Want to try Blue Apron? Here’s my review

Blue Apron is a nationwide delivery service that ships you the recipes and all of the necessary ingredients for a meal. I have never been interested in this, personally, but lately I have seen some friends post beautiful food pics that they created via Blue Apron. Then, my father-in-law gave me a gift certificate to try them…so I did. Here’s the breakdown:

Price
2-person plan
: $59.94 for three meals, shipped weekly.  (I had a $30 gift certificate, so I only paid $29.94 for this box.)
Family plan: $69.92 for TWO meals, shipped weekly.
*You can view the meal plans for each week and even change it if you
do not approve. However, there is only one other option per week.
You also cannot have preferences, such as no lactose, or no meat.
For example, here are the two menu options for next week:

Option 1:
capture

Option 2:
capture2

*You may also skip a week, or as many as you like, in case you do not
like the meal options for that week or you have no need for it that
week.

What’s in the box?
Once I opened the very heavy box, I then had to open an insulating bag. This kept everything cold, and seemed to work well.  Inside this bag were individually-wrapped ingredients as well as three recipe cards.

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*1st Problem: There were three paper bags, each one full of the “knick knacks” (smaller ingredients) for each recipe. I got two of these bags for the cod sandwich, and none for the spiced beef skewers. So, I am without the panko breadcrumbs, ras el hanout, raisins, and labneh cheese. I have no idea what ras el hanout even is, so I can’t make this recipe with what I have on hand either.
So, I email their customer service and they wrote back within a couple hours saying they cannot send me the missing ingredients. However, they will take off $20 on my next box order. (Not helpful since I won’t be ordering from them again.)

The First Meal
Since I had twice as many “knick knacks” as I needed for the cod sandwich and endive salad, and it sounded the most delicious, I went for this recipe first.
The recipe card had the ingredients on one side and the instructions on the other, all with plenty of pictures for visual guidance.

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Here are all of the ingredients. Even the apple cider vinegar is measured and put into a bottle, ready to use. I was impressed with the packaging. Nothing was crushed or smooshed, and everything was very fresh.  The only ingredients the recipe called for that were not provided were 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and salt and pepper.

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The recipe card was easy to follow, the pictures helped ensure I did everything correctly.  I had to chop a bulb of garlic, a shallot, endive, and capers.  Other than that, I had to sear the cod and just mix ingredients together. So, the recipe was pretty simple.
The only complaint is I had to make garlic paste out of a whole bulb of garlic, which was a lot of work. (I would much prefer this to already be prepared.)
While the recipe card explains nothing about how to do this, or any other process, the Blue Apron website has a video on how to complete this task.
Each week, the site has videos and longer written explanations for how to complete that week’s recipes. Pretty cool!

Here’s one plate (there were two total) of the finished product:

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The sandwich was delicious. The cod was perfectly flaky and the aioli was very flavorful, full of capers and shallots. The crunch of the baby kale was nice and the bread was perfectly soft.
The endive salad was inedible. Really. Both of us took one bite and threw out the rest. It was dressed with just vinegar, olive oil, some garlic paste and tons of shallot pieces. It was like eating raw onion…actually it was exactly that.
With all of the shallot in this meal, my breath was horrible all evening. Too much? Sorry, but it’s the truth. Was it worth it, though? No.

Overall
While I will not order from Blue Apron again, I believe it would be perfect for the person that hates figuring out what to cook and going to the grocery store. (I kind of love those things.)
The recipes are varied, so you would learn to cook a lot of unique dishes you may not have tried otherwise.
However, if you have many dietary restrictions, this would not be for you. I could not find anywhere to request just vegetarian dishes or gluten-free or lactose-free, etc.
I also think it is too expensive. If I paid full price, then each dish costs $10. If I paid this much, and still had to cook and clean, for that cod sandwich and endive salad, I would have been pretty mad.

If any of you have tried Blue Apron, let me know what you think in the comments.

My Favorite Recipe: Memaw’s Cornbread Dressing

I’m completely serious, no exaggeration here. My grandmother’s cornbread dressing is the best in the world.  It is moist with a crusty edge. It is full of flavors of chicken and sage, and everything else yummy that reminds me of the holidays.

She’s been gone for many years now, but my Aunt Sissy was given the recipe, so she made it for years. My aunt finally gave me the recipe, after some prodding, and now I get to make it for the family every year. (And usually just for me and Drew about another 3 times a year.)

Wanna be a hero at Thanksgiving? Give this recipe a shot. I have already heard from hundreds of strangers online about this is the best dressing they have had and now they make it every year. So….I can’t be crazy, right? It is simply delicious.

*Side notes:
-This recipe may be frozen for later use, it will still taste
fresh.
-This recipe makes about 2 10×10 pans-worth. It makes a lot!

Recipe

Walk-Through Video:

Ingredients:
-1 large skillet sweet cornbread (you can make this from scratch or
just use a couple of those little jiffy mix boxes.)
-1/2 loaf white bread (stale is best)
-2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
-1 stalk of celery (the whole head, not just one stick)
-3 medium yellow onions
-2 garlic cloves
-2 tablespoons dried sage
-2 teaspoons poultry seasoning
-1 teaspoon ground red pepper
-1 roasted chicken
-6-7 cups low sodium chicken broth
– 2 10 ounce cans cream of chicken
-1 10 ounce can cream of mushroom
-1 10 ounce can cream of celery
-salt and pepper, to taste
-10 eggs (I believe this is the secret to the dressing’s perfect
texture, almost souffle-like.)

Directions:
1. Bake the cornbread until it is well done.
2. Crumble the cornbread and white bread into LARGE bowl.
3. Chop one full celery stalk, yellow onions, and dice garlic cloves.
4. In a pan, heat olive oil over medium heat and saute onions and
celery until soft. Add garlic and cook for two minutes.
5. Shred roasted chicken. (I find buying a rotisserie chicken from the
store is not only the easiest, but also the most flavorful.)
6. Add sauteed veggies to bowl with crumbled bread. Also, add
poultry seasoning, sage, ground red pepper, all cans of condensed
soups, and 6 cups of chicken broth.
7. Stir and continue to add any necessary broth, until the texture
very loose, like the texture of chilli? Sorry, that is all I can come up
with. If you watch the video, you can see the visual.
8. Taste and add any necessary salt and pepper.
9. Add 10 eggs, already beaten.
10. Shred roasted chicken. (I find buying a rotisserie chicken from
the store is not only the easiest, but also the most flavorful.)
Add chicken. Stir until well incorporated.
11. Bake for 2 hours at 300°. Then, turn temperature up to 350°
and top loosely with foil. Cook for another 30 minutes, or until
the middle does not jiggle and is firm. Bigger dishes will take
longer, of course.
12. Let cool at least 20 minutes before digging in.
13. Write a comment letting me know what you think. =)

The Best Southern Cornbread and Chicken Dressing

Prep Time 2 hours
Cook Time 3 hours
Course Main Course, Side Dish
Cuisine American
Servings 15

Ingredients
  

  • 1 large tray/skillet plain sweet cornbread 2 jiffy boxes works or you can make it from scratch
  • 1/4 loaf stale white bread
  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 celery stalk The entire head, not just one stick
  • 3 medium yellow onions
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 2 tbs[ dried sage
  • 2 tsp poultry seasoning
  • 1 tsp ground red pepper
  • 1 roasted chicken I have been adding 2 to help bring more protein to the dish- so add what you like!
  • 6-7 cups low sodium chicken (or veggie) broth
  • 2 10 oz cans cream of chicken
  • 1 10 oz can cream of mushroom
  • 1 10 oz can of cream of celery
  • 10 eggs beaten
  • salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions
 

  • Bake the cornbread until it is well done.
  • Crumble the cornbread and white bread into LARGE bowl.
  • Chop one full celery stalk, yellow onions, and dice garlic cloves.
  • In a pan, heat olive oil over medium heat and saute onions andcelery until soft. Add garlic and cook for two minutes.
  • Shred roasted chicken. (I find buying a rotisserie chicken from thestore is not only the easiest, but also the most flavorful.)
  • Add sauteed veggies to bowl with crumbled bread. Also, addpoultry seasoning, sage, ground red pepper, all cans of condensedsoups, and 6 cups of chicken broth.
  • Stir and continue to add any necessary broth, until the texturevery loose, like the texture of chilli? Sorry, that is all I can come upwith. If you watch the video, you can see the visual.
  • Taste and add any necessary salt and pepper.
  • Add 10 eggs, already beaten.
  • Add chicken. Stir until well incorporated.
  • Bake for 2 hours at 300°. Then, turn temperature up to 350°and top loosely with foil. Cook for another 30 minutes, or untilthe middle does not jiggle and is firm. Bigger dishes will takelonger, of course.
  • Let cool at least 20 minutes before digging in.

Video

Keyword cornbread dressing, dressing, thanksgiving, chicken dressing, chicken, cornbread, recipe, amy westerman,