My boss receives them and once you receive a few, you're able to gift a free box to someone else to try! I'm thankful she sent me one to try, because not only was it so much fun to make, but the food was absolutely delicious!
Everyone knows that it takes me forever to try new foods. Prime example - I'm embarrassed to admit this, but I'm all about honesty... last weekend I tried yogurt - yes, you read that correctly... yogurt, for the first time! Ha! So if that gives you a glimpse of what it takes / how long it takes for me to try new foods, you'll be extremely proud of all of the combos and new ingredients that I tried this past weekend while making the meals that I prepared from my first Blue Apron box.
I want to first explain how Blue Apron works, and then in the upcoming weeks, I'll post pictures and step-by-step instructions for each of the meals that were part of my first box, and of any that I'll order again in the future!
I love cooking and love finding new recipes. One of the setbacks I often run into is that I'm either so picky (so I like to stick with the recipes and foods that I already know and love that I've made numerous times) or I easily become overwhelmed with ingredient lists. When I say overwhelming ingredient lists, I mean that either it's a long list of ingredients or it's an unfamiliar ingredient/food that I'm not use to cooking with. Often with new recipes, you'll only need a small size or portion of something that you have to buy in it's whole state, leaving the remaining amount to go to waste. Example - one of my recipes from this weekend had ginger root in it. If I came across a recipe that called for a small amount of ginger root, and I had to buy a whole ginger root from the store, I'd know automatically that the remainder of the unused ginger root would go to waste, and that I'd most likely throw the rest out, not having use for it for additional meals. I hate to waste anything - so in scenarios like the above, I'd probably just avoid the recipe altogether so that I wasn't being wasteful of both money and the ginger root itself. Also - I've never made anything with ginger root, so that can also become a little intimidating if you haven't prepared dishes using a certain food before. Another example is that one of my recipes had a Miso Glaze in it - I have no idea where I'd find that! (I mean, I could definitely search for it, and I'm sure I'd eventually find it; but for me, saving time is precious and Blue Apron made everything so easy and convenient).
So other than convenience and forcing myself to try new things, what else was so great about my Blue Apron experience?
- You receive every single ingredient that you need to make your dishes (except for things that you'll always have in your house - like water, olive oil or pepper). I was a little skeptical at first wondering how fresh everything would stay while being mailed to me, or how the ingredients would keep up all week once I received them if I planned on spreading the meals out during the week, and I was pleasantly surprised! Everything was so fresh and packaged so well that it looked like I had just picked everything up from the grocery store. (Actually, to be honest - it looked even more fresh than some of the produce and ingredients that I get from the grocery store). They purchase all of their seasonal premium ingredients from artisinal purveyors (and you can review the list of each of them from their website to know exactly where and which farms the ingredients are coming from).
- You pick the recipes/dishes that you'd like for each of your boxes! When you create an account, you set your meal preferences - what types of food you like, dislike, and things that you are interested in trying. Depending on the membership you select, you get a set number of meals that you receive for each box. For my box, it included 3 meals to feed two people each. The week before your box is set to be delivered, you can log in to your account and choose from the list of meals that week to select which ones you'd like to be sent. Each meal is between 500-700 calories and takes about 35 minutes prepare (so you're getting a great gourmet meal without the long and complicated gourmet cooking experience and price you'd pay at a nice restaurant). Each box comes with a recipe card with step-by-step photo instructions on how to prep and cook the meal.
- Flexible Plans. When you sign up, it will automatically enroll you in receiving a new box each week. You pick the day of the week that you want it delivered, and you can skip any week that you don't wish to receive a delivery (at no penalty). We're extremely busy and are always running from one event or work commitment to another, or are away for weekends at a time - so this is great for families like ours that are just all over the place constantly!
- Cost. There are options that you can choose from - either the 2-Person Plan (3 meals to feed 2 people) or the Family Plan (your choice of 4 or 2 meals to feed up to 4 people). If I were to receive the same box that was sent to me on Friday, it'd be the 2-Person Plan box for $59.94/week (which comes to approximately $9.99/person per meal). After I cooked all three meals and realized how incredible they were, I'd have absolutely no problem paying $9.99 for a dish that I'd absolutely spend over $30 each for, if I were to order the same dish from a nice restaurant. Also, to be honest, we don't really eat out at restaurants often. We typically go for special occasions or for a nice treat every once in a while, but we prefer eating at home and making our meals together. Because we already don't spend much on eating out at restaurants and the fact that we have constant busy schedules, I'd probably set up my upcoming orders to be delivered every other week, or maybe even every 3 weeks. Whatever I decide, I'm absolutely looking forward to the nice occasional treat that I can get 3 amazing meals from for less than the price we'd pay at a restaurant for one meal out together!
Overall, I really enjoyed making the meals from my first box. Not only was it fun to cook new things, but also it forced me to try new foods and ingredients that I wouldn't normally try (something that is one of my new years resolutions for 2015!)
In the upcoming week(s), I will share pictures and instructions from the meals from Blue Apron that I make and so far, I've enjoyed all of your questions about my experience! Hopefully each of you that have already inquired and placed orders to relieve your first box, will like it as much I have so far!
Stay tuned for future Blue Apron posts! :)
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