I know a ton of people (both online and for realsies) who regularly use and love Blue Apron,* but it had never been a particular priority for me. I love finding and storing recipes on Pinterest and various food blogs (my favorites are Framed Cooks and Kitchen Trial and Error) and I never felt like cooking, planning a menu, or shopping were holding me back and/or tedious. BUT I had a friend give me a code for a free box, so heck yeah I'm going to try it for free.
I apologize in advance for these pictures. My phone camera is terrible, and the lighting in my kitchen is even worse.
I was immediately smitten with the packaging. Everything is ADORABLE. I love the labels. I mean, you hardly need to label parsley, but I don't care! I love that it's labelled anyway!
 |
| Overexposed and poorly framed! |
The linguine was fresh (aka not dried) which immediately piqued my interest and factored heavily into why I chose this dish (out of the 3 in the box) to start with. I love me some real pasta. I mean, let's be real, I love me some crappy cheap dry pasta too. But fresh well-made pasta? On another level.
Also! Each meal comes with a sack of "knick knacks," eg The Stuff You Only Need A Few Teaspoons or Tablespoons Of. I have a well-stocked kitchen for the most part, so most of these were not *strictly* necessary for me (aside from the chicken demi-glace, which I definitely did not have on hand!) but I continued to love the organization and cuteness inherent in small packaging of things.
 |
| blurrier and blurrier! |
I was expecting the meal to be either a little boring / bland, since it was catering to people who often profess not to like (or want) to cook, OR to have way more steps and be more complicated than I care to take on during a weekday night.
I was pleasantly surprised to find it right in the middle: I would not, for example, recommend this for my dad, who would be overwhelmed by the number of steps and relative complexity of the instructions; on the other hand, this was completely pulled together in 30 minutes and the instructions could not have been more clear.
 |
| O lighting, why do I hate you so? |
I'd read some reviews complaining that the serving sizes were not large enough for 2 adults who, uh, enjoy eating. I would DEFINITELY put Chris in that category (I regularly cook dinner with serving size = 4, and end up with a scant 1/2 serving left over for lunch the next day) but we both agreed this was PLENTY of food for the two of us.
Still to come from this box are Arepas de Carne Molida and Salmon Burgers with Arugula & Potato Salad, both of which claim to have the same ~30 minute prep time. We shall see. But so far, we are impressed, Blue Apron.
(I appear to have not cancelled next week's delivery in time, which means we are now getting three NEW meals again next week. I am never going shopping again, apparently!)
*(I assume you all know this, but I was in no way compensated by Blue Apron, I got the free box from my friend's code, who also was not compensated, blah blah blah)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In completely unrelated news, I have a hair appointment this afternoon after work. For the first time in AGES I am completely uninterested in going my normal route (keep up the red; reshape the mop) and want to go dramatically different. I'm just not sure HOW quite yet. I have virtually no pictures that show the basic style now because it's thrown into a pony or braid of some sort 99% of the time. Here's the general length:
Color isn't far off from that - it's due for a touch up, so normally I'd end up with a brighter/deeper version of that red after an appointment.
BUT. I want to CHANGE! Something exciting! Maybe cut it all off? Go with an entirely new color? Purple highlights? ALL OF THE ABOVE??
About the shortest my hair has been in the last decade was this haircut from 2008, which I like (although am not sure I have the energy to maintain):
My hair stylist is thinking long bob, which I could get behind. I can't wait to leave today and go TRANSFOORRRRRRRMMM!
I am intrigued. I've seen a million people try out Blue Apron and most seem to really enjoy it. I guess I have some concerns about "please ship me my groceries in a heavy, chilled overnight-delivery box" vs a "shop local!" mentality; I also don't really mind grocery shopping or coming up with new flavor combinations. I'd rather spend $7 on a bottle of new, fancy spice or sauce and try to find/make up a handful of recipes to use it a bit than spend $60 a week and get a few tablespoons of a few spices that are gone after one use.
ReplyDeleteI dunno, I appreciate the idea, but I am still pretty skeptical. I'm interested in how you feel the other meals go.
xox
OK this is good to hear because I also have a free Blue Apron code from a friend and I do plan to try it but I have been feeling edgy about all the complicated steps that people keep talking about. Also I agree with Harriet above that it just doesn't seem very in line with the whole shop local, shop small, minimize packaging trend. But I am super curious to try it!
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to see what you do with your hair!