dinner done better

Greetings from dinner time around here.

It's general chaotic and messy and poorly planned (understatement of the millennium - I'm working on it!)  but it's crazy because it happens .... daily! Imagine that. While Blue Apron is sponsoring this post, we've purchased loads of Blue Apron meals on our own because we love the service so much.

So does baby B.

I was really impressed and excited to see that Blue Apron really stepped up it's seafood and vegetarian meal game just in time for Lent. They always offer seafood and no-meat options but they variety has gotten bigger and better in the past several weeks which works out well because Friday comes along e-v-e-r-y week just like dinner time comes along every evening like clockwork.

For this particular non-Friday we had the pleasure of making Roast Pork & Smashed Potatoes with an Apple, Walnut, and Goat Cheese salad.

We gathered the always fresh ingredients ...

And I got to work my official culinary photographer documented and Julia pretended not to notice him ...

Here I am nonchalantly searing the pork ... something that was (sadly) formerly out of my comfort zone but the step-by-step instructions held my inexperienced hand through the surprisingly easy trenches.

Sebastian "helped" me cut the potatoes, onions, apples, and lemon ...

... and assembled a little salad of his own ...

... nailed it. The apple doesn't fall far from the mother tree with those presentation skills.

As suspected, the sound of a parental unit doing something productive immediately woke Phoebe from her nap. She got right to down to business and silently thieved the apples meant for the salad ...

... no shame. Ever.

Despite Theo waking up on the worst side of the bed (ever) I got everything cooked, put together, and thrown in from of him in the hopes that a little blood sugar boost would help his mood.

It did, mercifully. 

Despite Julia and Sebastian telling me over and over AND over that they would not be partaking in the meal ... they loved it. 

I even turned up the fancy ambiance volume with some not-quite-dead Valentine's flowers ...

bad-a-boom.

In case you're new to the Blue Apron concept ... a few quick points!

+ Blue Apron is a meal delivery service that delivers farm-fresh ingredients right to your doorstep, eliminating potential food waste (guilty!) and the need for last minute trips to the grocery store (guiltier!)

+ everything comes in a refrigerated box and stays cool even if you're not home when the package arrives and there's both a family plan and a 2-person plan

+ they now have an awesome recycling program where you have the option to return all food packaging to Blue Apron free of charge

+ all meals are between 500-700 calories and there's no committment -- you really can skip or cancel your deliveries at any time.

+ while we love ordering Blue Apron for our greedy little selves (especially when we have out of town guests - lifesaver!), I also love sending it to new moms coming out of the postpartum fog, to family members just for fun, or friends that are in need of a little boost in the midst of an unexpectedly tough week

+ if you'd like to try Blue Apron for yourself and get two free meals go ahead and click right here!

+ and if you're in a dinner rut like I always seem to be ... you can peruse their fun and inventive recipes completely free right here!

thanks for reading AND happy camel emoji hump day.