Healthy homemade eats with Blue Apron

This post in sponsored by Blue Apron through their partnership with Mediakix. The first 50 readers to order will get two free meals here!

I’m a fan of anything that will help streamline the dinner routine. The hours of 6pm-9pm tend to be pretty busy. We cook/eat dinner, then head into bath time, stories, and getting the girls to bed. We’ll clean the kitchen, make up the bottles for the next day, pack Liv’s lunch, I’ll catch up on work while the Pilot heads to the gym, and we collapse onto the couch for brief moment of chill before getting ready for bed ourselves.

Cooking catfish

When P was first born -she’s 4 months now!- we were in survival mode and succumbed to the takeout monster. Not only did it get expensive, but I felt lethargic from eating far more salt and fats in my diet. I was SO thankful to have the option of Blue Apron meals, because we were still able to enjoy restaurant-quality food that was still homemade. There’s something to be said about knowing what’s in your food, especially if you’re trying to eat well. With Blue Apron, I never have to think twice about the ingredients. They’re always whole, unprocessed, and full of robust flavor from fresh herbs and aromatics, different cooking strategies, and robust spice blends.

Chicken and cabbage 2

It also gives us the opportunity to try out new recipes, and experiment with different flavor profiles.

Catfish with lentils

Here’s how Blue Apron works if you’re new to the service:

-In your Blue Apron shipment, you’ll receive all of the ingredients to make three full meals. You can either order the 2-person plan, or the family plan (which will serve about a family of 4). Since the servings are so generous, the 2-person plan is the perfect amount for the Pilot, Liv and myself.

Catfish ingredients

-They send only exactly what you need. This way, there are no wasted ingredients! In the past, this has stopped me from trying out new recipes with obscure ingredients because I hate to see them go to waste. (In the pantry I still have an enormous bottle of fish sauce that I have no idea how to use, but I keep saving it, you know, just in case I need fish sauce.)

Cooking catfish 2

-All of the packaging supplies are recyclable. It’s very easy to recycle the packaging, and if you don’t have recycling service near you, you can return your packaging for free through USPS. More details are here.

-The recipes are all created by chefs and are DELICIOUS. The Pilot and keep saying that maybe one day we’ll try a Blue Apron recipe and say, “Ehh. That was ok.” It has yet to happen. Every time, we’re shoveling mouthfuls into our face in between saying, “Why is this so good?”

-The ingredients are sourced through local farmers and artisans, and arrive incredibly fresh. I’m guilty of cooking the same veggies over and over, and this always encourages me switch up the rotation.

Purple cabbage? Yass.

Cabbage

We enjoyed the cabbage in this recipe, which was topped with Alsatian Spiced Chicken. I love the idea of layering the mashed potatoes on top of the cabbage:

Chicken and cabbage

The next night, we enjoyed Catfish Meunière with Ras El Hanout Collard Greens & Lentils. 

Catfish with lentils 2

I set it out on the patio for the Pilot and I to enjoy while Liv played outside, since she’d already exclaimed that the spices smelled too strong.

Mustache date

Whenever I make something with strong spices, Liv insists that she doesn’t want to eat it. With Blue Apron meals, this is what always ends up happening.

Livi goose

Blue Apron is offering two free meals to the first 50 who order here!

What’s a new recipe or cooking technique you’ve tried lately and loved?

Hope you have a wonderful day!

xoxo

Gina

This post is sponsored by Blue Apron. Thank you so much for supporting this blog and the companies who help support our family.

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31 Comments

  1. Megan @ Skinny Fitalicious on March 10, 2016 at 7:34 am

    I love Blue Apron meals! I haven’t had one in awhile and I’m totally jealous of your patio eating!

  2. Amber @ Busy, Bold, Blessed on March 10, 2016 at 7:46 am

    I feel like you can add a splash of fish sauce to basically any Asian style dish… stirfry, thai curry, etc. I love the blog Nom Nom Paleo and she was the reason I purchased some in the first place.

    • Safa on March 10, 2016 at 10:15 pm

      I am having a hard time using up my bottle of fish sauce too. Thanks for these tips.

    • Fitnessista on March 10, 2016 at 11:15 pm

      awesome, i will try that!

  3. rebecca on March 10, 2016 at 7:49 am

    We also used blue apron when our daughter was first born- it was fun (like a date night at home) and delicious. Now she is almost 3 and eats whatever we do. Do you get the family portion or the couple plan? The family menus don’t look as interesting.

    • Fitnessista on March 10, 2016 at 11:15 pm

      we get the couple plan. since the portions are so big, we have plenty for the 3 of us

  4. Amanda on March 10, 2016 at 8:29 am

    That chicken sounds incredible! Everything I’ve received from Blue Apron has been so good 😀

    • Fitnessista on March 10, 2016 at 11:14 pm

      same. i’m always waiting for that one not-so-great meal, but it’s been a year and a half and still hasn’t happened!

  5. Anna @ THE POSH BODY on March 10, 2016 at 8:42 am

    Do you think Blue Apron would be a good gift for a family with a new baby or better to just bring over something homemade?

    • Fitnessista on March 10, 2016 at 11:13 pm

      it depends on how much they like to cook. if they love cooking, YES. if cooking is more of a chore to them, i would bring over something homemade. or depending on how close you are to them, you could order the blue apron and cook it for them?

  6. Becky @goodfortheswole on March 10, 2016 at 8:56 am

    Mmmm WOW that fish looks so yummy!

    • Fitnessista on March 10, 2016 at 11:12 pm

      it was incredible!
      xo

  7. Erica on March 10, 2016 at 8:58 am

    I wish Blue Apron would deliver to Alaska!

  8. Jenny on March 10, 2016 at 9:42 am

    Oh boy, another Blue Apron post!

    • April on March 10, 2016 at 12:47 pm

      My exact thoughts:) No worries though i get the need for sponsorship!

      • Fitnessista on March 10, 2016 at 11:07 pm

        thank you for your understanding, april! if both of you girls have any ideas of how to spice up sponsored posts, i’d love to hear them

    • Kim on March 10, 2016 at 4:25 pm

      Quite honestly, I think Gina does the best job amongst healthy living bloggers balancing sponsored posts!

      • Fitnessista on March 10, 2016 at 11:06 pm

        thank you kim- that means a lot to me <3

    • Fitnessista on March 10, 2016 at 11:12 pm

      yes, they’re an awesome partner — i’m a huge fan of the product and company. if you have any ideas on how to spice up my posts for them, i would love to hear them!
      thank you for reading <3

  9. Taylor on March 10, 2016 at 10:55 am

    That catfish looks soo good!!

    • Fitnessista on March 10, 2016 at 11:10 pm

      it was insane!

  10. Jessie R on March 10, 2016 at 12:21 pm

    We really enjoyed the food from Blue Apron, but the portion sizes were a bit too small for us. The boyfriend tends to fast through lunch, so he’s always famished by dinner time. Perhaps if he didn’t do that, it would be enough :). Boys lol

    • Fitnessista on March 10, 2016 at 11:08 pm

      gotcha- he’s probably starving! we’re both grazers throughout the day, so the portions for us are pretty hefty.
      xoxo!

  11. Alexis Azzam on March 10, 2016 at 12:30 pm

    Yum! Gina where is your pretty shirt from?

    • Fitnessista on March 10, 2016 at 11:08 pm

      it’s from miss match! 🙂

  12. Bethany on March 10, 2016 at 3:50 pm

    Is that mustache March I see?!?!

    • Fitnessista on March 10, 2016 at 11:06 pm

      sadly. yes. haha

  13. Meredith on March 11, 2016 at 2:01 pm

    I love Blue Apron. That catfish dish was amazing! I enjoy all of your posts, including the sponsored ones.

    • Fitnessista on March 12, 2016 at 12:08 pm

      thank you so much, meredith. and yes the catfish was AMAZING. hope you have a wonderful weekend!

  14. Jessica on March 18, 2016 at 6:53 pm

    Have you tried Green Chef? All organic & delicious!

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