One of the fun perks of my job is getting the opportunity to try new products and services. I am kind of a junkie for trying new things. I have a huge need for change in my life so trying a service unfamiliar and new is right up my alley. So I jumped at the chance to try out Blue Apron. If you have yet to hear about Blue Apron it is a meal delivery service where they ship all the farm-fresh ingredients to your door, to make fresh meals. Hands down my favorite thing about this is TRYING NEW THINGS. I have never made empanadas before, and truth be told, I am not sure I could have told you what one was. Of course, I had heard of chicken tacos before but never have made them quite like Blue Apron had me prepare them.
Each meal comes a recipe guide to walk you through how to prepare each meal. On average from prep to table it was about 35 minutes. Each of the Blue Apron meals boasts that you can make it less than 40 minutes.
And the first 50 IC Readers will get two meals off their first Blue Apron order FREE!
Also all of the ingredients are pre-portioned out already with the exception of the fresh stuff that you have to chop or dice. It is nice to prepare a meal where you need only a few dried apricots and you don’t have purchase and waste buying a whole bag.
So the first meal I made was the Crunchy Chicken Tacos with Avocado, Cojita Cheese & Roasted Asparagus. First off, I had never heard of Cojita cheese. 2nd asparagus isn’t my favorite. But I was committed to making the recipe as called for. I figured if Blue Apron perfected it and tested in on customers it had to be edible. So I prepped all the fresh stuff, cooked the chicken…
And then assembled the tacos and baked them per instructions.
Now, while I said asparagus is not my favorite, it doesn’t mean I don’t eat it. I know how important vegetables are, and while it is a challenge for my palette, I do so every day. I will say the cheese on top made it way better than I usually make it.
Two thumbs up on this meal! My hubby liked it too. He loves asparagus so it was a pleasant surprise for him that I made it. Blue Apron makes it so simple because it is pretty much assembly and a little chopping here and there. And 35 minutes to prepare a healthy dinner? I will take it.
The second meal I tried was the Baked Empanadas with Arugula, Queso Fresco and Pickled Onion Salad. Now right off the bat I will tell you that while I prepared the salad I didn’t try it. I just couldn’t wrap my brain around the pickled onions. However the empanadas were delish and the entire family loved them. My husband was the only one that used the dipping sauce. The rest of us used my sweet onion salsa on top.
The fun part about this meal was that Kayla helped. She was so excited to crimp the empanadas with the fork. Having everything most done for me made it much easier to enjoy her being in the kitchen with me.
So I chopped up the fresh ingredients, cooked the meat and then prepared the empanadas. I was really curious about the apricots in the empanada filling. It gave it just a hint of sweet. YUM! I definitely had leftover meat so I am going to go purchase some more empanada wrappers this week to make more.
The untouched but pretty salad…
So here is the cost breakdown…
They offer a 2 person plan and a Family Plan.
The Family plan is perfect for a family of four. With this plan you can opt to receive one or two deliveries per week. Each deliver consisting of two meals. The price is $8.74 per meal or $69.92 per eight serving delivery. Shipping is always free!
Plus they have a full catalog of recipes so you can recreate the meals on your own if you want. I would love to try the Seared Salmon or Turkey Meatball Sliders or Panko-Crusted Cod.
CLick here to get two meals off their first Blue Apron order FREE!
