A few nights ago we were hanging out with some friends and they asked how we tackled dinner and cooking meals in general (they have five kids as well) ... and I had to laugh. A true blue L O L. Simon was kind enough to merely do a silent smirky smile but the truth is that these days Simon probably does (a lot) more cooking than I do. I obviously get by during the day and the kids are fed breakfast and lunch on my watch but when it comes to a full-fledged home cooked dinner ... so many excuses, so little time (the move, the baby, the move, the teeeeeeny tiny apartment, I'm out of practice, the freaking move) and I know a lot of people are skilled at just doing the dang meal plan and executing said plan but nothing paralyzes me more. My talents lie elsewhere (not sure where! but ... they do, I think).
So, when I remembered that I'd scheduled a week of meals from my favorite mother's helper to arrive last week ... Simon was pretty excited. So excited that he took charge and made the whole meal while I did the walk/bounce around the house with a super fussy Bosco.
Back up. I have to admit that I had actually ordered them but forgot to change our address from St. Louis to Tampa sooo the new owners enjoyed some meals on the old owners ... but they did Facebook me (unsolicited, completely- well, after I told them to eat up!) how much they enjoyed it. Blue Apron (kind sponsor of this here post) generously took the hit and resent us meals at no extra charge ... I owe them. Big.
The meal du jour was Southern-Style Shrimp and Grits with cherry tomatoes, corn, and zucchini ... the older two were put to work shucking the corn ...
... and of course Theo had a serious case of fomo so we let him help out too ...
peeling the garlic.
Phoebe wanted in on the action ...
... so she peeled the lemon in her own special way.
yolo.
father of the year. (no sarcasm)
Sebastian staging a food snap by breaking the cheese in half. As you do.
Finished product! In the backyard because we are forever fancy like that.
I know I've blogged about Blue Apron previously but the quickest of refreshers!
Blue Apron is a genius concept because it's a meal delivery service that delivers farm-fresh ingredients in a refrigerated box right to your doorstep (or porch - if you're us).
There are two meal plans: the 2-person plan and the family plan (feeds a family of four hungry adults for $8.74 per person or $69.92 for an 8-serving delivery which consists of two hearty meals).
Shipping is always free and there is absolutely no commitment! You can skip or cancel meals whenever you'd like - very, very easily.
Blue Apron is constantly adding new meals to their rotation so odds are great you'll never get bored and steer very clear of the dinner ruts we all get in from time to time (or maybe that's just me and my frozen pizza?). Each meal is 500-700 calories and takes no more than 40 minutes to prepare. To get a better idea of the variety you can browse their impressive list of recipes here.
Want to try for yourself and treat your family/friends/neighbors? I knew it. Wellll the first 100 readers to click this link will get two free meals with their first Blue Apron order. Hurry!
A good friend sent us a week of meals as a baby/moving gift which was about as thoughtful as it gets and I'm holding out for the Heirloom Tomato and Fontina Grilled Cheese Sandwiches and the Parmesan Crusted Chicken. Maybe you should too.
Happy Monday.
So, when I remembered that I'd scheduled a week of meals from my favorite mother's helper to arrive last week ... Simon was pretty excited. So excited that he took charge and made the whole meal while I did the walk/bounce around the house with a super fussy Bosco.
Back up. I have to admit that I had actually ordered them but forgot to change our address from St. Louis to Tampa sooo the new owners enjoyed some meals on the old owners ... but they did Facebook me (unsolicited, completely- well, after I told them to eat up!) how much they enjoyed it. Blue Apron (kind sponsor of this here post) generously took the hit and resent us meals at no extra charge ... I owe them. Big.
The meal du jour was Southern-Style Shrimp and Grits with cherry tomatoes, corn, and zucchini ... the older two were put to work shucking the corn ...
... and of course Theo had a serious case of fomo so we let him help out too ...
peeling the garlic.
Phoebe wanted in on the action ...
... so she peeled the lemon in her own special way.
yolo.
father of the year. (no sarcasm)
Sebastian staging a food snap by breaking the cheese in half. As you do.
Finished product! In the backyard because we are forever fancy like that.
I know I've blogged about Blue Apron previously but the quickest of refreshers!
Blue Apron is a genius concept because it's a meal delivery service that delivers farm-fresh ingredients in a refrigerated box right to your doorstep (or porch - if you're us).
There are two meal plans: the 2-person plan and the family plan (feeds a family of four hungry adults for $8.74 per person or $69.92 for an 8-serving delivery which consists of two hearty meals).
Shipping is always free and there is absolutely no commitment! You can skip or cancel meals whenever you'd like - very, very easily.
Blue Apron is constantly adding new meals to their rotation so odds are great you'll never get bored and steer very clear of the dinner ruts we all get in from time to time (or maybe that's just me and my frozen pizza?). Each meal is 500-700 calories and takes no more than 40 minutes to prepare. To get a better idea of the variety you can browse their impressive list of recipes here.
Want to try for yourself and treat your family/friends/neighbors? I knew it. Wellll the first 100 readers to click this link will get two free meals with their first Blue Apron order. Hurry!
A good friend sent us a week of meals as a baby/moving gift which was about as thoughtful as it gets and I'm holding out for the Heirloom Tomato and Fontina Grilled Cheese Sandwiches and the Parmesan Crusted Chicken. Maybe you should too.
Happy Monday.
I'm alllllllllll over this. Been thinking about trying Blue Apron or Plated recently, anyway... I wonder if anybody's done a comparison? (Off to Google...)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the discount. :)
what i wouldn't give to be a fly on the wall of the patton home.
ReplyDeleteThis is such a great idea! I only have three kids and definitely need the help with meals!
ReplyDelete"I'm out of practice" is the best excuse, hahaha!!
ReplyDeletephoebe and the lemon face might be my favorite picture of her yet. how sweet of simon to cook for you. i understand how tiring it gets cooking 7 days upon 7 days upon 7 days, etc. thankful my hubby grills once a week or so to get me out of the kitchen (except for the side, so sort of....not totally).
ReplyDeleteI love this! I am totally using them for when we move back to the lower 48 and I am sure to be in a psychotic state of moving.
ReplyDeleteI would love to try.....but I am so nervous that we would get meals we don't love!?!?
ReplyDeleteI was worried about that too but there's options for each week - you get to pick!
DeleteThis is such a great idea! But I'm still in the quesadillas or Husband must grill mode!! I haven't peeled a garlic clove in 10 weeks.. 😁😞. But that meal looked good!
ReplyDeleteSo excited! I just signed up for Blue Apron and looking forward to our first delivery! Trying to find new and healthy things to eat while pregnant has not been going well for me.. So this will really help out for 3 nights of the week!
ReplyDeleteI have to do this because I hate cooking. Not so much the actual cooking itself but the planning and brainstorming. Why must we all eat dinner every night?
ReplyDeletexo
Annie
We really enjoyed that meal- one of my faves so far, actually, and I'd never tried grits previous to that meal. I've been super surprised and extra grateful to have a few meals a week that I don't have to stress over THINKING what on earth I could make.
ReplyDeleteALSO! And I didn't understand this until I signed up! I LOVE that I can cancel all meals and opt to get one delivery a month if we don't want a weekly deal.
Even one shipment a month makes sense, financially, children-hauling-logistically, and emotionally.