One year ago today, we drove into PA with Lisa and Nick. When I think back over the year, a LOT has happened, but it has all felt very normal. We have lived in a hotel, an apartment, and a house. We have packed and unpacked twice. We have driven down the entire East Coast to visit Andy's dad and Kathy in Florida. We checked the Carolina's and Georgia off of our bucket list. We have been to MN multiple times and traveled to New Jersey, New York, Delaware, and Maryland on a regular basis. While it's been a fun year, I'm looking forward to settling down in our new neighborhood, going back to the same school, and having some normalcy for a while.
Normalcy also means traveling to MN, which we will be doing next week. Family weddings are always a good excuse to get back. Andy still has an office in MN so he will be working, but I'm going to continue to enjoy my summer by hanging out with family and friends. I'm really looking forward to a longer time home so I can really see people, rather than a quick drop in for an hour here and there. Our family has been so accommodating and schedule special events around when we can be home. We have a 'family reunion/party' the day after the wedding, and Laura and Dan scheduled our nephew's birthday party for the Sunday that we are in town. We are so lucky that people are willing to arrange schedules around us. It will be nice to also have a few days of just having fun and drinking Caribou coffee (I miss it so much!).
On a related note, I need to write about Blue Apron. I actually wrote about it yesterday, and then proceeded to accidentally delete the entire post without being able to retrieve it. So, Blue Apron, Take 2.
Back in January I went to Denver to meet my perfect little niece and see Sarah and John. I went to dinner at my cousin's house and she mentioned that they use a meal delivery service. After hearing about this magical thing, I went home and looked for the one she uses. It isn't offered in PA. A bit later, I was at lunch and a friend of mine mentioned that she has used Blue Apron and had a free week she could give me. My life has never been the same.
As a little background, if you know anything about me, you know I hate to cook. It starts with how much I hate grocery shopping. There are 2 options when I grocery shop. 1: Plan for meals and somehow spend $50/meal trying to gather all of the random ingredients that we don't have at the house or 2: Don't plan and buy a bunch of random stuff and get home with nothing I can actually eat so we order out. Even if I buy stuff to make a meal, the stuff always comes in huge quantities and we end up throwing out lots of slimy, moldy ingredients. Andy and I survived on cereal, pasta, bagged salad (you know, healthy stuff), take out, and frozen pizza for a long, long time. You can imagine my excitement when I finally got my first Blue Apron shipment.
So there are a lot of great things about a meal service. It starts with not having to go to the grocery store. You provide salt, pepper, and olive oil and EVERYTHING ELSE comes in this magical box. I even buy the salt, pepper, and olive oil at TJMaxx or specialty stores so I REALLY don't go to the grocery store. The box has this thermal bubble wrap stuff to keep it insulated. Then there's an ice pack on the bottom with the meats on top of it. On top of the meat is ANOTHER ice pack and then all of the ingredients you need for 3 meals. Everything is pre-measured and individually packaged. I know some people think it's a lot of garbage, but it's all recyclable AND I would have that much garbage if I made it myself at home with all of the produce bags, etc. I just take everything out of the box and put it in one drawer in the fridge so it's easy to find and grab what I need for each meal. It also helps that I don't really cook otherwise, so there's no fear of me accidentally using one of the ingredients for something else. We do the 3 meals/week plan for $60/week and it's perfect for us. It allows us flexibility to go out or make something else we might be craving that day. I know that they do family plans as well, but we haven't tried those.
When it's time for dinner, I grab the recipe sheet that has detailed, specific directions WITH pictures. It walks me through step by step how to do everything. If that's not enough, there are videos online and on their app that explain what different terms mean. Since I'm still lacking a little confidence in the kitchen and have to read the recipe multiple times, I would say each meal takes me about 45 minutes from start to finish. And then, magic happens. I don't know how they do it, but delicious, healthy, beautiful food ends up on our plates. Andy and I have been surprised so many times by the food that I have cooked. In the 7 months I've been using Blue Apron, there have maybe been 3 or 4 recipes that have just been OK. But even those are better than anything I'd be able to come up with. There's also almost ALWAYS leftovers, so I get lunch the next day.
You do get a little choice in your meal selection. You get to pick from about 6 meals each week, but depending on what you choose first, some of the options get grayed out and are no longer available. You can 'get them back' by unclicking different options and trying different combinations of meals. I'm sure this has to do with the cost of the ingredients. I've always been able to find stuff I like though. You do also have to plan ahead in that you need to cancel one week before delivery if you don't want your meals for that week. If you can stay on top of this, you're fine.
The reason I said this was related to our One Year Anniversary PA move is because it's a huge change for me to be cooking at home so much. I feel like such a grown up, and I love knowing what we are actually eating. It feels good knowing that we are controlling our portions and it turns out that I actually enjoy cooking. Having a kitchen that we like makes such a huge difference too. The layout is practical for cooking and having access to everything that fits IN the kitchen is helpful. All of this has encouraged me to cook and bake a few other recipes of my choosing since I feel a little more comfortable in the kitchen in general. Now, don't get ahead of yourselves. I'm not quite ready to host a dinner party, but I'm on my way.
Unfortunately, I don't get paid to praise Blue Apron, but I still think you should try it if you want someone else to send you groceries and plan your meals for you. I do have some free weeks I can gift to people, so let me know if you are interested. You do have to provide your cc# in case you keep up with the service, but you can also just go online and cancel deliveries and then cancel the subscription. It's not too difficult.
On an unrelated note: I got to see the Today show live last week! They were in Philly for the Democratic National Convention so I went downtown last Thursday to watch. It was everything I wanted it to be! I have been watching since college and it was so cool to finally be able to see them in person without having to spend the night in New York and wake up early to try to get a spot.
Ok. I'm off to start painting our final room before our guests (Dan, Laura, and the boys) get here in a couple weeks. I don't need anyone getting sick off of paint fumes! If I get this done, I won't feel bad hanging out at the pool for the rest of the week.
Normalcy also means traveling to MN, which we will be doing next week. Family weddings are always a good excuse to get back. Andy still has an office in MN so he will be working, but I'm going to continue to enjoy my summer by hanging out with family and friends. I'm really looking forward to a longer time home so I can really see people, rather than a quick drop in for an hour here and there. Our family has been so accommodating and schedule special events around when we can be home. We have a 'family reunion/party' the day after the wedding, and Laura and Dan scheduled our nephew's birthday party for the Sunday that we are in town. We are so lucky that people are willing to arrange schedules around us. It will be nice to also have a few days of just having fun and drinking Caribou coffee (I miss it so much!).
On a related note, I need to write about Blue Apron. I actually wrote about it yesterday, and then proceeded to accidentally delete the entire post without being able to retrieve it. So, Blue Apron, Take 2.
Back in January I went to Denver to meet my perfect little niece and see Sarah and John. I went to dinner at my cousin's house and she mentioned that they use a meal delivery service. After hearing about this magical thing, I went home and looked for the one she uses. It isn't offered in PA. A bit later, I was at lunch and a friend of mine mentioned that she has used Blue Apron and had a free week she could give me. My life has never been the same.
As a little background, if you know anything about me, you know I hate to cook. It starts with how much I hate grocery shopping. There are 2 options when I grocery shop. 1: Plan for meals and somehow spend $50/meal trying to gather all of the random ingredients that we don't have at the house or 2: Don't plan and buy a bunch of random stuff and get home with nothing I can actually eat so we order out. Even if I buy stuff to make a meal, the stuff always comes in huge quantities and we end up throwing out lots of slimy, moldy ingredients. Andy and I survived on cereal, pasta, bagged salad (you know, healthy stuff), take out, and frozen pizza for a long, long time. You can imagine my excitement when I finally got my first Blue Apron shipment.
So there are a lot of great things about a meal service. It starts with not having to go to the grocery store. You provide salt, pepper, and olive oil and EVERYTHING ELSE comes in this magical box. I even buy the salt, pepper, and olive oil at TJMaxx or specialty stores so I REALLY don't go to the grocery store. The box has this thermal bubble wrap stuff to keep it insulated. Then there's an ice pack on the bottom with the meats on top of it. On top of the meat is ANOTHER ice pack and then all of the ingredients you need for 3 meals. Everything is pre-measured and individually packaged. I know some people think it's a lot of garbage, but it's all recyclable AND I would have that much garbage if I made it myself at home with all of the produce bags, etc. I just take everything out of the box and put it in one drawer in the fridge so it's easy to find and grab what I need for each meal. It also helps that I don't really cook otherwise, so there's no fear of me accidentally using one of the ingredients for something else. We do the 3 meals/week plan for $60/week and it's perfect for us. It allows us flexibility to go out or make something else we might be craving that day. I know that they do family plans as well, but we haven't tried those.
When it's time for dinner, I grab the recipe sheet that has detailed, specific directions WITH pictures. It walks me through step by step how to do everything. If that's not enough, there are videos online and on their app that explain what different terms mean. Since I'm still lacking a little confidence in the kitchen and have to read the recipe multiple times, I would say each meal takes me about 45 minutes from start to finish. And then, magic happens. I don't know how they do it, but delicious, healthy, beautiful food ends up on our plates. Andy and I have been surprised so many times by the food that I have cooked. In the 7 months I've been using Blue Apron, there have maybe been 3 or 4 recipes that have just been OK. But even those are better than anything I'd be able to come up with. There's also almost ALWAYS leftovers, so I get lunch the next day.
You do get a little choice in your meal selection. You get to pick from about 6 meals each week, but depending on what you choose first, some of the options get grayed out and are no longer available. You can 'get them back' by unclicking different options and trying different combinations of meals. I'm sure this has to do with the cost of the ingredients. I've always been able to find stuff I like though. You do also have to plan ahead in that you need to cancel one week before delivery if you don't want your meals for that week. If you can stay on top of this, you're fine.
The reason I said this was related to our One Year Anniversary PA move is because it's a huge change for me to be cooking at home so much. I feel like such a grown up, and I love knowing what we are actually eating. It feels good knowing that we are controlling our portions and it turns out that I actually enjoy cooking. Having a kitchen that we like makes such a huge difference too. The layout is practical for cooking and having access to everything that fits IN the kitchen is helpful. All of this has encouraged me to cook and bake a few other recipes of my choosing since I feel a little more comfortable in the kitchen in general. Now, don't get ahead of yourselves. I'm not quite ready to host a dinner party, but I'm on my way.
Unfortunately, I don't get paid to praise Blue Apron, but I still think you should try it if you want someone else to send you groceries and plan your meals for you. I do have some free weeks I can gift to people, so let me know if you are interested. You do have to provide your cc# in case you keep up with the service, but you can also just go online and cancel deliveries and then cancel the subscription. It's not too difficult.
On an unrelated note: I got to see the Today show live last week! They were in Philly for the Democratic National Convention so I went downtown last Thursday to watch. It was everything I wanted it to be! I have been watching since college and it was so cool to finally be able to see them in person without having to spend the night in New York and wake up early to try to get a spot.
Ok. I'm off to start painting our final room before our guests (Dan, Laura, and the boys) get here in a couple weeks. I don't need anyone getting sick off of paint fumes! If I get this done, I won't feel bad hanging out at the pool for the rest of the week.
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