Over the summer months, Dave and I enjoyed several delicious Blue Apron meals.
We switched our summer orders to the 2-person plan (instead of the family plan) and often made them for lunch — after feeding the kids and sending them outside to play for a bit.
It was like a mini at-home date in the middle of the afternoon — SO FUN!
Both Dave and I agreed that our #1 TOP FAVORITE recipe was the Salmon and Cilantro-Lime Rice with Peach & Corn Salsa. Oh my word, every single bite was an explosion of flavor in our mouth. I’m SO thankful I can go back to Blue Apron’s recipe page to recreate this recipe again!
A few of the recent “runner up favorites” for us were:
Crispy Catfish and Spicy Vegetable Curry — yummy!
Seared Steak and Salsa Verde
And, just last week, the Spicy Lemongrass Salmon with Green Beans and Herbed Rice
I’m definitely the type of home cook who enjoys a regular routine and pulling quick meals from the freezer — so it’s super easy for me to fall into a rut of the same tried and true recipes month after month (which isn’t necessarily all bad). However, all the recipes I listed above (and basically all the recipes we’ve ever made from Blue Apron) fall outside my “normal” weekly and monthly recipes.
And it’s SO fun for a change!
Dave and I just love trying new recipes and using new ingredients — especially since Blue Apron sends exactly the right amount of pre-measured ingredients for each recipe, so there’s no wasted food, nothing left to store or try to use up before it goes bad, and no wasted money on groceries I won’t end up using.
I especially appreciated the convenience of using Blue Apron meals this past week as Dave was back in school for meetings all week and I was adjusting to being the sole entertainer for all 3 kiddos — while feeling extra big and tired!
It was fabulous not to worry about what to make for dinner or if we had the right ingredients in the house. I could just pull out my recipe card when Dave got home from school, and roughly 30 minutes later, we had a delicious meal on the table.
We usually get a delivery of Blue Apron meals once a month — depending on what the menu selection is. Obviously, there are meals we aren’t super excited about (so we skip those weeks) and sometimes there are meals we want to try 2 or 3 weeks in a row (that happened this summer once!)
The nice thing with Blue Apron meals is that it takes 3 seconds to switch or cancel an order online, and you can skip as many weeks as you want and start back up again when you need a little meal planning inspiration, just want to try something new, or have an extra busy week — like back-to-school week!
Would you like a few FREE Blue Apron meals to ease your back-to-school transition?
Blue Apron is offering $60 off your first 3 weeks of food to anyone who places their first order via this link!!
Even as someone who is fairly diligent about meal planning, it sure is nice to have someone do the planning for me when I’m in the middle of the super busy back-to-school time of year with Dave gone for meetings, orientation, preparing his classroom, etc. etc.
Of course, even if you aren’t in the back-to-school season of life, it’s still fun to have a week off from meal planning and try a few fabulous new recipes every now and then… right!?!
What are your tips to get quick meals on the table during the busy back-to-school time of year?
This is a sponsored post on behalf of Blue Apron. All opinions are my own.
Heidi Cole says
I’ve been so tempted to try this so I signed up! Quick question…is there a way to decrease the cost by picking cheaper meals? Or are they all the same price regardless of the ingredients?
Andrea says
Hey Heidi! The meals are all the same price no matter what — I think it’s probably just to simplify the process. Hope you love your first few meals!
Susie says
We got the deal last time and loved them! We have 8 kids so I cancelled but would love to keep using them if I could!
Andrea says
yay glad to hear you loved it! Dave and I now prefer to do the 2-person plan and just use it as more of a “date night” or special occasion meal when our kids are at grandparents (or we feed them mac and cheese!)
PW says
I am toying with the idea of Blue Apron since you first started talking about it. The one ihing is that we both work and I don’t know if it would spoil until we got home, so may try it in the winter. One option I took advantage of is that our grocery store, Mariano’s/Krogers has meals already cooked you can buy for $10.00 each. One of our favorites is a medium rare prime rib, grilled asparagus and baked tater. With a salad that is enough for us to split and the food is not tampered with, no additives. $5 each cheaper than any take out. We rarely go out, just get home too late from work then the lines waiting to be seated are long meaning we eat at 8 or 9 pm. Too late. We are particular about additives in our food, and try to eat organic as much as we can. But once in a while I would like a break, and the grocery store is on my way home from work, but it should would be nice to have something waiting for you. Putting everything together and cooking in 30 min. sounds doable also. We are big salad eaters and have a salad every night. Just the 2 of us.
And something different from our usual dinner plans would be nice, thanks for sharing. Helps me make my decision. I like the idea it gives you and Dave a break while the kids play
Andrea says
I just wanted to let you know that I feel it would be almost impossible for the Blue Apron food to spoil while you were at work.
Each box comes with a thick insulated bag inside — with 2 HUGE ice packs. We’ve had our box sitting on our front porch for many hours in the summertime and the ice packs were still more than half solid.
Also, I recently noticed that our grocery store is now carrying a boxed meal for 2 for $15. I haven’t looked into it much, but I believe all you need to do is basically reheat it and eat. They looked pretty good so I might have to try it sometime!
Luba @ Healthy with Luba says
We keep our meals simple – a salad, a protein, and rice or potatoes. Yes, maybe we could use more variety in what we eat, but we like it, it’s healthy, and we’re not going out to eat all the time. 🙂
Andrea says
simple is good! If our kids ate salad, we would use this as our veggie more often. Dave and I love salad, but not the kids. Maybe eventually!
Francie says
Thanks, Andrea! I will have to try it out! This is perfect for back to school. http://www.supersimpleways.com
Angie says
Hey Andrea. I adore reading you everyday! I look forward to it like I look forward to hearing from a beloved friend! My precious husband, Tom, passed away in January. He had cancer. I miss him more than I can describe. Since he died, I rarely cook just for myself and I find that I eat takeout or just a sandwich way too often. I love the idea of receiving a delicious meal on my doorstep. BUT I know the smallest you can order is a meal for 2. Is it wise to order a meal for 2 just for me? Would I tire of eating the same meal 2 days in a row to use all up that food? I LOVE your family and have been a follower since before Nora was born. You are an inspiration and such a wonderful Mom. I can’t wait to meet Dekker # 4! Much love……Angie
Andrea says
Wow — thanks so much Angie. I’m honored!
And so sorry to hear about your husband — I know so many single people who talk about how they don’t enjoy cooking for just themselves anymore (and I can definitely understand).
As for the Blue Apron meals, they are good-size portions in my opinion — they easily fill both Dave and me with the 2-serving size. That said, you could make one meal for the first night, then another meal the next night, then have the first meal leftovers the 3rd night, then make the 3rd meal the 4th night, have the 2nd meal leftovers the 5th night, etc. etc.
Or you could do leftovers for lunch some of the days (most of the recipes really do heat up well as leftovers).
Another fun idea might be to invite a friend or relative over to share the meal with you once in awhile! Just a few ideas!