  The kids would have loved it if I had just ordered Domino’s, but I opted instead to make homemade pizza using this recipe from Tasty Kitchen for Cauliflower Pizza Crust.  I made one several months ago, and we all actually liked it!  This was no exception.  There are a few steps, but none of them are hard.  It’s a fun way to get in more veggies with pizza for dinner.   Plus, the crust is loaded with cheese!   Chad and I had a big salad to go along with ours, and I served some fruit with the kids’ plates.  The kids topped their half with turkey pepperoni and mozzarella, and for Chad and me, we used turkey pepperoni, a little rotisserie chicken, red and yellow bell peppers, and feta.  Every bite of the pizza was gone!  Payton was the only one who didn’t love it…I’ll take 4/5 any day.  ;-)

Saturday:  Grilled Venison Steak, Pioneer Woman Crash Hot Potatoes, & Spinach Salad

  Chad grilled some yummy venison steak while I made Pioneer Woman’s Crash Hot Potatoes and a spinach salad to go along with it.  Our friend, Scott, was over for dinner also.  My potatoes don’t look as pretty in the picture as the Pioneer Woman’s, but they are really crispy and tasty, so I guess I can’t care too much about how strange they look in the picture.  Dinner was delish!