honest review of our first experience with blue apron | peach panzanella
Wednesday, August 17, 2016
Disclaimer: We decided to try out Blue Apron all on our own, this is an honest review that includes affiliate links
Jordan and I both love to cook and we especially love trying out new recipes. In the business of the last two years, our kitchen has been pretty boring. Which is why you haven't seen many recipes over here, well except for that cold brew recipe, which basically sums up our year.
We had been looking into meal delivery services this year, but not sure if they would live up to the hype. Some of them are pretty expensive and have some eclectic dishes, what if we didn't like them? It didn't seem worth it when we could just make tacos again.
One day I got an email welcoming me to Blue Apron and that my delivery would be arriving soon. I texted Jordan and sure enough he was behind it all. He found a good coupon for Blue Apron and so he went ahead and signed both of us up!
I'll be sharing some of the things we liked and didn't like about Blue Apron along with a couple really good coupons below, but for now here are some photos of the first meal we made, a Peach Panzanella:
I'll be sharing some of the things we liked and didn't like about Blue Apron along with a couple really good coupons below, but for now here are some photos of the first meal we made, a Peach Panzanella:
Look at this, all my groceries for three entire meals delivered to my doorstep. After a week out of town, this was incredibly nice to see. No meal planning or anything. I just need them to start sending milk for Ruby.
this girl always getting into something
The chef in action. Jordan was really the one who was excited for this, and continued to remind me how he aspired to be a chef when he was young. I definitely did as well, so we make a pretty good team in the kitchen.
This by far has been my favorite thing about this new experience, having fun in the kitchen. The recipes were so well designed and easy to follow, that it never felt stressful. (Not including the time it was just me cooking with a toddler on my hip) Trying out new recipes can be hard, which is why we haven't created anything new in a long time. It was so fun making something we haven't made before.
Our meal felt so nice, that even though we had only minutes to eat, and we often eat in the kitchen, Jordan set the dining room table and lit the candles.
What did you like about Blue Apron?
Convenience: By far one of the initial best things about this, I mean when food appears on your doorstep, you can't go wrong.
Taste: Everything we had was delicious! I was nervous, because I don't love mushrooms or tomatoes, and all of the dishes had them, and I didn't mind at all. Everything paired very well, we were always pleasantly surprised by how good the meal was.
Quality: All of the ingredients were of the best quality, some organic which is a plus for us.
Uniqueness: Our favorite part of Blue Apron, was that the meals were definitely something we wouldn't make on a normal night.
Vegetarian Options: This veggie approves :)
Flexible: You can cancel anytime, and it's really easy to skip or rearrange weeks.
Easy to use: I haven't been the one using their system, Jordan has, but he's mentioned that's why he likes it :)
What did you not like about Blue Apron?
Cost: Every meal we would calculate, would we pay the full amount for this meal? which comes to 20 dollars for a meal, 10 dollars per person. There were a few meals that we said definitely, and there was one, that we enjoyed, but felt like the ingredients were really inexpensive. So, I guess it evens out.
So, for the two-person plan it's 60 dollars for the week, for three meals that feeds two. We were able to have leftovers for a couple meals.
In the end, we decided that it was worth it, but not every week. We payed incredibly less in groceries and didn't waste anything. This was our biggest revelation, that it really was cost effective. But, if you're actually good at meal planning and such, this may not be the same for you. (teach me your ways)
Waste: While we didn't waste any food, there was quite a lot of plastic and such, which felt kind of ridiculous, even if the bottles were ridiculously adorable. But, I suppose this comes with buying food from the grocery too. And i'm not sure they could get around this.
Choosing meals: They only let you choose a certain combo for meals. All the meals typically look yummy, but obviously some sound better than others. We would like to get one meat meal for Jordan and two vegetarian. But, for some reason when you choose one meat dish, you have to choose two. So that's frustrating. This week we just decided to skip our delivery because it wasn't working out, and even looked into another meal service, which I'll expand on below.
Not signing up earlier: I'm totally kicking myself that we waited until life eased up to do this
Why did you choose Blue Apron over others?
I'm not sure why Jordan ultimately decided to go with Blue Apron over others, I know it was a mix of it being a little easier to navigate, cost, and dishes.
Like I mentioned this last week we were disappointed with choosing meals, so we just elected to skip this week. We looked into other services, but the dishes weren't on par with Blue Apron. A lot of them seemed like something we already make at home, or could easily make without a recipe.
We like Blue Apron, because they do an excellent job of creating unique meals that are good and simple to make. Every time we made a meal we were so impressed by how easy it came together and how well it looked at the end.
Is Blue Apron a good fit for you?
We've loved it, and have been telling everyone about it for weeks. You should definitely try it out at least once. I've been saying this to others for the past few weeks and I didn't get anything from it, but now I do get a small amount if you use the links I posted.
I'll be sharing more of the recipes from Blue Apron next week, so let me know if you have any questions. And always feel free to leave a comment or send an email!
If you're like Jordan, and need a coupon, I have a couple really good deals here:
$30 Off Your First Blue Apron Order
3 Meals Free on Your First Blue Apron Order
no Coupon code required, just follow the link
Recipe: You can find the recipe for the Peach Panzanella on Blue Apron's website HERE
Just wanted to take a moment and say again, that we truly sought out Blue Apron on our own, well, it was really all Jordan's doing. After two weeks of paying for the service, I decided to see if they had an affiliate program. If you don't know how those work, I get a small commission, only if you use my personal link, and decide to try it out!
I took these pictures and was planning to share purely because we had fun, and the dish looked beautiful! But, it does help that we can get a little for sharing if you decide you want to try it out too.
Thank you for supporting me as I navigate turning this blog into a business (and making my husband happy) I'm terrible at advocating for myself, and being confident, but I'm working on it. I promise to you, that I will only share things that I really do love. And guys, Blue Apron is worth it, try it out and get three free meals already, that's an excellent deal!
I'm Katelyn, a creative who finds beauty in the little things. I like the windows open and vases filled with flowers. I photograph and write about the mostly small but sometimes big adventures we find in our daily lives.
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