Blue Apron -- Cooking Fresh for Two


 
J Hasselberger

J Hasselberger

TVWBB Pro
If you like good food and enjoy variety and new tastes, you either eat out a lot or spend a great deal of time with cook books.

The lovely Janis and I are about a year in to Blue Apron, a menu delivery service. They deliver 3 meals for two to your door every Monday (entree only, no appy or dessert). In the box are all the ingredients including produce, liquids and meat/fish, portioned for each recipe. There is a freezer pack in the box for the refrigerated items. Each recipe has complete instructions along with photos, and they take between 30 minutes and a hour to prepare. Typically there is a beef dish, a pork or chicken dish and a seafood dish. All you supply are olive oil, salt and pepper, and your stove.

We were skeptical at first, but gave Blue Apron a whirl on the advice of a couple of friends. We are rarely disappointed with the quality of the ingredients and the recipes are easily as good as what you'd get in a well-rated, non-chain restaurant. If you enjoy cooking, but are often stumped on what new things you can try, a menu service like this might be for you.

Janis has the app on her iPhone and chooses which meals we'll get next week. You get a standard no-brainer list if you don't choose any options. The cost is $60 per week, or $10 per plate (3 meals for two). Portion sizes are reasonable for healthy dining, and don't leave you hungry. There are rarely leftovers and since all the ingredients are portioned, there is little to no waste. On balance over the past year, it has actually reduced our shopping budget by more than the $60 price tag. I'm not on the Apron payroll, just passing along a suggestion that has worked out good for us.

The website is blueapron.com

Jeff
 
We've used it on and off for a few years. Portion sizes are perfect - little or no leftovers and we get enough to eat without overdoing it. I like that it gets me out of my comfort zone, providing meals that I wouldn't normally cook on my own if I saw them on paper. About $10/plate sounds about right. It isn't cheap, but much cheaper than going out (and much healthier), and the variety is nice.
 
Jeff, I like your opinion over the one I heard last week from a co-worker...
He basically dissed BA about everything you and JimK said was good.

I may very well look into this now. Thank you.
 
Jim Lampe said:
Jeff, I like your opinion over the one I heard last week from a co-worker...
He basically dissed BA about everything you and JimK said was good.

I may very well look into this now. Thank you.
Click to expand...

Diff'rent strokes, eh?

Like most guys, I don't know how to cook anything that doesn't involve fire or bacon. Blue Apron has made me into a fair stove jockey. There's some satisfaction in that.

Some further details: If you follow the cooking instructions exactly, you will succeed. But for us, the listed cook times for the meats are a bit on the long side, so we made that adjustment. Same advice when roasting vegetables -- lower the oven temp by 25 and cut a few minutes off the cook time. If you work with it for a while, you will find your sweet spot.

On the cost side, you will subconsciously become a more disciplined shopper -- no more 25-pound bags of potatoes that you buy "just in case." It's a hike to the H-E-B for us, so the time and gas saved adds up. Cutting waste is a big deal for us, too. We generate at least 25% less garbage than before.

Nothing is perfect, but BA does a good job. If they forget to include two carrots, call them and they'll deduct the price of the meal from your next order.

Jeff
 
Oh, and you get the actual recipes with the meals. So if you want to repeat them on your own, you can. Not with the perfect portions of every ingredient delivered to your door, but...
 
Bob's link also suggest that Walmart might buy Blue Apron, or in the very least partner with them
 
Blue Apron isn't the only option. There's Home Fresh and a couple of other delivery services. H-E-B stores here in Texas have a 'meal kit' that they offer, but you have to go to the store and get it, which negates part of the convenience. Overall, the idea of "here are the parts, assemble at your convenience" is apparently a good one. I think Blue Apron is doing an IPO soon and I wouldn't be surprised if a bigger fish swallowed them. The quality of their current offering is very good -- better ingredients than what you find at a typical supermarket. The recipes are very well concocted, too -- tasty, slightly adventurous and definitely not boring. We've been at it a year and haven't repeated a recipe yet.

Jeff
 
Got an email from them last night that they are introducing 'Mediterranean Diet' recipes.
 
It’s tough when you’re trying to loose weight. I went from 300#’s a year ago to 240 and screwed up and went back to 275 and I’m now trying to get back down to 240. I try not to eat supper. I eat breakfast and lunch. My wife and I have an hour commute to and fro everyday if traffic is bad I’ve actually been 3 hours. Even at an hour by the time I get home it would be 7:00-7:30 or later until we eat, I’m done lights out by 9:30-10:00 and back up at 4:00-4:30. We thought about this as we hardly eat out anyway but it doesn’t make sense for us but we see where it would for some. We’d like to try but may be something we do later, sounds good though.
 
Hey Gene,

Have you considered doing some meal prep on Sundays? I do breakfast and lunches for my wife and prep usually 2 dinners for the week on Sunday so they are healthy and easy when I get home. Typically I am home and running out the door to get my kids to practice so I cant take too long during the week. Feel free to reach out and ask any questions or for some healthy recipes.
 
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