Blue Apron? or similar food delivery programs. What do you think?

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  • rak173
    rak173 Posts: 105 Member
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    I enjoyed blue apron, but not enough to continue. I would get it for 1-2 weeks/month for about 6 months. It was a great way to try recipes I wouldn't think of. But, I found it to be repetitive and expensive. Also the meals took me closer to 45 min to make than the 30 they'd say. I would do it if I didn't have time to grocery shop.
  • chollands29
    chollands29 Posts: 46 Member
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    thanks for all of the replies! it seems like most people think it is fun but expensive. Which is what I thought might be the case. I'll use my free week and see how it goes. I think the appeal for me is that it might motivate me to try cooking new things. I'm in a pretty boring rut for what I cook at home and as a result am tempted to eat out too often. They do have all of their recipes available online so maybe I'll just borrow the recipes and shop myself afterwards!? we'll see how it goes. thanks!
  • kdiamond
    kdiamond Posts: 3,329 Member
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    I like it for a change up and it makes me try things I normally wouldn't. I cook 90% of the time at home so I like new ideas. For the person who said it's lazy, it's not at all, you have to chop everything and cook it like anything else. I'm still at the grocery store a billion times a week since I eat everything fresh. I do it for a month, stop, do it another month, etc. There's no commitment.

    Now the pre-packaged meals, no, I don't like those. Most of them (I'm sure there are exceptions) are processed crap food. But I have found Blue Apron to be all natural ingredients.
  • jcputerbaugh
    jcputerbaugh Posts: 5 Member
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    If it's available in your area, try grocery delivery service to add more fruits and vegetables to your diet or increase your repertoire. I have been using a delivery service (Green Bean) for about 4 months now. It has forced me to eat and prepare more fruits and vegetables than I would normally buy, for two reasons: 1. I have to order enough to meet the free delivery minimum (which can only be met with fruits and vegetables), and 2. I absolutely HATE to throw any food out, so out comes the cookbook or an internet search to see how I can use what I have. There's just two people in my household, so I'm on an every other week delivery. You get to pick what you want, and while they emphasize seasonal/local/organic, they don't eschew the more exotic fruits like bananas and mangoes and you don't end up with 12 ears of corn. They have grocery items also, but the focus is on the fresh items. Overall, it costs slightly more than going to the store, but it's delivered to my house and I had a tendency to buy the same things over and over at the store. There's enough choices that I don't have to get items I feel aren't a good value, and it's definitely increased the variety (and colors) of foods I eat.
  • katkins3
    katkins3 Posts: 1,360 Member
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    My daughter was using Blue Apron last time I stayed with her. Her husband and I both hated it! The meals were horrible...
    The meals must cause weight loss due to inability to face eating them.
    If you want low cal food, Google low cal recipes and find tasty meals instead.
  • jmcmaster140285
    jmcmaster140285 Posts: 1 Member
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    I use Blue Apron all the time. My husband and I both work long hours, and having fresh ingredients delivered is great. The recipes include many ingredients that I would not ordinarily buy, so I have been introduced to a whole new palate of flavors.
    Whoever said it is for lazy people is incorrect. Lots of chopping and preparation. Lots of dishes to wash.
    No waste because they send measured amounts.
    The calorie counts are high, I think, but the serving sizes are bigger than I would normally eat. Usually makes enough for dinner , plus a packed lunch or two.
  • ActuarialChef
    ActuarialChef Posts: 1,413 Member
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    chollands29 wrote: »
    thanks for all of the replies! it seems like most people think it is fun but expensive. Which is what I thought might be the case. I'll use my free week and see how it goes. I think the appeal for me is that it might motivate me to try cooking new things. I'm in a pretty boring rut for what I cook at home and as a result am tempted to eat out too often. They do have all of their recipes available online so maybe I'll just borrow the recipes and shop myself afterwards!? we'll see how it goes. thanks!

    This is what I do. I had a free week to Hello Fresh and was super happy with the food we got. But I couldn't justify spending as much on ~3 meals as I usually do on 6 plus snacks and drinks. So I started saving their recipes instead. I can but the ingredients for 6 of their meals for the price that they charge for 3. Sounds good to me! And I never have problems finding any of the ingredients, even the obscure ones, because I shop at wegmans and there are ethnic grocery stores near me.

    I recently found Blue Apron too, and they have their recipes online for anyone to use as well. We haven't been as fond of their recipes though. I'll stick with my hello fresh! Oh and it was super easy to cancel after our first (free) week. I emailed and asked them to put my account on a permanent hold because I couldn't justify the cost, and they did so immediately.
  • annaskiski
    annaskiski Posts: 1,212 Member
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    We've been using Blue Apron for almost a year now, and we love it!

    We've tried a lot of different veggies and foods that we've never heard of, or at least never cooked with before.
    The meals are 600-700 calories typically, but they are usually a LOT of food.

    My favorite thing about Blue Apron is the fact that the veggie side dishes are terrific! I've never been a veggie person. I've always eaten them because they're healthy. However, just the other day I was saying to someone that if I had grown up eating veggie dishes as tasty as the Blue Apron recipes, I might have grown up loving veggies (as some of you weirdos do) :)
  • 6502programmer
    6502programmer Posts: 515 Member
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    We've been doing the family meals.. $35 per meal for the family with decent ingredients, something we don't usually eat, fairly balanced, and healthy? It's a no-brainer.

    We all trade time for things or things for time. I trade my time to my employer to buy things, and I trade my things to buy time. For me--Someone who rides the bus and train to work every day and doesn't drive on a daily basis--Blue Apron is a slam dunk. I get to cook healthy meal for my family and I don't need to go to the store (or as is more typically the case, MULTIPLE stores to buy specialty ingredients--Today's shipment includes fresh ramen noodles, togarashi, and mizuna). Yeah, I don't get the tactile experience of picking out my own ingredients, but I save an hour of shopping to buy ingredients and get to focus on cooking healthy, balanced, from-scratch meals for my family.

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