The other day I was on my tablet, reading an article from Bon Appetit about the “new” Blue Apron. If you’ll recall, Blue Apron was the one that started the whole meals-in-a-box thing. Anyway, Blue Apron was reinventing themselves.
Single serving meals, no more weekly subscription required, a once-monthly shipping charge. Most of these outfits charge $15-20 a box to ship. Blue Apron will now charge a flat $9.99 a month, regardless of how many boxes you have delivered.
I’ve been wanting to try one of these services for awhile, where the meals are mostly prepared. I’m sorry but I just don’t have it in me to learn how to cook more than hamburgers or chicken, but I still need healthier options in my diet and more variety. So it was either this or start flirting with 70 year old Dee next door. Now that woman can cook!
When I visited the website, I saw they still had their traditional dinner kits, new “Bake in a Pan for Two” meals, and lower calorie single-serve “Dishes”. I signed up for a one month trial that included free shipping and 30% off my first couple orders.
I got this box with 5 single serve meals and a pizza kit. With the promotional discount, this wound up costing me $36.00.
- Four-Cheese Enchiladas
- Creamy Red Pepper Fettuccine & Uncured Bacon
- Cavatappi Beef Bolognese
- Southwestern-Style Turkey
- Chipotle Cheddar Pork Sausage & Potatoes
- Truffle Honey White Pizza Kit
The pizza kit smelled delicious, I could really smell those loose ingredients. The other meals were airtight, under 600 calories. Not a lot, but I’m trying to cut back anyway. You have 5 days to eat them or freeze ‘em.
You can either microwave or bake in the oven; I baked the red pepper fettucini with asparagus & uncured bacon first
I do plan on ordering one or more of the “Pan Meals for 2” next time. They claim to serve 2-3, have more traditional components, and those pan meals (baked in an oven) should be enough for a couple dinners.
Here’s my first Blue Apron “Dish”, which I served with a small salad & garlic bread. I think I baked it a few minutes longer than necessary, but I’m not taking any shortcuts via the microwave. It was very tasty (and very spicy) and did fill me up.
Here’s the second “Dish” I had, the Southwestern Turkey. It contains turkey, brown rice, guajillo chili pepper sauce, corn, peppers & onions, black beans, monterey jack cheese, jalapenos. I added a dollop of sour cream, which pretty much made it perfect.
It may not look pretty, but this was also filling and I was surprised how delicious it was. (Very, very hot—but delicious!)
Finally, here’s the Truffle Honey Pizza—strangely, it cost the same as one of the single-serving Dishes, but was more than enough for two people. It did take a lot of prep, but was worth it. The crust was puffy and soft, the cheeses and toppings were aromatic and fresh, and that black truffle zest gave it a real gourmet taste.
If I order from Blue Apron again, you can be sure I’ll include another pizza kit.
I don’t think I can bring myself to pay $10.00 per single-serve meal after my 30% discount runs out though. Are these single-serve meals worth $5-6.00? Absolutely. $10.00? Nope.
Maybe this will be a “once a month assortment box thing”, but I’m not doing more than that. Oh fudge, I better learn how to cook!
It looks like a great idea and pretty cheap, too. Keep those pictures coming!
ReplyDeleteThank you DJan 🙂
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