Tonight's meal was rather involved with a lot of steps and took awhile to make by myself. I can't complain about the quality, mix of flavors. I don't usually eat beets, but the warm salad -- beet with carrots, arugula, thyme, shallot, walnuts was truly interesting enough to make again on my own. The center-cut pork chops were thick and juicy. For my leftovers, I left out the arugula. When I reheat for dinner tomorrow night, I'll wilt it when warming up.

I assume anyone can see their recipes? Here's tonight's recipe.

I just paid 65 to park my car, darn mid-town.

Great wedding gift? I would have loved it 25 yrs ago. Yet we did enjoy the UnionSq green market, then cooking meals together. Stopping in Mom and Pops for meats and cheeses...DH got a hand crank pasta machine at a stoop sale...we learned on our own. Our first rental apt was tiny. Fridge half size. Buying a whole head of anything was pricy and hard to store and use.

Something like this may have jump started the cooking learning and the nesting that happens when young. Or a time when life has changes when older...i love that it exists and successful as i just might be there someday.

What is nice is that it is still cooking and learning. I'm guessing those using it are not fast foodies. They like to cook but just don't have the shopping time. Or just enjoying the convenience. I work 70-80 hour work weeks and don't need it, and can afford it...i would also take that 60 and go buy a super steak and side of salmon, lol. I'm just frugal and cheap...or just a home cook that enjoys the shopping hunt and gardening.

If they delivered to coastal Newfoundland i would order in a heartbeat but Amazon prime takes forever and fedex takes days, lol. No zip code....

It looks very interesting. But, it is VERY expensive :$10 (that's about 10E?) for a few veggies and a pork chop........ not for me. THat would be less than 3E in the shops here.

But, if it works for you and you're enjoying it then it''s all good.

I was gifted with a week's subscription and delighted to try it out for DH. My meal choices are pretty boring, this gives him a few meals to jazz up the week. I opted out of the first week available as there weren't any three meals that would appeal to him. The next week I chose the vegetarian meals and overall he was quite pleased. While they certainly are "over packaged", I appreciated having a few chives and a few items that I wouldn't have wanted to buy in large quantity. 2 of the 3 meals gave him 2 servings, the last one only had a small amount remaining, so I tossed. it.

Expensive, well not as much for my food budget, I don't scrimp on proteins. I found their produce to be very high quality which in one case lasted into the next week since my schedule didn't allow for the prep time needed.

I'm expecting a delivery this week, one with meat, so I'll report back. Other than the cost, I think the prep is a bit labor intensive, or maybe I'm just slacking! They would make me quite happy if they would offer a gluten free option and a choice of meals rather than choosing meal plan A or B. Stay tuned for this week's report!

I thought the instruction cards were really well thought out. I can teach a novice cook timing and mis en place.

I couldn't agree more! I'd love to see a nutritional breakdown, but otherwise they're terrific!

dyhgarden - Beautifully cooked pork!

I really appreciate this thread and the in depth evaluation of BA.

I have used "Dinner Done", a professional kitchen. All I needed to bring was a large cooler to take my meals home. They
provide an apron, disposable bake ware, and everything else I needed
to make and store my entrees.

You rotate around the prep stations making your entrees. Easy-to-follow
recipes are displayed, and all the ingredients are ready. No need to
chop or dice, all are already done. Plus you can customize
your meals, add extra seasoning, omit an ingredient you don’t
like, or modify your entree to be lower in carbs, calories, or fat!

After 1 or 2 hours, I was ready to go home with a cooler full of
delicious meals that I made personally. Best of all, I left the mess behind!

The menu for a week changed every week. The cost is $94.50 for 4 days/4 people; with that cost, I always went with a friend of mine and we split it since neither of us needed dinner for 4. So bottom line, 4 really good meals for 2 people was $47.25.

Ellen, that would be the other issue, I'm just so picky. Out of this week's 6 meals shown, I'd eat two of them. The other four, not a chance, and that goes double for the Cauliflower sandwich, LOL.

Annie

I've got one more meal from last week's shipment -- chicken schnitzel.

My delivery for the weekend is:

• Pretzel burgers w/Hoppy cheddar sauce and sweet potato rounds
• Trinidadian Chicken Curry w/coconut grits and collard greens
• Acorn squash risotto with crispy sage and radicchio salad

I'm somewhat adventurous. I'm allergic to seafood, so that's out. I've tried many unusual foods since I travel to France each year -- duck hearts, foie gras, quail legs, marrow risotto served in a hollowed bone, etc. I'll try any veggie or fruit. I get a bit squeamish with organ meats, but in France, they're very common. Once I got over the idea of it, I found most quite enjoyable.

My stepson and his pregnant wife just signed up, too. Feedback from my son and his pregnant wife (yes, two grandsons coming in a month) encouraged them for the very reasons sarah-socal mentions. They were having trouble coming up with menus and then hated to go shopping. They work full-time, but love creative cooking.

Can you explain why it's 3 meals? What are you supposed to do for the other 11? LOL

Lord knows I would love to have all meals taken care of, but I manage for breakfast/lunch. It is the weeknights that are the worst.

You can choose different plans if you want more.

I have no idea why they chose the numbers. They probably researched the idea.

I don't think I could handle more than 3 a week since I make 6 meals off of my order. I eat only one large meal a day. Breakfast is usually a protein smoothie.

There is a family plan of 2 or 4 meals per week that serves 4 persons. The price per serving is $8.74. So, 2 for 4 would be 8 individual meals; 4 for 4 would be 16 individual meals.

Sounds like a great idea and a good service for those that have a need for this type of meal planning.

It wouldn't work for me because it would take all the fun out of it for me.

I don't like to plan ahead. I prefer to grocery shop on a daily basis. Even on the three days that I work, I shop either on my way to work or on my way home. This way I can prepare what I feel like for dinner and not something that I needed to prepare.

I like to rotate between Blue Apron, Plated and Hello Fresh. I love all of them. I pick whichever meal plan looks best for the week and skip the other two. I don't like meal planning and shopping. I find I waste less food than I used to. Sometimes I stretch out the meals by adding vegetables and we can get 4 serving from each meal.

When I broke my ankle, someone suggested I try Blue Apron. I looked into it, but apparently they get delivered and dropped off , not necessarily directly to your front door - which would have meant waiting for a friend to visit to bring the package in for me. (My home entry is far from ergonomic or ADA acceptable.) The recipes mostly look good, though.

Peapod however came to my door as someone had to sign on receipt. Food not as varied, and there were things I wouldn't trust to order, but once it was inside, I could cook it.

(I had plenty of food here - the main thing I missed was fresh veggies and fresh eggs. Powdered eggs and I don't get along.)

(I used a chair on wheels to cook - careful around the range!)

This was a busy weekend with friends and family, so I found I've not had the time to cook two of my three meals that were delivered on Thursday. I'm going to have to slow it down and choose maybe 1-2 weeks a month.

Yes, I'm still holding the Thai chicken thighs from last week too. The pretzel burgers were good, although DH thought the cheese sauce was pretty blah, even after I added some Worcestershire and spicy paprika. I'm not sure if I added too much milk. The next couple of weeks don't look too appealing.

The burgers were good, but that cheese sauce was too involved for the benefit. I made the risotto last night and wasn't thrilled since it used water for the liquid instead of chicken broth. Guess it was for vegans, not me. My son made the curry and loved it--says he'll now use coconut milk in his grits. I'm making that one tonight.

I've got one week coming, then I'm skipping the following three weeks as they don't look like things I can make and have successful left-overs.

I really enjoyed the Trinidadian chicken curry with the grits - it was really good. But the shrimp pasta was my least favorite so far - very disappointing.

Made the Trinidadian chicken curry tonight and thought it was one of the best. I don't eat shrimp (allergy).

I have to agree about the shrimp pasta. DH didn't even want the leftovers. That was $10 bucks down the drain! Sigh... Agree also that the cheese sauce was too time consuming for the end result.

Neighbor again forgot to cancel her BA delivery before she went out of town, so we got another box!

Tonight was seared salmon over blue potato and red onion hash, with a pesto of spinach, walnuts, capers, Parmesan, shallots, red wine vinegar and evoo.

The way everything was packaged made the meal come together rather quickly and clean up was not bad at all.

Another recipe card that I'll keep.

I'm sick right now and don't have the energy to make my Adobo chicken or the gnocchi. I think it'll be okay for another day or two. I'm skipping the next few weeks subscription. Glad it's allowed without charging.

We have the gnocchi with brussel sprouts up next. I'll report back.

Feel better ;-)

I've got a meal coming tomorrow that I didn't want. I"m not paying $20 for a cuban sandwich! I've written to them and will see what transpires. I was almost certain that I had skipped this week and chosen next week's meals. Sigh...

My cousin and I were discussing the supposed prep times and found them underestimated. It takes me more time to chop, mince, wash and organize.

I know how to cook economically, but being busy, busy, busy, busy and single, so much food goes to waste, even with my good intentions and knowledge of food preservation. I end up eating out a lot too, mostly stuff that is not very good for me. I buy single serving sizes, and smaller, pre-packaged stuff which I know is not economical, but when you've thrown out as many wilted bunches of celery and moldy heads of cauliflower, and containers of blue cottage cheese, and jars of apple juice that became apple jack, and even moldy cakes and pies, if you can imagine that, etc. as I have you realize that $60.00 a week, while not knock your socks off economical, is actually not that expensive. It is a way for folks to share a food portioning system that they would not be able to do on their own. There might be prep kitchens in some places like granges and churches where folks get together and make food in quantities and then portion it out, I know one of our posters here does that kind of thing, or did, but since there might not be such a group where you live, or interest in it, this is another alternative. I go the route of mostly just eating the same basic limited stuff every day, so if I could afford this option and it was available, I would love it.

Tonight we prepared gnocchi with brussels, red onions, Meyer lemon and Parmesan. So delicious!

Prep:

Serving:

I made the adobo chicken and really liked it. Gnocchi tomorrow.

(I used the whole brussel sprout- took the outer leaves off and saved to add until the end. Chopped the "cores" and sauteed when the onions when in. Just fyi)

Tonight, we made the BA gnocchi with brussel sprouts and accompanied it with lemon, thyme & butter cod in parchment. Keeper recipe.

I'm slow to report back, but Blue Apron's Customer Service is awesome!

When I corresponded with them, they credited me for another week's meal. It was my mistake, but they valued my business. No complaints here! BTW, DH really liked the cuban sandwich. (also DH and DGS#1 loved the Trinidadian chicken spice blend)

I will say that the prep times are vastly underestimated. It's a bunch of dishes, chopping and prep steps, however this cook of many decades has learned a few things from just a few weeks of recipe cards.

DH's comment is that he must have taste buds that need an assault of flavor. Since I cannot taste many of their spice mixes or dishes, he has to kick of the flavor profile with most of the dishes. Most recently the cod kedgeree. Once he added some fish sauce and some tamari, he was good to go, in fact he liked the uniqueness of the dish!

I will say that the prep times are vastly underestimated. It's a bunch of dishes, chopping and prep steps, however this cook of many decades has learned a few things from just a few weeks of recipe cards.

********

I've been refreshed with new flavors and especially meat-free meals. I found that I could "bundle" steps and consolidate a bit, thus staying pretty streamlined on time and efficiency.

Leftover gnocchi brussel sprouts and a salad tonight!

DH and I are once again enjoying BA- courtesy of our traveling neighbor who once again, forgot to cancel her order.

Lunch today was the fried catfish sandwich and salad. Another winner!

I'm glad that you liked it and it suited you. I think I'm learning that there must be a bunch of people who like sandwiches for dinner. DH, not so much. The one meal that knocked it out of the park for him, was the Meatball Ragout. That was a complete surprise as he's not a big fan of meatballs. However the sauce was really good. I admit to adding red wine to deepen the flavor, but he happily devoured it for dinner and lunch the next day.

Mimi, keep that neighbor, LOL, and don't remind her that she needs to cancel that delivery! That was very lucky for you, and nice of her to direct it to you.

Ellen, I agree with your DH, I'm not so keen on sandwiches for dinner, or maybe not necessarily very often for any meal. I generally deconstruct and eat the bottom piece of bread and the filling, two pieces of bread is just too much, especially now when so many things come on thick pretzel buns or artisan bread, etc.

The other option is to cut them in half and eat half, but the other half is seldom as good left over as it is freshly made. Bread gets soggy or stale, dressings slide off or sink in, it's hard to keep a leftover sandwich with any quality.

Elery? Now he'd make a sandwich out of everything, if he had his way!

Annie

Right on Annie! Those thick sandwiches are just too many empty carbs. once in awhile-- perhaps as a special treat, but not as a weekly dinner. He'd rather have some tastier calories than a thick roll.

Anything that comes wrapped in a tortilla generally gets picked apart by me. More than thick bread, I really don't like the redundancy of tortillas and thin them out.

My dogs did enjoy some of the toasted bread from the catfish sandwich.

Actually, we do tuna melts for dinner on occasion. One slice of bread is all I need.

Funny I should follow up my post above with a tortilla dish!

Neighbor went away again and forgot to cancel her delivery. Good for us!

We had this for breakfast (seemed as much breakfast-y as dinner-ish):

Quesadilla with shallots, Tinkerbell peppers and Monterey Jack cheese, topped with a fried egg, lime crema and tomato & cilantro salsa.

That does seem very much like breakfast, and double bonus about the forgetful neighbors. Definitely keep them!

Annie

We have noticed BA tends to add an egg to "up" the protein. Good thing we loves eggs.

This box also came with a cod & blue potato meal, and a mixed mushroom, fried shallot & noodle meal.

Again, very good, especially because DH gladly offers to cook them. I think it makes him proud to put out a nicely turned out meal.

mimi, I think anything that convinces our spouses, children, significant others, etc to cook in place of take out or frozen convenience stuff is a very good thing.

I've also noticed a trend to put an egg on nearly everything from salad to burger. I also love eggs, so that's not a problem for me either.

Annie

Yes, they do add an egg, especially to carb-y meals. I skipped the delivery for awhile. This breakfast thing wasn't particularly appealing for DH. He's easy for breakfast, I'd rather have creativity for dinner. You're very lucky that your neighbor is so forgetful! LOL

Just got our first deliver from "Home Chef". Everything looks good. We have a choice, tonight of Oktoberfest Chicken Schnitzel or Steak with Brown Butter Bordelaise.

Home Chef seemed to have the most "family with kids" friendly choices.

I recommend you invest in ice packs. There's clearly money to be made in ice packs.

I'm having knee surgery soon, and since I shop and prepare dinners during the week, we are trying this out. We've always boasted to hungry kids that we've never lost anyone to starvation in our home, and we are not going to start now.

I'm not a menu planner, so these pre-packed meals are going to be a huge help, and we'll get to try new recipes that I would never consider trying.

The recipes come with the meals, with holes already punched for the binder to save them!

The local grocery stores also deliver, so breakfasts, lunches, snacks and desserts will be taken care of. And we have milk, some produce, etc delivered by the "milkman" every week.

Of course I'll be a screaming idiot, having to be housebound for so long, but good food should help keep me sane.

momj47- I hope your surgery goes well and that your family pampered and takes care of you!

My DD and I made the Oktoberfest Chicken Schnitzel (??!!)

It was very good. The kids loved watching us prep everything, and they admired the photo. And they ate everything.

My DGD (8 y.o.) will ask what's for dinner and then declare she doesn't like it, even though she's never had it. She looked at the photo on the instruction page and commented on how good it looked. And she ate it, even the asparagus!

What we learned is that there was too much food. We could only eat half our chicken portion, so we have leftovers.

But we also figured that we probably only need to order two meals rather than four, for many of the meals, since these are healthy portions. So this comes out to about $5 a serving. Well worth the price. Nothing to waste.

YUM, momj47!

That's a benefit I've not heard about yet-kids are intrigued and think it's fun and cool!

DH and I also loved that we often had leftover for lunch the next day.

Momj47, I'm hoping your surgery goes well and that you actually get to enjoy a bit of that time off your feet.

Annie