Thank you to Blue Apron for sponsoring this post! Want to try them yourself? The first 100 readers who sign up using this link will get two free meals on their first Blue Apron order.
Last week, Matt came home to a sight that he has basically always dreamed of: me making homemade chicken wings.
Chicken wings are more or less Matt’s favorite food of all time. The spicier, the better, and the saucier, the better, too – but hold the bleu cheese. So when last week’s Blue Apron meals included an option for homemade baked chicken wings, I knew he would be all about it.
As expected, when Matt walked in the door his face was basically like: “Omg, have all my dreams come true?!” 😉
Turns out homemade baked chicken wings are super easy to make, actually, so I’ll definitely have to make these for us again!
When Matt came home, I had already baked the chicken wings for awhile and was stirring them around in a bowl of the homemade sauce before finishing them out in the oven – he informed me that the correct way to toss chicken wings in sauce is to flip them around all fancy like in the bowl. 😉 Shaken, not stirred. Yes sir!
As you guys know, I’ve been partnering with Blue Apron this year to share quarterly sponsored reviews, but we love Blue Apron enough that we get it a fair amount outside of the partnership as well on our own dime (I just don’t always write about/mention it)!
If you’ve missed my previous posts, Blue Apron is basically a way to create delicious, chef-designed recipes at home – without the stress of meal planning and grocery shopping. Each week you will be sent a menu of recipe options to choose from (there are six recipes per week, and they auto-assign you to receive 3 based on your selected dietary preferences but you can change it up if you want), and then all the fresh ingredients for the meals arrive at your doorstep the next week in exactly the proportions you need. No grocery store, no waste from unused ingredients, no planning required. So awesome. All you have to do is follow the instructions and cook!
Matt and I are on the 2 person plan, which sends you one delivery per week that includes the ingredients for three meals (two servings each – although we often have leftovers – at $9.99 per serving per meal). There is also a family plan option ($8.74 per person per meal) that will send you once or twice weekly deliveries consisting of two meals served family-style. Shipping is always free, and there’s no commitment in that you can skip or cancel any time you like. We skip a fair amount of weeks due to travel and it’s never been an issue!
The ingredients all arrive in a refrigerated box so even if you aren’t home, they stay nice and cool, and I love that the recipes are always creative and include meals/ingredients I normally wouldn’t try to make myself at home! For example, the brown rice that paired with the chicken wings called for some fresh lemongrass cooked in it – I’ve never cooked with lemongrass before at home so this was something fun and different. This is what lemongrass looks like, apparently!
The instructions said that you want to remove the tough outer layers of the lemongrass and then, once you reach the soft, pliable core, you mince that. Cool! It paired with some lime zest to make the rice really flavorful.
The cute recipe cards have little write ups featuring some of the more unique ingredients that you are using in the recipe, which I love. This one told me all about squid ink pasta for the Squid Ink Linguine with Shrimp and Cherry Tomatoes dish!
Ever since my travels in Italy back in 2009 and again a couple years ago, I’ve loved squid ink pasta, so I was thrilled to see that in the recipe options for last week! Squid ink pasta is made by mixing squid ink into fresh pasta dough, turning it a nice dark hue and infusing it with a light salinity that pairs well with shellfish. These noodles were excellent – so fresh and hearty!
I made this recipe last week on a night Matt wasn’t home and decided to turn it into a little solo party. Prosecco, to go with my Italian-themed meal? Yes. Also, blasting country music while cooking is a necessity.
Ready to eat! That was easy.
The fresh basil and the bright flavor of the lemon zest and juice really stood out here – I love how often Blue Apron utilizes lemon and lime zest in their recipes. Always so delicious!
Matt ended up having the leftovers a couple days later and gave it two thumbs up, too. He normally doesn’t love shrimp but said that this wasn’t fishy at all – just garlicky and tomato-y, our faves!
The final Blue Apron meal we enjoyed last week was these delicious stuffed peppers! I was out stand up paddleboarding with friends so Matt took charge on cooking this one, and I arrived home to find him in the midst of preparations. Filling in process:
These were as delicious as they look! Perfect summer evening dinner – not too heavy but really flavorful, and the homemade lime-crema sauce it went with was amazing.
So there you have it! A week of Blue Apron dinners. Stress-free and delicious.
If you haven’t tried Blue Apron yet, get on it – here is the link again to get your first 2 meals free. 🙂 They just recently launched in Texas so they now deliver to the majority of the country! And in the meantime, check out their website for tasty recipes you can try yourself at home – I have had my eye on the Black Bean and Red Quinoa Enchiladas and Cod & Miso Soba Noodles (this meal was actually in this week’s box (bought on our own dime) – excited to try it tonight!). Yum!
