Readers! We have a treat for you today! Since the JUGs are a bit rusty in the cooking arena, we wanted to bring you fresh content on that lifestyle subject from someone who knows far more about it, and a service that makes the process easy enough for us to follow. So... we have a guest blogger for you today! Take it away, Alie!
What’s better than a home cooked meal on a chilly fall
night? Not much, but if you’re like me, prepping and planning for your night of
domesticity might have you throwing in the towel and reaching for the take out
menu. Sure, browsing for recipes is a
great way to kill those slow afternoons at work, but the trip to the grocery
store and the schlep home can take the fun out of actually cooking. Plus, what’s worse than finding a recipe that
sounds great but requires a ton of ingredients you don’t already have?
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Enter Blue Apron. Once a week they will deliver pre-measured
ingredients for three meals right to your door.
Opt for 2, 4 or 6 servings (depending on whether you’re just feeding
yourself or a whole family…or having a dinner party!) and it will arrive on the
day of your choosing. The food is
packaged in a way that keeps it fresh and cold even if you’re not home to
accept the delivery. Every ingredient is
labeled and all the extras – like spices, sauces, condiments, etc. – are
measured out in little containers and put in one of three “knick-knack bags”
(one for each meal). The only thing you
have to provide is olive oil (and a kitchen.) From there, you follow the recipe
which is very straight forward and comes on a piece of thick, glossy paper,
complete with step-by-step pictures and tips. Most meals I have cooked are
complete within 30 – 45 minutes.
I love the service, and use it about once a month. You can opt in or out each week and there is
no subscription fee. It is $9.99 per
person, per meal, so one week for two people (shipping included) is
$59.94. Obviously, whether or not this works
out to be cheaper than a trip to the grocery store for ingredients for three
meals will depend on your current cooking habits. For me, living by myself with
a relatively sparse pantry, this is cheaper, and I end up with enough food for
3 dinners and 3 lunches for the week.
I do wish that the menu options were more flexible. There are vegetarian and omnivore options,
and you can opt out of any types of meat or fish you don’t like. However, each week they make two menus
available, one vegetarian and one for omnivores. Despite being a meat eater, I’m still a big
veggie lover, and oftentimes I’d like to have two vegetarian meals and one meat
one, or vice versa. Unfortunately, you
can’t pick and choose between the two menus.
Another small grievance is that I hate chopping vegetables! I would love
if they came pre-chopped, but I do understand the freshness factor involved
there.
Despite those two little gripes, I highly recommend the
service. The ingredients are fresh, high
quality and in many cases, local. They
clearly list their suppliers right on their website. (As an upstate New Yorker,
I already buy a lot of my produce directly from Samascott Orchards at my
farmers market, so it’s great to know I can get the same high quality produce
in my Blue Apron box!) Even if you’re not up for the full Blue Apron
experience, check out their recipes! All of them are available for free, and I have yet to make one
that wasn’t absolutely delicious. Bon Appetit!
-Alie
The content of this post is the opinion of the author and such that JUGs editors support. If you are interested in guest-posting, be sure to reach out to us for requirements and guidelines!
- Meredith
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