Rave: Hello Fresh/Blue Apron

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Michael
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Rave: Hello Fresh/Blue Apron

Post by Michael »

I've always been one of those stereotypical useless males in the kitchen. Growing up my mom always made my meals for me and I didn't improve with age. My wife doesn't really cook either so until recently we pretty much ate out every day. Well, one day I was listening to a podcast and they mentioned a company called Blue Apron. It's a service where they send you the ingredients for 3 nutritious meals a week that you prep and cook yourself. For 60 dollars a week you get 3 meals for 2 people delivered to your home. In the beginning the results were awful but I've quickly gotten a lot better, and now I'm having quite a bit of fun. I'm not saying I'm a great cook or anything, but it's a start. There's quite a few Blue Apron competitors so currently I'm doing a bit of coupon harvesting and trying other services. For far I think Hello Fresh is my favorite meal service. Their menus are super straightforward and I like their meal options, which include a breakfast choice.

Anyway, that's my pathetic personal triumph story. Thank you for reading.

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Schlich
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Re: Rave: Hello Fresh/Blue Apron

Post by Schlich »

I've loved blue apron, I feel like it's not really that much more expensive than grocery shopping and you can't beat the convenience of saving the grocery shopping and having the exact right amount of what you need... our only downside is that we've been struggling to find the time to cook 3 nights a week... meal prep plus cooking plus eating plus cleaning comes out to about 2 hours of our night. But it's so freakin tasty. And, as you mentioned, it's taught me a lot of basic cooking skills so that we can make things that don't taste like garbage when we cancel the service.

Michael
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Re: Rave: Hello Fresh/Blue Apron

Post by Michael »

I agree 3 meals can be tough. That's why I like Hello Fresh with their breakfast option. With breakfast I can make 3 meals on the weekend. Otherwise, it can be tough fitting in that 3rd meal during a weekday. I also think Blue Apron's meals take a little bit longer to prep.

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AWvsCBsteeeerike3
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Re: Rave: Hello Fresh/Blue Apron

Post by AWvsCBsteeeerike3 »

Huh, I'm certainly not as high on them as you all.

I certainly get the appeal and find it convenient. But, I can't agree the cost is close to what you'd get at a grocery store. The good thing about these programs, however, is the lack of waste. Admittedly, if you were going to try to make one of their meals (let's say the southern spicy catfish last week...or whatever it was), there's going to be a lot of leftover. Green onions, flour, batter, etc. So, that's a big plus. Also, I find the quantity to be perfect. Rarely do I eat my portion and still feel hungry. And, they're usually good about getting a fruit or vegetable in there and keeping the recipe rather healthy.

But, back tot he catfish meal. Oh my gosh the menu irritated me to no end. Flour and spices on dry catfish? No thank you! That's not how to batter the catfish! The fish needs to be dipped in buttermilk or egg or something first. And, the batter should have some cornmeal or baking powder....not just flour. Ahhhhhh, it drove me crazy. And the recipe called to put the flour on a plate?!?! Come on, everyone knows to put it in a bowl. I ended up just using my own fish batter instead. Moving on, it seemed like they were trying to save calories by limiting the amount of oil used in the frying process which is fine. But, then at the end, the last step is to smother the cooked fish with an oil seasoning mixture. Why not just add the seasoning to the batter and fry the fish properly, covered with oil.

And, the fish was not the best, but that's besides the point. Also, they had chicken breasts with the skin on. I guess they wanted the skin to crisp up, which was a decent thought, but the seasoning (tahoori or something) wasn't nearly enough, imo. And, the skin was just a waste of calories.

I like the idea, but find the recipes/meals lacking and end up modifying them. That said, I've gotten pretty comfortable in the kitchen so following silly recipes irritates me more than it should.

Some of their stuff is really solid and we'll add it to our go to meals.

tl;dr: It's okay. I do think hello fresh is better than blue apron.

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wart57
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Re: Rave: Hello Fresh/Blue Apron

Post by wart57 »

Image

This was my mothers day gift.

I don't need no stinking blue apron [expletive] to eat good!

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lukethedrifter
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Re: Rave: Hello Fresh/Blue Apron

Post by lukethedrifter »

My buddy and his wife decided that blue apron was too much work for them. She only works two days a week.

So back to eating frozen meals from Trader Joe's.

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Joe Shlabotnik
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Re: Rave: Hello Fresh/Blue Apron

Post by Joe Shlabotnik »

Apropos of nothing, we just lost two of our best software people. A husband and wife - him to Google and her to Blue Apron. They moved from Huntsville to mid-town Manhattan. What an adventure!

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Tim
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Re: Rave: Hello Fresh/Blue Apron

Post by Tim »

Had Blue Apron for a year. Mostly positives to say. Rarely did we not like the food.

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Farewell Friends
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Re: Rave: Hello Fresh/Blue Apron

Post by Farewell Friends »

Excellent food, but too pricey for me.

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Schlich
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Re: Rave: Hello Fresh/Blue Apron

Post by Schlich »

AWvsCBsteeeerike3 wrote: But, I can't agree the cost is close to what you'd get at a grocery store.
Farewell Friends wrote:Excellent food, but too pricey for me.
I readily admit i'm not a very frugal shopper

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