Anyone here use Blue Apron or similar service?

[PeteK]

Since my wife is getting more pregnant by the day, I've been doing most of the cooking and grocery shopping. I'm an ok cook, but I work 12 hours a day and don't really have a lot of extra time for the grocery store. So I'm curious about these meal services like Blue Apron where they send you all the fresh ingredients and a recipe and you cook it at home.

I know it's more expensive, but it seems convenient. $60 per week for 3 meals for 2 people. I have no idea about portion size, I read online anything from the 2 person plan being plenty for 4 or not enough for 1. Reviews I read, people seem to be pleased with the quality of the food. But I'd trust an MLP review over some random thing I Googled any day. I know it would be cheaper to go to the store, but I'm looking for convenience and not crap food. So has anyone here used any service like that?

 

[DotStudio]

My wife and I did Blue Apron for awhile but we've switched to Hello Fresh. They're both good, but Blue Apron had some drawbacks.

Blue Apron is very time consuming. They really just give you a pile of produce and you do everything by hand. Shucking corn, picking leaves off of herbs, etc. Although you still need to do much of the preparation/chopping of the produce with Hello Fresh, it's a much more time efficient.

Blue Apron is mostly gourmet food, which can be a good thing, but it didn't suit my wife's taste. There also is a very limited selection week to week. With Hello Fresh you can really customize to fit your needs. Also, being gourmet only adds to the time constraints.

Portion sizes are great for two people with both, but we tend to have more leftovers with HF.

Blue Aprons packaging is pretty bad. They throw everything into a big box and you have to sort everything. That's not so horrible, but since everything is rattling around in there, things were prone to leaking and eggs were broken several times. HF sorts everything and has every meal in an individual container.

The only drawback to HF is that they expect you to have the basics like sugar and butter, which doesn't bother me.

Hope this helps

 

[TheX]

I guess hiring a cute girl in a french maid outfit is out of the question?

 

[mrfett]

I do most of the cooking for the family, especially during the week, and tried Blue Apron and Hello Fresh. My biggest issue was that I'm EXTREMELY slow at prep and like DotStudio said, they just give you a ton of stuff you need to cut up/prep. I loved the food but I've got 3 little kids and I just can't spend that much time prepping.

The problem is that without their help, I'm stuck with my weekly rotations of kale/green beans/broccoli/carrots for veggies and sweet potato or rice for a starch with some kind of chicken or fish. I sauté the veggies in olive oil and bake cut up sweet potato pieces. The kids eat it but it gets pretty friggin' boring for the adults. BUT I can be outside at the park with the kids until 6 and still get dinner on the table by 7-ish.

If I was faster at prep or if I had kids that were old enough to play outside unattended I'd do it at least twice/week, it's a cool way to get into new things.

 

[PeteK]

My wife and I did Blue Apron for awhile but we've switched to Hello Fresh. They're both good, but Blue Apron had some drawbacks.

Blue Apron is very time consuming. They really just give you a pile of produce and you do everything by hand. Shucking corn, picking leaves off of herbs, etc. Although you still need to do much of the preparation/chopping of the produce with Hello Fresh, it's a much more time efficient.

Blue Apron is mostly gourmet food, which can be a good thing, but it didn't suit my wife's taste. There also is a very limited selection week to week. With Hello Fresh you can really customize to fit your needs. Also, being gourmet only adds to the time constraints.

Portion sizes are great for two people with both, but we tend to have more leftovers with HF.

Blue Aprons packaging is pretty bad. They throw everything into a big box and you have to sort everything. That's not so horrible, but since everything is rattling around in there, things were prone to leaking and eggs were broken several times. HF sorts everything and has every meal in an individual container.

The only drawback to HF is that they expect you to have the basics like sugar and butter, which doesn't bother me.

Hope this helps

I've been comparing Blue Apron to Hello Fresh (meaning reading online reviews) and I see similar criticism that Blue Apron takes longer to prep. They are the exact same price for the 2 person plan and people seem to be happy with the quality of food from both. I think I'll give Hello Fresh a go based on the easier prep times.

 

[DotStudio]

I've been comparing Blue Apron to Hello Fresh (meaning reading online reviews) and I see similar criticism that Blue Apron takes longer to prep. They are the exact same price for the 2 person plan and people seem to be happy with the quality of food from both. I think I'll give Hello Fresh a go based on the easier prep times.

Good choice

 

[Tone deaf]

I got a BA gift cert a few months ago. I keep meaning to do it, but I am easily distracted.

 

[Kamen_Kaiju]

gotchu...

 

[PeteK]

Yuk. I don't want microwave crap food. I like to eat real food with ingredients that don't have scientific names I can't pronounce.

 

[Kamen_Kaiju]

P*ssy.








......I don't blame you, Banquet is kind of awful.

 

[PeteK]

Banquet is bad even by tv dinner standards. I'll eat a Hungry Man or even a Lean Cuisine over Banquet any day. But I wouldn't feel great feeding my pregnant wife all that processed crap.

 

[Tone deaf]

Making good food is so easy. If you can string and tune a guitar, you can make a decent dinner.

Protein, starch and veggie.

Grill a [chicken breast], roast some chopped up [potatoes] and steam some [spinach].

Replace the items at will.

 

[PeteK]

Making good food is so easy. If you can string and tune a guitar, you can make a decent dinner.

Protein, starch and veggie.

Grill a [chicken breast], roast some chopped up [potatoes] and steam some [spinach].

Replace the items at will.

Well I'm not saying I can't do that. It's just kind of a pain in the butt when working 12 hour shifts. This is 2017, I want things to be convenient!

Plus I'm not a very creative cook so it usually ends up being chicken and veggies. There's only so many ways to make chicken and veggies!

 

[Pop1655]

Uhhhh no.
......but I've got a really good excuse!

 

[Byron999]

What flavor Cheetos come with those, the good ones?


I kid, I kid,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

[PeteK]

Uhhhh no.
......but I've got a really good excuse!

Well, let's hear it!

 

[PeteK]

What flavor Cheetos come with those, the good ones?


I kid, I kid,,,,,,,,,,,,,

I don't know about Cheetos, but Blue Apron will send you wine for extra if you wanna get real fancy.

 

[Crotch]

Ground beef, form into patty, salt, grill, bun

 

[mrfett]

Making good food is so easy. If you can string and tune a guitar, you can make a decent dinner.

Protein, starch and veggie.

Grill a [chicken breast], roast some chopped up [potatoes] and steam some [spinach].

Replace the items at will.

Ha! Nice to know I'm not the only one who keeps it simple. The other benefit is that kids'll eat it, since most don't like too much happening on a plate.

Like I said above though I do miss fancier stuff. But that's what cheat nights are for, right (takeout/restaurants)?

If you're trying to pamper your pregnant wife though (first kid I assume?) then go for it, I think you'll like Hello Fresh. The portion sizes are good, you can feed two adults and one little kid easy.

First kid we were all organic, I made the baby food, cloth diapers... the works. Now with the third kid it's like, "here's some french fries feed yourself and then warm up your bottle" (kidding but... standards have been lowered lol).

Some of my newer chicken tricks: 1. season some whole wheat flour and cover the pieces in it before baking (the whole wheat flour looks better cooked than white flour). 2. use a curry mix, you just add coconut milk. Serve over rice with a veggie and you have an approximation of Indian food.

I also like the beer-battered cod you can find in frozen sections, Whole Foods and Costco have really good quality ones that seem minimally screwed with.

I have a neighbor from Italy who can whip up a spectacular pasta dish in minutes and makes it look so simple... alas I ain't him lol.

Use one of those services 3 times/week and then do something simpler the other days and I think your wife and the little peanut should be happy

 

[PeteK]

Thanks mrfett. Yes, first kid. Funny, we have been referring to it as little peanut since we won't know the gender until it's born.