Making Delicious Homemade Dinners without Grocery Shopping

Over the past 3 years, we’ve fallen in love with Blue Apron and are thrilled they are sponsoring the post!

Have you ever been in a rut of eating out WAY too much? Or cooking a repetitive set of meals at home?

We were in both scenarios in 2015. While we enjoyed trying new foods outside our home, it was a rare day that we’d experiment in our own kitchen.  We claimed to like cooking but failed to research and meal plan creativity.

All that changed when Blue Apron delivery became an option in our zip code.  Our first delivery was way back in June 2015, and this week we received our 88th delivery. That’s 264 unique meals we’ve cooked with their farm-fresh ingredients.

We always save our favorites so we can make them again, like an over-the-top good Asparagus and Summer Squash Curry.

Based on our long history as paying customers, it was a very quick YES when they asked if I would like to partner with them spread the word about the current Chrissy Teigen collaboration.  After hearing friends RAVE about Chrissy’s cookbook, Cravings, I already had it on my Amazon wishlist, so this was a perfect collaboration all the way around.

Make sure you stay tuned until the end of the post because we’re giving away a copy of Cravings! Blue Apron is also providing the first 50 readers to sign-up here $50 off their first two weeks. 

How Does Blue Apron Work?

Blue Apron has plan options available for both 2-person dinners and families. The 2-person plan would also be great for singles who wanted dinner and a great lunch out of one cooking session.

When you get your box delivered, it includes cold packs. You don’t have to be home to accept delivery. The box contains large recipe cards, along with a bounty of fresh veggies, no-hormone-added meat, sustainable seafood and any other condiments needed except salt, pepper, and olive oil.

The front of the recipe card shows the prepared meal, along with a description, wine pairing, and overview of the ingredients.

The back side of the card gives step by step directions for preparing your meal. I’d recommend reading it all the way through once before starting and then working down the steps in order.

Why We Love It

One of our favorite things about Blue Apron is the variety of farm-fresh vegetables we receive. For example, even though Bok Choy isn’t an intimidating ingredient, it isn’t one we had ever purchased. In the past, we’ve also learned to cook with celeriac, watermelon radishes, black garlic, and so many others. 

And it’s not just the veggies that have expanded our knowledge and palates.  We’ve learned about steam buns, arepas, and the glory of homemade ramen. We’ve discovered that if a menu says something is seasoned with Gochujang, Sambal Oelek, or Ras El Hanout we’ll love it.

On the surface, you think you’re just getting a simple way to meal plan and cook without spending time at the grocery store.

And that IS a huge perk! Having the food not only delivered but delivered in the proportions you need to avoid food waste is beyond delightful.

However, the time savings is just the beginning of the benefits. We’ve learned about so many different types of food and how to prepare them. Best of all, we have fun together creating fresh food from scratch.

Whether you’re cooking with a spouse, kid, or enjoying the quiet time alone, it’s great to be in the kitchen and away from technology for awhile after a day of work.

And we haven’t even gotten to the very best part yet…

When you reach the end of your recipe card, it’s time to eat!

Last night, we had the Sesame Chicken Noodles with Bok Choy from the Chrissy Teigen collection. My friends who recommended the cookbook were right, she’s got some serious recipe development skills. Our dinner had the perfect balance of sweet and spice!

WILL THEY MAKE ME EAT FISH?

If there are specific ingredients you don’t like, don’t worry about being forced to have them delivered. When you sign up and log into your account, you’ll have 8 meal choices for each week. Here’s an example week from my account.

You may have noticed the red X in the upper left corner. That means we’ve skipped next week because I’ll be out of town.  I love that I have the control of whether or not we get a delivery with the push of a button!

Each week, Blue Apron will pick the meals it thinks are the best fit for you based on the preferences selected when you sign up. Depending on the plan you choose, you’ll get 2-4 meals/week.

Several weeks in advance, you’ll have a chance to edit their selections. Our default menus never include seafood since it’s not my favorite, but if a fish recipe looks fantastic, I’ll go for it.

In fact, I’ve eaten (and enjoyed) more fish at home since we started Blue Apron than in the previous 35 years of my life.

Are you ready to try it out?

Blue Apron is offering $50 off your first two weeks to the FIRST 50 readers who sign up here!

Cookbook Giveaway!

They are also giving away a copy of Chrissy Teigen’s cookbook, Cravings. It’s full of hearty, delicious meals and not AT ALL what you’d expect from a supermodel. I ordered my own copy with a birthday gift card and can not wait to test out some of the recipes. They seriously all look and sound amazing.

Reading the introduction to the cookbook made me totally smitten with her realness. She’s spunky and honest and talks about her deep passion for cooking hearty and being at home with family. More importantly, she doesn’t pretend that she can eat the food from Cravings every meal, every day and maintain her supermodel figure. I love her balanced approach to life.

{GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED – Winner Celeste M.}
To enter the giveaway, check out the recipes here and then come back and comment below with the one you’d most like to try! Giveaway closes on Thursday, June 28th at midnight CST. Open to US residents 18 & over. No purchase necessary.

This post is sponsored by Blue Apron.